Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy King.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was never one of those people who knew what they wanted to do from the time of childhood and my resume does not fit neatly into one sector or calling. I got a liberal arts education that included studying abroad in France and an incredible student crew position at the Southern AZ PBS station. And from graduation on, I just used my gut to guide me on career decisions. That has served me well for 20+ years, and although it hasn’t been an easy road, it’s been a memorable adventure so far.
I’ve had multiple deep dives into different industries that include advertising, film / TV, organizational development, brand strategy when an overarching focus on sustainability and storytelling. I love launching things with big impact and love building community throughout. Supporting others in their business and social impact dreams has been part of the picture.
My career started in NYC, and while I thought I was only temping for the summer, I landed a job working for the head creative at McCann Erickson. I moved into art buying, which is print advertising production. Then I joined Grey Advertising to get into TV and then went back to McCann where I worked my way into an Assistant Producer role. I was placed in the beauty groups, which involved a lot of “hair flip” and makeup commercials, which definitely were not me. I raised my hand to produce a PSA for the Fire Department of NY, which landed me a promotion and allowed me to segue into more purpose-driven ad work. I decided to go LA and freelance. I was soon engaged in doing music videos for a few years, then landed some film festival work for HBO. My experience around 9/11 was eye-opening, having attended the MTV Video Music Awards in NYC days before 9/11, and I, fortunately, changed my ticket after days of rock star-level partying, to go home early. I’m pretty sure that I was booked on one of the planes that crashed during 9/11 and the chock of that experience caused me to prioritize my health; returning home was lifesaving. I knew after surviving 9/11 that I wanted to give back through my career. I got the opportunity to move to the DC area to help AFI launch their first year of SILVERDOCS: AFI/ Discovery Channel Documentary Festival, which set me on a different path. We grew this festival into the preeminent documentary event and conference, and I helped to grow the documentary community. I also pushed our festival to become the first carbon-neutral doc fest in North America, way before ESG was a “thing.”
I decided to leave the film and tv world, I did some soul-searching and I intuitively knew that social and environmental responsibility were my career calling. I landed a community position at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a rapidly growing NGO with an entrepreneurial spirit, whose mission was to transform the built environment. The role was a mix of community building, social equity engagement, marketing /communications, and organizational development and I absolutely loved it. The community of committed volunteers was like nothing I had ever encountered. They were giving dozens of hours a month to advance the mission of USGBC and the LEED rating system, both at the national and local level. I learned so much about myself during this era. Along the path of that experience, I also discovered coworking as a concept and it was a huge lightbulb moment for my career. I just knew that someday I was going to open a space with the foundation of social and environmental impact.
Opportunity manifested when I met my life partner at the Living Future conference in Vancouver and decided to leave USGBC to move to Texas, years before the era of remote work. There were not many Corporate Social Responsibility or Sustainability roles, and the term ESG did not exist in 2013, so out of necessity, I started doing brand strategy consulting for social enterprises. I networked and began developing my coworking concept. Then I met my business partner in 2014 while consulting for his contract furniture startup. As a consequence, he bought the building that would house our new coworking brand, Good Coworking.
During the course of the next 5 years, I built a great team and remarkable community of change-makers and created the first LEED Gold-certified, solar-powered coworking space in the world focused on inclusive sustainability. I continue to push my peers in the growing coworking industry to embrace sustainable, inclusive features for their coworking brands, and I love showing up every day at my community. I’m working on being more profitable, as proof of concept for the triple bottom line, where equal emphasis on people, planet, and profit can make for a thriving business model. Sometimes it is more expensive to do the right thing for people’s health and the environment, but it is worth it. After all, what price do you put on your health and well-being? If every business could start taking steps toward being a triple-bottom line business, we would be further along combatting climate change and would be offering more fulfilling and sustainable roles for the talent that demands them. I truly believe in the power of business to effect change.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I would say that as a Gen X woman who was always trying to break the glass ceiling, I could have done a better job proactively seeking out mentorship. Maybe it would have helped me advance to the C-Suite quicker. Over the years, I have had a few strong female bosses, but also encountered a lot of female executives who had the “Queen Bee Syndrome,” where they thought they needed to protect their seat as the only seat at the table for women. This mentality has mostly changed, and now good leaders just create more seats and lift up other women. I also switched industries several times, so I had to start over in terms of connections and mentorship support. If I could do it over, it’s easy to think that I should have stuck with one industry for my whole career, but I that just isn’t my nature. I am a builder and a seeker. I’d say my other struggle was that I self-medicated with alcohol for the first half of my adult life. Deciding to get sober was the best life decision that I ever made. It has opened so many doors to me and I know that I wouldn’t be able to be a business owner and maintain a healthy relationship, had I not taken that step.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I’m the Co-Founder of Good Coworking, an award-winning coworking space in the Cedars, just South of Deep Ellum. Our mission is to model and grow a responsible business culture that has a net positive impact in the world.
We are a welcoming, inclusive community of creatives, impact-focused entrepreneurs, non-profits, and more. We prioritize the health of people and the planet, so our building is LEED Gold certified, and City of Dallas Green Business Platinum and SUPER (Single Use Plastic Elimination and Reduction) Bronze certified.
Our people love the community because the building has great air quality and daylight, which makes for more productivity and better health. We also provide stellar hospitality, so people always feel welcome and appreciated. You will notice the difference from other spaces the moment you walk in and see all the plants, and easy-going friendly people.
Our membership offerings range from the affordable 10-day pass that you can use in the course of a month or a year, during weekdays. You can also get a virtual address membership so that your small business has a professional address to accept your mail. We offer various options for access to our shared workspaces, where you can either have weekday/daytime access or 24/7 access. And if you want more of a commitment, you can get a dedicated desk or your own office. Our offices and desks come with ergonomic, non-toxic furniture, a cabinet, light, and plant.
I am very proud that we are an eco and human-friendly community, powered by solar, and that we have a super diverse membership, with 45% African American and 65% female. I also love that people come from practically every zip code in DFW because they love us so much.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
I think that it’s important to have a strong work ethic and expect to “put in the time” to work your way up in whatever field you are in, but also, you should create opportunities for yourself, don’t wait for others to ask. I wish I had advocated more actively for myself for promotions and opportunities, and sought out more mentorship from influential, inspiring leaders.
If you are looking to create community by opening a coworking space, I recommend that you get a GCUC Global Coworking Unconference membership to network with other seasoned coworking operators and other professionals in the business. And if you identify female, join Women Who Cowork. There are many free resources and groups that are actively working to be resources for this global network of community creators, and many active Facebook and Slack groups. This industry is very collaborative and open source as we all try to spread the joy of coworking.
Pricing:
- $59 Virtual Mailbox Membership
- $110 10-day Pass (Weekdays)
- $225 Day Player – Full-time Weekdays
- $325 Free Range 24/7 access to Open Desks
- Offices start at $900
Contact Info:
- Website: https://goodcoworking.co/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodcoworking/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoodCoworkingTX
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoodCoworkingTX
Image Credits
Bethany Jones
Mike Rivera
