No. 01

Ownership · E-commerce · Mentorship

A collective, building since 2014

You were handed one path. We build our own.

For over a decade, The Work Initiative has been building, learning and mentoring in business ownership and e-commerce — a tight-knit collective for the people who decided the standard path wasn't enough.

Start your business Read our story
10+ years building A tight-knit collective Real businesses, not theory
The Work Initiative team collaborating around a table
The collective at work
Our Story

Most people are taught a single formula: go to school, work for forty years, and hope for a comfortable retirement. There is nothing wrong with that path.

But it is not the only option.

For over a decade, we have been building, learning and mentoring in the business ownership and e-commerce space. What started as a solo pursuit to rethink ownership and income has grown into a tight-knit collective.

We are a group of people who decided the standard path wasn't enough and chose to build something of our own.

Our Approach

Built on doing the work.

Three commitments that have shaped every business we've touched — and everyone we've brought along the way.

01

Build

We build real businesses and brands from the ground up — products, storefronts, and the systems that keep them running.

02

Learn

We treat every launch as a lesson, sharpening what actually works in e-commerce through honest, constant iteration.

03

Mentor

We work shoulder to shoulder with new owners, turning a decade of hard-won experience into hands-on guidance.

By the Numbers
10+ Years Building
12 In the Collective
40+ Businesses Built
25+ Brands Launched
The Collective

We chose to build something of our own — and to learn it in the open.

The Work Initiative is a small, tight-knit collective of mentors, operators and builders. For more than a decade we've been starting companies, running stores and figuring out e-commerce the hard way — then handing everything we learn back to the people coming up behind us.

Building together since 2013

Members of The Work Initiative working together
The Members

The people behind the work

Different backgrounds, one shared habit — we build in the open and bring the next people along with us.

Portrait of Marcus Ellery

Marcus Ellery

Founder & Mentor

Portrait of Priya Raman

Priya Raman

E-commerce Lead

Portrait of Daniel Osei

Daniel Osei

Brand & Product

Portrait of Lena Fischer

Lena Fischer

Operations

Portrait of Sofia Marchetti

Sofia Marchetti

Growth & Community

Portrait of Jerome Baptiste

Jerome Baptiste

Mentor

How We Work

Principles we don't compromise on

01

Ownership over employment

We help people own what they build — not rent their time to someone else's dream.

02

Learning in public

We share the wins, the misses and the messy middle, so the lessons compound for everyone.

03

Community over competition

We'd rather grow the whole table than win a smaller one. Peers, not rivals.

04

Real businesses, not theory

Everything we teach we've run ourselves — actual stores, real revenue, honest numbers.

In Their Words

People who decided to own their work.

“I spent fifteen years building someone else's company. The collective showed me the skills were already in my hands — my own store now does more in a quarter than I used to make in a year.”
Portrait of Danielle Osei
Danielle Osei Founder, Meridian Goods
“They never sold me a course. They sat with me every week until I understood my margins, my customers, my numbers. That rewired how I think about ownership.”
Portrait of Marcus Bell
Marcus Bell Founder, Northline Supply
“I came in wanting a little side income. I'm now running a business that supports my family — and mentoring two new members of my own.”
Portrait of Ava Chen
Ava Chen Owner, Studio Verte

Your Turn

Build something that's finally yours.

Join a collective that has spent over a decade learning to build, sell, and mentor — and start the business you have been putting off.

No cost to apply — we read and reply to every message.