NextFab is an incredible makers’ resource.  But they’re not a makerspace.

Instead, they are a network of makerspaces, in the Delaware Valley.  Specifically, their locations are in Philadelphia, North Philadelphia and–as of 2017–Wilmington, Delaware.

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During Podcast Movement 2018, in Philadelphia, we had the privilege of recording, live-on-tape from the Talkshoe booth, with two special guests.

Anna Solomon is NextFab’s Assistant Sales Manager.  She is also the first woman to graduate the University of Delaware’s Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneurial Studies program.  Her background, as a maker, includes both engineering and economics, and she’s been with NextFab since 2016, according to her LinkedIn page.

Jezabel Careaga is a chef, designer, and the proprietor, both of Jezabel’s Cafe and of sister business Jezabel’s Studio in Philadelphia.   A talented maker, she is a NextFab member who designed and built many of her cafe’s furnishings at the makerspaces!  As a chef, meanwhile, she fuses traditional Argentine flavor with new ingredients and techniques.  (And she caters events and offers cooking classes, as well!)

During Day Three of Podcast Movement, Anna and Jezabel talked about NextFab, their individual maker experiences and what’s next for the soon-to-be-expanded maker facilities.

On this edition of Over Coffee®, you’ll hear:

• How Anna and Jezabel first became interested in making and entrepreneurship;

• What NextFab is currently doing;

• How Jezabel’s needs for her small business led her to become a NextFab member/maker;

• What makers can expect to see, when they enter the space;

• The story of NextFab;

• How Jezabel’s small business, Jezabel’s Cafe, came into being;

• What an “average day” is like for each of them, as maker/entrepreneurs;

• What a maker might experience, when coming into one of the maker spaces with a concept but no idea how to work through the process;

• How an exciting pilot program is making a difference to the maker community in Wilmington;

• The ways in which the community may be changing, as a result of the makers and small businesses;

• The crucial factors involved in empowering more women to become makers and engineers.