By Srianthi Perera, Tribune Staff Writer. Read original article here.
Gilbert’s Heritage District offers many warm and inviting spaces to be gregarious over a glass of wine or work in solitude with a laptop.
A new space, yet to open, will create an ideal environment for both occasions, but with one difference.
Thrive is a 2,500 square feet co-working space just for women, on the second floor of Building 313, which will also house ticketing company TicketForce.
It’s the brainchild entrepreneur Lynne King Smith, who together with husband Brad, founded the successful ticketing business in their Gilbert garage more than a decade ago.
From the outset, King Smith said that the new building will be important to women – invitees to the groundbreaking donned pink hard hats to illustrate the point.
Their daughter, Braelyn Jane Smith, will oversee Thrive when it opens sometime later this year.
Braelyn Jane Smith recently earned a bachelors degree in fine arts specializing in graphic design from the University of Arizona and cut her teeth in the industry by working for a co-working space in Tucson.
She promises the facility will be “warm, inviting and comfortable” with a “Modern bohemian” décor, which features textures and warmth.
Coworking spaces are “quite modern, and to me, that just seems a bit cold or uninviting,” she said. “Since we are creating a space for women, I wanted it to be warm and welcoming, and a large part of how we are doing that is through the decor. When you walk through the door, we don’t want you to feel like you’re at a corporate office, but rather in another room in your home.”
Thrive’s ideal client is a working professional woman who lives in the area, Braelyn Jane Smith said. It would especially suit women in technology, entrepreneurs and telecommuters.
What does Thrive represent to her?
“Thrive represents the future, one in which women are treated equally and our daughters can grow up in a world where woman can be anything they want without judgment,” she said. “It frustrates me greatly when I think about all the progress we still need to achieve as women, especially in the business world, and I think Thrive is an answer to that frustration. When we help each other succeed, as women, we all succeed in return. That is why we’ve created Thrive.”
The benefits of coworking are many. Besides coffee and wine, Thrive will offer access to seminars, classes, technologies and collaboration.
And when work frustrates, you don’t have to vent your concerns to the cat or talk to yourself: there will other women hopefully able to help or at least lend a sympathetic ear.
Annual memberships to Thrive will cost $400 and include access to events, classes, workshops, happy hours, retreats and reduced rates for conference room and event space rentals. The facility, at 313 N. Gilbert Road, in Downtown Gilbert, will be available around the clock to members with desks or offices.
To book a tour or get on the waitlist, write to braelyn@thriveaz.com or visit thriveaz.com.