Meet Lindsay Sworski of Boulder Healing Hub in Boulder

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsay Sworski.

Lindsay, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I had been working in private practice as a Licensed Massage Therapist and Registered Psychotherapist in the State of Colorado for over a decade and was looking for a new office. In the process, I realized just how expensive it was to rent private office space as a solo practitioner in Boulder, Colorado! I also felt how *lonely* it could be to work for oneself after so many years of having my own space. It was great to set my own schedule, and not have to split my income with a clinic or spa – but working for myself also meant that I had no coworkers to connect with – no office holiday parties, no peer professional support, no warm connection in the break room between clients, no built-in referral network, etc. I liked the freedom of working for myself but also felt disconnected from a sense of community.

So it was a vision of a new way of working that gave birth to the Boulder Healing Hub! Instead of getting a new office for myself I rented a whole large suite of offices to share with other like-minded wellness professionals in private practice – which is easy enough to do. What makes the Boulder Healing Hub unique, and different from other shared office spaces in the area, is how much time and energy I’ve invested in creating the thriving professional camaraderie that we now enjoy at the Hub! We have almost 100 members of all kinds – psychotherapists, massage therapists, nutritionists, acupuncturists, energy workers, you name it – who refer clients to one another and offer discounted sessions to one another.

We have member groups that meet regularly like our Peer Supervision Group for Psychotherapists, our Space Clearing team for people who enjoy energetically clearly our shared offices, a Boulder Healing Hub Book Club where our members read the latest health and wellness books together and discuss topics pertinent to their practices, and even a Plant Lovers Team that helps to take care of the many living plants we have throughout our space! We also have a large break room that serves as the beating heart of our physical space, where members work together at the big oak table on their computers, connect with each other over lunch, or just relax on the couch between clients. We host regular networking meetings and member parties in this space and even open up our whole suite to the public once a year for our annual Open House, where members offer free sample sessions, give wonderful free presentations on a variety of wellness topics, and raffle off free full-length sessions. Basically, our community is *LIT*! And I’m proud of that. 🙂

Has it been a smooth road?
Investing in community is really a labor of love and often costs more money than it generates. But the bottom line of the Boulder Healing Hub is not simply income. I need to generate enough resources for the Hub to be sustainable – definitely. But a large part of the bottom line for me has always been creating something in the world that generates true benefit in a larger sense. For example, when I was designing the build-out of our current suite I set aside a large space for our shared break room that could have been turned into another usable office room, which would have brought in much more income for the Hub. But it was important to me that there be a place where our members could make real contact with one another – forming friendships and professional alliances that can only happen when the architecture of one’s life supports it.

So I’ve designed the architecture of the Hub – both the physical space and the focus of the business operations – to support members in creating connections to one another. I have always felt like a pollinator at heart, so nothing makes me happier than to see people connect, knowing the creative possibilities of human connection are endless! Plus, there is a real “epidemic of loneliness” that is plaguing our modern world and researchers are now making the concrete link between isolation and loss of physical and mental health. The workplace, which used to be a form of social support for lifelong belonging, has now largely eroded to large companies who throw away employees as needed for increased profit or younger replacements, and workers who freelance and go the solo entrepreneur route to stay true to their passion in life, forgoing the beauty of being embedded in a larger network of shared purpose. The Hub is now that network for many wellness practitioners in Boulder.

However, community itself can also be a struggle at times! Whenever you gather people together there is the potential for so much warmth and support and enjoyment – but there is also the potential for misunderstanding and friction. Both are inevitable, really. We curate our community at the Hub to make sure our members have a basic maturity and respect for the space and for each other, and we have had to turn applicants away or ask members to leave when they haven’t been able to respect the important rules we’ve crafted so that the space functions well for everyone. I think the hardest thing for me personally has been when Hub members don’t recognize the intense amount of sweat and tears that goes into running a small business, and the sincere integrity with which I approach the design of every aspect of the business, including receiving feedback.

There have been a few members over the years that assume the management team is setting rules for the sake of control or raising rates for the sake of greed and excess income. It takes SO MUCH WORK to build a small business and I have lost a massive amount of hair (no joke) in building the Hub from the ground up! And every member of the management team at the Hub, myself included, makes much less money than our time and deep care are worth. But honestly, I think the hard work of being in community, and even of dealing with difficult interactions, is so worth it. Moments of difficulty between humans are also moments that are most ripe for transformation. And for every difficult community moment, there are 100 other moments in which members are generous, understanding, patient, delightful, and awesome! And that’s the downright truth!

Please tell us about Boulder Healing Hub. What should we know?
Well, in addition to all the awesome community stuff, the Hub also simply provides really affordable office space for wellness practitioners! That’s brass-tacks important! The whole business is designed to keep costs down and space affordable so that our members can actually make a healthy living doing what they love. The Boulder Healing Hub is less expensive than every other comparable business in town – even those that only offer office space and no community benefits. I’m really proud of that.

I realized after more than a year of running the Hub that we were a part of the larger international industry/movement known as Coworking. Unlike big money (and low integrity) coworking companies like WeWork, there are many local “mom and pop” level coworking spaces across the country – like the Healing Hub – that are working hard at providing community connection and shared resource affordability to the growing sector of self-employed workers. While most coworking spaces are for members who work in computer-based professions, the Boulder Healing Hub services local wellness practitioners that might otherwise have to leave Boulder and work elsewhere if it wasn’t for the Hub’s affordability and professional support. I’m really happy to be a part of this larger creative revolution in the way humans work together, keeping work awesome. 🙂

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The coworking model of sharing resources is still relatively new and I expect it to catch on more and more over the next decade. And I’ve considered opening other Hub locations around the country and may do so when I connect with the right people who can help spread the unique Hub community vision.

Contact Info:

• Website: BoulderHealingHub.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boulderhealinghub/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BoulderHealingHub/
• Other: MovingPresence.com (my personal professional website)

Image Credit:
D’AntonioPhotography.com

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