Happy Spaces: Matty Lawrence
This story includes a chat with 3 members of Happy Spaces who have found more than just a work space.
Two Sparrow : Jade Sewell-Robertson
Merton Lawyers : Anthony Curtain
Kid Nest : Karen Monaghan
“There are so many layers of the Surf Coast that inspire me. Lifestyle, Nature, Community, Creativity.
We’re surrounded by an abundant natural environment that we’re all so blessed to have as our home. There’s also a heritage of lifestyle entrepreneurialism and creativity in the area that began with the surf industry and has flowed out to so many other industries.
People care about the area and want to look after it. So many businesses, whether it be a local operator to the large corporates head offices, have integrated conscious and sustainable values into their operations and I hope that becomes a defining feature of the Surf Coast as the balance between development, growth and community vitality converge.”
Happy Spaces was established in May 2016 by Matty Lawrence with his first close to home coworking space based in Bayside, Hampton. He brought the concept to Torquay and has been progressively opening the newly developed site located on Gilbert Street since February 2020. “In the four years since we took our first prototype space in Hampton (which has since closed), we’ve progressively taken larger spaces to come up to our ideal space size, to create authentic, organic connections, collaboration and community wellbeing”, says Matty.
“We opened Black Rock in 2018 and have recently completed the progressive launch of Torquay. The completion of Torquay initiates the rollout of a local based ecosystem of suburban and regional spaces. We are planning to launch an additional nine spaces in the next few years. Beyond that, we want to be known as an organisation that champions and embodies community connection, wellbeing and new economy thinking / sustainable development.”
Happy Spaces is a certified BCorporation , which is a global community of organisations using business as a force for good and have affiliations and collaborations with Gross National Happiness and Local Futures.
How would you describe your co-working space?
“The holistic purpose of Happy Space is ‘Life thriving locally’ by making spaces for thriving local communities. We bring together people, spaces and places through connection, belonging and collaboration. All fundamental drivers of wellbeing. We believe that localisation is a platform for personal, community and environmental wellbeing and the antidote to impacts of globalization.”
What made you decide to operate your business on the Surf Coast?
“When the business was started, it was about putting lifestyle and flexibility first, making work an expression of that and moving away from the corporate structures and habits I had been a part of for 15 years. This led to moving down to the coast to be part of a smaller community, closer to nature and work flexibility.
With the business vision to roll out a local ecosystem of suburban and regional community coworking spaces so people could work close to home, Torquay intuitively felt like a great place for our first regional space. On deeper investigation, it was clear that Torquay had the foundations of the entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, innovation and lifestyle orientated businesses and was growing into a genuine lifestyle business hub, with many families and professionals moving to the area to also put lifestyle first.
In addition, there were so many community, wellbeing and sustainability-based businesses in the area (including fellow BCorporations, Patagonia, Bellroy and Cherished Pets) providing the opportunity to collaborate with and spread awareness about new economy thinking and sustainable development.”
How has your business developed over time?
“Intuitively and organically, what the business stood for was clear in the early stages, but not fully articulated or realised. Our business model has become very clear now, as ‘Close to home coworking communities’.
We’re now clear on our space checklist, location requirements and locally inspired, sustainable design approach, which is setting us for an exciting period ahead. We’re at the end of the beginning.
With a small team of four we have supported hundreds of members that have come through our spaces over the years, many of whom have been with us since the beginning. I’m always surprised by the incredible stories of friendship, collaboration and business success.
A focus area for the business has been investing in scalable systems that increase happiness by removing ‘tension points’ to accessibility, productivity and collaboration. The less things that get in the way of our community working and connecting, the happier they are. In combination with our locally based model, this means more time outside of work, which is a beautiful thing.”
Happy Spaces
Level 1/4 - 6 Gilbert Street, Torquay
BOOK NOW for a FREE one week trial ph. 9521 9278.
Happy Spaces has attracted a diverse range of people, business and industry, we spoke with 3 members who have found much more than a new working space.
“The Surf Coast is truly my happy place. The natural surroundings as well as the community of growing businesses with similar values and ethos to ours are unbelievably inspiring and continuously drives me to better my business. Walking sunrise daily along Whites Beach in Torquay is a constant reminder to be appreciative of our environment, and to educate consumers about the industry, to ultimately help maintain the beauty of our planet.”
Two Sparrow Australia is an Australian, sustainable, and ethically made apparel and swimwear label - made for the surf, sun, and sea. Founded by Jade Sewell-Robertson, their vision is for all consumers to know where and how their garments were made and the importance of Australian-made and owned on current and future generations.
Name another local business you connect and collaborate with?
“Through Happy Spaces I have joined the BCorp local chapter and have been able to connect and collaborate with a range of locally Certified BCorps. I hold the role of co-events chair for the committee and we are so excited to be bringing the community locally run events over the next year to help even more local businesses connect and learn more about becoming a Certified BCorp. Certified B Corps meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.”
What do you love about being part of Happy Spaces?
“I was one of the first full-time members of Happy Spaces Torquay and I am so proud to be a part of the community. Matty has created such a beautiful working environment that encourages productivity yet playfulness. I would say the community has been the best thing to come out of Happy Spaces for me. I have made new friends, colleagues, and many surf buddies through the space.”
SHOP
Online Two Sparrow
“The healthy lifestyle and closeness to nature is really inspiring. There’s not many places where you have a business community with some huge businesses, with some of the best beaches, walking/bike trails in the world. My family are always at the beach and live on an acre in Bellbrae. In terms of business, I truly think Surf Coast will become the hub of social impact and responsible investment in Victoria and possibly Australia. Merton’s has always worked with these types of businesses and I can foresee the Surf Coast being Merton Lawyer’s HQ of our social impact and responsible investing team”
Merton lawyers are a law firm built by entrepreneurs with purpose and a focus on results, advising founders, emerging technology and investors in corporate law. They also advise in property construction as well as dispute resolution. Based in Melbourne, Gold Coast and now in Happy Spaces Torquay. “We apply a unique lens and try to see things differently”, says Anthony Curtain, the CEO.
Name another business you connect and collaborate with?
“There’s a number of businesses we connect with, but being invited onto the B Corp Surf Coast Local Chapter has been an amazing opportunity to collaborate with some cool businesses ie Patangonia, Bellroy, Arkana Energy and Two Sparrow. Importantly I was very honoured to join. In terms of residents, I think I have to mention Chris Park from National Insurance Group and Ben Hall from LMB Media.”
What do you love about being part of Happy Spaces?
“You gotta love Matty Lawrence first and foremost. He’s doing an amazing job establishing the business here and being very prominent in building a community. It’s very cool to wander into the space each day. I also think the businesses are really inspiring. But the people make the space. We’ve got a great crew here and we are always collaborating and helping each other on solving problems or having lunches at Stoop. Also, Merton staff in Melbourne are now coming up from Melbourne for meetings.”
Contact
Website mertonlawyers.com.au
Phone : 03 9645 9500 / 0419 568 460
“Community and environment, combined across business and lifestyle. Having recently moved here from Perth, I was initially attracted to the lifestyle elements and felt the sense of community on arrival. I had an interest in learning to Surf and found that being the CEO of a startup is a lot aligned with catching waves. You stand on the shore and read the environment, what’s going to carry you to the wave, where can you expend the least resources for the greatest impact, checking in constantly to see how you are positioned in a dynamic environment, learning to sit some out when they are just not going to break in time, to paddle to the side when they are too much too soon, and when to dig in those heels, lock in your core, check out of your brain, buy into the wave and just goddamn go it.”
Kid Nest is a subscription based solution for creating local childminding “villages”, so parents can work, study and play. Using an app, parents and carers can create Nests with other families in their area and take turns caring for kids in the Nest on a rostered basis. Karen Monaghan is the CEO of Kid Nest, with her office based at Happy Spaces. “We are currently in the pilot program phase, with launch scheduled for March 2021”, says Karen.
Name another business you connect and collaborate with?
“Arron Tabone CIO at Provider Assist. He is constantly looking at how businesses in Aged Care can shift with continuous improvement. He has problem-solved so much over a coffee or round table. We are dealing with Kids, he is at the other end of the spectrum with Aged Care but there are a lot of overlaps, we both care for human beings at the center of our business.”
What do you love about being part of Happy Spaces?
“This is easy to answer, it’s the Brains Trust. I was not looking for a co-working space but met Matty and was inspired by how he was building a community at Happy Spaces. I was new to the area and it enabled me to meet a lot of people but even more so, it has been fundamental to my business. The skillset, agility in thinking and sharing of knowledge within Happy Spaces is incredible and everyone there is working for purpose.”
Visit
Website Kid Nest