Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathy Thomas.
Hi Kathy, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
After 15 years as a multi-store director in retail, I decided to pursue a dream of becoming a photographer. It wasn’t long after leaving my career in retail. I quickly discovered the burden that came with working from home. Working alone, without community, accountability, and peers, I moved into a small mixed space office with other event professionals. This move catapulted my photography career and gave me the exposure I needed to scale my business.
A move to Nashville left me without an office, and I was quick to pursue a location that both fit my brand while providing me with all the benefits and community I had in Orlando. I learned that though Nashville was filled with talented, drive, and successful female business owners, many of them too were working from home. I then dove into searching for the perfect office space that would reflect me as a business owner. I found many of the coworking spaces available in Nashville had heavy male makeup, didn’t reflect me as a woman, and didn’t compliment my brand.
I began my journey to find the perfect location that wouldn’t only serve women in business and provide an ecosystem of service providers that would make life easier and better for women in business. After a long search for the right space, I came across L&L Market, which was in the early phases of rehabbing an old hosiery factory. I couldn’t think of a better space to call Collective615 home.
We began with a small 600 sq ft space. As soon as the word got out, I knew I would need a larger space if I were going to provide all the essentials women need to be successful in business, so it wasn’t long before I added to the space, leaving us at the end with a total of approx 3600 sq ft.
Today Collective615, after opening our doors weeks before the pandemic hit, has hosted over 269 members; today, we have an active 109 members with an average of 30 drop-in members a month from all over the world. We host educational training, keynote speakers, book launches, and so much more.
Our goal is to provide exposure, eductions and drive revenue for our members. YTD, we have accomplished that by having over a 1.2million in B-2-B amongst our members.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We opened the first week of Feb, to then quickly five weeks later close our doors due to the pandemic. This was not only one of the biggest challenges we would ever face, but we had to navigate running a coworking space in a world forcing people to avoid in-person connection.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are a coworking space for women while also providing education for all and space for members and non-members to celebrate intimate milestones. We pride ourselves in creating a coworking community that fosters B-2-B amongst the members and the Nashville community.
Our space isn’t only beautiful and inspiring, but it is equipped to make business life better for women; At the same time, we also thrive in an ecosystem of other service providers that make life easier for women both professionally and personally.
How do you think about happiness?
Connecting people. I truly believe when you surround yourself with a community of like-minded people, there isn’t anything you can’t accomplish. Women need a support system both personally and professionally. It brings me so much joy to see our members referring each other to business, mentoring each other, cheering each other on, and educating one another.
My happiness in business is driven by seeing women work together to grow, scale and overcome obstacles. My personal joy is having a room full of talented and inspiring women my 9-year-old daughter Stella can look up to and aspire to be.
Pricing:
- Memberships start at $140 a month
- Drop-in for the day $30
- Rent our space for your next meeting or intimate event starting at $100 an hour
Contact Info:
- Email: CONNECT@COLLECTIVE615.COM
- Website: collective615.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collective615/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Collective615
