Our newest Member Spotlight focuses on Beau Moffatt of Open Sky Web Studio and his philosophies of creativity and motivation in the workspace. Read on!
Tell me about who you are and what you do here at Society of Work.
My name is Beau Moffatt and my wife Daisy and I operate two businesses out of Society: Open Sky Web Studio and Daisy Moffatt Photography. Open Sky is a distributed web design and digital marketing company and Daisy Moffatt Photography is my wife and I’s photography business that we’ve had for a few years now.
How long have you been at SoW?
We’ve been here since March 2018.
What kind of space do you think best fosters and motivates your work as a creator and as a developer?
I think I work best in a space that allows me to feel like I have freedom. And there are a lot of ways that SoW helps with that. For one, I have windows that allow me to let in light from the outside and on top of that, it’s just a really relaxed space in terms of the people here. I feel like I can leave my office door open pretty much all the time and just engage with people if I’ve got the time and I think that helps me a lot.
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Do you feel like there’s any sense of accountability that comes with working in a space with other freelancers and workers who are also holding themselves to goals and standards?
Yeah that’s exactly how it is. At different stages of my life I’ve worked at coffee shops and different places like that, and it can be really challenging when, while there may be other people in the space working, there are also people who are just sitting around having coffee or talking to someone or whatever. If you happen to strike up a conversation with someone in that setting, it’s hard to exit out of that conversation and be like, “I’ve got to get back to work.” Whereas here, everybody is working — everybody is here because we’re all working — so it’s no problem to duck out of a conversation because you have a phone call you’ve got to go take or something, it’s just expected.
How has having your space here at SoW helped you in your work with Open Sky?
Well first of all, the [gigabit speed] internet is a hugely helpful thing. Also the space has been great for me for just networking and being able to interact with other people throughout a day. I’m not just sitting there by myself. I’ve had an office where I was pretty much the only one there. Even though I was out of the house it was still very isolating. This space has been awesome to be able to take a break — even a short one — and walk away from my computer and talk to somebody who knows your name and you know their name. Psychologically that’s so freeing and makes it easier to then sit down and work for another hour or two straight.
Can you give me a specific example of how your business itself has benefitted from being here at SoW?
Today, actually, I just went and had lunch with another developer who I had met through a [web development] meetup and then found out worked here at SoW and he and I ended up deciding we were going to work on a project together. Those kind of connections just would never happen without us both working here in a space like SoW. You also just get different ideas from interacting with other people — even people in other industries and types of businesses — that kind of accelerate that process of brainstorming through things that you wouldn’t have if you were working with just the same people all the time or by yourself all the time.
How do you foresee you and your wife’s photography business being helped by your SoW space?
I think networking will be a huge part of it. There’s just a huge variety of businesses here and we do commercial photography and headshots and product photography so there’s potential for making networking connections in a variety of industries here at SoW which just kind of acts as a great hub and meeting spot for all of that. Plus just the location — here and Loveman’s are both prime spots in the Innovation District and in Chattanooga in general where you are able to connect with other people and businesses and organizations. It’s so easy to not step out of your office or your building or your place unless you’re really intentional — especially when you’re a small business owner just focused on trying to make it work — you’re going to have a hard time having those interactions unless you’re physically located in a place where you’re going to run into other people. So that’s a huge benefit of SoW not just for our photography business but for any business.
Learn more: https://www.openskywebstudio.com/
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