Women Focused Coworking Center in the Heights Gets Creative — SheSpace is More Than Just Offices

When SheSpace, a female-oriented coworking/networking space in the Lower Heights, opened at the end of November, there was already a handful of occupants plying their wares in the riotously colorful environs. Likewise, special events and exercise classes were already on the books.

Founders Stephanie Tsuru and her daughter-in-law Katie Tsuru could not have been more pleased with the launch or the results of the 6,000 square foot build-out in a spanking new office building on the edge of a shopping center at Studemont and Interstate 10.

The hybrid coworking/meeting/programming space includes an interesting mix of female-oriented opportunities. There are offices of varying sizes, dedicated desks in a communal setting, meeting rooms, a gathering lounge, a podcast studio and even a lactation room.

With a wholly female focus, the set up includes a pop-up shop space for female entrepreneurs to display their work and a bookshop that is home to books authored by women.

Tell tale indicators of the unique aspect of this space are the pink weight bars neatly arranged on shelves in one meeting room and the myriad Internet connections throughout. And then there is the decor done in a bold palette of orange, lime green and pink, the work of the talented Courtnay Tartt Elias’ Creative Tonic Design.

“We did not set out to have offices or to have a coworking space,” Stephanie Tsuru says. Her original vision was to have a congenial place for women to meet for special programs, learning opportunities — for business and for nonprofit efforts.

But the need for a business plan prevailed. As Stephanie Tsuru explains, she is the big idea person, the creative, the risk taker while 34-year-old Katie with a strong business background is the leveler, the grounded partner who keeps the bottom line in mind.

“You have to have a way to support all of this and that is where the coworking comes in,” Stephanie says.

Already, the rent-paying roster includes an interior designer, a dietician, a mixologist, a marketing duo, a real estate agent, writers and a woman in medical sales.

SheSpace is a membership setup with four levels: Community Space ($250 per month), Dedicated Desks ($415 per month), Private Offices (beginning at $825) and She Connects ($30 a month), which gives one access to events and special programming.