Anchorspace Potsdam’s story begins in an unlikely spot: Tinder in coastal Maine.
Three years ago mid-divorce, Nicole downloaded the infamous dating app and swiped right on Eric, who lived in Maine at the time as well. Eric and Nicole had great chemistry and when Eric said he was moving to upstate New York in about six weeks. Nicole sighed with relief. She wasn’t ready for anything serious and a summer fling was all that was supposed to happen...
Eric’s job at Clarkson University had him committed to the area and as their relationship accidentally got serious, Nicole began to wonder if she could keep her Maine roots while spreading to New York. She visited several times and really liked the area.
In February of 2018, Nicole decided to spend a month in Potsdam. She strapped her skis on her car, put her dog in the backseat, and started looking for places she could work from when she got to Potsdam. An ask in the Chamber newsletter, an inquiry at the Shipley Center, and several calls to places led to the basement of Potsdam Library, where she met current BFF Maggie Mckenna. The ridiculousness of trying to find space made Nicole realize Potsdam needed a coworking space like the one she had started in Bar Harbor Maine in 2015.
She held back though as she heard multiple other people were talking about the idea. “I’ll be their first customer!” she said, awaiting someone with deeper pockets and/or more passion to do it first.
When months went by without anything moving forward, she began plotting to start a coworking space in Potsdam with help from Fred Hans, the Village planner. She toured buildings and talked to lots of people, but nothing was quite right in terms of space or situaton. When she met Bill Melchior and saw his building in the fall of 2018, she set her sights on having him as her landlord. (A great boyfriend, best friend, and easy to work with landlord are hard to find yet this amazing trifecta happened for Nicole in Potsdam!)
When she found out for sure the other person wanting to start a coworking space was a no-go, she began her work in earnest in November 2018, signing a lease and spending money like a drunken sailor on office furniture and space upgrades needed for a functional coworking space. When Wil Hansen became the first paying member in January 2019 right before opening, Nicole felt so much better about the whole thing and started planning a giant opening party with Maggie, who loves event planning and has a side event planning business.
Nicole now spends 3ish weeks a month in New York and 1ish weeks a month in Maine and while everyone tells her she can’t have it all, she has decided to try anyway. To answer some common questions: no, she doesn’t know if she’ll do it forever; yes, New York has better bagels but Maine has better seafood; yes, she has run multistate errands and will happily coordinate with you if you need something; and yes, Anchorspace Potsdam has lots of membership levels and you should try it out even though it seems weird to share your office.
Anchorspace Potsdam is the product of love, friendship, and a cool community ready for innovative businesses. Nicole literally can’t believe the support she’s gotten so far and can’t wait to host you, with some of her new friends, at Anchorspace Potsdam.