Tag Archive for: coworking

The life of a copywriter from the UK

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Elliott is a freelance copywriter from the UK and one of Stone Soup’s newest members. He will add his copywriting skills as an ingredient to our soup. Originally from London, he studied politics at University of Bristol and has been a freelance copywriter for about a year, mainly working for tech companies and startups. Before that, he was working a full time job for a PR Agency, therefore digital nomadism is quite new to him. Elliott is currently splitting his time between his home base of London and destinations abroad.

After spending a year in California as an exchange student at University of Berkeley, Elliott travelled a lot, including parts of Asia.

Elliott has travelled to Southern Europe and has worked remotely from Porto, where he enjoyed the relaxed lifestyle and slow living. Being already familiar with the Mediterranean climate, Elliott chose Athens as his base for the next few months. It’s his third time in Athens and, as he really liked the vibe of the city, he returned in order to work remotely from our coworking space. He is planning to stay in Athens until Christmas and he isn’t sure about his next destination: ‘I may stay in Athens, might go back to Portugal. I also consider going to Malaysia!’

Combining freelancing and travelling 

Staying for a longer period in places he works gives him the opportunity to have time for everything, without rushing. That’s how he found our coworking space. ‘By spending a few months somewhere, you get to know the people and the place without being chaotic’. 

‘Even though freelancing gives me the flexibility to build things around my schedule and I really like the autonomy, it can sometimes get lonely. Coworking is a good way to meet people and Stone Soup is a supportive place to work.’ On top of that, Elliott mentioned that it’s really motivating to see things getting done around him.

Specifically, he really enjoys working for tech startups and innovative companies, for example, for Beyond Identity, which created a software that allows companies to eliminate passwords and has grown into a really successful company within 2 years.

digital nomads; working on the beach; camping and working; flexible

What makes a successful copywriter? 

‘Obviously, you need to be good with words and able to express your ideas very clearly in written language’ says Elliott. Moreover, it’s equally important to have a good understanding of marketing, as well as knowing how to get into the minds of the customers. Balancing the above mentioned with good writing makes a copywriter stand out.

Elliott has met clients through a variety of channels, like a Facebook group for content writers, but LinkedIn is the main professional network. Networking can, of course, happen in a coworking space: as he said, he has met clients through coworking spaces.

As a freelance copywriter, the creative process isn’t always the same: ‘I have to talk with my clients about their marketing goals and what they want to communicate. It’s more like a collaborative process: we discuss ideas and find what fits in with how clients want to build their brand.’

In conclusion, a freelance copywriter needs to be autonomous: ‘It’s not like working in an office where you can consult your colleagues. You have to work things out on your own’.

coworker from the UK ; freelance copywriter; member of the community
Elliott is a freelance copywriter

Meet Sergio, a freelance dev who fell in love with Athens!

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Sergio is a freelancer specialising in informatics who first visited Athens six years ago while travelling. He came back to the city as a digital nomad and spend some of his time co-working with us.

Life in Athens

Having a Spanish origin, he feels very much at home in Athens and enjoys the Mediterranean climate and relaxed lifestyle of the locals. He has already toured a few of the islands as well as mainland Greece. What excites him the most is how easy it is to get away from the city into the countryside and ‘zone out’ as he put is. 

‘I love nature. It makes me feel recharged and gives me fresh energy which I can then put into my freelance work. As a remote worker I am fortunate to get the chance to do that!.’

Working in informatics

After completing his studies in Media, Sergio moved to Germany in order to to pursue a career in informatics. He is currently working as a web developer for a German finance company. During the pandemic he had to work from home most of the time, but accommodating himself into co-working spaces changed his mindset for the better. 

‘I feel so much more concentrated when in an office due to the fact that I get to work without distractions. I especially like Stone Soup as a space because of the warm and welcoming feeling this place has. The atmosphere is quite the opposite from the stiff corporate environment I was used to be around and I really embrace that.’ 

Video games & more

Sergio’s hobby is prototyping video game ideas and developing graphics for them. He finds it way more exciting than anything else and he hopes to be able to make a living out of it in the future. 

‘Having a project of your own is really fun and rewarding at the same time. For me it has been great working in an office space because I manage to split my time effectively in between my job and my hobby as well!’ 

happy coworker; friends and colleagues; coworking community
Sergio’s GitHub profile link : https://github.com/colado

Introducing Our Operations Intern: Katerina

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Hello Stone Soup community! I’m Katerina and I joined the team two weeks ago. Many of you may have already bumped into me at Stone Soup these past few days, but let me properly introduce myself.

I’m 23 years old and I live in Athens, in a lively neighborhood, not far from Stone Soup. Soon after graduating with a Philology degree from University of Athens, I started my MA in Cultural Organisations Management, which I’m pursuing at the moment. My love for art and cultural activities led me to work for museums, events and cultural organizations.

Why Stone Soup?

Lately, I discovered that social entrepreneurship is something that I would like to get involved in and Stone Soup seemed like the right place for me. I discovered the coworking space through “Life Skills”, a youth career and development program, tailored to businesses with a social footprint. I instantly clicked with Stone Soup, since it is a dynamic multicultural co-working space. Stone Soup is based on sharing and  has built a strong community from all around the world.

Life Skills

I may be a true Athenian girl, but an international environment always fascinates me and this coworking space has already given me the opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds and feel part of this non-stop growing community!

My role at Stone Soup

For the next two months I will be Stone Soup’s communication and operations assistant, creating content for social media, making sure life at Stone Soup runs smoothly, engaging with the existing community and onboarding new members.

Alongside the coworking everyday life, I’m looking forward to co-organising events for the community. Since I’m a foodie I would love to share some of my recipes and make fellow Stone Soupers happy! I have no doubt that this internship will give me the opportunity to learn how a social enterprise works, especially in the communication sector.

I hope you will all be here to try my recipes during our gatherings!

What makes a coworking community thrive is you

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The collaborative community formed in coworking spaces is characterized by fluidity, flexibility, mutual understanding, and trust among members of the space. The role of hosts or community managers of coworking spaces is crucial for the aesthetics and ambiance that each space represents and diffuses to its members and customers. Community management is a process of blurring the boundaries between activities that require communication, interaction, and reciprocity.

community event
Lounge area
meeting room
community lunch
community event
private office

A coworking community is a story of stories

If we seek for a definition on the concept of community, then a collaborative goal is definitely the central point. Each member’s and host’s experience is built around this common goal that can take various forms!

The concept of community in franchises and independent spaces differs a lot. Each concept is based on the forms of relationships among coworkers and between managers and coworkers. The parameters that reveal these relationships are values, such as trust and the ambiance created, such as coziness. Sharing your needs is a one-way street. Hence it is an experience that all members of a coworking space will collect at some point. The truth is that most coworking spaces are hybrid forms. As a result, there are many variations of community and collaboration narratives.

yoga on the roof
coworking area
community drinks

Finally, the narrative of the community constructed in each coworking space is not introverted and isolated from the larger public space. The spaces are urban meeting points in the city and they have an impact on their surroundings. Depending on the relationship they seek with the public sphere, they are accelerators of growth for startup entrepreneurship, intervention and activism for public policies, and social action and contact with the neighborhood around them.

rooftop drinks

A coworking community is like a novel, a story composed by each member’s storytellings. That is why a host should love listening to people and learning their stories.

Social impact begins from understanding someone’s needs after listening patiently and carefully. Taking advantage of impromptu happenings and serendipity moments is a great start! Unexpected experiences are what make a coworking community look like a group of friends, colleagues, or strangers at the same time. Whatever you pick, it’s your choice, as long as it helps you flourish!