OMG its November!

I feel like I might have started most of these newsletters this year with the old “can you believe that it”s March/June/August/Spring already!!!!”

But, can you believe it’s the middle of November already??????

Before this year is out WorkLife has the following bumper program on offer in our spaces- make sure to make the most of the momentum and follow the links below.
—
PICTON: Picton Creatives Workshop/ Startup Sparks Workshop (for 15-18 year old budding entrepreneurs)/ Summer Makers Markets
COLEDALE/ Coledale Waves Fun-Raiser/ Summer Makers Markets
BERRY/ SocialLife relaunches as Tara Tasting Room & Distillery @ SocialLife/ Summer Makers Markets & Berry Merry Christmas Parade

AND if you would like to host a Team planning day/ Christmas event or Client in-person meeting- we would love to help you with venue/catering/IT and ideas for perfectly pitched activities or dining options in the Picton/Berry or Coledale areas.

So, back to this small matter of the second half of November…..what a roller coaster of a year, again, it has been. Another (smaller) Covid wave, just in-time to wobble summer plans, Another (hopefully the last) interest rate hike, the (hovering) threat of a hot and dry summer and the associated pings of the fires near me app to punctuate the torrent of Digital noise in your inbox.

So if you are here with me. Thanks. Thanks for taking a moment to look into the headspace of a small business person with curiosity. Thanks for peering under the hood of a stubborn, optimistic, determined and patient network of Regional Coworking spaces just waiting for their time to come. Thanks for tapping into the temperature test/ thinking out loud/sharing our journey confessional that this monthly e-newsletter has morphed into 😉

I know I’m not alone in this mind-game that the small business community has been playing with itself for what is coming up to 4 years. If we can just hang on till XX then things will XX (go back to normal/ finally take off/ right themselves again). I hear those stories over and over again among our members in Berry, Picton & Coledale.

Because, surely, it is coming- if I just get to the end of XXXX.(insert next milestone/season/time).

Despite the mind games we all play with ourselves to drag our feet through the tough times, I’m not so sure that the normal is returning. The last few years have changed the way that we work forever (hallelujah to that!). Pandemics haven’t ever really had a habit of dissipating in a few years. Peace (not war) is the historical anomaly. Disruptive change has always made a habit of being disruptive. And droughts tend to make a habit of following flooding rains.

So this summer, make sure you take a moment to reward that delusional optimism that keeps your small business communities striving onwards against all the odds. Shop local with pride. Make a referral. Spend 5 minutes leaving a superlative review. Hell- we would LOVE one if you have a moment 😉

And if you can’t really afford to wait until school/work goes back in February next year to reclaim the balance, productivity and community connection you crave to do your best work- then don’t wait. It’s time to escape the Groundhog Day, step into a space designed for focus and making friends.

Wishing you the very best of the mad-sprint to the finish season,

We’ve got this- and if we can just get to Christmas in one piece, then 2024 is looking GREAT!

Kate Dezarnaulds