The story of how hellowater found their forever office through Deskpass.
We talked to the team at hellowater to learn more about their business and how they grew their company while using Deskpass!
Give me a bit of insight into your company, hellowater?
hellowater is the brainchild of Tom Bushkie and Rusty Jones. Tom, a long time nutritionist, and Rusty, a branding guru, teamed up to inspire health by creating better-for-you beverages. Tom had been working on a formulation for an appetite suppressant beverage when he met Rusty. One of the ways to suppress appetite is fiber. They took that concept and created hellowater fiber infused. Both Tom and Rusty wanted a beverage that tasted great, had a health benefit, and eliminated sugar. Rusty was able to bring the brand alive with inspirational branding. Today, we have 5 inspiring flavors of hellowater: SMILE (mixed berry), LAUGH (lemon-lime), LIVE (pineapple coconut), LOVE (cucumber lime), and DANCE (orange mango) all with 0 sugar and 5 grams of fiber.
What’s your team look like? Does everyone come into the office? Are people remote?
Our team is small but growing. On a day to day basis, Jax is the one in the office. Tom and Rusty are both remote for now. When we all meet in Chicago, we love having a home base in 2112.
What made you want to start a business in a coworking space?
We realized early on that we could work from coffee shop to coffee shop but we wanted more. We needed a culture. 2112 has that lifestyle culture we were looking for and is a collaborative environment.
“If I was going to be spending a large amount of my time somewhere, I wanted to enjoy more than just a desk and free wifi. I joined Deskpass for that reason.”
What was your experience with Deskpass?
When I was looking for an office space for our new startup, hellowater, I wanted to be able to see multiple offices to get the feel for culture and community. If I was going to be spending a large amount of my time somewhere, I wanted to enjoy more than just a desk and free wifi. I joined Deskpass for that reason. The Deskpass team was welcoming and the site was very user-friendly to reserve my desks as I explored the city.
Have you met anyone through coworking that you later worked with?
- We actually met our current Marketing Director at 2112 which ended up becoming our permanent office space. It was my first day at 2112 and I was introduced to Jax Turyna. She owned her own marketing agency who focused on experiential marketing. We knew we were going to need a marketing team sooner than later. She came on with some projects to start and then as we kept growing Jax eventually came on full time. It was very serendipitous.
What’s it like starting a business in a coworking space?
It was actually the perfect situation. Having been bouncing around from coffee shop to coffee shop there wasn’t any opportunity for collaboration. The first week of 2112 we were able to connect with so many other entrepreneurs and businesses that were excited about our venture and willing to help in any way.
What made you call 2112 your coworking home?
Culture. It is as simple as that. 2112 has an amazing lifestyle culture that the hellowater brand immediately connected with. The 2112 team has become family and has been a huge asset to hellowater. I would recommend any business looking for a home to check out 2112 as it’s like no other coworking space in Chicago or the US that I’ve experienced.
You’ve grown a ton since starting your business, are you planning on staying in 2112?
There is plenty of space at 2112 for our team to grow into. Again, for hellowater to create the next iconic lifestyle beverage brand we need a community to share it with and 2112 is just that for us.
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