In August of 2013, I was riding my bike down Tejon Street and saw something fun and interesting. A small black and white sandwich board that read: “We provide workspace for Creatives, writers, small business owners, freelancers, consultants, entrepreneurs, people who wear clam-digger pants, and other mavericks.”
I was immediately intrigued. Especially by clam-digger pants.
I turned my bike around and rode back, knocking on the door and asking the random guy who answered it “What goes on in here?” “Coworking,” he said. Then he pointed me to Danny, the nice employee who gave me a tour of the oh-so-hip space full of IKEA furnishings and clever wall art and let me know what the heck coworking was all about. I took the brochure home, and quickly knew this was the place for me. The idea is simple: people who work remotely, people running startups, people who work for themselves, etc. who don’t want to smell like roasted coffee beans can have a place to go every day. I pay a membership fee every month, and I have a space to work in and meeting rooms I can reserve for clients who need to come by. BRILLIANT.
I have now been at Epicentral for almost 2 years, and I think it’s the best thing ever. In fact, when people ask, “Do you like working out of Epicentral?” my answer is usually “I’m obsessed with it.”
Epicentral has allowed my business to go to the next level. It’s allowed me to connect with people that I’d never dreamed I would get to photograph for, it’s allowed me to have my finger to the pulse of what’s going on in my city, and it’s helped me get more done! (I get about 3x as much done there as if I were at home… looking at laundry or dirty dishes or daydreaming about doing a Jillian Michaels DVD or … whatever). I have also learned so many new things! I had no idea what a startup was when I started working here, and now my vocabulary has expanded to include words like capital venture, pitch night, and angel investors.
In fact, in August I’ll be going full-time as a photographer, and I have much of that to owe to Epicentral and the relationships I’ve built here. It’s truly a special place with wonderful people, and I think coworking is the best idea in the world 🙂
