Josephine Borovac, the 198th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, has one of the best business ideas I’ve heard in a long time.

Even before the pandemic, Josie used to work from home. So did her sister, Carmel Lloyd. Working from home gave them the flexibility they needed to have a career while looking after their children. One day, Carmel popped over to Josie’s place to work, and they discovered that coworking was not only more enjoyable but also allowed them to exchange ideas.

Josie and Carmel spent more time coworking in the months that followed. They also invited friends to join them. That then gave them a brilliant idea – why not start a business that connected women who wanted a coworking space with other women who had an inspiring home space they were happy to share?

And so, in 2018, The Cohive Collective was born. Think of it as a female version of WeWork meets Airbnb, except the owners are actually present in the home.

What I love about the idea is that it combines the flexibility of home-based work with the camaraderie of office-based work. And because it’s women-only, hosts and guests feel secure.

Josie is really good company and a lovely person. She also perfectly embodies The Cohive Collective, because, like most of her members, she’s trying to juggle growing a business with raising a family.

Now that remote working has gone mainstream, I look forward to the day that Josie’s business becomes a verb – when women all over Australia do ‘Cohiving’ on a regular basis.