Julia at a Glance
Profession: Founder & Keeper of Cowork Frederick, small-town real estate mogul
Contact Info: julia@coworkfrederick.com
Personal Motto: “You know what doesn’t get something done? Thinking about it. Talking about it. You know what does? Doing it. JFDI!”
Why she chooses to cowork: Because only at Cowork Frederick can she feed her hunger to create by building a better place to work and a community of people to work around. Better yet, she can do all that with others collaboratively.
Running a Member-led Workspace
As a founder and keeper of Cowork Frederick Julia Ferguson juggles an almost inexhaustible number of roles. She handles everything from bookkeeping to event planning, marketing and content creation. Like most small business owners, her list of tasks is neverending, but Julia does more than run a productive workspace for teleworkers, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and freelancers. At the heart of her mission is the desire to see people from all walks of life connect, grow, and thrive through building a supportive, engaging community.
Thinking BIG at Cowork Frederick
When Cowork Frederick opened its doors seven years ago Julia knew it had a mission that reached beyond its members. She wanted a way to create connections between people and ideas. That vision has taken shape in the Cowork Frederick Foundation which is set to launch in 2020.
Julia has big ideas for the foundation that include an Immersion Program to assist start-up companies (both nonprofit and for profit), a new speaker series that will be open to the public as well as Cowork Frederick members, and opportunities to foster connections between creatives and businesses. The Immersion Program will provide free and reduced rate memberships to start-ups that have passed through a voting process handled by Cowork Frederick members. Julia notes that, “Starting any business is hard. So being able to have a place to work and be around businesses [operating] at all different levels is huge.”
On Always Moving Forward
With a driven nature Julia is always pushing forward and encouraging others to do the same. She even created a Slack channel called #one-thing for Cowork Frederick where members can share the one item on their day’s to-do list that will push them closer to their goals. Having worked as an employee at a company before starting Cowork Frederick, Julia knows that creating and sustaining goals takes a lot more intention for freelancers and small business owners. She says,
“When you strike out on your own, you typically have goals set for your new business, but it’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind. You spend your time working in the business instead of on the business. It’s very important to lift your head up and look around, to think about where you’re going – and where you want to go. Establish goals and then make sure your daily work moves you in the right direction.”
Of course nothing worth having comes easy. Motivation comes and goes. Obstacles spring up where you least expect them. Julia credits her tenacious nature as her secret weapon against the unexpected, driving her to explore every possibility until she finds a solution.
Julia’s Tips for Being a Top Notch Negotiator
- Have a clear understanding of where you want to get in the negotiation.
- Really understand what the other person is trying to get.
- Find the commonality between both of your end goals. A lot of times things don’t happen because one or both parties can’t see the end goal
- Be willing to explore all of the paths that get there. Be willing to compromise, but look for the other person to give too. You both give.
- Don’t speak too soon. It’s okay to extend an olive branch and offer something, but you have to be willing to wait for an answer.
- Go into this assuming good intent on BOTH sides. Make it friendly. Be open-minded, and let them help you find the path together.