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Meet Locus Member Bryn Perkins

Community Manager entrepreneurship, Locus Workspace, members, profile ,
Locus Workspace is pleased to welcome long-time expat Bryn Perkins as a coworker. Bryn has been living in the Czech Republic for 15 ½ years, where he has had a variety of interesting jobs. He has experience running an Internet business, managing a Prague-based hostel group, working as a management consultant, and leading an energy-saving consulting firm; he presently works in Business Intelligence for the mobile payments company Boku. Two of the most impressive contributions to the Prague cultural scene, however, were the co-founding and management of the bookstore and café Shakespeare a synové (Shakespeare and Sons) and The Prague Daily Monitor.
Shakespeare a synové started off on Krymská street in Vršovice in 2002, but now has two locations, one in Mala strana and one in Berlin. After opening, the Krymská bookstore nurtured the English writing community by hosting readings and other events in its eclectic and bohemian space, which continues to be appreciated as Café v Lese. Bryn sold his share to his partners at the end of 2003.
Bryn was also a co-founder of The Prague Daily Monitor, which he managed with editor Theo Schwinke until 2009, when it was acquired by Prague TV. It continues to be an important information source for English speakers in the Czech Republic. See: www.praguemonitor.com.

Bryn believes that truly great businesses are those that are both financially successful and positively affect all their stakeholders (including owners, employees, suppliers, customers, and the community at large). He is excited by “open-book management,” in which employees are taught how “the numbers” drive their company’s business, are updated on these numbers regularly, and share in the success they help create. Though a relatively small number of businesses are run this way, there are some impressive examples of successful businesses that have taken this approach.

Two of Bryn’s “business heroes” are Ari Weinzweig and Jack Stack. Ari Weinzweig co-founded Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1982 and now is CEO and co-founder of the highly successful Zingerman’s gourmet food company, with revenues over $50 million. Jack Stack, a highly creative businessman, is the founder and CEO of SRC Holdings. He is known as “The Father of Open-Book Management,” an approach he has used to great success. His company has helped to start scores of successful businesses founded by employees who learned about business while working at his open-book companies.

The Benefits of Coworking – a Personal Perspective

David Creighton coworking, happiness, Locus Workspace, members, positive psychology, Prague, productivity, profile, Writing ,

Much has been written about the psychological benefits of coworking and being with others. In my case, it has been personal experience that has convinced me of the advantages.

I moved to the Czech Republic from the UK in 2000, and started working as a freelance editor, journalist and translator in 2002. In my early days as a freelancer I worked from home and didn’t mind; in many ways there was no choice because no coworking spaces existed in Prague back then. Cafés are a favourite haunt of freelancers, but much as I love idling away the hours in Prague’s coffee houses, working in them didn’t have much appeal, because I associate them with relaxation rather than earning a living.

But when I started freelancing full-time again in 2011, after several years working for an employer or regularly for a company on an external basis, I found that working at home didn’t have much appeal either. I had learned to be more disciplined and less distracted over the years, but I had also become much more outgoing and sociable than I used to be. And while I have many introverted personality traits and am happy to spend time on my own, I missed the interaction with people in an office, and the structure and routine offered by such an environment.

Thankfully coworking had then become firmly established in Prague, and I spent time at a number of the city’s coworking spaces. I went through a particularly difficult period in 2012 and 2013, when work from clients dried up. The situation has turned around, but coworking was of enormous benefit psychologically during those challenging days. It was a huge boost to be with others, not sitting at home moping. I also made new friends from different backgrounds and countries. I get a buzz from meeting new people from different places, and coworking was a brilliant opportunity to do so. I also appreciated the fact that I could be with likeminded people, socialize with them and go to lunch with them – without any of the office politics that employees have to negotiate.

The positive environment around me also undoubtedly helped me raise my productivity levels and get more done during the day. I am certain that I would not have achieved as much by working at home. And I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could balance work and having time for breaks and chatting to other coworkers, and getting to know them.

David Creighton