SANTA BARBARA — When four local entrepreneurs launched the coworking space Workzones in Santa Barbara just over a decade ago, the practice of working remotely was limited to a small subset of individuals and companies.
Ten years and one pandemic later, remote work – either partially or full-time – has become a common reality for millions of employees and business owners.
Pam Tanase and fellow entrepreneurs Kirk Peacock, Mike Franco and Lisa Riolo founded Workzones in March, 2013. At the time, they all ran small businesses from home but were frustrated with the arrangement. Their goal was to create an affordable, shared workspace with meeting and conference rooms where independent workers and businesspeople could enjoy the amenities and social opportunities of an office environment, without fixed leases and high overhead.