Join Fab as she chats with Penni Pickering about bringing people together in meaningful ways. They dive into how Cowork Crew came to be, share some great tips for making networking events feel less awkward, and talk about why having a strong community is so important for freelancers and business owners.
You’ll hear practical advice on hosting your own events, plus insights on how working alongside others can boost both your business and your mindset.
“Embrace the journey of learning from feedback. It’s challenging to balance, but processing feedback and adapting is crucial to growing and succeeding in what we do.”
Penni Pickering
About Penni Pickering
Penni is one half of the two-woman team at Kabo Creative. Together with her wife and business partner, Jo, they create beautiful websites and eye catching design. They also host events, being co-hosts of The Marketing Meetup in Northampton, and co-founders of CoWork Crew.
CoWork Crew is a monthly cowork day for freelancers, the self employed and anyone who fancies getting out of the home office and into a room full of lovely people who get what it’s like to wear-all-the-hats.
Find Penni on LinkedIn
Takeaways
- Don’t try to do everything alone. Building a community gives you a support system, helps you find new opportunities, and makes the freelance journey feel less isolating.
- Be clear about your expectations and understand how others like to work. Give people space to do things their way instead of micromanaging—it helps everyone feel more comfortable and motivated.
- Planning an event takes time and flexibility. Things will go wrong, but that’s normal. Focus on creating a relaxed atmosphere where people can connect naturally instead of forcing conversations.
- Feedback can be hard to hear, but it’s key to improving. Take time to process it, figure out what’s useful, and use it to make your next project better.
- The best partnerships work when you balance each other’s strengths. If one person is better at big ideas and the other at execution, lean into those strengths instead of trying to do it all yourself.
Episode resources
CoWorkCrew: find out more
Fabs Cambridge Crew: here
Marketers Mixer on March 28th: RSVP here
Remarkable: find out more
