The Convenience of Coworking

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Work when you want & can

 

Coworking spaces are on the rise all around the world. If you are following Ment, I’m sure you are familiar with who we are and what we offer by now. However, have you really thought of the benefits you could gain by giving coworking a try? 

 

You have heard it before, one of the biggest pros to coworking is convience. Before you look scroll past and ignore the rest of this post, I want you to break down your life and ask yourself how convenient it is. Are you commuting an hour to your office every day? Trying to work 9-5 at your home office while starting a family? Driving 15 minutes to spend $5 on a fancy latte just to share on your instagram story? Neglecting cooking dinner every night due to your chaotic, all over the place work schedule? Lets face it, we all have things that come up last minute and cause inconvenience, but often times we place ourselves right there in the very situation. 

 

Coworking instills a convenient, professional workplace that you can go to, right in the heart of your town. For an affordable price, you are able to know and trust the environment you work in and get things done, so you have time for fun later in the evening without feeling guilty. 

 

The friendly environment that coworking offers provides individuals with a community rather than competition, whether it be working together to complete tasks, or even blow off some steam over a cup of coffee. Coworking allows you to network and build connections with like minded individuals who will inspire you to do your best. 

 

Do you travel for work? Many coworking companies offer sister spaces, in which you can go and work for free. There’s nothing worse than working out of your hotel room or airport between flights. Here at Ment, we partner with IHub and Center 615, based out of Louisville and Nashville to provide free day passes to our traveling members. 

 

Overall, coworking reduces uncertainty and allows you to leave your work where it belongs – at work. What is your next step to add convenience in your life? 

 

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Ment To Thrive

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An Empowerment workshop & inside look on Kathryn Freeburg’s journey as a life coach

Everyone has a unique story and I truly believe that everyone’s story is worth sharing. So here is mine…. I grew up in Bowling Green, KY, but I was adopted from Guatemala as a baby. I went to Bowling Green High School and Western Kentucky University. It took me almost 10 years to graduate from college and little did I realize that I was showing myself what I would be helping others believe today: you get to decide the timeline of your life and what you do with it.  I am married to my wonderful and strong husband, Tim, and we have two golden retrievers: Chip and Joanna (yes, like Fixer Upper) and two labs Boom and Blitz (named after the Seattle Seahawks mascots). Our house is full of love and dog hair and we wouldn’t want it any other way, except for a stronger vacuum. I met my husband Tim on a plane as I was on my way to Canada to meet my biological brothers, who I found over Facebook, for the first time… but that’s a story for another day. 

 

Up until the last couple of years, I allowed the opinions of others and society’s “rules” decide my life for a while. I let people influence how I dressed, what I ate, watched or said – I even let them influence what I thought about myself. While I have been very fortunate to have lived an overall  happy life, it hasn’t happened without its fair share of heartache, ugly cries, low bank accounts, anxiety and challenges. But I wanted more than just a happy life- I wanted to live an abundantly joyful life. It wasn’t until my entrepreneurial husband encouraged me to go to a personal growth workshop by Tony Robbins that I realized that I wasn’t serving my purpose and more importantly, myself. After many conversations, budgeting, panic attacks, dreaming and pints of Cookies N Cream ice cream we decided as a family that I would quit my full time job with benefits and I would pursue my dream of being a life coach. Talk about sweaty palms when I turned in my resignation! I remember the day that I walked out of my job for the last time as an employee that I only felt peace and excitement for what I was about to do. I guess you could say that I “Marie Kondo’d” my job and thanked it for helping me pay my bills and meet some incredible individuals who were vessels for some amazing moments, but most importantly I was thankful to my job for showing me that I didn’t have to work a traditional job for my life to have meaning and that I didn’t want to. I want to live a life how I decide and with whom I decide. 

 

Fast forward through trainings, self growth, quiet hustling like a ninja, some anxiety and lots of dance parties in my car with my husband when successes came and here I am. A life coach who is serving others and building a community that is based on love, kindness, compassion and inclusion. I have the privilege to work with individuals of all ages and small groups to help them feel loved and step into who they were born to be: whoever they want to be. 

 

You are here to thrive as you decide. You are not here to be complacent and do the motions of what your friends, mom, boss, teacher, significant other or society as a whole tells you to do. You are here to thrive as individuals to bring your talents and gifts to the community table to help others. As you gain knowledge, confidence and unbury your dreams you step into the state of thriving. You step into the state of gratitude, humility, self confidence, and see yourself for who you are and love it every step of the way. You step into you and who you were born to be. 

 

As your life coach, I stand as your unconditional advocate. I meet you where you are right now and show up to help you grow into the person or place you envision, together. From here on out, you are never alone. I will always be in your corner, even and especially if there are times when it feels like no one else is. You are already worthy of anything and everything you dream of. All you have to do is take one step forward – I’ve got you. I see you. 

 

You are loved and needed in this world. You have a story to share and a life worth living. I am ready to stand with you, but you have to decide when. It is either one day or day one – which one will you choose? 

 

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Beet Box: Healthy Eating Made Simple

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This month we are partnering with Beet Box Produce. Their mission is to make healthy eating simple by offering chef-cooked prepared meals, fresh produce boxes and healthy local groceries delivered right to your home. By partnering with a variety of organic Kentucky farmers, they are able to support local farmers and get their nutritious, delicious food out for you to try. 

Beet Box began in 2014 as a produce delivery service, providing local and organic produce. It wasn’t until 2016 they began meal preparation into their delivery service. In 2018 they opened a store front and built a full commercial kitchen. Michelle Darnall, owner of Beet Box, describes their inventory as a lot of hard to find items, things that you would not walk in and find at your local grocery store.

Beetbox is open Monday through Friday 10-6. Alongside of their prepared meals and grocery delivery subscription, Beet Box has a large store front allowing for pop up shops, local artist events, class series, etc. This local business here in the heart of Bowling Green has a passion for connecting with the community and supporting other small businesses. 

Want to try out Beet Box? Use the code “newbie” to save 20% off of your first delivery. 

 

 

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Being a Ment-ern

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From: Emily and Juan 

For the past few months, we have had the pleasure of interning at Ment Cowork. Both of us have learned so much in our chosen field. This blog post will focus on what each of us have gained from interning at Ment on an individual level and how we plan to take that into our future endeavors. 

Emily Jones: Digital Media intern 

I have been interning at Ment since February. As soon as I walked into our space here on 911 College Street, I could tell it was special. I was noticeably nervous because I had been on the internship hunt for a while with no luck. I was starting to get anxious because I felt like I had no experience in my field and I was falling behind my peers in my major. However, I knew from early on that Ment was where I was supposed to be. The atmosphere here was something that inspired me when I came in every day. The people I work with were all excelling in their field, so I had to bring what I had to the table. 

I have learned so much during my time at Ment. Coming in, the only experience in public relations I had was working social media for a festival back home—so not much when I began to compare myself to some of my friends who had two or so internships under their belt already. I was able to apply some of the things I was learning in class to what I was doing at Ment. Most of my duties here at Ment were tied to social media and writing this blog right here. My writing abilities have strengthened tremendously and I feel confident planning monthly social media themes and calendars. However, the majority of my growth has been on a personal level. I have become more confident in my abilities. I have been able to grow and come out of my shell. I feel more comfortable talking to people who I may be pitching to or speaking with across the table at a Chamber of Commerce event. 

As far as the rest of my time in Bowling Green goes, I have one more year at Western Kentucky University and will graduate in May 2020. I am majoring in Public Relations and minoring in Digital Advertising. My plan for after graduation changes daily so who knows where I will end up. I have loved interning at Ment beyond words and I hope that you have enjoyed reading my blogs as much as I have enjoyed writing them. 

Juan Dozier: Programs intern 

A couple of months ago, I had no idea what coworking was or even the concept of it. I heard about Ment through Western Kentucky University and I thought it would be great to know a little bit more about what it was and how it would help me with growing my knowledge of marketing. After I sat down and talked with Hayley, I know that this would be beneficial for me.  I started my internship in May and I haven’t regretted interning here one bit. This is my third internship and this is by far my favorite. I have understood the importance of marketing research and brand development thankfully through my wonderful boss. I have learned so much about the community of Bowling Green because of the partnerships we have built. Hayley has given me a lot of valuable information that I am happy I know now and that I will retain for years to come. I could have not found a better internship and I hope to stay in touch with the Ment team and I plan on coming back. 

I will be entering my senior year and will be graduating in the spring of 2020. I plan on obtaining my MBA at WKU and working for the University once I am done with graduate school. I have had a lot of influential people in my life who have taught me the importance of leadership and where it will take you and life and that is something I hope to bring to the university. Four years ago, I had no idea where I would end up and how college was all going to work out, but it has turned out way better than any plan I could have thought of.

Thanks goes out to Hayley, Valerie, and JD for giving us the opportunity to intern at this amazing place. We are so excited to see where Ment Cowork goes in the future! 

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International Coworking Day 2019

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If you didn’t know, August 9 is a big day in the coworking industry: International Coworking Day! Spaces from all over the globe are gearing up for this day that celebrates everything about the industry and how far it has come with each passing year. Coworking is not about competition, but rather collaboration and it is this fact that makes this day so important and special. International Coworking Day shows that each space is bigger than themselves, part of a greater global movement.

Coworking as an industry has been around for ten years and only continues to grow as each new year passes. The industry is changing the way people all around the world think about working and is changing societal views of the overall work-life balance.

These stats from GCUC from 2018 (a big coworking conference that we have mentioned before- check them out!) are astounding, and I am going to let these numbers speak for themselves. 

  • There are more than 14,000 spaces in the world
  • There are 1 million members in said spaces 
  • Independently owned and operated spaces account for 93% of the industry 
  • 89% of people who work in a coworking space report being happier as a product of working in a shared space
  • 84% are more engaged and motivated 
  • 73% say that they maintain their sanity throughout the work day 
  • 83% report they feel less lonely 

Coworking as a whole is changing societal pressures surrounding the typical 9-to-5 job. If you consider yourself a “workaholic,” you can benefit just as much from working in a shared space as someone who may only work a few hours a day. The culture of a coworking space is palpable. The industry unites people who come from traditional office settings, those who work from home who are longing to get out of the house and find something different, freelancers and more to create what is known as coworking. Simply put, coworking is changing lives. 

We here at Ment Cowork are celebrating International Coworking Day, too! On Friday from 12:30 until 2, we are going to be out in front of 911 College Street bringing coworking to you. Find our sign (the one in the picture) and come see us. Tell us your -ment word, which is a word that describes you that has our suffix in it. Think empower-ment, commit-ment, enjoy-ment, you name it. Take a picture of your word at our sign and post it on your Instagram story to be entered into a GIVEAWAY for a Ment tee shirt and mug! Who doesn’t love free stuff? Come celebrate International Coworking Day with us, we can’t wait! 

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Getting Zesty – Interview with Emma Napier

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Happy August! Each month for the rest of the year, Ment is partnering with a local business on our blog and social media accounts. This month is Zest Juice for Life, owned by Emma Napier: a 24-year-old from Bowling Green, Kentucky. The local juice shop located in the heart of the downtown scene has many flavors of tasty, healthy juice and they promote a healthy lifestyle in everything they do. 

Emma Napier, a graduate from Western Kentucky University, got her start working in an office for a national company in a corporate office. She was teaching spinning at The Spot next door to what would be her future business as well. She loved her coworkers and the work she was doing but disliked the stuffy and strict culture that was in her cubicle-filled office. “I soon realized that sitting at a desk was not for me,” she recalls.  

                             

Emma knew the previous owner of Zest from her job at The Spot and soon became friends with her. From this friendship, she fell in love with juice. She would drive all the way across town to get juice from the original Zest, the home of the former owner. The owner mentioned selling the business and asked if she knew of anyone who was interested. Emma knew instantly that this was the perfect opportunity to transition out of the cubicle and bought Zest Juice for Life. 

One of Emma’s favorite things about owning Zest is the amazing small business community located in Bowling Green. While she is a fairly new business owner, owners from all over town have offered to help her. “Bowling Green has such a thriving community of small business owners and truly want to see each other succeed,” she notes. She says learning a lot from so many people who have been in the same shoes as her. She has gotten to work with and collaborate with some of them and says they have helped her create her space, the logo, the menu boards, and more. 

  

Of course, I had to ask Emma what her -ment word was, which is a little something we do here at Ment by picking your favorite word with -ment as the subject and having it describe you, such as experiment, achievement, nourishment. Emma said her word was encourage-ment. She aims to be a smiling face to anyone who walks through the doors of Zest, and hopes her encouraging spirit keeps people coming back for years to come. 

Emma’s favorite juice she sells is kickin’ carrot, a juice that contains apple, ginger, and the star: carrots. Other juices you can find at Zest include Kale Yeah!, Jolly Green, Happy Beet, or my favorite, Hula Hooch. 

Check Emma and the rest of the Zest team out on their Instagram: @zestjuiceforlife! 

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Failing Forward

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Some amazing things have been created through what seems like “failure”: chocolate chip cookies, Penicillin, microwaves, fireworks, and more. Steve Jobs was fired from Apple, The Beatles were rejected by their first record label, and even more successful people have been knocked down a few times. 

Call it what you want—I am going to call it failing forward—it happens to the best of us, maybe when we least expect it to. It is bound to happen in any setting, but it could not be worse at work. You might have had a big presentation and completely bombed it, or a meeting did not go your way, or you overslept and missed a meeting with a potential client. Whatever the case may be, it happens to the best of us. 

Failing forward at work, school, in life, happens. While it is unavoidable, it is important to not let mistakes consume you. Big or small, it can affect our day to day lives. However, with the right mindset and attitude, you can turn a misstep into a success in the blink of an eye. 

  1. Own up to it. 

While it may be hard to take the blame for something that goes wrong, it will help you in the long run to be honest about your mistakes. Don’t provide endless excuses or cast the blame on another employee. Explain the scenarios of what went wrong, ensure it will not happen again, and figure out how to move forward. 

  1. Figure out your next course of action. 

After a mistake happens, it is hard to bounce back sometimes. Find a solution to your mistake and fix the problem at hand. Make things right. This is what failing forward is all about!

  1. Shift your mindset. 

I know, personally, when I mess up, I feel like that is all I am capable of from then on. If you fail once, it doesn’t mean you are going to continue to fail. Find something you know you are good at and focus on it for a little bit while you manage to get your groove back.

  1. Find the good. 

If you look closely, there is a silver lining in just about everything, especially your failures. There is a lesson buried in there: a way to grow. Find it and hold on tight; let it motivate you!  

  1. Take on your next big project—and succeed. 

I know it may be hard to get back on the horse, but when you do and you excel, you will feel even better. Make sure you really put the work into it to come out on the other side successful. Your “failure” will soon fade into memory. 

  1. You aren’t alone. 

You may feel like you are the only one going through a workplace mistake. That couldn’t be further from the truth! I would just about guarantee that most of your coworkers have made one mistake or another at their job, and if they haven’t, they aren’t learning. 

Don’t go out looking to make mistakes, but know when they inevitably occur, know that you can take them and grow from them. Take these tips into consideration when you feel down and out after failing forward at work, and you might just create the next greatest thing! 

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Conflict Engagement

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Written by guest writer and Ment member, Nolan Bramschreiber: Hello! My name is Nolan and I’m a husband, student of Organizational Behavior, Outcome & Planning Specialist with interCare and a mountain bike coinsure!

Conflict exists whether it is acknowledged or not. If placed on a spectrum, conflict would range widely in degree.  Some conflict could be categorized as surface level and easy to resolve, while other found to be deeply imbedded and spanning generations without full resolution.  If conflict is somehow ominously present, touching all relationships and interactions at some point and to some certain degree, why does it seem so difficult to navigate? Wouldn’t continual exposure positively increase one’s ability to engage conflict effectively? It is imperative we understand what creates conflict and prevents us from engaging it in a productive fashion. 

Building an Understanding

In order to understand how one might engage conflict productively, we must first understand what brings it about. Conflict is an interaction that can provide solid ground to build upon. Instead of vilifying views, opinions or differences, its best to seek clarification and understanding. This process referrers to differentiation. It is absolutely imperative for those engaging in conflict to spend significant time understanding differences between each other if their hope is to move away and out of the differentiation stage. Without all constituents embracing and understanding present differences, differentiation will move into integration with one foot still in the differentiation stage; forcing parties to start over in the future.

Acting on an Understanding.  

Understanding and legitimizing difference in perspective is not enough to solve a problem in conflict.  While an in-depth understanding is the foundation to problem solving, the integration stage is where parties explore and implement resolutions based on common ground. Integration can be marked by “standoffs” and “slings and arrows”, but if parties can endure the pain of furthering those processes forward, the diversity of thought can lead to actual solutions between parties. In practical application and to effectively handle conflict, understanding of conflict management approaches need to be addressed throughout all management levels, rather than strictly through Human Resources or a legal office. In the application of understanding differences and moving conflict management forward, parties need to understand what scenerios could arise to derail progress.  

It’s imperative the field based application be centered and focused on the understanding of differentiation, integration and aspects that disrupt the effectiveness of the linear model. Avoidance and escalation are threats in moving conflict management forward. The mere appearance of either escalation or avoidance do not presume ineffectiveness, but if gone unregulated, could derail the conflicts journey to problem solving. 

Applying my Understanding.  

In encountering conflict with loved ones, colleagues and friends, I have often found myself in an uncomfortable position. In order to mitigate potential conflict, my default position would be to heed the opinions or perspectives of whomever is speaking, and not state my opposing position.  While this behavior has evolved over time with growing confidence in independent perspectives and perceptions, I feel a tension to fall back into this uncomfortable position of forfeiting my difference by not advocating for or engaging it. This behavior is often perpetuated by failed attempts to voice my developing opinion.  Now, with the understand of how differentiation and integration works, I can confidently approach conflict with a genuine curiosity about why other perspectives deviates from mine. This acknowledgment provides a rich and robust opportunity to expand my horizon beyond norms applicable to me. If harnessed, I believe we can all have a better chance at conflict engagement. 

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5 Tips to Defuse Conflict in the Workplace

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Conflict is all around us, no matter where we go. It’s people fighting for the closest parking spot to the front at the grocery store. It’s two friends arguing where to eat for lunch. It’s passive-aggressive glances when your coworker walks in late. Conflict, while unavoidable, can be helped through some easy techniques that you can implement in your daily work life. 

First, let’s start off with what conflict is. Conflict can range from a small difference in opinion all the way to two people not being able to be in the same room with one another. I am sure all of us have been in some sort of conflict in our lifetime and I, for one, am not a fan of it. Not all conflict can be harmful, but regardless, it will happen and it is imperative to know how to deal with it when it comes along, especially in the workplace. 

How should you deal with conflict in the workplace?

  1. Be on the lookout. 

I know this may sound easy, but it can be harder than you may think. When you start to notice alarming behavior from one of your coworkers, address it before the conflict gets out of hand. 

  1. Assess the situation. 

Just because you assume a conflict may be rising, don’t assert yourself in like you know best. Before you go saving the day, know the facts. Make sure you have a grasp on the real situation before you address the conflict. 

  1. Listen to both sides. 

We all know people can exaggerate when they are heated or in a difficult situation. Once you hear the other side of the story, you might realize the conflict is just one-sided, or it was all taken out of context. 

  1. Encourage compromise. 

The whole point of addressing a conflict is to ultimately end in a resolution. This step might take a little bit of prying, since people can really be set in their ways and want the resolution to go their way. However, once you can find common ground, a compromise becomes a more attainable goal. 

  1. Be positive. 

Moving forward can be difficult after a big fight. Make sure all is resolved before this stage and then make a point to be positive and encouraging to the other party. Treat the other person in a positive manner. The conflict is resolved, so there is no need for bad blood anymore! 

It is pretty much impossible to go through life without experiencing some sort of conflict, especially when working with so many different types of people in an office setting. Hopefully you can take some of these tips and apply it to your workplace! 

 

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Networking for Introverts

Let’s face it—networking is an essential part of our professional lives and it doesn’t care if you’re an extrovert or an introvert. It has the power to help you secure that dream job you’ve been plotting and planning towards and even work your way up the infamous corporate ladder if that’s your style. What I have learned is, when done right, it can allow for deeper relationships to be built, friendships and new introductions to be made that you couldn’t even imagine possible, and numerous opportunities to promote your professional efforts in a less forced way than maybe an interview.

Now, I am the first to admit I need to work on my networking skills. I am an introvert through and through so when it comes to meeting new people and attending organized events, I tend to stay in my own little bubble until I get to know a person on a deeper level. Therefore, it is no surprise that I can sometimes find networking an exhausting task. I know how important it is and how beneficial it is to me, I just can’t seem to make myself talk to people I don’t know sometimes. It can be hard to put yourself out there in a situation you are not comfortable in; I totally get it! So I decided to break down networking in four simple points to combat my introverted self and hopefully so you can as well the next time you RSVP to that cocktail meet and greet.

Be intentional. This might be my favorite one of all, so I am going to list it first. Networking relies on conversations, and people can tell when you are being fake. Intentional conversations are so much more meaningful and memorable, but you have to push yourself to make those connections with people!

Do your homework. When you are planning on networking with, say, the head of the company you want to work for, you need to know who you’re talking to. Google them, research their work history and find how they made it to where they are today so you throw that in the conversation a little (but not too much.)

Talk to people. This is the one I struggle with the most, and you probably do too. If I am attending an event or something, I am most likely to say and do nothing, eating my food in silence. I know it is easier said than done, but push yourself to have one conversation with someone, and then it will slowly become easier to talk to the people you really need to.

Maintain the relationship. Woo-hoo! You’ve done the brunt of the work, you have talked to someone and secured a little more of a network. Now comes the hard part. Continue to stay in touch with the people you have been networking with. Create a cohesive list and make sure that you update them on what you are doing and ask how they can help you along the way.

Something I love about the coworking industry is that everyday is a built-in networking event if you let it. You work around people in different industries and are able to build a network bigger than you could do alone. You don’t always have to go out to an event to grow your network—you can find it right where you are.

I know that networking can be a daunting task, especially when you are more on the shy side like me. But if we look at it as a way to build connections and relationships rather than a means to an end, it becomes easier each and every time. Good luck, my friend!

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