Women-Only Coworking Space The Hive Is a Great Idea

Like a lot of people who freelance, I’m writing this post from my couch. My company for the morning? A clearly annoyed cat, a news anchor who has no business looking so perky, and a not-so-modest amount of toast crumbs.

Right about now, The Hive is looking like a wonderful idea.

Opening this fall in Old City, The Hive is a coworking space that follows in the footsteps of Indie Hall and Seed Philly (among others — plenty of us are getting sick of the crumby couch). This time around, however, it’s girls-only: billing itself as a “chic coworking space for the self-made female entrepreneur to learn, network and thrive,” this gorgeous 900-square-foot office is strictly for “queen bees.”

Now ideally, if I could curate my coworkers, I’d assemble a dream team of dogs who were down to order Thai every day. Barring that, a group of smart, motivated, getting-it-done women sounds like a pretty good deal. Sure, it’s a little pricey compared to the competition (up to $300 a month, depending on the membership level), but exposed brick and natural lighting don’t come cheap in Old City.

To be honest, I’m not sure that I’m Hive material — I’m more of a worker bee, and no one is going to give me a communal coffee reference (I couldn’t find the filters … for years). Regardless, I think Melissa Alam — The Hive’s 26-year-old founder who is making me feel especially bad about my neglected Squarespace account — is on to something with her smart girls’ club.

Ambitious Hive members, if you’re listening, here’s what else I’d happily pay a girls-only premium for if you’d be so kind as to get together and make it happen.

SEPTA

Every time I ride the El, I accept that the person who sits next to me may very well be smelly, chatty, or threatening. Two of these, I can work with — but all three is a deal-breaker. As we’ve learned in recent weeks, women aren’t necessarily immune to violence, and they can definitely not know when to shut up — but there’s a good chance they smell better than their male counterparts. Sold.

Liberty Place

As anyone who has had to buy a last-minute strapless bra in Center City can tell you, the options are as creepy as they are limited. Victoria’s Secret is one of the worst, thanks to the free catalogs they stock in stores (say it with me — ew). But if we’re going to reclaim one store, I say we go big and take over all of Liberty Place – that J Crew’s men’s section is getting bigger every season, and I’m feeling greedy.

Bathrooms

If you identify as female, I absolutely think that we should use the same bathroom, regardless of what your driver’s license or birth certificate says. But if you don’t? I want my bathroom back. Tashan’s is probably the most glamorous room I’ll ever hope to pee in, and yet it, like other trendy unisex bathrooms, is fatally flawed. Equality does not mean picking sesame seeds out of our teeth under florescent lights together, and it never will.

Follow Monica Weymouth on Twitter.