Empowered women empower women

The Hive's Fourth Street and Indiana Avenue building is a space built by women for women.

Opening its doors last weekend, The Hive is a creative coworking space designed by mother-daughter duo Melinda and Delia Cadwallader, which focuses on empowering women instead of rescuing them. It's a place to go that isn't a coffee shop or a studio but still somewhere women can use to pursue their interests, Melinda said.

"We want to create a space that can help women sustain themselves and their craft, their passions or pursuits so that they're not being rescued," the 45-year-old said.

The Cadwalladers moved to Coeur d'Alene about seven years ago from Denver. For many years, Melinda juggled serving as the Aveda Institute director in Denver and being a single mother to Delia. It wasn't easy, but what kept their family going was her career — teaching, directing and being surrounded by passionate women in their 20s, 30s and 40s. 

"In any vocation, I think it's important for women to have something that they're doing or to pursue," Melinda said. "When women aren't acknowledging their personal power or pursuing anything, there is a piece of them left by the wayside."

Though Melinda had initially intended to open up another beauty school in Coeur d'Alene, she realized that the community needed more space for women seeking vocational enhancement. Drawing inspiration from similar membership collectives in New York, Los Angeles and Colorado, Melinda said she thought, "Why not Coeur d'Alene?" 

The Hive is now part of Proximity, a workplace management networking platform based out of Colorado that connects hundreds of coworking spaces worldwide.

"Part of our membership is that if you're traveling, you can look for any other Proximity space and use it for the day," Melinda said. "Your business is also visible to the Proximity network, so anyone coming through town can find you and your business through the membership portal."

In honor of Women's History Month and The Hive's grand opening, the collective is free every Monday for public use. To Melinda, celebrating Women's History Month is about honoring winning stories in 'her’-story, which is also a tagline in her podcast Coeur d'Femme. 

"If you know a woman's story, you can start to understand how she lives her life," she said. "It's important for Coeur d'Alene to shape our knowledge of our community based on the stories of women who live here, who have been raised here, who have children here." 

Delia agreed with her mother, noting that she has developed a desire to know more about women's history and different female role models as she has gotten older. She's challenging herself to read, discover and learn more about the women that have molded the present — including her mother. 

"She is the strongest woman I know, and I've seen her completely flourish in herself and continue her education," Delia said. "I'm so excited for the things she'll do."

Being only 21, Delia said opening The Hive with her mother has been as much about inspiring others as it is to inspire herself. 

"I see this as a place for me to develop and discover what I want to do," Delia said. "Right now I'm trying to tap into different avenues of creativity and test my limits, and this is a free space to discover that without any limitations." 

Inside the revamped commercial building are private and open seating areas, a kitchenette, conference room, photography area, painting and drawing space with drafting tables and easels, and an audio recording studio. It features work from local artists, eclectic furniture pieces, and pink-toned walls reminiscent of 1970s pink bathroom décor.

"The point is to expose more women up here to different styles, different ways of doing things, and different environments because that's how you can recharge your thinking, by looking beyond what's right there," Melinda said. "You need to put yourself in spaces like this that open you up for an opportunity." 

Info: www.thehivecda.com