How Changing Your Place Can Change Your Luck

We wrapped up our #MadeInPeerspace contest and were inspired by all the creative moments shared within the community. From a yacht photo shoot to a podcast comedy tour, choosing just one winner wasn’t easy. Ultimately, we picked this dynamic photo from Diller Teen Fellows at their monthly team-building workshop. We talked to the program coordinator, Lara Walklet, about the photo and how Peerspace allowed the fellows a space to be creative, reciting the Hebrew saying, “You change your place, you change your luck.”

Keep reading to learn the full story behind this inspiring photo and check out some of our other favorite #MadeInPeerspace moments.

Explore similar urban loft venues perfect for your team-building event or offsite

What is the Diller Teen Fellows program?

Diller Teen Fellows is a leadership development program for Jewish teens in 11th grade. The goal of the program is to develop future generations of active, effective leaders with a strong Jewish identity. This is a photo of our San Francisco chapter where we have monthly educational workshops where we cover topics of identity, leadership, and connecting with the community. The program participants are currently in Israel right now and when they return, are going to choose a project that makes a local impact in the Bay Area.

What is the story behind this photo?

With every workshop, we have a guest educator who comes to speak to the teens. Part of the program is to recognize when someone is imparting new energy and knowledge. At the end of the session we give them a “whoosh” which translates to a group energy transfer. Everyone stands in a circle and the guest educator stands in the middle and we all say “3, 2, 1, ahhh-whoosh!” So they can almost feel our energy emanating and bouncing back to them!

What drew you to this urban oasis loft in San Francisco? 

These are four hour workshops intended to give the teens the opportunity to bond so I was looking for a space with a ton of nooks and crannies that allowed for that. The loft had a variety of different areas for the teens to chat, whereas a boardroom isn’t built for that. Even though we could go somewhere like a park, for instance, there is an element with these Peerspace locations that feel exclusive. It almost feels like a treasure hunt which gets the whole team hyped up.

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Why do you plan your events at different Peerspace locations?

In the past, most of our events have been held at the Federation boardroom which is a professional space, but not very inspiring space. So this year, we used grant money to find another location in San Francisco and Peerspace was a perfect match. We really feel that showing these teens different venues creates some excitement within the group.

 How do you choose the speakers for these monthly workshops?

I try to partner with as many inspiring people as I can to bring in their expertise. For example, I was shocked to find out that about 80% of the kids, when asked to rate their creative on a scale from 1-10, rated themselves as a 5. These kids are so high-achieving yet they’re dealing with so much pressure that they feel like they’ve lost their creativity. So I found someone who runs Late Night Art,  a social art experience for adults hosted at cool spaces throughout the city. I called him to run one of our retreats to help these kids spark their creativity.

How do these spaces allow for the teens to be more creative?

There’s a saying in Hebrew, “You change your place, you change your luck.” There are a lot of neighborhoods in SF these kids don’t know about, and because Peerspace locations are scattered throughout the Bay Area and there is a cool variety of different spaces, it’s great exposure for them.

Check out some other #MadeInPeerspace favorites:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGmkavBRmla/?taken-by=zachallia

Photographer Zach Allia took his creativity to the sea for his dreamy photoshoot on this 1960’s yacht.

For an inside look into Bassnectar’s music video for “Reaching Out,”  director David Dutton shared some behind the scenes shots on his personal Instagram in this historical abandoned train station.

How gorgeous is this shot from photographer, Sean Doolan? This striking photo series was shot in this Los Angeles craftsman home.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHncuNCBqyd/?taken-by=whatsinthiscup

Pokemon are currently having their moment, which is making us even more excited to see what the AngryBirds team has up its sleeve. The Angry Birds Movie and Rovio Animation booked this Santa Monica loft for their team offsite.

Comedian Erin McGathy brought her podcast, “This Feels Terrible” to life on tour in several of our Peerspace venues, like this spacious Austin brewery.

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