In December of 2009, Angel Kwiatkowski and a few other industrious souls began gathering in a donated reception area once a week to try out a new notion known as coworking. Within five weeks, all fourteen available chairs were occupied, and they’d managed to “break the internet.”
Just a few months later, Cohere Coworking was officially launched in a small building in Old Town Fort Collins. That original building left something to be desired. The walls were thin, the floors slanted, and it smelled a bit like a fish tank. Fortunately for us, coworking was never really about the place—it’s about people.
Interested in learning more about how our community can support you as an entrepreneur or remote worker? Sign up for a tour today!
At its core, coworking is about community and collaboration, made possible by openness, accessibility, and sustainability. Angel readily inspires the values that make coworking the unparalleled tool of productivity that it is, so despite humble beginnings, the friendship-based coworking community thrived. In 2012, Cohere moved into its current location at 418 S Howes, a historic building as beautiful and quirky as the community it has nurtured over the last decade.
Earlier this month, Coherians and family members marked a dozen years of community and coworking together with an extra festive happy hour. Music from a playlist made up of songs from 2010 drifted over the group as we gathered around tasty drinks and delicious snacks in our kitchen area. Community members, both old and new, joined in the celebration, and we spoke fondly of those who couldn’t be there.
Cohere isn’t just a coworking space, it’s a coworking community. Online productivity groups, monthly ultracoworking sessions, and frequent virtual work sprints help keep members connected from where ever they are!
Distant but interested? Sign up for a virtual tour!
Coworkers from Cohere’s early days shared stories of the original space, reminiscing about funky holiday decorations and working pajama parties, and newer members revealed some of their hopes and dreams. The conversation was captivating and wide-ranging, moving through an incredible number of subjects. We discussed world events, pets, projects, relationships, roller derby, home decorating, and the creation of alphabetization—the kinds of conversations that happen when everyone knows they are in an open and accepting environment.
While coworking absolutely inspires productivity, that isn’t its greatest asset. The value of a coworking community is more clearly seen in the bonds it engenders between members. The bonds we create at Cohere not only elevate our business efforts but also give us the support we need to better weather difficult circumstances and a group of enthusiastic individuals we can share our successes with.