Francine Steadman opens BuddhaBooth at site of closed company The Local Branch
The old Capital One bank has once again been converted into a space for a new company, BuddhaBooth.
The product it offers, dubbed the BuddhaBooth, creates a portable place for employees with stressful corporate jobs to stop, meditate and take a break from work, in order to boost productivity. These booths are also customizable in order to best suit the needs of the company worker.
“BuddhaBooth is a multi-faceted wellness company,” said Pelham resident Francine Steadman, owner and founder of Buddha Booth. “We combine mindfully designed portable quiet spaces and wellness programs to provide a range of cognitive benefits to employees, students and clients of various institutions and organizations. We sell BuddhaBooths branded as MindfulModule and LotusBooth, provide customized wellness content and offer self-care objects and workshops in partnership with Calm City under the brand MyndSet.”
The BuddhaBooth operation is not exclusive to Pelham, however. The opening of the Pelham branch, she said, happened because, “With the numerous shutdowns and limited access to our working spaces in the city (Brooklyn Navy Yard and the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Chelsea) I was eager to physically ‘get back to work’ in my own backyard (without a commute!). I felt that having a place within walking distance to my home would allow me to start the business back up (aka emerge from the Covid Pause) while being available to my children as needed. We are committed to working with local talent and are planning community mindfulness programs to be launched in October.”
The company that used to rent the space was The Local Branch, a temporary work space for commuters and homeworkers. The Local Branch’s services included rentable office space with fast WiFi and printers in addition to desks and armchairs available for a monthly fee. Due to the outbreak of Covid-19, not many people wanted to use the space, and The Local Branch closed down at least temporarily, said co-founder Todd Cross.
Ulysses Conrad was involved in a multitude of clubs and organizations after school such as Acapelicans, Military History, Speech and Debate, Science Research...
