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Justin Stewart and
Jamie Hodari
Industrious
Two local entrepreneurs open national
chain of coworking office spaces.
Aaron Filipski | Special to the Jewish News
L
ifelong friends Jamie Hodari
and Justin Stewart of Bloomfield
Hills, co-founders and CEOs of
Industrious, a New York-based coworking
and workspace sharing company, epito-
mize their company’s name.
In 2012, the pair had been working on
independent projects in New York City in
a shared office that both felt “left a little
something to be desired,” Hodari said.
Motivated by the drab, uninspiring
environment of the available cowork-
ing spaces, Hodari and Stewart started
Industrious as a side project. The venture
enjoyed impressive growth and, by 2014,
the men had left their day jobs in order to
fully focus their energies on the burgeon-
ing company.
Although the concept of offering
economical spaces for small businesses,
startups, and freelancers to work and col-
laborate in isn’t new, Hodari and Stewart
have taken it to new heights by appealing
to millennials — the group of hypercon-
nected up-and-comers who, despite their
embrace of digital communication, still
thrive in collaborative, face-to-face social
settings.
“A lot of the existing shared spaces
were marketed toward more traditional
companies that offered private offices, but
there wasn’t really a social component,”
Hodari said. “Our dream was to build a
company that offered spaces that were
elegant enough for a Fortune-500 com-
pany, but were also vibrant and young and
social enough that a freelancer or graphic
designer would feel great being there.”
The two attribute some of the compa-
ny’s success to their Michigan roots. They
offer a Midwestern sensibility that creates
a warmer, more hospitable and more
customer-friendly office environment.
Industrious has grown to include
locations in Atlanta, Austin, Brooklyn,
Chicago, Columbus, Minneapolis,
Nashville, Philadelphia, Raleigh and St.
Louis. Cities tagged for expansion include
San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and
Miami.
But it’s the prospect of expanding in
their hometown that excites the two most.
“We’re aggressively focusing on expand-
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72 January 28 • 2016
ing to Detroit. We’re just trying to find the
right opportunity to get there,” Stewart
said.
“We’re excited to be involved in the
revitalization of a city that means a lot to
us,” Hodari added.
As kids, the two became fast friends,
each living only a short walk from
one another on Pine Ridge Drive in
Bloomfield Hills. Even when they headed
to college and began building their
respective careers, they stayed in touch
and would always reconnect when the
holidays brought them both home. Both
attended Hebrew school at Temple Israel.
Their rock-solid friendship makes for
a great working dynamic — something
that isn’t always the case for many friends-
turned-business-partners.
“To work with your best friend and
actually get along and remain close is
pretty rare, and I’m pretty lucky,” Stewart
said.
Prior to Industrious, Hodari was the
CEO and co-founder of Kepler, an experi-
mental university that brought high-
quality educational opportunities to East
Africa. He lives in Brooklyn.
Stewart, an Indiana University
graduate, worked as an associate writing
assistant for the Late Show with David
Letterman before transitioning to a suc-
cessful career in wealth management at
Merrill Lynch. Stewart lives in New York’s
Lower East Side with his wife and dog.
Moving forward, the pair are examin-
ing other ways to apply the concept of
shared resources. As urban centers begin
to repopulate, Hodari and Stewart expect
to see an increased demand for shared
services among individuals and busi-
nesses. Concepts like shared commissaries
for restaurants will have economic appeal.
For now, though, the partners want to stay
focused on Industrious.
“We have this core business that is
performing really well, and we want to
make sure it gets the attention it deserves,”
Hodari said.
*
For more information on Industrious, visit
industriousoffice.com.