“Supporting entrepreneurship is essential to a thriving society.”
– Zen Honeycutt, Founder Heartwise Health & Executive Director, Moms Across America
You expect a few things when you join a coworking space. Networking, refreshments, office pets and of course, your weekly haul of pasture raised, organic eggs… Well maybe not that last one, but since Zen Honeycutt joined Hatchworks Coworking, she’s brought the farm. “For a while we had almost 30 chickens and were getting way too many eggs, so Erika and Sean actually offered for me to sell them here,” she explained. Every Monday you’ll find her, and sometimes her sons, selling their eggs from their local urban farm to Hatch members. For her, this is just another in the long list of ways she’s been supported by the Hatch community.
When Honeycutt moved to Asheville in 2020, she was just looking for a coworking space to use until the internet in her 6-acre urban farm was up and running. Yet, Hatch turned out to be “an opportunity to connect with the community on a whole nother level,” shared Honeycutt.
As the founder of a community-centered nonprofit organization, connecting with the community has always been a priority for her. Honeycutt is the Director of Moms Across America, a nonprofit on a mission to empower mothers and others to create healthy communities by shifting the marketplace to organic, locally grown food.
In 2022, when Moms Across America began a new initiative aimed at supporting people to grow food on their own street, Honeycutt saw engaging the Hatch network as a natural next step. She signed up to present at 1 Million Cups only 6 months into the Neighborhood Food Network initiative.
1 Million Cups invites entrepreneurs to give a 6-minute presentation about their work to other local business owners. However, knowing just how to communicate your impact can be challenging at the outset of any new project. She engaged the provided resources about pitching and connected with Erika Gifford, COO of Hatchworks Coworking. The supportive and collaborative environment was invaluable for Honeycutt. “Going through the 1 Million Cups process helped me hone in on the initiative’s mission statement,” shared Honeycutt. “And now when I present it, it’s much more powerful and impactful.”
Neighborhood Food Network is creating national food security one street at a time.
While Honeycutt has spent more than a decade building her nonprofit organization, recently she set out on her first for-profit venture after a shocking medical diagnosis.
Launching Heartwise Health
Honeycutt discovered she had heart disease through a noninvasive early detection test. When she then found out it was possible to reverse the disease that threatened to shorten her life, she made it her mission not only to do so, but to get access to these insights and technology to as many people as possible. However, she wasn’t quite sure how to effectively do that and time was not on her side. “I suddenly got one of the diagnostic devices on loan and it was going to be available in three weeks,” explained Honeycutt. She had three weeks to establish a new business and needed help. Her first thought was to tap into the Hatch network.
“I’ve met people at Hatch that are doing incredible work,” commented Honeycutt. “And everybody that I’ve come across has offered to help or introduce me to someone who could.” One of those people was Jeff Kaplan, Director of Venture Asheville, who introduced Honeycutt to a business coach whose support gave her everything she needed to officially launch her new business Heartwise Health. “I was able to get my new company up in three weeks and negotiate deals that I wouldn’t have had the business acumen to conceive of due to the supportive coaching of Jay Mixter and Chris Bueller at Hatch,” shared Honeycutt.
The coaching has also helped her define and refine her business model along the way. “They’ve coached so many businesses that it’s easy for them to see when something’s not working,” she explained. And as her company grows, the work she’s doing now will ensure they’re able to effectively support as many people as possible around the world.
Honeycutt credits the company’s growth in part to her access to community. “It’s been challenging, I have to say, to connect with doctors. So connecting with people in-person is very important,” she shared. “Hatch connects people through all these different events so you can meet people in-person and really grow leaps and bounds.” Not just professionally, but for Honeycutt that growth has been personal too.
Professional growth turns personal
“I came to Hatch for the internet, but I stayed for the community,” commented Honeycutt. Engaging with the events promoted by Hatch has given Honeycutt opportunities she otherwise would’ve never had and allowed her to do the same with her kids. “We volunteered as a family with Hatch to pass out programs at the symphony and that was how I started exposing my sons to the arts,” she shared. And soon her sons started coming to the space more often and in doing so “they’ve gotten to feel more independent and connected to the community.”
The Honeycutt family fully integrated into the Hatch network. From selling eggs to watching ball games to building new friendships in the community they’ve found a support system for life.
Hatchworks Coworking’s supportive environment is a testament to the drive and commitment of people like Erika Gifford, COO and Sean Comeaux, Partner/Owner of Hatchworks Coworking. “I appreciate what Erika and Sean have done with bringing the community together so much,” she shared. “Supporting entrepreneurship is essential to a thriving society and I think Hatch is a model for creating community and supporting people within the community from all walks of life.”
It’s also a direct reflection of the ingenuity that Asheville has to offer. “What I love about Asheville is we have industry here, but it’s not just an industrial town,” commented Honeycutt. “There’s a lot of mom and pop shops here and it seems like every other person you meet is an entrepreneur. You can see that concentrated hub of people at Hatch.”