Passing Values Down to Your Grandchildren

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Let me state the obvious: I am not a grandparent. I am not even close to having my own children. You might be thinking that I am not the best person to be writing a blog about passing qualities down to grandchildren. But, I can absolutely say I have some of the best grandparents in the whole wide world (sorry everyone else, it’s just the truth.) 

From an early age, my grandparents have instilled strong family values into their grandchildren: me, my fifteen-year-old brother, and my twenty-year-old-cousin. We see the eternal value in having the family that we do and this all started with my grandparents. From an early age, I would watch the adults in my life just live out their lives and model myself from them (as you probably did.) Children are so receptive and follow in the footsteps of those who surround them. 

When my grandparents were younger, there was no other option to work hard. For instance, my grandpa is a farmer and has been most of his life. I asked my grandpa where his work ethic came from and he attributed it to his grandpa. He said that he looked up to his grandpa so much, the man who raised him. Even at his age, he still goes out on the farm every day: tending to his cows and picking produce out of the garden to sell at the farmer’s market. He owns a small business with my uncle, Trinity Nursery, where they sell all kinds of flowers and produce out of their two greenhouses. My grandma is so giving of herself. She is a retired special education teacher and has been a caretaker to her father and now her brother for years. She has cooked Sunday lunch for the whole family almost every Sunday since my parents were married in 1996. She attributes her work ethic was passed down from her parents and they taught her to take pride in herself and everything she did. 

I can pretty much guarantee most grandparents feel similarly: they want to instill the values that they hold dear to their children and grandchildren. Work ethic is something that must be taught. As a millennial, I know we are thought of as not having “the best” work ethic. Stereotypically, millennials are lazy, arrogant, and expect everything to be handed to them. While this may be true for a small percentage, I see it differently. I see that so many millennials have the drive to work hard that it can be somewhat impossible to break through the clutter. I know for myself, I have seen my grandparents work for what they have. They have given their family the world. I can see the value in work and what I can accomplish when I put in the effort. 

I am sure you have values that you can trace back to your grandparents, whatever those may be. It is important that we acknowledge those things and where they came from. If you are fortunate to still have your grandparents, take a second and thank them today. Tell them how much the things they have instilled in you mean to you. Maybe some of your greatest qualities come from your grandparents. I know mine do.

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Vulnerability in the Workplace

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Vulnerability and workplace are two words that do not usually mix. The former, a flowery word that concerns itself with feelings and emotions cannot fathom intertwining itself with the hard corporate world of deadlines, investments, and structure. Thus, people seem to hide their emotional selves while at work and bottle them up until they go home for the day.

However, I don’t subscribe to that school of thought. Being vulnerable in your workspace can be the best thing for you. Being open allows you to really, truly connect with coworkers or executives on a deeper level. Every single person has feelings, whether they choose to show them or not. The ability to feel is what makes us humans on the most basic level and what separates us from every other creature on this planet.

Acknowledging vulnerabilities can lead to a more productive and proactive work environment. Being emotionally intelligent allows coworkers to connect deeper, to form lasting relationships, and in turn, get more done. Taking a moment to see emotions, talk about them, and move on really shows strength and humanity.

On the flip side, hiding emotional vulnerabilities can wreak havoc at a place of work. People may hide their feelings because they don’t feel adequate or that their emotions do not matter, but bottling them all up will only lead to a bigger explosion down the line.

Opening your emotions at work will bring about more growth and learning. Vulnerabilities allow for a sense of humanity within a workplace. Genuine connections can blossom once you become more open with yourself and others in your space. Creating vulnerable and intentional conversations can foster true connections.

Being vulnerable applies to leaders as well. In my opinion, the best bosses are ones who connect emotionally and are willing to be vulnerable. Not that an executive needs to be crying all the time or asking too many personal questions, but maybe being open to those things (aside from the crying.) Stepping back as a leader allows other’s ideas to shine and employees to feel more connected, grounded, and engaged in their work.

Egos are nowhere to be found in a vulnerable workplace. Once you take down your personal guards around whatever you might be feeling, your ego will naturally see itself out. Putting your ego aside allows more room to listen and take from others. You have room to acknowledge other people’s ideas and to attach your’s to theirs. Egos can get in the way of a cooperative work environment.

Vulnerability is so important that the coworking industry as a whole has made it one of their core values. Ment has taken that and ran with it and we created our value nourishment based on their tenant of vulnerability. We believe as a space that we are here for your highs and lows. We strive to be expansive and inclusive and to nourish the souls of everyone who walks through our doors.

As a space, Ment wants to make ourselves as comfortable as possible to allow for open conversations. Our lounge has comfy couches, a skylight, and plants to create an environment you want to be in. Our library is color-coded (seriously, I am obsessed with it so come check it out) and organized to allow for better workflow. All the colors in our space are neutral as not to distract, but also to create a calm and reassuring environment.

The moral of the story is simple: being vulnerable allows all the good things about humanity to shine through. Bringing feelings into a work environment is tough, I get that, but it allows people to bring their whole selves to work and not leave a portion of themselves at home. Start by taking a moment to genuinely ask a coworker how they are. Not some quick small talk to start the day, but intentional curiosity about that person. Get to know them on a deeper level, know their families and their history. Begin to foster a vulnerable environment.

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Are You a Lorax or a Once-ler?

Contributing Author: Ashley Brown

A big Ment hello to all of you and thanks for checking in! First off, I would like to introduce another one of our talented interns, Ashley Brown who is a contributing author on this next post. Her job consists of all things Public Relations and as her first time on the blog, she gets to help me introduce our new monthly theme of “Going Green.”

Since it’s the month of St. Patty’s day and all things green, we figured why not make our monthly theme green! Embracing sustainable and green principles is not just a trend, but a lifestyle that is, rightfully, taking over. Let’s take a quick look at where this urge to be environmentally aware began. According to The American Center History of the Modern Environmental Movement in America,

The rise of the modern environmental movement in America can be traced to several widely publicized events in the 1960s and the 1970s. These events included concern over hydrogen bomb testing on Bikini Atoll, oil spills off of the coast of California, and the use of insecticides and other chemicals. In the 1960s, the pollution of the Great Lakes became a rallying point for environmentalism in the United States. The pollution of Lake Erie and its nearby waterways was so great that debris on the Cuyahoga River caught fire and created thousands of dollars of property damage. The so-called Lake Erie Fire became a media sensation and helped push environmentalism into the public consciousness. The idea of a waterway so polluted that it caught fire inspired the Randy Newman song “Burn On.” Lake Erie was so symbolic of environmental destruction that Dr. Seuss mentioned it by name in his environmental awareness book The Lorax.Image result for the lorax

Whether you are on the side of believing global warming is a thing or not, there’s no denying the effects our waste has on the natural world or in this case, the Lorax. (Cue the Dawn commercial with the cute little penguins or the video of the turtle getting a plastic straw pulled out of his nose). With all of this in mind, we did a little digging. Coffee is always on the brain here at Ment and a lot of waste is involved in our consumption. Did you know that 16 billion disposable coffee cups are used each year? We didn’t! So with that, we have invited our members to live the mug life and we challenge you to do the same. You will be surprised at how many coffee shops will fill up your favorite ban.do “But First Coffee” on-the-go mug if you just ask. 

Sustainable coworking has become a popular trend in the more recent years and if a coworking space is not green, it is considered outdated. Why? Well because it is first off it is economically viable. Going green saves the green in your pocket, but more importantly, it is another way to unite the conscious individuals who collaborate in your space to reduce their carbon footprint and network while doing so. Large companies, or the Once-lers as referred to in Dr. Seuss’ book, are now looking at their awareness of this trend as a corporate social responsibility to show that they give back to the community. Past that, the people working in a green workspace tend to have better health and wellbeing.

If you or your company are looking to join us Loraxes, consider these few ways to incorporate eco-friendly initiatives in your office:

  • Recycle: Studies show recycling participation increases if stations are more easily accessible, so distribute recycling bins throughout the workspace. We also use Land Shark shredding for our members to have the peace of mind knowing not only that they are recycling, but they are also depositing their confidential information into a safe bin to be disposed of properly. 
  • Reduce: Cut back on your paper consumption by scanning and emailing papers out. Your desk will thank you later. Along with this, try to reduce energy consumption by replacing standard light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs and turn the lights off when you leave a room. 
  • Share helpful reminders: Whether it’s placing a note by the light switch to remind people to turn them off or emailing out instructions on how to print double-sided, educate your office and make it easy for them to make greener choices.

As the Lorax once said to the Once-ler, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

 

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Travel & Cowork

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Another great thing about coworking: spaces are opening up all over the place. We aren’t the only ones who offer a first-time free trial day either. One of my new favorite things to do is to try to find a coworking space for me to work from for the day when I travel to different cities. You will find each one stands out from the next and bring their own work concepts to life in many different styles. Below are a few I have visited so far which I 100% recommend.

Covo – St. Louis

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Covo was such a productive escape for the day. It is located in an old bank building in downtown St. Louis and in walking distance from many of the hotels and the arch. Seen here is their main coworking lounge which is where I was stationed in a comfy yet supportive chair and table for about 3 hours. The noise levels were soothing, with music playing overhead and the occasional chatter of a team meeting up but never loud enough to distract.

To top off the experience, Covo offers their first-timers a complimentary drink ticket to their bar, Trust, which opens up at 4 p.m. throughout the week. I just so happened to be working on a day when they were having their member happy hour which was incredible of course. Every person I talked to had a unique story as to what they did for a living and what they liked most about working out of a coworking space. It was a day filled with working + networking which in my book is a very successful day.

Check them out on Instagram: @covostl

Industrious – Downtown Nashville

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Last Thursday, our intern Maddie and I jumped in the car and headed to Nashville for a quest of coworking. This entailed getting tours of all of the following spaces and meeting some pretty awesome community managers who were more than willing to show us the ropes.

First stop was Industrious at their downtown location with community manager, Blake. Blake was nice enough to be the A to all of our Qs about Industrious as a brand and as a leader in the coworking industry. On their website they mention having stunning offices, inviting hospitality and an inspiring community which could not have been more apparent. The sunlight beamed through their ceiling to floor windows overlooking Nashville which wrapped the outsides of the every workspace in the place. Talk about stunning.

Check them out on Instagram: @industriousnashville

Center 615 – East Nashville

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Next, we stopped over at Center 615 who has three buildings that make up their campus. Here we met Beth who gave us a tour of their main building which as you can tell from the photo above was definitely one of a kind. However, what I noticed right off the bat is that they are pet friendly! Let’s just go ahead and put out there that having your furry friend with you throughout the day doesn’t have to be statistically proven to know that it is such an added benefit in the workplace. (If you want to read more about this, feel free to check out this article!)

Besides welcoming pets, this coworking space has many added benefits for its members such as dry cleaning pick up/drop off, discounts at various Nashville businesses, nap & meditation rooms and even partnering coworking spaces around the country for their members to have free work days at. Beth and her team at Center 615 truly do have the details covered so their members can focus on the big picture.

Check them out on Instagram: @center615

Three One Three – Nashville

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The energy in Three One Three was just as positively uplifting as their community manager’s, Taylor, who showed us around at our last stop of the day. Upon walking in, we were greeted with a smile and a sniff – smile being from Taylor, the sniff was from Batman, the office dog. With white walls and floors and pops of color and texture, it is a work space that embodies it’s members and welcomes all.

This coworking space takes it to another level as they say, “Beyond creatives to all business profiles.” Their space includes an entire warehouse dedicated to their e-commerce members who need fulfillment centers to ship products. Past that, every nook and corner in the place has been transformed into a work spot which makes them perfect for teams of all shapes and sizes. It is a transformative space that is 100% made up by the people who are working there.

Check them out on Instagram: @313cowork

There you have it! The list will continue to be added to as we head into the new year. Our challenge for you is to do the same! A simple google search for coworking spots around me when you have some down time while traveling could lead you to some pretty neat places and people who could end up being a great resource for you in the future.

Happy coworking!

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