Rachel is a senior product designer at a Sydney-based fintech who has worked fully remote since the original 2020 lockdown and never went back. She rents a one-bed apartment in South Melbourne with her partner and a rescue staffy named Otis, and writes for MELBZ on the days her team is in heads-down mode.
Her column is for people whose home set-up is a kitchen bench and who need to know — concretely — which café will not glare at them at 1:45pm on a Wednesday. She tests for: power outlets that actually work, wifi that holds a Zoom call without a hotspot backup, an acceptable mid-shift lunch under $20, and whether Otis can come too. She’s been kicked out of one place for “loitering” (their word) and has stopped recommending three more after their wifi went paid-only without warning.
Rachel writes about working from a city, not from a Notion-influencer bedroom. She mentions the noise, the parking, the actual rain.
Articles by Rachel Okonkwo are based on first-hand testing of the venues mentioned. MELBZ does not accept sponsored content from cafés, co-working spaces, or productivity tools.