The Deskie: Pip Jamieson’s portable office life, productivity rituals and the power of building community

If your favourite coworking space has ever felt more like a curated club than just a desk and Wi-Fi, you might have Pip Jamieson to thank. She’s the powerhouse behind The Dots – a private social networking platform that Apple once dubbed “networking for the modern world” – and the driving force behind a quiet revolution in how creative and professional communities connect.

Pip originally launched The Dots as an inclusive alternative to traditional professional networks, and over the years it’s grown into a 1-million-strong creative ecosystem. But she didn’t stop there. Today, Pip licenses The Dots’ underlying tech as a white label social networking app – one that’s now used by some of the most discerning member clubs and brands in the world, from Soho House’s ‘Works’ community to Frieze Art Fair, Dazed Media, and even Apple.

Remote-first before it was trendy, Pip runs her company from a houseboat moored in King’s Cross, powered by five modems (Wi-Fi on the water is no joke), a disco ball leftover from her sister’s hen party, and a Staffy named Pi snoozing under her desk. She’s also rewilding a patch of East Sussex woodland with her husband, and spends her time oscillating between high-spec meeting rooms, canal-side calm, and countryside retreats.

A passionate advocate for neurodiversity – and proudly dyslexic herself – Pip has baked flexibility, authenticity and a bit of sparkle into everything she builds. Her approach to leadership is refreshingly human, her favourite tools are powered by AI, and her take on the future of work is as much about trust and serendipity as it is about software. It’s no wonder she’s been named one of The Sunday Times’ Top 100 Disruptive Entrepreneurs, one of Founders Forum’s Inspiring 50 Women in Tech, and a trailblazer by Adweek.

The Deskie with Pip Jamieson

My workspace is best described as…

Nomadic. We’re a remote-first company, so our HQ is my houseboat, Horace, moored in King’s Cross, London – where I get to look out over the canal and watch ducks go by while I work! We also license our tech as a white label social networking app to some of London’s most gorgeous co-working spaces, member clubs and brands – including Soho House’s ‘Works’ community and 180 Studios! The advantage of this is that I get to work from these stunningly designed spaces while on the road. The necessity of that ever-moving workspace means, by design, my work set-up has to be minimalist so I can up and go whenever needed.

When it comes to my desk… 

Living and working on a boat means WiFi can be a bit patchy, so I’ve got five modems to ensure I always stay connected. Otherwise, my desk is super clear with the exception of a dog bed that sits under my desk, so that my lovely staffy dog, Pi, can keep me company as I work. But really, most of my essential tools live on my laptop.

Me and my husband…

Have quite a nomadic work life, dancing between our houseboat, different client spaces, and constantly travelling for work. We also have a little wood in East Sussex that we’re re-wilding, and a cottage in Kent. This means my workspace needs to be easily portable. I’m one of those people who’s either fully on or fully off, so the frenetic nature of city living, complemented by weekends in nature to recharge, suits me perfectly.

Daily rituals to boost productivity… 

I’m neurodiverse, so I start each day with a coffee boosted by Mother Made Mushroom Powder – it includes lion’s mane, which helps me stay focused! Monday is reserved for planning, Tuesday-Wednesday I tend to stack my meetings back to back, while later in the week is reserved for deep work. AI tools help me keep on top of everything – from transcribing and summarising to following up. While the communities we power help with advice and support from trusted networks. In the evenings, I often take my laptop to my local pub and clear emails/tasks over a glass of wine, which in fact, I’m doing right now.

My Apple MacBook…

Is my everything! I use notes for daily to-dos, and augment this with AI tools that supercharge my productivity. Currently my favourite AI tools include SuperWhisper for drafting emails/comms, Granola handles meeting transcripts and actions, Speechy reads things aloud to me (gold dust if you’re dyslexic!), while I also dance between ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity to help with deeper work. We also use Coda to project manage the business more broadly. It’s all about finding (and more importantly, evolving) tools that make us hyper-productive so we can focus on thinking, collaborating and building relationships.

A decoration in my workspace…

I have a glitter ball that hangs over my desk on our houseboat, which I never took down after my baby sister’s hens party – it always makes me smile. Occasionally, the light hits it just right and sparkles dance across the room during calls, which partners and clients seem to love.

How my workspace has evolved…

Pre-Covid we had a permanent office in Shoreditch, London, but we switched to remote-first, as our developers (who make up the vast majority of our team) were more productive that way. Back then, my desk was very cluttered, but now I love a minimalist setup so I can easily move to a new workspace. 

Technology…

Plays a massive role. As I work remotely, technology is the backbone of how I connect, collaborate, and create with my team, partners and clients. It enables me to manage everything from anywhere, and it’s also at the heart of the product I’ve built.

We power white-labelled private social networking apps for leading workspaces like Soho House’s ‘Works’ community. What’s been particularly powerful is seeing how these apps help augment real-life workspaces – digitally. For example, with Soho Works, our tech brings their members together across London, LA, and New York. It helps them discover events, connect around shared interests, and get advice or support from trusted members who share their values, even if they’re thousands of miles apart.

Ultimately, the coworking spaces of the future aren’t just about desks and Wi-Fi – they’re about relationships. And tech should augment the great communities that co-working spaces have created in real life. It should help people build trust, spark serendipity, and create a sense of belonging. Everything else, you can do from home.

Tips for creating a great workspace…

No size fits all. It’s all about finding your specific happy place. And what I’ve learnt is that a happy place can change depending on the mood or the tasks that you’re working on. I find deep work is best on my houseboat. Innovation and problem solving while I’m on a walk. Client relationship building is best done in person.  As for emails, I do them best in the pub at the end of the day. But I wouldn’t say that was best for everyone. The important thing is to find what works best for you – a good laptop and good wifi being the most critical thing!

Balancing comfort and professionalism…

I don’t think I’ve ever thought about it! I just show up as myself every day, and I think that makes our workplace more authentic, kind and collaborative. I don’t design my workspace for professionalism – I lead by trying to be the best version of myself each and every day. We have excellent team retention because of this. 

The top three gadgets I can’t live without…

My UE Roll bike speaker for cycling around town

My iPhone and my MacBook (obviously.)

Not really a gadget but essential – the fluffy dog blanket I can take on the road with me so I can also bring my dog Pi.

Favourite software…

Of course I’m biased, but I love dancing in and out of all our various white label social networking apps. We now power over 50 communities – including the coworking spaces and member clubs I mentioned above – but also fan clubs for media brands like SheerLuxe and Dazed Media, investment networks, high net worth and luxury networks for Adoreum and Frieze Art Fair… and we’re soon to launch a social purpose network to support the amazing work of UN Women.

Being part of those communities not only helps me innovate the product we create, but also helps me solve problems, build my network and makes me feel less alone when I’m working from home.   

My tech tip is…

Let AI do the heavy lifting. As a team, we got massively into AI by simply asking ourselves what’s the one task we hate doing most, and then we all spent a quarter automating that task. Off the back of that simple exercise, exploring and implementing AI is now ingrained into our work culture, and our productivity has skyrocketed.

The Modems’ Byte-Sized Questions:

 

iOS or Android? 

iOS all the way

Earbuds or over-ear headphones?

Neither, laptop mic whenever possible

Text or voice notes?

Voice notes (I’m dyslexic!)

 Phone selfie or proper digi camera?

Phone, but I’m rubbish at selfies.

Dark mode or light mode?

Light mode

Filters or no filter?

Filter, but tasteful only

Apple Pay or designer wallet?

Apple Pay

Netflix marathon or TikTok scroll?

Neither, life’s too short!

E-book or audiobook?

Audiobook. I’ve racked up 11 months+ of listening time! Life’s not too short to continuously learn!

Spotify playlists or YouTube deep dives?

YouTube deep dives (I still don’t pay for Spotify!)

Desktop setup or laptop on-the-go?

Laptop on-the-go