RocketBean Studio

When I first started working for a digital agency, I got to be a “fly on the wall” as experts completed a project from start to finish. The knowledge I gained from this experience has helped me become the confident UX designer that I am today. This personal journey inspired me to launch RocketBean Studio.

Working in a new industry can be intimidating at first. There’s a lot of lingo and acronyms to learn, and expressing feedback and sharing insights doesn’t always feel easy. Being surrounded by seasoned colleagues at an agency taught me how to tackle all these tasks and more. I began considering how much more difficult overcoming these hurdles would have been had I been working remotely and not been surrounded by the examples my colleagues set.

I began RocketBean Studio as a content creation hub for entrepreneurs and digital product workers who would share insights about the digital industry, allowing them to learn remotely. I started offering pro-bono consulting, created informative content, and initiated invitation-only virtual coworking sessions with Boston entrepreneurs. We hosted our conversations and content creation within our virtual office using Gather.town. I began getting more excited about the virtual space, and people expressed interest in using the virtual space for events. I determined that a better business model would be to pivot and focus on providing services for remote professionals using our virtual spaces.

I built the virtual office intending to provide a space for casual conversation, which is often missing from remte work. Users can drop in, see who’s online, and initiate spur-of-the-moment discussions, whether they’re solving a challenge on a professional project or discussing weekend plans. Each virtual office is limited to 100 people, so users can get to know their office mates but still have a large enough pool of “coworkers” for various interactions.

My target audience wanted to surround themselves with professionals they could learn from and be inspired by. To satisfy this desire, RocketBean Studio also hosts virtual events led by industry experts and offers office hours where users can receive mentorship from someone in their field.

To continue funding RocketBean Studio, users will pay for memberships to access the virtual office, office hours, and events. I’ve enacted a waitlist system to ensure there’s a minimum number of users in each office before members can access it, ensuring the best experience possible.

RocketBean Studio brings together all these services to solve the problems of isolation and limited networking resources for remote workers. Initial feedback has shown that users value the access that RocketBean Studio gives them to a supportive community of like-minded professionals.