🔑 Key Takeaways
- Co-working spaces can provide a fertile ground for exchanging ideas and inspiring entrepreneurship, leading to the creation of innovative businesses and communities.
- Following your passion and curating a space for like-minded individuals can lead to the creation of innovative and creative communities, just like how Tina Roth-Eisenberg created Creative Mornings.
- Surrounding yourself with people who share similar values and a creative outlook on life can lead to personal and professional growth, creativity, and collaboration. Building a community of like-minded individuals allows for idea sharing and engagement in a positive environment.
- Surrounding oneself with diverse individuals can lead to opportunities for growth and human connection. Creating a community for creativity can result in magical experiences, and sometimes the need for such a community stems from personal experiences of lacking in access or resources.
- Creative ideas can become a movement with the right mindset, intention, and community engagement. Start small, prototype, and create a space for conversation and sharing that brings people together with a sense of playfulness and possibility.
- When organizing events, prioritize the gift you are giving to your audience and seek meaningful partnerships. Embrace past mistakes and use them to improve. Dream big and ask for what you want.
- Starting small and taking risks can lead to amazing growth and success. Trust yourself and allow your community to get involved, creating a container for your idea to blossom beyond its initial scope.
- Trust is essential in building a successful brand. Recognize your strengths and weaknesses, delegate tasks to others, and seek help when needed. Leaning into discomfort can lead to growth and expansion.
- Join the Creative Mornings community for free and become an ambassador by hosting inspiring events. Organize a volunteer team, find sponsors and upload the talk to create connections and inspire change in your city's creative community.
- Creative Mornings' success is attributed to the collective effort of volunteers, non-transactional giving, and community support. While big tech companies provide a portion of their marketing budget, the organization aims to shift to community-based support for its sustainable future.
- Monetizing a community-based venture is acceptable if the profits are used to benefit the community. Collaborations can lead to successful businesses, and making things instead of complaining can pave the way for entrepreneurship.
- Building something is easy, but changing course is harder. Tina Roth-Eisenberg's focus on Creative Mornings shows that a community-driven approach to life can create meaningful change and a positive impact on the world.
📝 Podcast Summary
Co-working Spaces: Inspiring Creativity and Founding Successful Businesses
Tina Roth Eisenberg's idea of co-working space led to the birth of Creative Mornings and Tattly. Conversations exchanged in the co-working space inspired her to build her own businesses. The free monthly meetups and talks hosted by Creative Mornings now have more than 200 chapters worldwide. She moved to New York after graduation and started working at a design studio where she taught herself print, html, and web design. She was exposed to all kinds of creative people and ideas in New York during the dotcom heydays when the web was seen as a catalyst for change.
How Swiss Miss Founder Created Creative Mornings
Tina Roth-Eisenberg started her blog Swiss Miss as a personal archive to keep track of her design interests. Over time, she realized that her archive was not that personal and people were linking to her blog. She created a platform where she curated design interests with her specific taste. She called it a 'garden on the internet' where people can tap into. Through her design studio, she created a space for people like her, leading to the creation of Creative Mornings. The takeaway is that following one's passion and creating a space for like-minded people can lead to the creation of innovative and creative communities.
The Power of Building a Community of Like-Minded Creative Individuals
Surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals who share similar values and a creative outlook on life can lead to magical outcomes. This was the driving force behind the creation of Studio Mates, a coworking space in Dumbo, Brooklyn, founded by Tina Roth-Eisenberg. The space was designed to offer a physical outlet for people who were creative, entrepreneurial, and who also believed in living a creative life. It provided a place for people to throw around ideas and engage in mini Ted talks every day for lunch. By building a community of people who shared similar values, Tina was able to create an environment that fostered growth, creativity, and collaboration.
Building a Community for Creativity
Surrounding oneself with creative and diverse individuals can help in thinking bigger and pushing boundaries to create opportunities for human connection and growth. This inspired Tina Roth-Eisenberg to create a coworking space and eventually launch Creative Mornings. The need for a community that promotes creativity and human connection is crucial and can lead to magical and beautiful experiences like the ones seen in the coworking space. Tina's journey to create this community also stemmed from her own personal experience of moving to New York and not having access to industry events due to low salary, which further highlights the importance of building the community one wishes existed.
From a simple breakfast gathering to a global movement: The evolution of Creative Mornings.
The first Creative Mornings event had no agenda but just a simple concept of gathering people over breakfast and conversation. Despite initial hiccups and no talks, people were excited to be together. The magic was in seeing into other work environments and the sense of possibility and playfulness in the air. The event kept evolving with prototyping mindset and intention of gathering humans. The free and informal talks encouraged people to come and have free breakfast. It was such a success that even Google hosted it. What started as an idea on a blog became a movement, inspiring people to join the community and share their work.
The Power of Giving and Learning in Event Planning
Giving people a chance to share their gift is a beautiful thing. When organizing events, it's important to consider what gift you are giving to your audience. A good partnership can make all the difference, as seen with MailChimp's support of Creative Mornings. Radical generosity can truly make a positive impact on a community. As with all things, growth and improvement can come with time and experience. It's okay to cringe at past mistakes and use them as a learning opportunity. Dream big and ask for what you want, as the universe may surprise you with a yes.
Overcoming Fear and Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone for Success
Starting something scrappy and small can lead to something big and successful. Even when Tina Roth-Eisenberg was scared and hesitant to expand her Creative Mornings events, she realized that growth happens when she steps out of her comfort zone. She found ways to create a container for others to run with her idea while keeping its spirit alive. This allowed her to expand Creative Mornings into different cities and countries, proving that community involvement and enthusiasm can take an idea beyond its initial scope. It's important to take risks and trust yourself, even when it scares you. Stepping up and trying something outside of your comfort zone can lead to amazing growth and success.
Building a Successful Brand through Trust and Delegation
Tina Roth-Eisenberg, founder of Creative Mornings, was scared that her deeply personal creation would reflect badly on her if people didn't keep the spirit alive. However, she realized that trust breeds magic and set people up who were in service of the community. She leaned into the discomfort of giving up control and oversight and knew she needed help to manage and organize the expanding brand. She recognized her strengths and weaknesses and sought out someone who could think through the processes of what this means. It's important to trust and set people up for success, leaning into discomfort, recognizing your strengths and weaknesses, and knowing when to seek help in order to build a successful brand.
Connecting through inspiration: the power of Creative Mornings.
Creative Mornings is an open platform for inspiration and connection within the creative community. Anyone can become a chapter ambassador and host an event that is free and inspiring. The guiding principle is to induce hope and inspiration through talks and audience engagement. The organization is a miracle, as it has grown to 111 chapters with only a nine-person team and a scrappy budget. Tina Roth-Eisenberg, the founder, believes that they are in the business of connection, not talks. Creative Mornings attracts people who see the value in becoming visible in their city’s creative community and being seen as a leader. The non-negotiables for hosting an event include organizing a volunteer team, finding sponsors, and uploading the talk.
The Role of Generosity, Non-Transactional Giving, and Community Support in Creative Mornings' Success.
Creative Mornings' success is a result of radical generosity, non-transactional giving, and community support. The collective effort of volunteers organizing events in different cities is the reason behind its immense reach. Creative Mornings is supported by partners in the form of big tech companies who provide a portion of their marketing budget. However, the organization aims to shift its business model towards community-based support. The energy and love poured in by volunteers and attendees create an invitation to contribute and leave people feeling upbeat and eager to contribute. Community support is the future of Creative Mornings as a community-led organization.
Turning Community Ventures into Profitable Businesses
Tina Roth-Eisenberg believes that monetizing a community-based venture is fine as long as the profits are used to better the community. Her company, Creative Mornings, moved its community-led workshops called field trips to Zoom during the pandemic, and it turned out to be a massive success. The events averaged around 450 signups and saw about 10,000 people attending every month. Big tech companies like Adobe Express also showed interest in organizing organic field trips through Creative Mornings. Tina's temporary tattoo company, Tattly, and the app, TeuxDeux, both came out of her collaborations with designer artist friends during lunch conversations at her coworking space. Her personal rule of making things when she complains has led to the creation of these businesses.
From Temporary Tattoos to Heart-Centered Living: Tina Roth-Eisenberg's Journey with Creative Mornings
Tina Roth-Eisenberg's experience with running a temporary tattoo business taught her that it's easy to build something, but much harder to get off the carousel. She sold her company Tattly to focus solely on Creative Mornings, an organization that she sees as an academy for living a heart-centered life. She envisions Creative Mornings as a friendship engine that inspires and offers community to creative individuals at all stages of their journey. With numerous ideas for the future, Tina believes that Creative Mornings is only getting started, and she is committed to leaving the world a better place through her contribution to the organization.