Building Community Through the Workplace with Felena Hanson

Startups get the party. Startups get the party started. Startups get the party. Startups get the party started. You want tech and tacos, Tacos and tech you know we got tacos and tech is on smash border green guacamole keeper countins counting beans Contador Quentan frijoles found us trying to raise some queso la vida San Diego school of rappy rapping fire tortillas round jalapenos in these modern times a crappy beer and coffee My coding yoga posse fold the body origami we be surfing coronado eating tacos El gordo, the taco stand in pesto lucha libre and sombrero Got a shout out to cost angels by the ocean Watch the sunset la Hoya shores Entrepreneurs trying to get funded When San Diego Startup Week is popping in the summer Oceanside, the Tijuana esti be full of hustlers from couch surfing to penthouses right on the beach. Tech leaders who who believe stars are within reach we interview and founders who be shooting for the moon. SDTechOS with your host, Neil Bloom. Startups get the party. Startups get the.

Welcome to the Tacos and Tech podcast where we discover cutting edge San Diego technologies and the builders making it happen. I'm your host, Neil Blum, San Diego's tech ambassador, and together you're going to put a face to the name of today's tech leaders with our own blend of local lifestyle.

Startups get the party. Startups get the party started.

Thanks to our friends at Cox Business for being an instrumental resource to our startup and tech community here in San Diego as a partner in San Diego Startup Week, Quick pitch and top tech awards, Cox Business has helped our ecosystem grow into the community it is today.

And welcome back to the Tacos and Tech Podcast. I'm your host, Neal Bloom, and I am thrilled to have Felina Hansen, founder of Hair Hub, on the show. Felina. We go back a few years now being on the board of Startup San Diego together, but even further from you being a pivotal member in the startup and entrepreneurship community of San Diego. So thanks for joining.

Absolutely. Happy to be here, Felina.

Coworking is not just a craze, but during COVID has been pivotal for essential workers. And now we're going to talk about the rise of even more remote workers, you know, going forward in this new economy. So I'm excited to talk about that. But how did you get into this world? How did you get into the coworking space? Where'd you start from?

Yeah, it actually stretches back a decade to 2010. At the time I was running a small marketing consulting firm. I was teaching part time at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, teaching marketing and entrepreneurship just for fun on the side. And was running some events for some of my students to help them network with the community. And. And I needed a space to host a eco fashion show. And I co working space, San Diego's first true co working space had just opened March 2010. Graham Downs and Jason Harper were partners on that business. So I came in, chatted with Jason, he agreed to host the event. We threw this really cool eco fashion event at the Hive downtown San Diego. And it prompted the idea. I went in, saw, you know, they just opened, but they had a few co workers in there and the concept of working alone together really stood out to me. But it was a super cool space. I was living in north park at the time. I still live in north park, so it was close. But Neil, it wasn't quite my tribe, if you will, you know, ping pong table, beer keg, super cool. Probably a little too cool for me frankly. But it prompted the idea. And so I started doing more research on this new trend of coworking spaces. Very different than like the old school executive suite where you just go in and you have your space. This was more, and still is about community. And so started researching. I went to New York, I went to la, I went to San Francisco. I spent four or five months just going to other coworking spaces in other cities and learning and looking for the gaps in the market. So I didn't invent anything new. I just saw a gap in the market and filled it effectively and launched our first location unofficially in April 2011 in a kind of pop up space. And then we got keys and opened doors to our first official location in August 2011.

Wow, that's really cool. You know, just up and starting. That's a big, big thing to walk to the edge and take the leap, you know. And you did that. Were there other things that, that came to mind around how you really were going to jump on this entrepreneurial journey besides that you needed a new space?

Yeah, well, again, I was running a marketing company at the time and you know, that was part of it, needing space for myself and just seeing that need, that sense of community and connection that I was lacking in my own life and so many other women that I knew at the time. I was at that time running an organization called Ladies who Launch, as in launch businesses and doing these incubator intensive workshops and all kinds of different events with different organizations. And so you're right, it was a huge decision. And you know, I left out all the turmoil over the nine months of couldn't get at least to save my life. I got bounced out of two deals in the 11th hour, both up in Tawana beach because that's initially where I thought I wanted to launch. Ended up launching our first base in Sorrento Valley, which worked out great. But yeah, there were definitely points in the process where I'm like, I don't know if I meant to do this. I don't think this is the right path for me because I just kept running into so many roadblocks. But the stars aligned and a hell of a lot of work and you know, finally got that first space. So it's a. We call it a spa inspired shared workspace and business accelerator. We are female focused, but certainly not exclusive to women. We say of course gender inclusive. So we have men in our community as well who enjoy the environment and the strong sense of community support and education.

And niche is kind of the name of the game now. Right. Because coworking is kind of everywhere. And you've been that from the beginning. Right. Maybe not as niche, but a focus. Right. Which definitely has helped your community grow. You probably are also maybe the longest running coworking space in San Diego now.

Definitely. Yes, we are the longest running coworking space race in San Diego. I feel like slow and steady wins the race.

Yeah, I mean the industry really kind of grew up around you. You know, the craze came, came later and you stand to benefit from it. What has that been like, seeing co working? I mean, first it was probably had other names even. I'm sure as you've even heard, co working now is the de facto. But what's the industry been like, seeing it grow up and more people lean into it?

Yeah, it's been interesting for sure. I mean, it's always. Since I came into it, it's always been co working PS Without a hyphen. True co working advocates go crazy when they see a hyphen and co working. It's a silly, just inside joke. But yeah, I mean, definitely. You know what's ironic, Neil, is Regis argues that they've been co working forever and ever. But again, the defining line is you go to Regis for privacy, you go to a co for a community. At least that's what most co working spaces that are true co working spaces focus on. So it has been a little different with the pandemic. The fact that, you know, we're not supposed to be socializing. You know, we were doing two to three events a day in person, you know, weekdays in each of our locations, you know, mentoring and education and networking, and. And we had to, on a dime in mid March, put all of that online. And we've been doing and keeping up with that. Two to three events a day online, every weekday. It has been interesting for the coworking community in general because to your point, some have not been willing to pivot like that. Some have just said. And some of my arguably competitors, if you will, two companies, the Wing and the Riveter, who both opened in 2016, well, after we did, we'd already expanded nationally and internationally at that point. They raised, you know, on the low end, 50 million ish for the riveter and I think about 150 million for the wing. They both expanded to about eight locations, and they both threw in their cards, you know, one in April. And the Wing does not look like they're going to be reopening. So when you talk about venture and you talk about money, you know, raising capital and what you're using that money for, and I'm sure you've had a million of these conversations, Neal. It's like sometimes I think, you know, you get flush with money and you've got to grow, grow, grow. But are you doing it in the smartest way? And we just really lean and mean from day one and continued with that through Covid and have been able to make it through and be that rock for our members who come in and say, oh, my gosh, you are my lifeline. If I couldn't get out of the house at least one or two days a week and be in this beautiful, tranquil sanctuary, I would have lost it by now.

Interesting. Have you seen a bit of a rise of a virtual community come out of this, like, where people are looking to augment too, with her hub?

Absolutely. Yeah. Huge. And, you know, we've continued to change. We've been very focused on, you know, global community and connecting our members, but yet at the same time focusing on the space itself and getting people in the space and networking in the space. And, you know, finally, just recently, we said, okay, this is not going away soon. I think everybody's starting to like, maybe I was late to that party. But, you know, it's like, okay, we're not going back to quote, unquote, normal as far as events goes and getting people in the space. So we've just folded our. All our. The six locations that we have together into one group, one calendar, one, you know, so on and so forth to really leverage because people have been connecting on our daily events from D.C. to Temecula, for example, so we're really looking to accelerate that. And I finally gave in and launched a virtual membership because I've been so adamant that, you know, it's the space that separates us, and it still is. But I have so many members who used to be members, they moved away. There's no hara hub in their city. And they're like, I want this sense of community more than ever.

Oh, that's awesome. Well, I'm glad you're leaning in and being flexible and nimble as a good entrepreneur that you are. Your community is obviously made up of women entrepreneurs. Right. That is a huge base of that. And over, what, 10 years or longer, you've been watching companies kind of be born inside hera hub, which has been kind of cool. Right. You've gotten to see them grow up and grow out, but still stay connected in some way or another. So you've seen so many entrepreneurs that come through. Do you see some trends? Do you see a few things around, you know, common pitfalls that early entrepreneurs have and then other. I'm curious also the strengths that like, kind of give them superpowers that you're not seeing elsewhere.

Yeah, I mean, the superpower, I think, is community. I mean, because we are female focused women, frankly. You know, we're natural connectors. We're natural community builders. And there's a lot of awesome men out there that are as well. But I think inherently in women, you know, we. We seek that connection and community where I know some. Some guys that are like, leave me in my den. I'm good. I don't want to ever. My boyfriend, for example, total introvert. Like, he never wants to leave the house. He's like, so excited about COVID where, you know, so many women I know are like, going nuts. I mean, just this, you know, not having that opportunity to really connect with somebody. So I think that's part of the superpower is, you know, just women are natural connectors. We're always looking for those opportunities to connect each other and support each other. That has been a big part of what's built our community, frankly. And like I said, if a gentleman wants to come along in that journey, that is awesome too. You don't have to be anti man to be pro women, frankly. Obviously. Right. I mean, it's really about creating that safe, supportive culture where an entrepreneur can say, I don't know what the heck I'm doing. I need help, I need support. And in some environments, you know, where it's like, I got this, I'm good. You know, you know, having that, those barriers broken down and having that environment to say I need help, I need support is really important for entrepreneurs. We have seen a lot of companies come through and outgrow us, which we certainly celebrate. But by and large, Neil, our members are different than a lot of other co working spaces. It's follows the national statistics, good or bad. The stats are 87% of women owned businesses have zero full time employees in the United States. So that tells you, you know, there's a heck of a lot of solopreneurs out there. And that's primarily the demographic we serve a lot of professional service providers, attorneys, CPAs, folks in marketing, nonprofits, social enterprises, business coaches, consultants, those types of things. Those people that, you know, they aren't trying to start the next Airbnb and raise $1 billion. They, you know, they've left corporate. They want to have an impact on their community. They want their work to be meaningful. And so they left corporate because they were tired of bullshit politics that they were experiencing or we've done surveys and that is the number one reason why our members have left corporate is because they didn't feel like the work they were doing had meaning. And it wasn't work. Life balance, although that's part of it for a lot of entrepreneurs, but it was that impact piece that was most important to them.

And so with COVID changing kind of that landscape, are you seeing an uptick in these solopreneurs coming out? Are people starting more businesses?

I'm seeing it a bit. I think it's going to take a little time. I think people are still a little shell shocked, to be honest.

Yeah.

But I think, I mean I started back in 2010 when we were coming out of 08 and that's what we saw. We didn't see it right away, but 2009, 2010, a lot of people said, you know what, I got laid off and I don't want to go back. I want to have impact. I want to create something that's meaningful for myself and my community. And so I think we will continue to see folks jumping into the entrepreneurial fray here in the upcoming months.

Yeah, the statistics nationally show that a lot of people started things during 08 to 2012. Both like hyper growth tech, but also just change begets change. Right. So things are up in the air. Maybe now's the time so I'm hopeful for that as well. But you're right, like it's still this big uncertainty. Every day seems uncertain. Like, what government order is coming down? What's that going to do to the places that we hang out, eat, let alone work? How do you, as an entrepreneur, like, how do you plan 2021 with all that uncertainty kind of lingering and hanging over that?

You know, it's funny you say that, Neil, because I'm a huge planner. I love planning and that's what this year has taught me, you know, to live in the moment a little bit more and kind of go day by day, to be honest. You know, we do have growth plans in 2021. It's some of the things that we've been working on in the last year. And I'm excited to make that announcement hopefully soon, as soon as the ink dries, so to speak, on growing into new cities here in California and beyond and other parts of the country as well. So I think we are poised, I mean, again, that lean and mean. We just got really lean at the beginning of COVID and have really just been very scrappy, making sure that we stay afloat for our members in our community who need us. And I do see that 2021, lots of folks I know abandoned their office, right? Small companies, mid sized companies, they just said, you know what? We Covid proved we don't need this. But working at home all day, every day, month over month, especially with distance learning happening in a lot of these households and, you know, partners or spouses being, you know, also sucking up all the bandwidth in your house, having options. That's why co working, I think has been so popular over the last decade and will continue to be popular. It's about options. It's not going into the office every single day. It's not about working from home every single day. It's about having that opportunity to have connection, have community. Some people call co working and they've been talking about this for years, the new church, because we've moved away from some of those more traditional churches and those types of things. And, you know, where do people find community in real life beyond just kind of the facade of Facebook or Instagram, where we feel like we're connected, but we're not really connected. So I think co working will play a huge role in the economic recovery and helping new entrepreneurs launch and helping those folks that have their company has abandoned their office give them options.

I love that. That's really cool to see. That'll be a good trend to Watch continuously. Do you want to call out all the locations you have just so that our listeners know everywhere that they can find a HERA hub?

Sure, yeah. So Mission Valley, Soreno Valley and Carlsbad are three. Here in San Diego county, we choose locations not in downtown San Diego, like a lot of the co working spaces do. We look for spaces that are easy to access, where parking is free, that are, you know, really central to where people actually live and where they will go. We also have a location up in Irvine, South Irvine off of Bake Parkway, right off the freeway again, Temecula. And also all the way on the East Coast, Washington D.C. that's great.

Okay, awesome. We'll have to make sure separately, our fresh squeezetech OC community knows about Harahub as well. So, last question. It's the hardest question of them all. Your favorite taco spot. The people got to know. You know, you're all around town, you know, from South south county to north county because you're, you know, you're part of those communities there. Where's your go to?

So I live in North Perk and I have to say city tacos on University is my favorite. It reminds me I haven't been there in a couple months. I need to head over there and get some pickups.

Yeah, that's a good one. They're expanding throughout town too, so now you're able to find city tacos throughout. They've got one near me and Encinitas too.

Awesome.

Well, Felina, thanks so much not for just being on this podcast, but for, you know, a decade's dedication to our entrepreneurship community. It's been a pleasure working with you on the Startup San Diego board as well too. But I'm really excited for what you've got to stand to gain from 2021. Hopefully this rise of remote work that you led the charge of in San Diego continues to rise. So thanks again for being on the podcast.

Thank you, Neil.

Thanks for joining us on the Tacos and Tech podcast with Neil Bloom. Thanks again to Cox Business for helping make this possible by expanding the reach of the San Diego tech ecosystem. Big shout out to School of Rap for our rad intro musician. And thanks as well to Nest Podcast Network where we are recording live inside their studio at Nest coworking in Bankers Hill. You can find Neil Bloom on Twitter neilbloom as well as Fresh brewed Tech and tacos and Tech Pod on Twitter too.

Startups get the party. Startups get the party started. You want tech and tacos, tacos in tech, you know we got it.

Hey.