How many of us work from home? If not retired, most working professionals here at Lake Anna have home offices. From individual sales representatives to entrepreneurs, business owners, and home office teleworkers, working remotely has become increasingly prevalent here in our community.

Working from home in a secluded location like Lake Anna poses its challenges. Despite significant growth in the past decade and the availability of local venues for weekday lunches and evening socializing, finding suitable meeting spots remains a challenge. The absence of coffee shops, and coworking spaces, and the closure of many places during lunch hours in the off-season exacerbate the issue. Public meeting spaces off Route 208 are notably absent, leaving professionals with limited options. For those not inclined towards wine or beer, the choices become even more restricted.

A decade ago, Lake Anna had additional challenges for telecommuters, including internet connectivity.
“Ten years ago, the hardest part about working at Lake Anna was not having good internet,” said Dawn Mills, who is an independent functional medicine health coach and sees clients out of her home. Dawn’s husband, David, also owns a marketing firm with a home office. “We worked at the coffee shop a lot back then, but eventually we had to get an office in Fredericksburg so that we could have reliable internet.”
The coffee shop here at Lake Anna used to allow patrons to utilize their internet connection per hour if they made a purchase, but it has since closed down.

Some connectivity issues still exist in the most rural areas of Lake Anna, but today there are a variety of options from home offices, including Comcast, iWisp, Starlink, and of course hotspot internet connection off of cell phones like Verizon.

Entrepreneurs are faced with stress, burnout, and health issues due to isolation.

One of the more notable challenges entrepreneurs and teleworkers face is the potential for professional isolation, as loneliness has been highlighted by psychologists as one of the main killers of entrepreneurship in America, even before COVID-19.

“Entrepreneurship can be an incredibly lonely occupation, one that the existing view of loneliness at work does not adequately capture given the extreme nature and occupational realities of entrepreneurs,” said Melissa Cardon in a personnel psychology study called ‘The many faces of entrepreneurial loneliness.’
“Practical evidence indicates that loneliness is one of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs face,” Cardon wrote. “Some prior studies have found that entrepreneurs experience high levels of loneliness and lack interpersonal support, with serious adverse effects on their levels of stress, burnout, and overall venture health.”

People like Dawn and David Mills who work from home have proactively looked for ways to defeat business isolation, which really paid off in the long run. “We joined a startup group in Fredericksburg. That was the best thing we ever did; we still have those connections today.”

Collin Henley, a Lake Anna business owner who also telecommutes for the Department of Defense, confirms the challenges of working from home.

“Working from home all day and interacting virtually with clients and teammates gets lonely; luckily I have a great neighborhood that I’m able to socialize in. During lunchtime, there’s usually someone else out walking that I get to have a conversation with. That usually helps me get through the rest of the day!” Henley explained. “What is really nice about LKA is that it is a great community. I am in leadership at the Lake Anna Professional Networking Group, which meets every other Wednesday for lunch. There’s really never a shortage of things to do, even during the off-season.”

Lake Anna Business Resources

The Lake Anna community is uniquely positioned to address isolation through various networking opportunities to engage local businesses and organizations and build meaningful relationships. Here are a few of the organizations with a specific focus on Lake Anna that locals get can involved in:

Lake Anna Professional Networking Group is a traditional one-profession per category networking group that meets every other Wednesday from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. The 20 or so member group is taking new member applications and visitors are welcome. RSVP at https://lkanetworking.com

Lake Anna Business Partnership is a group of local businesses and community members who work together to see Lake Anna grow. They offer opportunities to volunteer in the community and attend monthly dinner meetings at various locations around the lake. To see upcoming business after-hours events, go to https://visitlakeanna.org/events/

Lake Anna Roosters & Foxes Social Club is an active group of local volunteers who get together regularly and promote local charities through fundraising and volunteerism. Members are encouraged to attend events and get to know each other. To learn more and keep in touch with upcoming events, join the Facebook group at the URL below: https://www.facebook.com/groups/119122423193405

Totally Awesome Chicks Out Socializing (TACOS) is a woman-run organization that gets together once a month just to socialize and get to know each other. Events are hosted by local homeowners. All women are invited and no RSVP is required. Participants are asked to bring a dish and beverage to share. To learn more about TACOS join the Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/289123208778450

Jen Bailey

Hi! I’m Jennifer Bailey and I partner with entrepreneurs who have massive ideas that could change the world. Most marketing is meaningless. Filled with empty promises, its only job is to bring in new traffic, new leads, and new customers. But I’ve drawn a line in the sand, and I’ve learned that marketing can do so much more than reach business goals and build profit. My methods give businesses the fire and soul they need to reach the right people, set the groundwork for sustainable relationships, and offer true value to the people on both the giving and receiving ends of marketing.

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