Our friends at Vibe Coworks Poulsbo have just completed the construction of their new space, and we couldn’t be happier for them! Find out what co-owner Alanna has to say about what makes their space a staple for their members.
After 17 years spent living and working in major cities across the globe; the water, mountains, good schools, relative affordability and the strong community of Seattle’s West Sound region were calling. But there was one major hangup: the region’s tremendous ‘quality of life’ does not always offer tremendous ‘quality of career’. That reality is at the heart of why Marcel Imbach and I founded Vibe Coworks: we believe in a life where you can be the master of your own career, from wherever it is you love and chose to live. This is home for us, and if that meant building a coworking space from the ground up, then that’s sure as hell what we would do (and did!).
Tell us about your space. How big is it? What kinds of amenities do you have? What sort of quirks make it special?
We were really fortunate to have had the unique opportunity to co-develop our entire building from the ground up, together with the property owners, architects, and neighboring tenants. The result of that is a spectacular space that is truly built-for-purpose. Vibe is located on the second floor of The Centennial, and is bursting with natural light. Our 6,000 square foot space includes a variety of different shared workspaces, meeting rooms, phone booths, private offices, an outdoor deck, and a phenomenal community kitchen. The fact that our neighbors within the building include a cafe and chocolatier, a farm-to-table restaurant, and a destination liquor store is icing on the cake.
What is your favorite thing about operating a coworking space?
Hands down, our members. Seeing people run with big dreams and be supported in that by all the new people they’ve met here in the Vibe community is beyond inspiring.
What has been the most surprising/unexpected thing about operating a coworking space?
People are constantly finding ways to leverage membership at Vibe in unexpected ways that we’d never even thought of before. It’s fantastic and really speaks to what we attempted to do: create a platform that can adapt to the needs of the people who call this place home.
What’s your favorite story about one of your members?
It’s the little things, really. The startup that is now expanding with the help of advice and recommendations that they received here at Vibe. Hearing that members who met here are now meeting up for social events on the weekends. Seeing consultants grow their practices vis-a-vis relationships they’ve built here at the space. And perhaps most strikingly, the supporter who came in last week to share that, after five years of trying to build her consultancy business, it was through the 6 Month Startup program here at Vibe that she realized that she doesn’t want to run her own business at all, leading her to close her business and get hired on at a job that she absolutely loves. That’s a huge win in my book.
What is your biggest piece of advice for someone wanting to open a space?
Do it! Be audacious in your vision, know what your strengths are, and build to those. Make sure that you’ve got a powerhouse community of supporters, advocates, and trusted voices built up around you. Done right, the connections and collaborative projects born within the walls of coworking spaces will no doubt change the world. We need more of that.
