Staff Member Q&A with Riki Markowitz
Riki is a familiar face at Createscape, having been part of our coworking community almost from the start. In addition to her long time with our community, she also brings along her two adorable chihuahuas to work!
Just about everyone at Createscape knows Riki. Besides being a part of our coworking community since nearly the beginning, she also has two cute little chihuahuas who come to work with her and is Createscape’s Content Manager, who writes and edits so much of the newsletter and blog content you see. This time, we’re flipping the script and doing a Q&A with her to get to know the person behind the articles.
You've been at Createscape for 8 years, nearly since the very beginning. How did you originally find us and what factors drew you to coworking in the first place?
I was working in print magazines in NYC. When the internet came along, it decimated my industry. I needed to learn how to be a “content creator.” Up until that point, I was just a writer and editor. When I moved to Austin and started looking for networking opportunities, I couldn’t find other writers—only content creators.
I moved to Austin as a freelancer and worked at home and at coffee shops. After a few years, I decided I wanted to see a few familiar faces every day. A friend of mine told me a new coworking space opened in East Austin. I went in for a tour and never left. It was Createscape’s original location near Mueller.
For a number of years, you've been our content manager at Createscape and conducted the member Q&A interviews, written and edited blog posts, articles and other newsletter content. So this is the first time we've interviewed our interviewer. How do you develop questions for members?
Most people don’t realize that I write the questions ahead of time. Interviewing people is an extremely time-consuming process. And while a lot of people won’t admit it, most of us love talking about ourselves. So while I try to keep interviews down to 20 to 30 minutes, people will keep talking about themselves until I hang up the phone or physically walk out of the room. So for these Q&As, I just write the questions all at once. To do that, I kind of have to anticipate how the interviewee may answer one question before I write the next one. I also do a little bit of research first just so I have an idea what the person does professionally and what their hobbies are.
In hindsight, it’s just lucky that the Q&As flow pretty well. And maybe the way I write the questions can be leading for the interviewee (though their answers are 100% real!). But there definitely are times when the flow isn’t seamless and that’s where my editing skills come in.
How did you get into your line of work and what do you enjoy about it?
It was sort of a fluke. I always felt that writing came easy to me. I’m not a big talker, but when I type, I can be extremely loquacious.
My English teachers would compliment my writing. So I was definitely drawn to the editorial profession. I remember I had an interview at Philadelphia magazine. In the reception area, I was starstruck in a, “This is where it all happens…” kind of way. Every job after that was in some sort of editorial capacity. I’ve tried leaving the industry a few times — it notoriously does not pay that great — but I keep getting pulled back in.
Riki and her pup, Mike ❤️
What brought you to Austin, how long have you lived here, and what keeps you here?
The internet brought me to Austin. I would probably still be living in Brooklyn if it weren’t for the internet. Or if the internet didn’t take all of the ad dollars from print publications, that is. I needed to broaden my skills and I wanted to do it in a less expensive city.
A friend told me I would like a sleepy little capital city in the Southwest where he was living. My first apartment here was a two bedroom on S. Lamar for $1,000. At that time, considering all of my previous apartments, it was like living in a mansion. Needless to say, it’s not the same city today that I moved to at the end of 2009.
What are the biggest changes you've experienced or witnessed with Createscape over the years?
When I joined Createscape it was just you [Keller] and Jenson (co-owner), a guy named Justin and myself. I think you had an intern that summer. I wanted to join a coworking space to meet people, but the fact that it was a very small crew back then was appealing.
Now it’s a bustling, busy coworking space. Every once in a while I notice things like, “Wow, we used to go through one or two pots of coffee a day. Now we go through a vat of coffee!” Or, “Remember when we had one bathroom?” No, not a bathroom with multiple cubicles — literally one toilet for everyone.
You've made a number of friends from working at Createscape over the years. What types of interests brought you together?
Mike Jimmy Markowitz: A 10-pound chihuahua mix. “Curious, goofball, clever, affectionate, lovable and an enthusiasm that, admittedly, can be a bit exasperating at times”!
Eleanor “Ellie” Carmela Markowitz: A 5-pound chihuahua. “Dramatic, bossy, recalcitrant, suspicious, spunky, devious, a little needy, and so freaking lovable. You can’t help wanting to protect her. Even though she bites”.
Well, my closest friend is also from New York (I’m originally from Philadelphia, moved to NYC after college and my dad’s side of the family is from NYC). We had another member a few years ago who was from Brooklyn. We were close and then the pandemic happened. We’d probably still be in touch if I used social media more. Out here, I definitely connect with people from the Northeast a lot faster. I think it would be the same if two people from Austin met in Brooklyn.
Having the chihuahuas also helps me meet people. Dogs are a great icebreaker, especially for shy people. And then I’ve had some work relationships with members. A few years ago, that member from Brooklyn kind of took me under her wing and taught me about SEO and content. Some of my biggest clients today are a direct result of working with her. And I write blog posts for another woman who sat at the desk right behind mine.
You're well known for your dogs. Can you tell us about their personalities, and how they got their names?
At this point, for good or for bad, the chi’s are like appendages. Very few people ever see me without them (though I definitely do go places without them. I swear.). Before Mike and Ellie, I had Marcel — a black toy poodle who passed away at 16 ½ years old. He was Createscape’s inaugural canine member. There are still a few pics of him around the office. When he passed, I wanted to do something altruistic before I was ready to commit to another dog for 16 years. That foster was Mike. After two weeks I adopted him, but I was still determined to really do the foster thing, for real this time! That was Ellie. I even bought her an “adopt me” tag and took her to adoption events — well, one adoption event. So I literally failed out of Austin Pets Alive! dog-foster program — and don’t think the program isn’t designed that way!
In the truest sense of the word, we’re a pack. Ellie is the alpha amongst the two dogs, Mike is the beta and I’m the pack leader. Ellie hates other dogs. I mean she truly despises them. If she knew she was a dog, she would hate herself. Mike postures to other dogs, but it looks more vicious than it really is. I think because he’s the lowest ranking member of our pack (and why he lets Ellie be alpha, I’ll never know), he makes sure other dogs know that he’s higher in their pecking order. The problem is that he’s 10 pounds and he’ll try to bully German shepherds, pit bulls, rotties and other huge, intimidating-looking dogs. He can be a real schmuck sometimes, as my people say.
Ellie had a rough first year. She has some emotional scars from that time. So her behavior is more understandable. Mike chooses to be a jerk.
If you have any predictions, how do you think coworking will continue to change?
I don’t see many mom and pop coworking offices existing in Austin in the near future. We already saw two prominent offices shutter, one during the height of the pandemic and the other not much later on. It’s one of the fastest growing cities in the country, with one of the highest rental rates in the country. If the economy continues going the way it’s going and if Austin rent and property taxes don’t stabilize and come down, I don’t think this is a sustainable business model for a small business owner.
Personally, I don’t want to be a member of a corporate, WeWork-type of coworking space. That’s why I like to tell people about Createscape and when I give tours — which, admittedly, is not as often as I used to — I tell people that this is a really unique coworking space. I’d like to see us stick around for the long-term.