Finding an Office

I was working from a home office since I started in 2016, until I realized the need for more space for inventory mid-last year. Then began my search for where to work! A separate office was unfeasable because it was out of my budget. So I settled on a storage unit down the street from my house.

This is the place I was working out of for about 6 months. It was a storage unit in an old office building. Every time I went I had to go through a maze of hallways and a crusty elevator to get there. It had an eerie vibe, felt like I was going through the backrooms to get there, and the last straw was when one day I walked in and felt a STRONG need to "get out of there now."

It has always been my dream to move into an office in an office building near by. For years the El Camino Office Park buildings were my dream location. That's this image below. However after going through the real hunt for office buildings in my area, I finally got to explore it as an option instead of just a hopeful concept and found it lacking. The elevators were the worst part, and there were no options for me downstairs. It felt dated and kind of empty, despite being nearly full to the brim with businesses and only having one real available unit for rent. So I moved on. I explored every single building in my area that was for rent.

Finally after many buildings and many weird experiences later, I stumbled on 1322 Space Park. I fell in love with the vibe, the concrete floors, the unit I ended up in, the layout, and I got along with the property manager which was a huge plus. The rent price was in my budget, it was 7 minutes from my house, and the unit I ended up renting had more than enough room for me for at least a year's lease. Another bonus was that most of the tenants were aerospace or software development, and apparently being around those sorts of folks makes me feel safer hahaha

The most important part of a location was feeling safe. I needed to feel like I could come by at midnight with my kids and not be afraid of getting mugged. This location does that for me. I've been when there's no one else in the building and felt completely safe. The huge bonus of this place is that it's literally a hop away from my favorite coffee shop, the Java Owl.

And now the exciting part, moving! I hired movers to get everything out of my storage unit and take it to my office. I couldn't imagine having to move everything myself or putting my family through the process. Also there was the bonus of getting to do everything myself once all the boxes and stuff were in place. I'm not gonna lie, I had a "trust the process" moment when it looked like everything wasn't gonna fit after the movers dumped it in the first room. I knew it would all fit because I actually modeled it in a little program on my phone before signing the lease!

I'll share the video of those boxes piled to the ceiling eventually when it's uploaded to Instagram.

Here's the final photo I have right now since so much of my process was captured only in video. I got an led neon sign for my new office and it feels so official! I love it here and I can't wait to share the videos I've taken.

Thanks for reading!

-Jennifer