coworkings.space is a project whose idea comes – as often – from my personal experience.
I have always worked, closely or from afar, in the digital world. I’ve always loved the creative possibilities this field offered me, but also the comfort it provides: my job can be done from almost anywhere on the planet.
| Working remotely? Not in a million years!
When I started “my career,” remote work was barely known, and the idea of working from home full time was a dream I didn’t even hope to experience once in my life at that time (back then, it was mostly something freelancers could do).
And then 2019 arrived, along with the global epidemic (the one whose name I won’t mention) that we all went through 🙂
Within a few days, I went from working for a client who categorically refused to let me work from home — even during major transport strikes (I had to go onsite, even if it meant arriving or leaving much earlier or later in the day) (“later” was definitely preferable, of course 🙃) — to being confined at home, with nothing but my laptop connected remotely to my office computer left at the client’s premises.
A few months later, I left that client (🎉) for a start-up that offered me a full-remote position — meaning 100% tele-work.
What a dream!
For several months, I worked from my apartment without feeling any lack of social interaction: first, I don’t live alone, and we organized a few get-togethers with my colleagues to “keep in touch.”
| From urban living to a countryside family life
Then my personal and family situation changed: we moved to the countryside, and my partner and I welcomed a baby girl 👧
This shift had a big impact on the balance I used to have between my personal and professional life. Geographically, we suddenly found ourselves very far from our circle of friends, who had been a pillar of my social well-being. And then the birth of our daughter (as often happens to young parents) isolated us from social events for quite a while (… and to be honest, that’s still the case 😄).
After months living in a “huis clos” in our house, juggling family life on the ground floor and professional life on the first floor — where my office was — I felt a deep need to meet other people. I needed to talk about work, to interact with people still active professionally (the average age of our neighbors is roughly 80) — and where else, if not in a coworking space?
| Coworking, a window to the world
That’s how my adventure with coworking began, and it’s also from that experience that the idea for coworkings.space was born: working remotely and using coworking spaces is a lifestyle, and I never found a platform that gathered information and a community around this way of life — discovering coworking spaces, experiencing remote work peacefully, staying connected to the world, even though our interactions tend to become hyper-digitalized.
I believe deeply in the need for human connection (and I say this even though I thought I was a deeply solitary person — spoiler: I had to move to the middle of the French countryside to find out that I was wrong 😄). This need for social connection is even more vital in an era where digital and virtual interactions flood our daily lives with fake, ultra–AI-formatted exchanges.
So I hope that through this platform (with new features currently in development), I can offer every remote worker, coworker, or anyone curious about this lifestyle, a space for information, connection, and a meaningful community.
