MANSFIELD, Ohio – The Carrousel District will soon be home to a facility that offers a nurturing environment for local entrepreneurs, wellness for the body and mind, and a supportive place for professional growth. Mind Body Align LLC is tentatively scheduled to open next year, said founder Annamarie Fernyak.
“Ultimately, the whole purpose is to incubate the community, to collaborate with other people who are already doing great things here, and to really support the continued evolution of the area,” she explained.
The facility will be located on the corner of Fourth and Main, 96- 104 N. Main. Mind Body Align LLC will occupy the space above the current businesses in the building, utilizing the second and third floors as well as the rooftop.
Inspiration
The idea for the business arose from Fernyak’s own need for office space, she said. As a life coach, she often found the need to meet with clients in person. As a mindfulness instructor, she also found herself in need of better space.
The mindfulness classes involve movement and yoga. Fernyak had been utilizing space at Yoga on Main, but said she needed something different. Mind Body Align LLC will not compete with Yoga on Main, she noted, but will absorb it. “All the people from there will move in,” she said.
Each yoga instructor, she explained, will own their own business and simply rent space from Mind Body Align.
When asked how a search for office space developed into a facility like Mind Body Align, Fernyak explained that she talked to a lot of people and discovered she wasn’t the only one with an issue finding space. “There’s just a huge need out there, and that just evolved into providing an environment that is going to incubate new entrepreneurs that have the same need,” she said.
The facility will allow business owners to rent space by the day or week, which will allow entrepreneurs to build their business with low overhead.
Much to offer
Mind Body Align will offer space for wellness practitioners, in what Fernyak referred to as the “quiet offices.”
“The yoga instructor spaces, meditative spaces, those will all be geared toward wellness practitioners, but the co-working part of it will be any entrepreneur. It doesn’t have to be a woman, although the services in the facility will be geared toward women. It’s going to be some place a woman would be comfortable working, which may be a little different than men,” said Fernyak.
Fernyak is currently asking for input from the community through a feasibility survey, which may be found here.
“This is meant to be a community of people who are supporting each other in their own personal growth,” said Fernyak.
In addition to workspace, the facility will include a café, a rooftop garden, and eventually residential development.
“The first portion is going to be the commercial portion, Mind Body Align,” said Fernyak, “that is from the northern side of Main Street Books, south to the corner.
The second phase is going to be above Martini’s and Artspace, and that will all be residential.”
The rooftop garden will offer a large deck, a green roof, and an edible garden. The plans for the deck include tables, chairs, lounging areas, and the possibility of yoga and meditation classes. Fernyak noted that the area could even be rented for special events.
“For me, the rooftop garden is showing people a different perspective of downtown. When they see it from up there, they’re like, ‘Wow! How cool this city is!’
“It’s about constantly raising the bar of people’s perception of the community.”
A community investment
“An evolution of this, depending on how it takes off,” said Fernyak, “is in the building next to the Phoenix. In that space I want to have an artist’s work/live space.”
“It’s expensive to build out these places,” said Fernyak. “Renovating these historic buildings is a labor of love. You don’t do it necessarily because you think you are going to make a million dollars.”
Fernyak said she and her husband, Carl, are involved in the area’s development because they want to see the downtown continue to revitalize.
“Up until this point, very few developers have been willing to move into the upper stories because it’s so cost prohibitive,” she said. “We’re willing to make that investment, realizing that it’s maybe not a sound financial investment. We get that. We’re still willing to do it.”
Fernyak noted that, for downtown to thrive, community support is key. “If you want something to survive, attend,” she said. “Be the change you want to see.”
