Meet James from The Settlement Coworking 

Is traffic getting in the way of your daily grind? At The Settlement, the only congestion you'll navigate each morning are all the ideas and possibilities streaming into your head.

The Settlement is everything people love about working in Wellington, without all the things they hate. This lush modern workspace promotes contemporary ways of working, allowing businesses to be surrounded by open minds, aspiration and innovation at every turn.

We catch up with James this month to chat about his journey setting up The Settlement, Hutt Valley and Porirua's first dedicated coworking spaces. 

What inspired you to set up your own coworking space and what was the process like for you?

As designers, Meredith and I have always shared spaces with other creatives. Once we had our boys Fred and Otto, we wanted to be closer to home, we left the CBD to save the commute time and also the costs associated with that.

We set up our studio in Petone 5 years ago and it soon became clear that there was a need for a space that catered for individuals and small businesses amongst the retail, large commercial and office buildings located here.

Has has the journey been from open day to now?

The journey so far has been really exciting. From the get go it has been so much fun - finding the right space, transforming it and fitting it out, working on the branding and marketing. And most of all meeting all of the amazing people we get to work with and host each and every day.  

What is your favourite part of the space and why?

Definitely the natural light, we have large windows on 3 aspects of the space and the high sawtooth ceiling and stud adds such character and an open, inspiring feel.        

Tell us a bit about the other ventures you are also involved with?

We have a Graphic Design and Marketing Studio called Scratch Design and Meredith works in Fashion as a Stylist in her business StyleCode. We both love helping people and making things look good!  

Can you describe the community and types of businesses within your space? 

The aesthetics of the space is really calm, clean and airy. We often have people comment on what a chilled environment it is. They also remark how productive they find themselves! 

Being city fringe, we have attracted a number of established small businesses, freelancers and consultants located out this way - previous working from home or small office on their own. It is very diverse with no one business doing the same as another. This diversity makes it a really interesting and fun environment to work in.

There is a great sense of community and camaraderie, we have attracted and continue to attract great people! 

What are some of the things you do to encourage collaboration? 

I bake home-made cheese scones in the kitchen each fortnight - regular and gluten free ones, which are a massive hit! We make coffee and all catch up. Every month we have a drink on a Friday and put on good food. We also host regular guest speakers, workshops and gatherings alongside out regional partners - Creative HQ, 1st Assembly and WREDA.

We both love learning and it is really important to us what we engage some really inspiring people to come and share their knowledge with our community.    

If you could pick any 3 people in the world to work in your space, who would it be and why?

Oooh, nice question... hmmmm -

Rod Drury - Founder of Xero. Cool, humble guy and super onto it businessman who also likes to enjoy a beer and a surf.

Brene Brown - Researcher and Professor, writer of "Daring Greatly" and "Rising Strong" for some very witty, thought provoking and life changing water-cooler chat.

And... how about Michael McIntyre for a good old laugh.  

What tips would you pass on to someone thinking about starting their own coworking space?

Research your desired area, identify your target market, consider alliances and location is key. 

Can you describe your life outside of work?

We live by the mantra "make memories". Our time outside of work is spent doing just that, we love to be on the water in Summer and on the mountain in Winter.

Having two boys, we think it is really important to encourage and foster their dreams, so you will also find us doing some Hip Hop, playing Basketball and hitting the skate park! We also like to travel, love a road trip and taking time to see our beautiful country. 

What are the most played songs in your office playlist?

We were super lucky that one of our original members is a DJ so he curated numerous playlists for us designed for certain days, times and moods. The 'Late Night Settler" goes down a treat for those on the night shift!

Interested in joining the fantastic community at The Settlement? Click here to view their listing on Sharedspace.co.nz for more details.