Kate Wiegmann, COO
Wiegmann with RISE Founder and CEO Stacy Taubman. Photo by Maddie Stringfellow Photography.
RISE COLLABORATIVE OFFERS COMMUNITY ALONG WITH WORKSPACE Written by Lou Ann Wilcox / Photography by Kathleen Mortland Photography
When it opened in St. Louis in 2017, RISE Collaborative Workspace, with its concept of shared workspace plus community, was ahead of its time. With how and from where we work turned on its head in 2020, Kate Wiegmann, chief operating officer, believes that the changes we are seeing today are just the beginning of a workplace evolution. The audience for RISE is businesswomen. Wiegmann describes RISE as female focused but male friendly. “Our members include established businesswomen craving quality connections and a sense of community, small business owners who need a professional setting to meet with clients, remote employees wanting an inspiring, flexible place to work and collaborate, and sales professionals who need a sophisticated setting to take phone calls or work between meetings.” “RISE is more about our culture than the design of the space,” she continues. “While it is welcoming, open and comfortable it is not a Barbie dollhouse. You won’t see heavy wood, dark colorways, or overstuffed couches. The colors are softer and we use lots of natural light. It is a serious, professional, and polished space conducive to working and appropriate to bring clients to – and that includes male clients.” As for workspaces, RISE offers a range of flexible options including private offices, shared workspaces, meeting/conference/ huddle rooms and a “virtual office” program that includes a mailing address, phone answering, and meeting room access. There also is common space for productive work and socializing. Prior to the pandemic, other benefits included weekly in-person networking and educational events for groups of 20-80 people. Those events have shifted to virtual for now. “We have a lot of levers for our members to pull - from physical space to business resources to engaging events. But it is our 10 slmag.net
community of smart, strong, successful women that truly defines RISE.” RISE hosts regular business, social, and networking events, both virtually and in person, to advance the development of the members of its community and enhance collaboration. Most, but not all, of the events are open to members only. One program, On the RISE Mastermind, is limited to 10 seasoned business owners and executives who meet virtually once per month for six months. They have the ability to connect with other group members as well as receive one-on-one coaching and support from RISE Founder Stacy Taubman. Participants do not have to be a member. Through RISE Society, the nonprofit arm of RISE Collaborative Workspace, RISE helps women of all ages increase their social capital and tap into a powerful pipeline for success. Through a mentoring program for high school girls, scholarship opportunities, and networking events, women and girls are encouraged to “dream big” and find their own personal path to RISE to success. “There are many options for shared workspace in St. Louis,” Wiegmann notes. “The identities of each of them are unique. We each have different audiences and cultures. But the shared workspace ecosystem is a community, too,” she says. “We keep in touch with the leaders of Cortex, TechArtista and others. We call it ‘co-opetition’ and we are helpful and supportive of each other.” Along with her business partner, Stacy Taubman, the founder and chief executive officer of RISE, they opened a second location in Denver in April 2019. The two met in 2016. Prior to March 2020 when the pandemic hit, all private offices in St. Louis and RISE’s Denver location were full and had waiting lists. Meeting rooms also were full. There were plans to open a
