The Myth Of The Fully Flexible Workday
Flexible work was supposed to make life easier. But for many people, flexibility without enough structure or support has quietly become fragmentation. A reflection on modern work, cognitive overload and the environments that help people work more sustainably.
The Small Things That Quietly Make Work Easier
Modern work isn’t just shaped by productivity systems and technology. It’s shaped by caring responsibilities, invisible mental load, flexibility and the environments surrounding us every day. Suzanne Murdock reflects on real life capacity, neighbourhood coworking and the small things that quietly make work easier.
Neighbourhood coworking isn’t a perk. It’s infrastructure.
There’s still a persistent assumption that coworking spaces are something optional, a flexible extra, a nicer place to work if home isn’t quite working, or somewhere people go when they don’t need a “real office.†Even when people recognise their value, it tends to be described in practical terms: desks, meeting room
Keeping things local isn’t always the safer option. But sometimes it’s the truer one.
What running a neighbourhood coworking space in Newry reveals about cross-border business, compliance realities and the quiet support structures small enterprises rely on every day. Over the past while I’ve found myself thinking more intentionally about what it means to keep a coworking space local. Not just geographically l
What Small Business Really Looks Like: Voices From the Inside
Welcome to this special episode of Powering Productivity, created in celebration of Small Business Saturday and our place in the UK’s SmallBiz100. Over the past few years, I’ve had the privilege of sitting with founders, freelancers, independent coworking operators, community leaders and small teams, all people who’v
S4. Ep.12 Leading With Heart: The Emotional Realities of Coworking Leadership, with Lucy McInally
What it really takes to run a coworking space without running yourself into the ground. From the outside, running a coworking space can look beautifully simple: open the doors, fill the desks, host a few events and “let community happenâ€. But for most independent and local operators, the reality is far heavier and far more
Scaling With Heart: Mantle’s Growth to 8 Sites While Staying People-First, with Jo Hart
What does it really take to scale a coworking business without losing the soul of what made it special in the first place? In this episode of Powering Productivity, I’m joined by Jo Hart, who has been at the heart of Mantle Space’s growth from a single serviced-office centre to eight thriving locations across the […
The Heart of Work: What Rural Hubs Teach Us About Community & Resilience, with Maria do Ceu Bastos
What if the future of work is being quietly shaped in small, rural coworking hubs, places built around belonging, creativity, and care? In this episode of Powering Productivity, Suzanne speaks with Maria do Céu Bastos, founder of NOWHERE Desk in Portugal – a rural hub that’s become a home for freelancers, founders, an
A decade of growth, sustainability & community at The Hub Newry
Some partnerships are built on contracts, ours are built on trust, shared values, and a whole lot of heart. For over a decade, the Hub Newry coworking community has been home to Brack Tours, one of our longest-standing member businesses. In that time, we’ve truly grown together. Through Brexit and COVID, and during renovatio
The Quiet Superpowers of Curiosity & Deep Listening in Small Business
In the heart of every thriving small business, there’s something that often gets overlooked in the rush to build systems, scale, or “show up†online. It’s not a flashy new tool or strategy. It’s human connection, built slowly, intentionally, through curiosity and deep listening. As a coach for micro business owners a
More time, less noise: Finding balance in people-led business
Running a micro business or managing a neighbourhood coworking space doesn’t fit into a tidy job description especially a people-led business. One minute you’re deep in planning, the next, you’re tracking down an HDMI cable or figuring out who prefers oat milk. This is hands-on, people-first work, real, human and often d
Stronger together: How the right partnerships support a sustainable, strategic & human way to work
I didn’t start out thinking partnerships would be the thing that sustained me, but looking back, they’ve made all the difference. When you’re running a coworking space or a micro business, it’s easy to fall into the trap of doing it all. But some of the most powerful progress, both emotionally and operationally has com
What does real support for micro business owners & coworking leaders look like?
If you’re running a micro business or managing a neighbourhood coworking space, you’re probably the one others rely on. You’re the organiser, the listener. The person quietly holding things together, not just the work, but the people. But have you ever stopped to ask: What does real support look like for you? Itâ€
