Shelley Delayne Talks about Orange Coworking
Where are you from
originally?
St.
Louis, Missouri. (Born and raised; 4th generation St. Louisian! Have also live
in Kansas City, Santa Fe, NM and Los Angeles)
What university did you go
to?
Avila
College in Kansas City, briefly.
What brought you to Austin?
When
our daughter was born, we knew we wanted to raise her in Austin, near my
husband's family.
What is your group’s mission?
To
connect and support entrepreneurs, whatever their stage of business, by
providing a professional, flexible workspace with events, networking, and
resources.
What need does it fulfill?
Entrepreneurs
are cut from a slightly different bolt of cloth than everyone else. And
starting, running, and growing a business has many challenges. Having a
community of like-minded folks around you makes entrepreneurship better, more
fun, and more successful.
What exactly does it bring to
startups?
Membership-based
shared flexible work space with ergonomic furniture and fiber internet, meeting
rooms, classes, and connections.
What type of startup would
benefit from your group?
Any
startup needing a place to focus, whether by themselves, with a small team, or
with clients.
What was the most challenging
aspect of starting up the initiative?
The most challenging aspect, so far, was finding an appropriate location with sufficient parking, good local businesses nearby. Once we found the location, it's all been a lot of work, getting to opening, but it's all gone fairly smoothly.
What advice do you have for
entrepreneurs?
Magic
happens when entrepreneurs come together in real time, in real places. Get out
of your solo office, get out of your house, stop trying to work at Starbucks.
Whether it's at our space or another (there are lots in Austin!), give
coworking a try. Let yourself be surrounded by other entrepreneurs and
independent professionals, and see how that positively impacts your business.
What Austin-based resource
have you found to be the most helpful and why?
So
many resources have been helpful to me. The first two I think of: the BizOpen
program (permitting guidance from retired city employees) has been incredibly
helpful. My mentor from SCORE (Celia Bell) is a wealth of knowledge and
support.
