Founder Melanie Marconi on women’s entrepreneurship, building community, and believing in what’s possible

VIDA founder Melanie Marconi learned about the power of community early in her career.

“When I started my first business at 23, I had no idea what I was doing,” she laughs. “But I was lucky enough to launch with two other amazing people, and together, we figured it out.”

It’s a simple insight, but a surprisingly challenging one for many entrepreneurial women to integrate, especially when the other parts of their lives—family, friends, children, partners, other projects, and, you know, getting to the gym every once in a while—are constantly vying for attention. It’s also the core of the VIDA concept, a new woman-focused coworking space on Portland’s east side.

When Melanie moved to Portland to launch a new office with a remote team in 2012, she had to start thinking more consciously about ways to invite more community into her life. She valued the flexibility and independence of working from home, especially since she’d become a single mom, but she also knew spending time with other women who understood the unique challenges of balancing a career, a family, and a life was essential.

“It’s so easy to get isolated,” says Melanie, “I tried a few different co-working spaces, and while there was nothing wrong with them, they never had the things I felt I really needed to make every day count.” She read news stories about woman-focused co-working spaces in New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle with interest, pining for a similar place in Portland, until deciding to take matters into her own hands.

“I thought, I can wait five years until maybe one comes to Portland, or I can start my own,” says Melanie.

VIDA is the result. It’s a place designed by and for working women with demanding career and personal lives. More than a simple co-working space, VIDA pairs bright, inspiring shared and private workspace with thoughtful amenities geared towards working women, not fresh-out-of-college frat boys. Think:

• Polished, light-filled conference and meeting space
• All the tech and productivity tools a modern office needs, including high-speed WiFi, A/V equipment, printers, copiers, and scanner
• Onsite fitness and wellness classes like yoga and meditation
• Professional development and education events
• Fun networking events and family happy hours
• An onsite concierge to help you find the right resources for your life
• Aligned childcare and comfortable lactation rooms
• Kombucha, sparkling water, and healthy snacks 24/7

Perhaps most importantly, VIDA is a place where members can manage complicated lives and achieve their goals in community. In a time when old career paradigms are crumbling, more women are leaving traditional employment and turning to entrepreneurship to achieve success and build lives that work for them. At VIDA, going out on your own doesn’t have to mean going it alone.

“At VIDA, I want you to feel a sense that everything is possible,” says Melanie. “If you know what is important to you, and you know what your goals are and where you want to go in life, there are tools and people and services that can help make that a reality for you. And I think this is a very important time, because I think women can actually believe that now.”