The Hivery finds all-women co-working sweet spot

Every morning, after dropping her two sons off at school, Mary Michael Pringle would go in search of a place to work.

Pringle rotated among a familiar circuit of local coffee shops, anxiously hoping to hit the freelancing jackpot: a table large enough to house both her coffee and her laptop, not to mention high-speed Wi-Fi and a nearby electrical outlet.

More often than not, once Pringle finally got settled, she’d have to pack it all back up again for a business call, eagerly hoping her Google Docs would load from the car. A similar routine followed whenever she needed to use the bathroom.

Now, five days a week, Pringle works at the Hivery, an all-women co-working space in downtown Mill Valley.

“It’s been a slow burn for me to realize I needed to invest in myself and take myself more seriously so that my clients would do the same,” says Pringle, 45, a freelance copywriter. Since leaving a big San Francisco advertising agency and striking out on her own, finally solving the workplace piece of the freelance puzzle has proven shockingly transformative. “Looking back, it’s amazing I got any work done.”

The first Hivery opened in 2014, initially housed inside a converted art gallery in Sausalito. It has since outgrown that space and in March of last year, unveiled its current, 3,000-square-foot Mill Valley outpost.

Since 2014, the Hivery has grown from 28 to 300 members — with more than 25 percent traveling from San Francisco to work in Mill Valley, while others commute from the East Bay and Sonoma County. Members range from Millennials to Baby Boomers and include writers, artists, activists, women scaling businesses, women running businesses and women changing careers altogether.

“The biggest thing I’m interested in is what creates and supports a courageous woman,” says Grace Kraaijvanger (pronounced CRY-vunger), 42, the Hivery’s founder and CEO. “That’s my mission and my calling.”

As co-working has proliferated in recent years, so, too, have women-only co-working spaces.

According to a 2016 report by Emergent Research, a Lafayette research and consulting firm, there are 3,900 co-working spaces across the country. Of these, about 20 to 25 are women-only.

Among women-only workspaces, the Hivery is in good company, alongside the Wing in New York City (with three more locations to open within the coming year), the Rise Collaborative Workspace in St. Louis, Mo., and Hera Hub, which started in San Diego and now operates four locations nationwide (with two more in the pipeline).

“Segmentation and growth into niche markets are clear signs of an expanding and maturing industry,” says Steve King, a partner at Emergent Research. “As we’ve seen in the past with co-working, once a concept or niche is proven, growth quickly follows.” Looking ahead, King predicts that the number of women-oriented co-working spaces will likely multiply.

In late March, Wayfair, the home-furnishings website, announced the winners of its annual design competition. Among more than 10,000 submissions, the Hivery won for best office space.

LeAnn Wanninger, a Hivery member since 2015, runs Design Renegades, a Mill Valley interior design firm. She created the “light, bright and airy — with a pop of yellow” workspace, purposely leaving spaces that feel unfinished and “not perfect.”

“The first message is that you’re here to find out why you’re really here,” Wanninger says. “That’s the differentiator.”

From the Martha Graham quote lining the Hivery’s front atrium to its careful configuration of shiny, white lacquer desks and Lucite chairs, visitors quickly get the sense that this isn’t your typical male-dominated co-working space.

“Putting a foosball table into a space does not make a woman more creative,” Kraaijvanger says of the pervasive “bro culture” at many Silicon Valley co-working spots. “Tequila Thursdays have nothing to do with women’s empowerment.”

Since starting the Hivery three years ago,Kraaijvanger has observed that its members value flexibility above all else — with most utilizing its eight-days-a-month membership for $275. An unlimited monthly membership costs $380. In addition to fast Wi-Fi, co-working amenities include access to a large multipurpose room and four individual conference rooms, printers, daytime and overnight storage, and Equator coffee and tea, among several other perks.

Part of the Hivery’s unique appeal is Kraaijvanger herself, who possesses a quiet charisma and frequently hosts workshops related to personal growth and career development.

Losing her mother in 2011 propelled Kraaijvanger to finally act on a longtime dream of creating a space where women were free to collaborate.

As more and more women wanted to join, the small Sausalito space quickly grew cramped. Kraaijvanger observed the Hivery filling a void — or an antidote to the isolation of working from home. She used her personal savings to fund its expansion, now located in the heart of Mill Valley’s downtown.

“I think we all thought it was going to be so great to work from home,” Kraaijvanger says. She lives nearby with her husband, who works for a technology company, and their two middle school-age children. “The only factor that we didn’t bring into that equation is that we’d be doing it all alone.”

Tara Mohr, 38, a writer, entrepreneur and mother of two young children, drives (against traffic) from San Francisco to Mill Valley once a week.

As an extrovert working from home, Mohr craves human contact and watercooler chitchat.

Once at the Hivery, Mohr finds the Monday meditation and new-member lunches a great way of breaking up an otherwise monotonous workday.

“You feel a little more professional than if you’re at home in your pajamas,” Mohr says. “You take yourself a little more seriously because the space is taking you seriously.”

Kraaijvanger said the Hivery’s business model is already profitable, with proceeds funding the next stage of its growth. In recent months, there’s been an outpouring of interest from investors eager to create a nationwide expansion program. And by year’s end, Kraaijvanger plans to open two more locations: one in the Bay Area and another in New York, although she declined to be more specific.

When scouting future locations, be it on the West or East Coast, Kraaijvanger hopes to replicate much of the Mill Valley magic — namely, its visibility.

“If you’re going to create a movement for women working in a different way, you have to be bold,” said Kraaijvanger, who believes the centrality of its location is vital. “We want little girls riding their bikes to know that women are making a contribution on the floor above. We want to put it out there, for all the town to see.”

The Hivery 38 Miller Ave., No. 20, Mill Valley. (415) 569-7760; https://www.thehivery.com/.