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Member Spotlight 2 min read

The cheerful people and interesting spaces make coming to work fun, I love it here.

THE coLABorative offers a great environment to work in. I have been able to network and expand some of our operations with contacts I met here. This is invaluable to a small non-profit like us. The cheerful people and interesting spaces make coming to work fun, I love it here. I think it was a great move for myself and our company.

Ericia Bartels has been the Chief Operating Officer at Macomb County Habitat for Humanity since 2018. Her previous work experiences have included Compuware, Caribou, College for Creative studies and Google. Additionally, she is a sommelier, metalsmith, restauranteur and milliner. There has never been a challenge from which Ericia has not learned. In general, building successful teams, teaching others to expand their skills, and bringing their best to the table is what she has loved about all of her jobs. Ericia thinks outside the typical box and once she embraced this she truly started to excel. The executive position at Habitat has truly given her the opportunity to shine, because she has been able to bring every skillset into focus. The fast-paced environment at Habitat perfectly suits her. One minute she is out in the field showcasing the merchandise in the stores with her team, and the next she is working to develop new programs to expand capacity with her construction staff. Ericia has an MFA from Wayne State and a BA in Metals from The College for Creative Studies. She lives in Farmington Hills with her teenage son and daughter and her beloved dog, Lola.

Jake
Jake Gwizdala keeps the lights on and the coffee flowing at The Colab. As the person running the day-to-day, he knows every desk, every member, and every quirk of the space. He writes here about coworking, community, and getting good work done.

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