free monthly office hours
with anti-capitalist business coach, Emily Eley
a monthly business commons
first Thursday of every month
9:00–10:30am ET
on Zoom | always free
(we usually skip January and July because holidays and life.)
Office Hours is a free, monthly gathering for small business owners who want their work to reflect their values.
It’s a space for people building businesses rooted in care, community, sustainability, and economic awareness — not just revenue targets.
I call it a business commons because it’s shared. We bring questions, lived experience, strategies, and contradictions into one room and think together. Knowledge circulates. Insight builds collectively.
We start each month with introductions in the chat. Names, pronouns, what you’re building, what you’re wrestling with. From there, the conversation unfolds based on who’s in the room and what’s alive for them.
📅 Upcoming Sessions in 2026: (no January session), February 5, March 5, April 2, May 7, June 4, (no July session), August 6, September 3, October 1, November 5, December 3
what we actually talk about
Every month is different.
Sometimes we’re working through something concrete — pricing a workshop, refining an offer, deciding when to announce something, figuring out how to talk about your work clearly.
Sometimes we zoom out — how to sell products while staying rooted in your politics, how to build financial stability without sacrificing integrity, how to navigate competition in a small community, what “enough” actually means.
And sometimes we land in the deeper layers that sit underneath business: burnout, partnership dynamics, disability, parenting, shame, ambition, capacity, and post-capitalist world building.
It’s practical. It’s strategic. It’s shifting consciousness. And it’s grounded in real life.
You can bring a specific question and get clarity quickly. Or you can listen and absorb. Either way, you leave steadier than you arrived.
watch a replay
If you’d like a feel for the space before joining live, you can watch a replay from December 2025.
That month, we had a wide-ranging conversation about AI — our willingness to use it, our dependence on it, environmental and labor implications, accessibility questions, and the tension many of us feel:
can you still call yourself anti-capitalist and use AI?
There wasn’t one clean answer. There rarely is.
Instead, you’ll hear real people thinking out loud. Questioning themselves. Sharing how they’re navigating the contradictions of building businesses inside systems we’re actively critiquing.
It’s a good snapshot of what Office Hours is like: thoughtful, nuanced, grounded, and collective.
Give it a listen. Passcode: .H36?eha
🔗 Watch the replay here💬 What People Are Saying
Sandi Konta
“Emily is an incredibly generous, engaging, and knowledgeable anti-capitalist business coach. Her workshops and advice have helped me build a business that aligns with my values. In addition to being an expert at taking an anti-capitalist approach, she has a wealth of knowledge about marketing and sales. You will benefit from spending time in her orbit. Highly recommend her offerings!”
Rose Sylvester
“Emily Eley is a badass and I feel extremely inspired by her. She makes running a business feel possible and accessible when it can feel overwhelming and impossible. I attend as many of her events as I am able while I'm getting my therapy practice underway. I look forward to revisiting her material and suggestions 1 year, 2 years and 10 years into my business.”
Jo Ann Endo
“Emily runs very practical business coaching workshops and office hours. She helps demystify a lot of the things we all need to do to run a business, and she does it with kindness, compassion, and humor. I want to run my business in a human-centered way, and Emily validated that approach from the first webinar I joined. I've been recommending her to everyone I know who has their own business or is thinking of starting one.”
why it’s free
Because shit should still be free! 🤪🤪🤪
Yes, I run paid programs. Yes, I offer coaching. And I also believe there should be open space where small business owners can access real support without needing to calculate whether it’s “worth it” first.
Commons work because someone tends them. This is one way I do that.
Join us for the next office hours!
👋 a little about me
Hey, I’m Emily Eley—an anti-capitalist business coach, activist & organizer, parent, and firm believer that business can be a tool for liberation, not exploitation. I help small business owners build values-aligned businesses that center care, community, and sustainability—not hustle, urgency, or endless growth.
If you ever find yourself wanting deeper support—whether you're overwhelmed, in transition, or just craving thoughtful partnership—my 1:1 coaching might be a good fit. I offer financial aid because I believe this work should be accessible, and I’m proud to be a VSAC-approved non-degree course provider here in Vermont.
No pressure, no funnels, just honest support when you’re ready.
learn more about my coaching