Sam Abrams sat down for a conversation with one of Indy Hall’s members.  He is a practicing attorney who has been able to grow his business from within the space.

Coworking as a Lawyer

A lawyer is not a profession that is commonly associated with coworking.  Despite that there are not many in his field coworking, this Indy Hall member has been rediscovering himself professionally while engaging with his work in a new way.  He has embarked on a new learning experience after having spent the first fifteen years doing what a typical lawyer does.

He does not simply see his role as making money to pay mortgage and support his family.  He wanted to be a constructive member of the community as well. Rather than serving people in a purely transactional nature, he seeks to serve people in a way that can help the community itself.

Connecting Community

In order to truly connect a community, you need to know what people need and how to connect them.  This is especially important when they do not know they need to be connected or can benefit from a certain connection.  It is your job to put people in a room together that may not otherwise intersect.

Indy Hall has members that enjoy facilitating these interactions.  For the member in this episode, he gets both personal and professional satisfaction.  Personal satisfaction comes out of helping build relationships. Professional satisfaction comes from the fact that they may need his legal services down the road.  Your circle of influence can grow alongside the relationships you help build.

Becoming a Part of the Community

It all starts by introducing yourself.  Not all introductions have to incite some kind of transaction.  Be genuinely invested in what they do. The member in this podcast noted how he likes to talk to people.  So, he has made a point to interact with everyone at Indy Hall. There is a real interest in what they are interested in and motivates them.

When you stop being curious you stop learning.  Curiosity is a great motivator. There is so much to learn from people around you.  However, learning can only be facilitated when you express genuine interest in what other people are doing.  Curiosity and interaction is like a muscle that needs to be worked on to build up.

Relationships do not appear on the superficial level.  You cannot go to someone only when you can benefit from them and expect a relationship to develop.  Relationships need to be nurtured at the interpersonal level. Interpersonal relationships matter most but hey have to be worked at.  They do not just manifest. These relationships are rewarding in a lot of ways that are not always immediately apparent.