We recently connected with Joy St Clair and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Joy, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

During the pandemic, I was one of the many employees who transitioned to remote work. At first, it was great working from home, but it got old quickly! I found myself either working non-stop and well past my normal end-time, or doing laundry in the middle of the day forgetting that I was at work! Once we all were “outside” again, I knew I needed to get out the house.

I began looking for places to co-work… spoiler alert, it didn’t go so well. Some places were not welcoming or conducive to what I needed, some came with so many distractions that it just wasn’t helpful and almost every place failed the ever-important vibe check. I knew that I needed a place where I would be appreciated and not just tolerated, comfortable enough to be sit there all day and have my basic needs met so I could focus on getting things done.

Suddenly, two things became very clear to me, one- I’m not the only person searching for this place and two- I’m going to have to be the one to create this place.

This became my mission. Build a place where people in my community can feel welcomed, thought-of and free to be creative and productive. This place is Co-Space!

Co-Space is a co-working and content creation studio located in the beautiful city of Miami Gardens. We offer open desks for remote workers & entrepreneurs, a place to create content, hold meetings and record your podcasts. After business hours, our studio is available to rent as an open event space or classroom. This place has become a hub of black excellence and I love it.

I have been so amazed at the amount of people who have found us, joined us and stayed with us during this journey. It is such a blessing when your people find you and understand the mission immediately. One of my favorite quotes is “find someone who speaks your language, so you won’t have to spend all your time translating yourself” and honestly, I feel like our “co-workers” get it, they understand what I’m creating here and there is no translation needed!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Joy, the owner & founder of Co-Space. I’m a cancer-survivor, relatively new mommy, wife, and all-around lover of life. I’m that person who will hype you up every time, I truly love seeing my people thrive and live their lives.

Co-Space solves a clear but not often discussed problem for a lot of professionals in my community. When I would try to find a place to co-work, I would often walk in and feel unwanted. Staff would give me the side-eye, ignore our table… or become hyper-aware of our table… basically making it clear that they would rather not have a table of black people hanging out in their establishment all day. Then there was places were the culture is just not represented. I would get all setup to work, but couldn’t focus because the place is playing house music. We all know how important representation is, this especially true for black professionals. Google anything “professional” and usually, every image or response doesn’t look like us.

Co-Space solves this problem. Co-Space is an open, inclusive and welcoming place that ensures it reflects the needs of my community.

I love that I have created a space we are appreciated and not just tolerated. I love the amount of partnerships, new businesses and brands that I have seen launched and ironed out here at Co-Space. This motivates me beyond belief. I love that Co-Space has become a hub for black business owners, entrepreneurs, non-profits and professionals. A couple days ago, I looked around and noticed that the space was full, and people where not only here to work individually, but they brought their teams, they reached across tables and made new connections, I literally watched a business partnership solidified between two people who only met because they both happened to be co-working here that day. Moments like this shouldn’t be rare for our community, but they are. I’m motivated to keep going because we need and deserve spaces like Co-Space.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I have built my reputation on being very transparent, honest and welcoming within the market of co-working studios and event spaces.

I have made it a point to reach out to other spaces to build partnerships, I try to post on social media often to share our story and I try to always show up as my authentic self.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

I leverage multiple channels to reach out to my clients, but all channels use a consistent tone. I call my customers “co-workers” and use this theme ongoing. When I send our email newsletter, I call it a “monthly memo, a memo you actually want to read”, on social media I use a consistent color scheme, overall I build loyalty by consistently presenting Co-Space in a familiar way.    

Contact Info:

• Website: welcometocospace.com
• Instagram: @the.cospace