I officially joined the Grove in the middle of December 2011, many months after I had just been hanging out there. Well I was not really hanging out, I was more about absorbing the vibe of the place, all that energy of all those minds at work. It was palpable. The Grove is a co-working collaborative space in New Haven, Connecticut and it is one of the main reasons I love living here. In fact, it is one of the main reasons I am still here. With over 80 members and growing, this place offers you a chance to come into contact with people creating and developing all sorts of new things: businesses, software, organizations, you name it. A 14 year old works here, Keshav Patel, along with his dad, Rajesh Patel. They just launched a web-based fundraising service for kids using their social networks called Merit Booster. And they won 2nd place in New Haven's first Start Up Weekend -- also at the Grove -- and are on their way to creating a really fun and cool business. 

So...that's why I go to the Grove. For inspiration. For community. For good friends and good people. It's just that kind of place. 

I have never thought of myself as a start up kind of girl. At least until now. I have been a writer, a TV producer, a public radio producer, events coordinator...none of those things speak to the entrepreneur that has been hiding inside me. It's something about the Grove that drew it out, made me excited when I thought of starting up a business. Who knew I would ever embark upon such a thing? Well here I am. And I am writing this blog to keep track of my train of thought and of my results.

I signed myself up recently for a head bruiser kind of class - the Fast Trac Business Venture through the WBDC, or Women's Business Development Council.  It's the kind of class that will kick your butt. It will make you groan but it will make your dream a reality, or at least a paper reality cause you gotta write up your entire business plan by the end of the course. Yeow. 

Carol Cheswick Wilson is the business instructor, she's also a business coach, I'd like to say she is my business coach and when I met her in December I think I freaked her out because I told her that our meeting was going to change my life. Or at least I hoped it would.

I have had a vision for New Haven for many years now...it's that all children are growing their own food and eating it! Selling it! Learning about themselves and see what they can do, see what their own efforts will bring them. Empowering work. I visited the Food Project this past February and I saw for myself the kind of empowerment that growing food can bring to a teenager. It's transformative. Not just growing the food, but the community of people who support this teenager, the encouragement and positive reinforcement they get from the staff. It was most inspiring. 

I think we can do that here in New Haven. I don't know why not. We are just ripe for this. High youth unemployment, rise in crime, lots of vacant lots and places to grow food sandwiched in between houses and apartment buildings...Justin Frieberg started this with his Urban Foodshed project. It can be done. That is what Sweet Green Things is about. Seeing what is possible. In ourselves and in our community. Who will support this effort? Who will help me make this happen? I look forward to continuing this story...