25 Jan A Place For Women To Bloom In The Desert
A Place For Women To Bloom In The Desert
If you liked the look of Bloom in my co-working round-up earlier this week, you’ll love the philosophy that inspired it. I sat down with co-founders Chelli and Ginger to talk about how this space came about, and what it means for the women who created it.
What inspired you to open Bloom?
A woman’s co-working space in Mill Valley, CA, where I [Chelli] lived prior to moving to Las Vegas in 2014. I was working from home as a strategic consultant with clients in other cities and was having almost no face to face interaction, so I started looking for a co-working space like The Hivery. I couldn’t find anything and then thought: opportunity.
Why was it important to make it a space for women specifically?
We bonded over lamenting how hard it is to meet women in Las Vegas and as we have gotten older. We wanted to create a special place for women to connect, to knock off their to-do lists, to work on their side hustles, and to crowdsource solutions to their problems. We believe a community of women supporting each other is formidable, a safe place to be who they are and create their best lives.
How did you know it was the right moment to open a space like this in Las Vegas?
With the rise of co-working spaces designed for women in places like NYC and San Francisco, we believed that Las Vegas needed to be on the forefront. This city was created by women, whether showgirls, cocktail servers, or entertainers. Women have been an integral part of the allure and success of Las Vegas. We felt it was time for Las Vegas to have a place where women could work together, build their businesses, or create while also connecting each other to resources and ideas.
Tell us about the names you gave to some of the rooms inside Bloom.
We worked closely for seven weeks with a branding strategist to clearly define our core values: authenticity, inspiration, wisdom, resilience, and ease. We ensured that they were prevalent throughout Bloom whether in space design, website, and flexibility of membership.
Tell us how you went about designing the functionality of the space, and balancing that with the aesthetics.
We worked closely with our designer Heather Soto of Inhabit Design to create a space that was filled with light and beauty, but was also functional and conducive to focus, creation, and ultimately execution of ideas.
How did you make the space neutral enough to welcome many different women while still cultivating creativity and flow?
We created a place that we would love to work in and hoped that other women would feel the same. So far the feedback has been nothing but positive.
What can women expect when they join Bloom?
A beautiful place to feel at home, to be themselves, to focus on what they want to accomplish, and to connect with other like-minded women. A place to look forward to going to, to accomplish what feeds their souls. They’ll also have access to all of our amenities including support from our community manager, free wifi, conference rooms fully equipped for A/V, access to the membership directory, free coffee and tea, and so much more.
How is Bloom different from other co-working spaces?
We created Bloom to be more than a co-working space, a beautiful place to connect with other women, to learn life and business hacks, to support each woman’s journey to living their best lives. We aren’t about ping ping tables and large open spaces with people tapping away at their laptops with headphones on. That already exists here in Las Vegas. We are about fulfillment and honestly, about pleasure as well. It’s a visually beautiful place on purpose, we want work to be pleasurable, enjoyable.
What future do you envision for the Bloom community?
Another location, reciprocity between the locations, and becoming the place that Las Vegas women feel they must belong because of the strength and influence of our community.
Tell us about Bloom’s involvement in the community.
Bloom supports Junior League by hosting meetings free of charge. We also have strong ties to Safe Nest and Dress for Success and we are looking to build programs that support women who need it the most.
Do men have a role at Bloom? If so, what is it?
Men are welcome to join any of our members in meetings or at events. We love men at Bloom, we just chose to design Bloom for women. Given everything that is going on in the media lately, we think we made the right choice.