Women Working Together
New Dallas coworking space wants to help women kick ass as entrepreneurs
As coworking gains traction in North Texas, a new space in downtown Dallas hopes to foster the community of women taking the entrepreneurial path. The Kaleidoscope for Her is a partnership between Womanars, an online company that connects and inspires women, and White Space, a meeting and event venue in the West End.
Womanars founder Tilde Guajardo says Kaleidoscope, which is currently interviewing potential members, will provide a hub for women looking to develop their businesses in Dallas’ booming startup sector.
In addition to being a coworking space, Kaleidoscope for Her will have mentors in different fields to help women build their businesses.
“Having been in the incubator space and at networking events, unfortunately, it’s still a good ol’ boys network here in Dallas predominately,” Guajardo says. “For us, it’s creating that safe environment. It’s not anti-men, but a lot of women don’t feel confident enough yet to be in that environment with men.”
She says that being in a male-dominated sector can inhibit women’s confidence in getting their companies off the ground.
“You can’t share the way you want to if you’re surrounded by men, and studies have showed that,” she says. “In building up women ... it’s about being in a natural environment where they have that confidence to talk about their business and step into their own power.”
Guajardo says that Womanars had been contemplating a physical space, and a chance encounter at a happy hour between it and White Space’s directors of business development got the ball rolling.
“We had the idea of pitching them on whether they’d be interested in sharing space and generating some money on their unused space,” she says. “Within a couple of days, we had partnered up, and it’s been win-win for both us.”
Kaleidoscope is hosting an open house for potential members on Monday, February 9, so they can get an idea about the space and the kind of community Womanars wants to cultivate. Guajardo says they expect to have between 150 and 250 members by the end of the year.
In addition to being a coworking space, Kaleidoscope will have mentors in different fields to help women build their businesses. Guajrado says they’re courting all markets.
“Whereas a lot of other coworking places focus on funding a business, we’re going to concentrate on growth and launch,” Guajardo says.
