Today we’d like to introduce you to Meredith Wheeler.
Meredith, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
In 2015, I was living in the San Francisco Bay Area with my husband and young daughter, heavily pregnant with my second daughter, working from home running a creative lifestyle blog. Even though I loved my work, I felt lonely and isolated in my house day after day and craved interaction with other women running their own businesses. I would literally go to the grocery store just to escape the confines of my home.
Fed up and tired of feeling lonely, I began to search for a community that would fulfill my desire for inspiration, support, friendship, resource-sharing and business growth. Coworking spaces had begun to take hold of the East Bay and I toured a few, however, their space designs and communities didn’t resonate with me. It was clear that I, a female entrepreneur, was likely not their target audience.
Where was the space for working women? Women who were juggling their businesses and families? Women who wanted to connect with others and share in both their successes and their struggles? Working women who wanted a network they could trust and rely on? From there, the idea took hold and would not let go.
In 2016, our family of four moved back to Houston, my hometown, and as I took to settling in with a 3-year-old and a newborn, I began to brainstorm ways in which this dream space and community could come to life.
In April 2017, I launched Sesh Coworking’s first event and we officially became Houston’s first and only all-female coworking community. I began with only myself and now, just a year and a half later, we have grown to just under 700 women.
We are a community comprised of creatives, freelancers, entrepreneurs, work-from-home mamas, telecommuters, dreamers and schemers who are passionate about our work and causes. Most of us work from home, but this is not a requirement to join.
We come from all industries and all lines of work but are united in our desire to grow our businesses and careers, celebrate in that growth with our fellow coworkers and share resources with one another.
As the community grows, so does the excitement. We are now planning to open a coworking space in the summer of 2019.
Has it been a smooth road?
No, the road has not been smooth, because when you choose to pursue a new idea, there is no pre-set road or path for you to follow. I have essentially been off-roading the entire process of building this business and that’s ok.
Many of the struggles I’ve experienced revolve around balancing motherhood and family with my desire to grow and build the business. As women, we tend to have more domestic and child-rearing duties placed on our shoulders and sometimes the thought of adding more weight in the form of a brand-new business was enough to make me crumble. At the end of the day, however, I always come to the conclusion that it is more important for myself and family to pursue my idea than for me to live with the “what if” feeling. You cannot build a successful business with one foot in and one foot out.
For young women starting out, I cannot stress enough the importance of finding a tribe to communicate and share ideas with. This can be a digital community such as a facebook group (there are so many out there for working women), an in-person organization such as your local Chamber of Commerce or Rising Tide community or simply a friend or two who is also interested in living an entrepreneurial lifestyle. Forming bonds with other women who are pursing their business dreams will give you accountability and support for the times when you feel stuck or unsure of what to do next.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into Sesh Coworking story. Tell us more about the business.
I am the founder of Sesh Coworking, Houston’s first and only all-female coworking community.
We are known for our strong supportive community and empowering events as well as opportunities for collaboration and networking. I am most proud of our community’s central belief, which only continues to strengthen as we grow – When one rises, we all rise. Community over competition remains our core.
For good reason, society often focuses more on the problems rather than the opportunities that exist, because the problems need to be solved. However, we’d probably also benefit from looking for and recognizing the opportunities that women are better positioned to capitalize on. Have you discovered such opportunities?
Absolutely! We are well-positioned for so many opportunities. The biggest strength we have to offer is our perspective. Each of us comes from our own extraordinary background, experience and circumstance and this unique perspective become our biggest strength.
We have the ability to see challenges and gaps in the marketplace previously unperceived by men. And these gaps go way beyond the classic motherhood and beauty markets. If you have a need or a desire that is not currently being met in the marketplace, I guarantee there are others like you who would pay for that need to be fulfilled.
Pricing:
- Annual Membership – $150
- Month-to-Month Membership – $20 per month
Contact Info:
- Website: www.GirlSesh.com
- Email: Meredith@girlsesh.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/girlsesh/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HoustonWomensCoworking/
Image Credit:
Maxyne of Maxyne Leanne Photography
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
