Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer
Menu
Menu
News Startup Profiles

Creative Habitat: Coworking community for busy moms

Creative Habitat
June 27, 2018

Creative Habitat is a coworking community that offers childcare and is tailored toward entrepreneurial moms. Creative Habitat also provides coaching on tools and strategies needed to develop a habit of carving out creative time and space in day-to-day living.

Creative Habitat was established by Rebecca Wolford, a mompreneur living in Des Moines seeking a solution for busy moms who also are looking to fulfill their creative needs outside of parenting.

Creative Habitat is currently running their first pilot-program this summer and is in the process of applying for several nonprofit accelerators that will help them gain their footing in the Des Moines community.

“I would say we’ve largely been in the ideation and stage up until this point,” Wolford said. “We’re really starting to put some meat to the bones with getting a team together, getting the pilot program going to learn best practices moving forward.  We’ve already had really good feedback so far.”

Wolford says Creative Habitat has the potential to easily scale now that the infrastructure is in place.

“I see this growing really quickly once we have a few other leaders step up and say yeah, I’d like to try this model out in my community.”

Shifting the business model

Originally, Wolford envisioned Creative Habitat as becoming one large space that merged a coworking space and childcare.

“Then I realized, there are tons of spaces in the community that people already know and trust, and we can bring our programming and childcare to those spaces,” Wolford said. “And this can meet two needs. It can bring more business to those spaces and also meets our need of not having to have the overhead of a space.”

Now, Creative Habitat’s focus is on partnering with spaces and on bringing programming into those spaces to meet those family’s needs.

In addition to changing up their business model, Creative Habitat has also brought on a new member, Heather Nerem. Nerem, a former elementary school principal, will help Creative Habitat in developing curriculum and teaching programs.

“She has a similar vision to what we’re trying to do,” Wolford said. “We’re really excited to have her on board.”

Succeeding with Venture School

Creative Habitat participated in Venture School’s spring 2018 cohort.

“The Venture School curriculum really helped me solidify and eloquently explain what the need was and how Creative Habitat was going to meet that need,” said Wolford. “And I feel like I was struggling with that prior to Venture School.”

To learn more about Creative Habitat, check them out on Facebook or follow them at creativehabitatmoms on Instagram.

Previous coverage

Scouting Report: Creative Habitat working on child-friendly coworking – Dec. 12, 2017

Creative Habitat: Coworking community for busy moms | Clay & Milk
A central Iowa ag-tech accelerator has secured more backers and finally has a name. The Greater Des Moines Partnership first announced the accelerator last year, naming four initial investors. On Monday, the Partnership said the program will be called the "Iowa AgriTech Accelerator" and named three new investors. The new investors include Grinnell Mutual, Kent Corp. and Sukup Manufacturing, all Iowa companies. They join investors Deere & Co., Peoples Co., Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Co. and DuPont Pioneer. Each investor has agreed to put up $100,000 for the first year of the accelerator. Startups entering the program will receive $40,000 in seed funding in exchange for 6 percent equity. Tej Dhawan, an angel investor and local startup mentor, is serving as interim director until the AgriTech Accelerator names a permanent leader. Dhawan held a similar role with the GIA before Brian Hemesath was named as managing director. As interim director, Dhawan said his main job includes hiring the accelerator's executive director, establishing a business structure and initial recruiting for the first cohort. The accelerator will place few filters, such as location and product, on the applicant pool, Dhawan said. "When you’re seeking innovation, innovation can come from every corner of the world so why restrict ourselves," he said. One area the the AgriTech Accelerator won't recruit from is biotech. For its first cohort, the AgriTech Accelerator will work out of the GIA's space in Des Moines' East Village, Dhawan said. A future, permanent home is still to be decided. The accelerator's program will host startups from mid-July through mid-October, ending with an event connected to the annual World Food Prize. The GIA, which the AgriTech Accelerator is based on, also ends with presentations at an industry event. The accelerator has also started lining up a mentor pool. The Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Soybean Association and the Iowa Pork Producers Association have agreed to provide mentors, as has Iowa State University. While the AgriTech Accelerator is loosely based off of the GIA, it will differ in its business structure, Dhawan said. The GIA runs through a for-profit model for both operations and its investment fund. The AgriTech Accelerator will have a nonprofit model for its operations and a for-profit setup for its fund. Dhawan said the nonprofit model is being used so the accelerator can better work with other nonprofit partners, such as trade associations. "These are all organizations that are nonprofits and can be amazing stakeholders without ever having to be investors in the accelerator," he said. "It becomes easier to work with trade associations in their nonprofit role when we are also a nonprofit." When it's up and running, the AgriTech Accelerator would be one of a handful of ag-focused startup development programs in Iowa. Others include the Ag Startup Engine out of Iowa State University and the Rural Ventures Alliance from Iowa MicroLoan. Matthew Patane is the managing editor and co-founder of Clay & Milk. Send him an email at mpatane@clayandmilk.com.
This Pop-up Is Included in the Theme
Best Choice for Creatives
Purchase Now