Elevate Coworking and Optix Case Study

At Elevate Coworking, women really can have it all.

There’s hot coffee on the counter and extra toiletries in the bathroom. There’s workshops on finance and graphic design. There’s even an oversize throw blanket in the lounge for when you need to get cuddly.

Maggie Blackham is the Founder of Elevate Coworking, a coworking space for women in Wilmington, North Carolina. The space is inspired by Maggie’s experiences as a woman entrepreneur and a mom of two seeking community and connection with other like minded women.

In less than two years, Maggie has grown her membership to 100+ members with over 3,000 check-ins and counting. Here is how Maggie is using Optix to automate as many of her daily operations as possible, so she can focus on growing a community of women entrepreneurs.

“We are a coworking space designed specifically for women. When I designed the space, I was trying to think through all of the details for women so they don’t have to.”

The challenge: Automating the member experience

From the very beginning, Maggie wanted to automate as much of the member experience as possible. She had a clear vision of what she wanted technology to do (take care of the mundane tasks), and what she wanted to do as a human (connect with her members).

What we often hear from clients is that when you’re operating a coworking business as a small team, technology becomes another team member. The key to doing this successfully is understanding how to leverage technology to make the most out of the tools you have.

For Maggie, having the right technology in place and integrating them properly would open her up to focusing her time on building relationships with the women entrepreneurs in her space. Not to mention, as an owner of two businesses, it would also give her critical time back to allocate her time efficiently.

What Maggie was looking for in a technology partner

When it came to technology, Maggie wanted something that was first and foremost incredibly user friendly.

Because Maggie is so thoughtful and intentional with how she designed the entire Elevate Coworking coworking, she didn’t want technology to simply be an afterthought. She wanted a platform that would be easy for her members to use, avoiding bulky or clunky software products at all costs.

Her other requirement for technology was a flexible platform that would enable her unique business model. Maggie launched Elevate Coworking with a childcare component built into her offering, so it was critical for her to find a platform that could support this unique need.

What Maggie really needed was something that was customizable but approachable, offered North American-based support, and had a reliable integration with her access control provider, Kisi to enable an autonomous coworking space.

This is what led Maggie to choose Optix as her preferred software partner.

“When I was looking at platforms, my main focus was finding a really friendly user interface. I didn't want anything that was bulky or clunky or unclear.”

How Maggie is using Optix

Once onboarded, Maggie hit the ground running. Here is how she is using Optix to automate her coworking space and connect her community.

Driving sign-ups through the website with Web Widgets

Visit the Elevate Coworking website and you’ll notice a call-to-action button to book a space. From here, any new drop-in member can quickly and easily book an available space at Elevate Coworking in a few simple clicks.

This is the Optix Web Widget in action. By installing Web Widgets on your website, potential customers can book a tour, sign-up for a membership, or purchase a drop-in pass online via a custom, integrated online form, no coding required.

Maggie’s implementation of the web widget has led to over 100 sign-ups for her space in less than 18 months!

Streamlining member management with the White-labeled App

Maggie opted for a beautifully designed White-labeled Mobile App for her Elevate Coworking community. Designed by Maggie and developed by the Optix team, this app serves as the central hub for her entire community.

The women of Elevate Coworking can use the app to book the photo studio for their next shoot, RSVP for the upcoming women in wellness event, and post their achievements on the Community Feed. There’s been over 1,300 bookings in the app to date.

The app simplifies Maggie’s member management process as well by giving her a central place to send members to whenever a question arises. When a member has an operational question, Maggie can always ask them, have you checked the app?

Elevate Coworking Conference Room for Events accessible through Kisi access control

Automating access control with Optix and Kisi

Automating access control is a huge win for those looking to create an autonomous coworking space. By integrating Optix with Kisi, any member who arrives at Elevate Coworking can simply pull out their phone, open the Elevate Coworking app, and tap it on the Kisi reader to unlock the door.

Not only does this create a better experience for members, but it also enhances the security of the space. Because the doors are locked at all times, Maggie doesn’t have to worry about who is coming into the space and when.

By automating this process, Maggie has enabled over 3,000 automated check-ins at Elevate Coworking.

Optimizing integrations with Zapier

Maggie is taking automation one step further by integrating Optix with as many of her existing tools as she can via Zapier.

One Zapier integration she’s leveraging is with her email software provider, Flodesk, to trigger an email to send when a member action is completed in Optix. This year, she’ll be taking a look at how to further optimize these email automations and organize users into lists in Flodesk based on Optix Custom Properties.

Maggie says this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to leveraging tech to do more of the work for her.

“We’re getting really clear on who we serve and how we can do it better, but also a little more automated.”

Looking ahead with Maggie and Elevate Coworking

In less than two years, Maggie has turned Elevate Coworking from an idea in her head to a living, breathing, thriving community.

Now, she hosts multiple events every month, connects women with one another, and is empowering women in entrepreneurship in Wilmington, North Carolina and beyond.

The future is bright for Maggie and the Elevate Coworking team. We look forward to continuing to support her in automating as many of her operational tasks as possible.

We’re proud to support Maggie in her mission to help women truly have it all!