By: Onyeka Obiocha, President of A Happy Life

Working from home has been and always will be a struggle for me. I would drag myself out of bed at 10:05, and take three very deliberate steps to my 2nd generation desk chair where I’d strategically scroll through Facebook to the musings of a random Soundcloud playlist. Not the most efficient way to use my time but being in the situation I found myself in, I didn’t really have many alternative options.

I’m an entrepreneur – more specifically, I am the President of A Happy Life, a coffee roasting company that aims to make the world happier one cup of organic, specialty-grade coffee at a time. Using coffee as a vehicle to create a happier world is certainly a tall order (pun intended). However, when Vishal Patel, the founder and CEO of A Happy Life, pitched the company to me in November 2013, I was convinced that with his leadership and my ability to not mess things up [significantly], we would be a formidable duo.

Immediately we got to work – setting up internal processes, outlining marketing strategies, and cultivating delectable 15 minute meals (sidenote: we’re both big on cooking). It was all well until complacency set in. Vishal is based in Wallingford and seeing how I’m in Windsor, it wasn’t too efficient for us to commute back and forth to each other’s residences. We decided we’d both work from home and keep the lines of communications open. This worked for a while, but genuine human interaction is critical for me. A few friends suggested working from my local coffee shop or the public library, and while these options sufficed for a brief period, I felt like an island surrounded by other islands. There wasn’t any true companionship – no one’s shoulder to cry on if I didn’t get a big account or a chest to bump if I did. I needed a community in order for me to work effectively. I can’t create in a vacuum. I need to be able to bounce ideas off a diverse group of people and gain an understanding of different ideologies’. But most importantly, I need to be in an environment surrounded by both human and educational resources that will allow me to be successful.

That need has led to my current situation, coworking at reSET. The opportunity to walk in every morning and see entrepreneurs armed with only their laptop and a cup of coffee, and ready to tackle their never-ending inbox is something I have grown to look forward to. Coworking has become a way of life for me, and 99 Pratt Street is now my home away from home.

reSET, the Social Enterprise Trust, operates a coworking space at 99 Pratt Street, Suite 200, Hartford CT, which is home to over 20 entrepreneurs from the Greater Hartford region.