A Journey of Life and Career... at Home
By Co-Co Co-Founder, Suzanne Willian - Shared from LinkedIn
Two years ago, in April of 2018, The Co-Co’s founding team gathered for a planning meeting. I have a clear memory of newsprint papering the conference room walls. The lead sentence on The Co-Co’s website landing page was drafted that day: The Co-Co is here to inspire and support you, wherever you are on your journey of life and career. I could have never imagined that two years later, our team's shared journey would bring us home.
Fifteen months ago, in January of 2019, we opened the doors to New Jersey's women-focused co-working and co-learning community. In a free-standing, downtown Summit building surrounded by windows, our members found a beautifully designed home away from home.
Six weeks ago, we stocked up on hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, and Lysol for The Co-Co, and on March 4 sent our first coronavirus communication. (COVID-19 wasn’t part of our common language yet.) That first communication described The Co-Co’s enhanced cleaning and disinfecting protocols and the CDC’s common sense advice around hand washing, face touching, and staying home when you’re sick.
Five weeks ago, I participated in Catalyst’s #BiasCorrect campaign celebrating International Women's Day. Using a customizable social media post, I selected a word that creates harmful gender stereotypes and suggested a synonym: bossy - the way in which a woman who excels at taking charge of a situation or project is labeled due to unconscious gender bias; synonym - boss. At the time, I didn’t grasp that "taking charge of a situation or project" would soon mean closing the doors and moving our business online.
Four weeks ago and a week in advance of Governor Murphy’s executive order closing non-essential businesses, we closed the physical Co-Co. The announcement to our members referenced Maria Shriver's The Sunday Paper. She wrote about our “collective moment” and suggested that the COVID-19 outbreak offers us an opportunity to “practice radical compassion, radical empathy, and radical caring for our fellow human beings.” We shared The Co-Co's belief that “this is a time to strengthen our community bonds and support one another.”
Last week, a dozen women met on zoom for a positive parenting workshop led by Co-Co member Adele Dujardin and her friend and colleague Allegra Baider. Some participants have young adults unexpectedly home from college and New York City. Others are caring for preschoolers and overseeing elementary schooling. The group left the conversation with better perspective and equipped to be compassionate to themselves and others. After the workshop, Co-Co member Sarah Rosen shared, "I'm so glad to have this community in my life right now."
The decisions we face as a result of the COVID crisis are both challenging and familiar to The Co-Co leadership team. Building a new community, brand, and experience requires us to determine our next best step based on best available but limited information. We have and continue to build The Co-Co community by listening and observing, reflecting and learning, and boldly experimenting our way into new habits and practices. The COVID crisis has redirected our priorities but not our approach.
The Co-Co is taking charge of the situation we find ourselves in by acting on our belief that this is a time to strengthen our community bonds. Though physically closed, The Co-Co’s virtual doors are wide open. We’ve hosted twenty gatherings for hundreds of members and friends in the past four weeks. Coming together personally and professionally, we've seen and heard vulnerability, resilience, kindness and compassion in our community. We have laughed and cried at virtual coffees and learned how to co-work online. As contemporary Artist and Co-Co Artist in Residence Gail Winbury shared in the wrap up to a recent virtual coworking session, "It's nice to feel you here with me."
In the coming weeks, we will together explore what's next and support those most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. True to our purpose, The Co-Co is inspiring and supporting our community where we are on our journey of life and career… at home.