Hey hey, welcome back 😉 It’s been a while since I last posted in here but I’m back in full force. These last few months have been extremely eye opening and have set the foundation for a very exciting future ahead. I’ll be giving you a hint about what’s next for Karisma.
As you might remember from one of my first posts, the pop-up colivings (aka coliving retreats) started as a means to an end. The plan with these pop-ups was to build the community and brand as well as gain operating experience ASAP while incurring very little financial risk. Only then would we go back to the idea of operating and acquiring our own physical space.
Since we launched back in February, we’ve hosted 4 experiences in Fuerteventura (Spain), Gran Canaria (Spain), Split (Croatia) and Taghazout (Morocco). It’s been a crazy journey (in the best way possible) with so many learnings and realizations. Here are the top 3:
The successful colivings of tomorrow need both pillars: community and real estate
Karisma’s biggest value lies in the community and our people
A coliving space is just one of the many ways to bring the community together
These 3 realizations can be summarized into just one: it’s all about the people.
Coliving is just another tool for community-building
This got me thinking… If building a community of entrepreneurs and creators is what I really wanna do, why the hell just limit it to the actual space? A coliving is just one of the many ways to bring like-minded people together. You could do the same with:
festivals,
adventure trips,
coworking spaces,
conferences,
events, and
soooo many other experiences.
Not only is a space limited in size, but what happens once the residents leave? We’re talking about people from all corners of the world that either have to come back to your coliving, stay in touch with the friends they made or get added on to an online platform, which is not comparable to physical human interactions. Not to mention how hard it is to build a thriving online community in the first place.
I believe that experiences and events, like the ones we’ve already organized as well as the others I listed above, can enrich the community in so many ways. On one side, it offers members of the community the possibility of interacting with others in new exciting ways anywhere in the world. On the other, these experiences are a great way to grow our community and add new members in places where we may not be physically present yet.
This may sound overly complex and it will take time to get there but it actually simplifies our long-term vision of wanting to build the infrastructure for global mobility. Relying on physical spaces to provide this infrastructure would take an eternity. The beauty about organizing experiences is that they can get that global reach with much more ease and flexibility while also having our own physical spaces.
How far are you willing to go for your community?
I’ve already seen a lot of coliving players coming to similar realizations and organizing events for their community. Some are simpler activities, like going out for drinks, watching movies or playing volleyball at the beach. Others, like Sun and Co., have also started experimenting with a month-long coliving retreat.
As a coliving operator, you have to decide for yourself what your mission is and how far you’re willing to go for your people. It’s OK if you don’t wanna go the extra mile because maybe you’re a property manager, like Common or Habyt. If community is what you’re all about, however, you should try to understand or experiment until you know what they really want.
Like I mentioned in my first realization above, the successful colivings of tomorrow will focus both on the community and the business-side. As more and more colivings enter the space, colivers (who are deeply influenced by word-of-mouth) will flock to the strongest communities or wherever they feel at home. I believe that shared experiences and events are some of the most effective ways to foster genuine connection and build a thriving community.
That’s exactly the route that Karisma will take. We want to go above and beyond for our community. I don’t know if you’ve been following us on Instagram but, apart from coliving retreats, we’ve started hosting and experimenting with musical events and the grooviest afterwork events in some of Barcelona’s most spectacular rooftops. This is all part of a bigger plan.
Karisma is ready for Phase 2
Now that the community-building process is in full motion, we’re ready for phase 2! It is not the phase 2 we originally imagined. It will not just be adding the real estate — the second pillar of a successful coliving — but also doubling down on building a global community through one-of-a-kind experiences.
Here are some of the things we’d love to do next:
Coliving retreats in Mexico, Colombia, Thailand, Greece…
Camino de Santiago
Wim Hof, wellness or spiritual retreats
Ayahuasca ceremonies
Entrepreneur dinners
Cercle-style musical experiences and festivals
Keynote speaking events
Sailing trips
Events focused on personal and professional growth
Local events to help you connect with the local community
Oh, and about the real estate… where we open, when we open, what it will look like… will be revealed soon, very soon.
What I can tell you is this: even though it may seem like Karisma is turning into a travel agency, the reality is that the coliving spaces (aka the real estate) will still be at the center of all. The cashflow generated will be used to finance most of the unique experiences we want to offer our community.
Karisma is a community-first, experience-based coliving brand that offers much more than just accommodation but an entire lifestyle for those who dare to build the life of their dreams.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. It’s great to be back ❤️
I got a very very quick question for you so I can keep improving: