Over the past week, if you have been following me on (most of) the social media platforms (Facebook, mySpace, Twitter, etc), you have seen lots of activity around a move to a new office space. SheTech and Company has been growing and changing over the past two years, and I decided that it was finally time to graduate from a home office to a real live commercial space.

The afternoon sun bathes my new office in sunlight

Having telecommuted for years while working with other companies, I thought that working from home would be a simple matter. Particularly because my office was in the basement (a very nice basement with its own door to the outside), I figured that I would be able to keep “work life” and “home life” relatively separate.

Silly me.

As the business grew, and with it the demands on my time, the line between work and home grew less and less distinct, until I found myself sleeping in my office. And even worse than that, I discovered that if I was not working, I didn’t know what to do with myself. “Get a life” took on a whole new meaning.

There’s another aspect that I had not considered when I started the business from home: client visits. When my client companies were relatively small and casual, we could meet in my office (though I would always feel a bit apologetic about it), or we could arrange a working coffee or lunch at a nearby restaurant or café.

But business, I am happy to say, has evolved to the point where I needed a more serious space to meet with more serious clients. And so I stumbled on a terrific little office space in town, centrally located, easy to find, with a great view and amazing amenities.It was one of those perfectly timed moments where everything clicked right into place, as though the great Guiding Hand were just waiting for me to let go of the darned wheel, and when I did, my little ship glided smoothly into its slip–without interference from me, thank you!

We had our first client meeting this week–by “we” I mean myself, my Marketing Director, and a client with whom I’ve been discussing work for nearly a year–and it felt GREAT to have a legitimate office space in which to discuss our plans and ideas.

There are so many great things about this space, I would feel as though I were gushing if I were to enumerate all of them here, but one of the biggest deciding factors for me was the window. After being in the basement (with typical basement windows) for two years, a wall of glass with a fabulous view did me in.

I have missed being around other people, I have missed hearing the ebb and flow of humanity outside my window, I have missed having an abundance of natural light. I have all of those things here, and more, and I am as certain as I am sitting here that such things will make a difference in how I feel about work, how my clients feel coming here–all of which will contribute in positive ways to the continued growth of the business.

There’s another very important psychological factor to moving from a home office to a downtown office: my level of commitment has changed. I now have additional responsibilities. I have a lease. I have an image to maintain. I now have a sense of belonging to something much larger than myself, at least in the business sense (there’s no question that I feel that way in other parts of my life!), and am already behaving differently as a result.

The basement office served me very well. In it, I got this business off the ground, and was a very comfortable space in which to do that.

And now SheTech and Company has evolved. It’s time to look the part!

If you’re in the area, please feel free to visit the new office at 101 West Broadway, Suite 207, Maryville, TN 37801. I’ll fix you some fabulous coffee from Café Femenino–offered by Haven House in Maryville–and share my beautiful view with you!