'It’s the space I always needed': Women's hub The Empowered Collective opens its doors in East Ardsley
A community space designed for women to find a sense of belonging and empowerment has opened its doors in East Ardsley.
The Empowered Collective is a central hub which aims to be a location where local women can access beauty, wellness, coffee, community, and social events all under one roof.
Inside, visitors will find luxury skin and laser clinic NudeCo, coffee shop Brewed Coffee Co, and personal training sessions offered by Endurance by Evolve.
Founder Natasha Mendes was inspired to create The Empowered Collective after discovering many of her intimate clients felt they were lacking a space to connect with others.
She said: “When you’re doing treatments, you learn a lot about people very quickly -
they tell you a lot about themselves and their lives.
“What I quickly realised is that all of us are crying out for a space to be together. We’re crying out for the village, we’re crying out to support each other.”
When Natasha started to look at moving her business NudeCo to a new location, she decided to take the leap and create the Empowered Collective.
Natasha first came up with the idea for The Empowered Collective a year ago. However, it was when she started looking to move her business NudeCo to a new location, that she decided to take the leap and create her own space for women to connect.
She said: “The real turning point came in March when the salon I was supposed to move into fell through. At the time, it felt like a setback but actually it was the push I needed to take the leap and bring this bigger vision to life.”
Over the past few months, Ideas House, on 98 Bradford Road, East Ardsley has been renovated and redesigned to become The Empowered Collective.
Natasha said: “It’s been a huge process, but one built on passion and determination.
“What started as an idea in my head has now become a real physical hub - it already feels like the community I once craved myself.”
Natasha chose to base The Empowered Collective in East Ardsley because she saw it as an ideal location to create a community-oriented hub.
She said: “East Ardsley is my home and my community. It’s perfectly placed between Wakefield and Leeds, right off the motorway, but it’s also a place that deserves investment and fresh energy.
“I wanted to bring something different here, not just another salon or coffee shop, but a destination that puts this village on the map for empowerment and community.”
In the future, The Empowered Collective plans to host community events such as maternity leave meet-ups, book clubs, wellness workshops, pamper evenings, and confidence coaching.
For Natasha, the ultimate aim is to create a space for women to connect that is centred on joy.
She said: “So many women feel isolated - whether they’re new mums, navigating divorce, starting over, or simply feeling like they don’t have a village around them. Most spaces that exist for women are built around trauma and sadness but I wanted to flip that on its head. The Empowered Collective is about joy, connection, and building a new community where women lift each other up and thrive together.”
Natasha hopes that the space will evolve with the women who use it but is already proud of how it has turned out so far.
She said: “The Empowered Collective is the space I always needed - a hub where women can come together, find connection, and feel celebrated.
“We’ve been building this physically since earlier this year, but really it's been in the making for my whole adult life.”