Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Heidi Whitehead. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Heidi thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
We are on a “Motha-Lovin Mission” to disrupt the status quo for how we do childcare in this country, starting here on the Front Range of Colorado. We have created a cooperative childcare model that offers a refuge and a workspace for parents, and especially for moms, a comfortable co-working space with childcare right on-site. This allows for a return to the village approach to raising children in intergenerational and familial settings, where children have the security of being close to parents, and moms have the comfort of being able to be right there whenever their children need them. They also get to take time and space for tending to their personal and professional needs, resting if that’s in order, and having the benefit of parenting in community instead of in isolation. We love watching relationships form, friendships develop, moms rest when they need to, and parents have time and space to do the work that is calling them. In a world where mothers are asked to be and do so much. Family Village is here to give moms (and dads) the support and connection that we all need. From an adult nap room and a meditation room to a variety of comfortable co-working areas, our physical space is designed to feel like home–without the sink full of dishes or that pile of laundry that needs to be folded. We also have a movement and wellness space for moms who need to tend to their physical well being. There are yoga teachers and a QiGong guide in our community, and we are exploring classes and workshops to offer resources for our Family Village parents.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
After spending the last 25 years in elementary and middle school education, childcare and early childhood education, I felt a tug to explore a new way of working with families. I was clear that there were aspects of the little preschool community I had most recently created that went beyond a typical early childhood experience. I recognized that the parents–particularly the mothers–of the children I guided, were craving connection with other parents. We were lucky to have a space where parents were welcome to stay and visit, to build relationships, commiserate, share support and resources. This was a huge part of the secret sauce that made The Friendship Garden so special. We were, in fact, a village. When I learned about the cooperative model that Family Village had created and was flourishing in Boulder, I was immediately drawn into this vision where we could offer the village experience to more families, and the potential for expanding the program to bring intergenerational connection, parent and family wellness, wider community resources, and all the other unforeseen opportunities yet to crystallize, made the vision even more appealing!
So, who we are is Family Village. Simply put, we are a co-working space with childcare on-site. We are a place for anyone who needs a co-working space and we provide desks and tables and lounges with gorgeous couches, wifi, coffee and the usual co-working stuff. You don’t have to come for the childcare. But if you need childcare so you can get some work done, or if you need to catch up on a few hours of sleep, or if you need a place to meet other parents and a community to go through the incredible and often lonely journey of parenting with, we have that! If you are looking for someone to talk to and your parents are no longer able to be that, we welcome volunteers to come in and join the community as valuable resources and fonts of wisdom and experience. If you are retired and looking for a place to share your skills, talents and stories–we have open arms to welcome you.
We already have members of Denver Family Village who are trained yoga teachers and a great space to offer a mid-day yoga break for the community. We have created connections with folks who are interested in offering creative outlets, cookie baking, Qigong, story book reading, breast-feeding support groups, children’s yoga, baby holding, and the list goes on. Each location will have its own unique flavor, depending on the desires, needs, skills and priorities of the members. Members who join the co-op become owners of the business, with a stake and a say in how we operate.
Did I mention that we are incredibly resourceful? One of the things that makes us unique is that we operate in underutilized spaces. Think, churches and empty office buildings. We are currently housed in two Unity Spiritual Centers that are wonderful spaces that are largely unused during the week. It is a lovely arrangement
What’s the catch? Well, as a co-op, we are only able to offer 3 hours of childcare per day (think of the gym childcare or IKEA). There must be a parent of guardian on-site, and we are super flexible and creative in making sure you have time to take care of your needs while you are here. We are actively seeking a variance around that hourly limit, and we are kind of a unicorn in this world, so the folks who make and enforce the regulations aren’t quite sure who to send us to in order to make that happen. In the meantime, we are do our part to support Denver families as they navigate the childcare crisis in our city. We are always looking to connect with people in a position so collaborate with us on this endeavor.
Eventually, we plan to seed many more villages like this one and the one in Boulder.
How’d you meet your business partner?
Unity Spiritual Center Denver has been on a mission over the last several years to reimagine ways to put our principles into action and serve the community beyond Sunday services. As a member, I was engaged in this ongoing process. It was not by accident that we learned about Family Village and were invited to go take a tour of the East Boulder location at a Unity center up there. It was last winter when I was able to go on that first visit and met one of the founders of Family Village, Melanie Hekkelman-Piazza. It was immediately clear how aligned we were in our values and our approaches to supporting children, family-care, community connection and mother love.
In subsequent meetings and conversations, we discovered the ways our different skill sets complemented each other, and things started to fall into place. I met the rest of the brilliant founding team, and we set out to explore the possibilities of opening a second location in Denver at USCD. It took time and lots of patience, but we were able to get the buy-in of all the stake holders and took the leap. We opened our doors to our first Denver families on August 22 and have been growing this community slowly and steadily ever since. Although there was some bittersweetness around shuttering the Little Sprouts Friendship Garden after ten years, it has been a joyful and purpose-filled partnership, and I am so happy to be the Village Director at Denver’s first Family Village location.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
At this early point in the process, we have incorporated all kinds of avenues for finding clients! From an old school approach of hanging flyers on community/parent resource boards in libraries, coffee shops, birth centers and schools to online strategies like paid Facebook ads, sharing in targeted social media groups and posts on Nextdoor, we have been open to finding our people in all the ways. And once we got our first few families through the door, the best way to get the word out has been word of mouth. It is challenging to explain the beauty of what we offer to families with young children, but once we can get folx into the space to see it in real time, it becomes very clear that it is something special. You can walk through the various co-working spaces and see people on laptops, reading, chatting, and popping into the childcare spaces to check on their children. There might be a mom doing coursework in quiet nook while her baby sleeps nearby, a dad on zoom call in a reservable office, families taking a lunch break all together or parents working in the childcare space until their kids are familiar and comfortable being in there alone. Seeing all of the moving parts, the volunteers, the relationships being forged, the flexibility and beauty of families and staff working together to do what makes sense for each family is what helps us find our members. Once they see it, it just makes sense.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.familyvillagecoop.com
- Instagram: @familyvillagecoop
- Facebook: Family Village Cooperative