After several years of planning, it’s official. Myself and two partners opened a coworking space in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Our 975 sq ft corner of the city is called the Left Right Boom Collaborative.
For us it’s a working, thriving, information-sharing environment for marketing and advertising professionals. It’s definitely a step beyond working from home and the coffee shop. I love it.
We are a co-working space
From many informal interviews, we discovered three pain points for professional freelancers. It’s hard to keep a consistent cash flow. We want to do great work with great clients. And we need a community for support and inspiration. We believe we have the answer and we’re here to share our wins. We’ve created a hub where freelancers can collectively grow and share ideas. We want to support each other with clients situations, processes, and monthly income. Already it’s behaving like a daily mastermind group.
Our space is well-suited for collaboration. We have a conference room, break room, library, and sit/stand desks. A couple of long hall ways for pinning up thoughts and ideas. We even have a speed bag because frankly there’s no room for a ping-pong table. That said, we are surrounded by great coffee shops, restaurants, and breweries here in the Hearthside of the city.
The partnership includes Rian Morgan and Terry Vanden Akker.
Back in 2014 I was introduced to Rian Morgan, a native of Detroit. Rian and I hit it off right away. He’s a freelance professional designing and marketing for Keller Williams’s independent realty agents. He’s dedicated and determined and his business prowess is impressive. He and I could not let this idea go.
Rian knew Terry. Both were professors at Kendall College of Art and Design. Terry is a long standing, Dutch, GR native. His career spans from here to India, to Colorado, and back to Grand Rapids. He’s an artist at heart and a sage of all things oriented around beer. Though he’s designed many labels for Perrin, he’s now Railtown Brewery’s marketing director.
The three of us talked about what we knew and how we could make this happen. We drafted a partnership agreement and incorporated. With over 40 years of combined professional design experience, we’re well positioned to succeed.
We’re excited about the opportunities here. There’s plenty more to come.
