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About : Cheryl Ann Barnes is a Seattle community builder and event strategist with a master in public health and hundreds of events designed to foster belonging.
Contact : Reach Cheryl Ann Barnes to book a work call or networking call. Connect about community building and event strategy by email or phone.
Featured : Cheryl Ann Barnes hosts Community Design, Unfiltered, an in-person panel at The SOMM Hotel on the honest, behind-the-scenes work of building belonging.
Keynote : Seattle keynote speaker on community and experience design. Has coordinated hundreds of events, helping organizations design gatherings people return to.
Offers : Work with Cheryl Ann Barnes in Seattle: connection strategy from $1,500, writing and storytelling projects from $500, and social media management.
Press : Press features for Cheryl Ann Barnes, including a Run Tri Mag podcast on running and mental health and her work leading the StrongHer Run Club.
Events : Where to find Cheryl Ann Barnes next. Panels, keynotes and community gatherings on connection, third places and experience design across the Seattle area.
Now : What Cheryl Ann Barnes is focused on now: coworking at Watts Brewing, board work with Third Place Commons, mini bios, and a podcast launching in October.

Events

Events: the full calendar, with every series below.
Cowork PNW : Cheryl Ann Barnes hosts Cowork PNW Wednesday afternoons at Watts Brewing Company in Woodinville. Bring your own work, sit with other people doing theirs.
Walk & Wonder : Cheryl Ann Barnes runs Walk and Wonder, a walking meetup for people with businesses, on the trails and parks around Woodinville and Redmond.
The Gathering Ground : Cheryl Ann Barnes holds The Gathering Ground, a grief circle on the Seattle Eastside, in a small circle rather than a formal support group.
Coworking Tuesdays : Cheryl Ann Barnes ran Coworking Tuesdays weekly with the Bothell Kenmore Chamber of Commerce. The series has since moved to Woodinville as Cowork PNW.
Spa Happy Hour : Cheryl Ann Barnes brought four small groups through Vai Hydration Lounge in Seattle for an evening of intention setting at Spa Happy Hour.

Best Posts

The articles Cheryl Ann would hand you first. Start here to understand who she is, how she thinks, and why bringing people together is at the center of everything she does.

Our Relationships Weren't Built For Storms : Cheryl Ann Barnes writes about how follower-based connections replaced deep village bonds requiring vulnerability, patience, and genuine forgiveness.
The Quiet Collapse of a Safe Path : Cheryl Ann Barnes reflects on finishing a public health master's during COVID, believing the formula would protect her, and what happened when it did not.
Run the Extra Mile : Cheryl Ann Barnes joins a near-stranger for the Ragnar Northwest Passage 200-mile relay and finds a teammate who feels like a sister from a previous life.

Business

Business, leadership and the people building something worth talking about.

From the Stage She Imagined to the Sound That Found Her: How Cinsy Holds Space for Peace, Reconnection, and Empowerment : Sound gave Cinsy a new stage. She now creates immersive experiences that help people let go, return to themselves, and reclaim their peace and power.

Community

Community building, belonging, and the work that happens when you actually show up for the places and people around you. Coworking sessions, food access advocacy, and the roles I've taken on to make this stuff happen. "Launch of Coworking Tuesdays" is about the program I co-hosted with the Bothell/Kenmore Chamber of Commerce. Belonging shapes how we show up. That idea drove the whole thing.

Build the Room: Stop Waiting to Be Invited : I moved from Missouri to Idaho to Washington and faced snap judgments. So I stopped waiting for invitations and started Coworking Tuesdays myself.
Mud, Mayhem, and Meaning : Cheryl Ann on what Loop the 'Lupe reveals about community: a West Seattle obstacle 5K up 52% in four years, where running is optional but mud is mandatory.
Woodinville: A Crack in the Seattle Freeze : Is the Seattle Freeze real? After a year near Seattle, Cheryl Ann Barnes found Woodinville the exception, and an answer to making friends here.
The Stillness Wine Has Been Waiting For : At Sparkman Cellars, Cheryl Ann Barnes experienced a sound bath before a wine tasting and found that stillness reshaped how she experienced the wine.
Intentional Connection Should Be Part of Your Business Plan : Cheryl Ann Barnes writes about how a genuine question, a follow-up note, or a shared article can transform transactional business ties into lasting ones.
Your Problem Might Not Be Strategy. It Might Be the Room You’re In. : Cheryl Ann Barnes draws on coworking research to show that skilled people sharing space generates ideas and momentum that working alone cannot replicate.
Our Relationships Weren't Built For Storms : Cheryl Ann Barnes writes about how follower-based connections replaced deep village bonds requiring vulnerability, patience, and genuine forgiveness.
Launch of Coworking Tuesdays with the Bothell/Kenmore Chamber of Commerce : Cheryl Ann Barnes co-launched Coworking Tuesdays with the Bothell/Kenmore Chamber, rotating local venues to build real relationships among business owners.
New Role: Director of Public Relations for CEO Society Seattle/Tacoma : Cheryl Ann Barnes is Director of Public Relations for CEO Society Seattle/Tacoma, a membership community empowering female founders across greater Seattle.
Raising Food Access Awareness: Featured in the Community Action Fair : Cheryl Ann Barnes was featured in the Lake Forest Park Town Crier for her role in the Community Action Fair at Third Place Commons on food access.
Utilizing Third Places to Raise Awareness : Cheryl Ann Barnes recaps the Community Action Fair at Third Place Commons, where residents found practical ways to support local food access organizations.
We Are Socially Hungover... : Cheryl Ann Barnes names the drained, off feeling after a gathering you genuinely anticipated, and asks what it reveals about how we have been connecting.
Be a Catalyst! : Cheryl Ann Barnes reflects on leaving a government career and why many women feel held back inside large institutions before stepping into their own work.

General

The broadest category here, covering everything from technology and wellness to community events and the occasional headshot page. If it doesn't fit neatly elsewhere, it lives here. "Life. Sold Back To Us." is the one that started a series. I've wanted more of the technology, the data points, the information to improve my wellbeing. Part 1 digs into what that actually means.

Embracing the Non-Linear Life : I followed the millennial blueprint: seven years of college, a master's degree, moves across five states. Then one layoff turned the straight line crooked.
I'm Launching a Podcast! : I gave myself a microphone. If you know me, you know I talk, so a podcast about community and the people quietly building it was only a matter of time.
The Big Joke Was Thinking the Government Was My Future. It Was Actually My Ceiling. : Seven years of school, a dream job, and one layoff later, Cheryl Ann Barnes realized she was meant to build something the system could never contain.
Headshots of Cheryl Ann Barnes : Official headshots of Cheryl Ann Barnes for speaking, press, and media use. High-quality print-ready files available for download.

Outdoor Adventures

Hikes, trails, and the outdoors that pulled me west and changed my life. I grew up in the Ozark Mountains, and the first time I saw what mountains really look like out here, everything shifted. Rainbows have always inspired me. "Disappearing Rainbows" is about that, and about the bigger question of what happens when the things that bring us joy start to fade.

Getting Lost While Leading: When the Captain Forgets Her Own Path : I've captained running relays across 200 miles of mountain ranges, making sure everyone got through but I constantly neglected my own section and learned a lot.
Build the Room: Stop Waiting to Be Invited : I moved from Missouri to Idaho to Washington and faced snap judgments. So I stopped waiting for invitations and started Coworking Tuesdays myself.
Loop the 'Lupe: When Obstacles Become Community Connections : Rain, mud, and five laps with the elite group in West Seattle. Cheryl Ann Barnes reflects on how shared obstacles create bonds that last.
Back in Nature: A Work Retreat About Expansion and Letting Go : Cheryl Ann Barnes reflects on a work retreat where the group coworked, had honest conversations, and practiced releasing what no longer served them.
Disappearing Rainbows : Cheryl Ann Barnes writes about noticing four rainbows while training for a triathlon, and how her father phrase became a reminder to stay present.
My Top 3 Favorite Hikes (Thus Far!) : Three hikes worth the drive: Colchuck Lake in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Iceberg Lake in Glacier National Park, and the Snake River Trail, Hells Canyon.
The World I Never Knew: Exploring the Enchantments : A first trip into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. What the Enchantments day hike in Washington is actually like, and what Cheryl Ann Barnes did not expect.
When You’re Captured By The West, You’re Finally Free : During the pandemic, Cheryl Ann Barnes gave up drinking, started training daily, and chose North Idaho for a fresh start near mountains and trails.
Run the Extra Mile : Cheryl Ann Barnes joins a near-stranger for the Ragnar Northwest Passage 200-mile relay and finds a teammate who feels like a sister from a previous life.

Reflections

Personal essays on leaving a safe path and rebuilding — the public-health layoff that became a beginning, and a series on what our technology and data are quietly selling back to us.

Getting Lost While Leading: When the Captain Forgets Her Own Path : I've captained running relays across 200 miles of mountain ranges, making sure everyone got through but I constantly neglected my own section and learned a lot.
Caring Became My Biggest Business Liability : I made a huge mistake giving my time to everyone when I started my business. I felt like I owed it. But no one cares more about your business than you.
736 Followers and 55,845 Impressions: Why the Rules Are Wrong : I posted 3-4 times a week with no strategy, just real stories. 55,845 impressions later, more than half my readers are strangers who stopped scrolling.
From Layoff to Leap: How Losing My Job 3 Days After Turning 30 Changed Everything : Three days after my 30th birthday, I was laid off. Now 31 is around the corner, and the government job I thought was safe is behind me.
Nine Months After My Public Health Layoff, I Finally Understand What Went Wrong : Nine months after leaving government, Cheryl Ann Barnes reflects on diluted collaboration and what she wishes she had done differently inside the system.
Getting Laid Off Was the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me : Cheryl Ann Barnes shares how a sudden layoff with no send-off forced her to stop giving energy to institutions and start building something she owns.
The Quiet Collapse of a Safe Path : Cheryl Ann Barnes reflects on finishing a public health master's during COVID, believing the formula would protect her, and what happened when it did not.
Life. Sold Back To Us. : Cheryl Ann Barnes questions growing reliance on wearables and smart devices to manage health, asking what we trade when we outsource our intuition.
The Monster We Let In : Cheryl Ann Barnes traces how technological convenience quietly eroded connection until isolation was built by our own hands under the illusion of freedom.