277. Luke Wills on Staying Nimble and Setting up for Extreme Growth
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TRANSCRIPTION
277. Luke Wills on Staying Nimble and Setting up for Extreme Growth
00:00:02 Welcome to the Everything Coworking podcast, where every week I keep you updated on the latest trends and how-tos in Coworking. I owned and operated Coworking spaces for eight years, and then served as the executive director of the Global Workspace Association for five years. And today I work with hundreds of operators and community managers every month, allowing me to bring you thought-provoking operator,
00:00:29 case studies and inspirational interviews with industry thought leaders to help you confidently stay on top of what's important and what you can apply to your own role in the Coworking industry. Welcome to the Everything Coworking Podcast. This is your host, Jamie Russo. Thank you for joining me. My guest today is Luke Wills, and I've met Luke a couple times at recent industry conferences.
00:00:58 Had not gotten to kind of dive in, but I was really curious about what he's up to at Thrive. So Thrive is expanding fairly quickly. As you'll hear in our conversation. They have private equity funding and are looking to do, I think he said, 500 locations in five years. We all know how difficult that is from a practical standpoint, but Luke has a very entrepreneurial role within the organization.
00:01:24 The organization has a very strong culture. He talks a lot about kind of the, you know, foundation behind the company. They have an organization that they run alongside their co-working space. It's kind of integrated. He talks about that a little bit. I am on the Thrive Newsletter. We talk about how much I love their newsletter. Hannah, if you're listening,
00:01:45 huge shout out because I love your shower thoughts and your, if you know, you know, section, such a great example of a newsletter that's worth reading even. You know, if you're still not sure you're gonna join, if you're learning about Coworking, I would guess she has a pretty strong readership. Although they also, of course she does because they now have locations in multiple states.
00:02:08 They are in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, and South Carolina and expanding pretty quickly. So we talk about what their team looks like. I'm really kind of interested in team structure. We're doing a series that's kind of focused on that this month in our academy group. We get a lot of folks trying to figure out as they grow, who do they add first?
00:02:30 What do those roles look like? Luke roles, Luke's role is very, has evolved a lot as the company is shifting and growing and his skillset is evolving. He had, you know, no Coworking or really real estate background. How we got into Coworking story is, is a good one. We talk about that we kinda blew through our hour because I had lots of questions that I wanted to talk to Luke about.
00:02:53 So I think you're gonna enjoy this one. It's a brand to watch for sure. They're doing a lot of great things, beautiful design, great newsletters, you know, and growing. And they have a really, like I said, just really kind of strong culture behind what they're doing. So pay attention to Thrive. I think you're gonna see a lot more of them.
00:03:12 I did wanna mention in our conversation, Luke and I talk about, you know, the realities of how long it takes to get a deal done. And that depends on, you know, whether it's an acquisition or whether it's a lease or whether it's management agreement. If you're listening and thinking about a Coworking space in 2023, a lot of my Startup school folks are working on their leases now and it takes a lot of time,
00:03:37 Months, months. So unfortunately, and you know, you have to really do your due diligence on the deal. You have to pay really close attention to the details. I say this a lot, but I think it's worth saying, you know, your success, you know, is really determined before you ever open your doors because your location is so critical and your least terms are so critical.
00:04:00 So you have to give it the time that it deserves, but it takes a long time. So if you're thinking about that and looking for a step-by-step framework, then check out our Coworking, Startup School. You can get the details by going to Everything Coworking dot com slash masterclass will give you kind of a look into three behind the scenes secrets that we see supporting the decisions that Coworking space owners are making today that's helping them to be successful.
00:04:33 So take a look at that, feel free to reach out if you have any questions about the program. And without further ado, enjoy my conversation with Luke Wills. I am here with Luke Wills. He is the director of growth at Thrive Coworking, mostly in Atlanta, but also everywhere else. Alabama, North Carolina. Wait, Ohio, South Carolina. Yes.
00:04:57 Are those all right? Yeah. Yeah. Huge. Okay, so before we dive into professionally, I have to go through and find like something really caught me on your LinkedIn profile. Like you just have been like busy. Maybe it was under the like, well crypto advisor, which is interesting. You used recruiter Atlanta Hawks. You're gonna have to tell me a little bit about your background.
00:05:25 Gotcha. Wait and soccer referee, Is that the one that stuck out the most? That might, That might be the one that that stuck out. Tell me about the soccer referee. Yeah, one of the parents. That is 2008 to 2012, I believe. Four Years. Yeah, It's four years. I played one year of soccer not until high school though.
00:05:44 So I knew the rules beforehand because I really relied on the parents screaming at me to teach me the rules because the training was just that suboptimal. So I learned what a goal kick is and who, who gets to kick it from one of the nice parents yelling at me on the sideline. Oh no, that's hilarious. Yeah, It was good. You made good good money as a kid.
00:06:04 You made it per game. So it's funny, both coaches, both the winning and the losing had to sign off on it at the end of the game or you didn't get paid. So we had several coaches that didn't love the refs, that it was a real challenge to get to get Them to sign. It really was. Yeah. It's Ohio Youth Athletic Association for you.
00:06:23 Wait, so in Ohio, wait, is that where you primarily grew Up? Yeah, so I was born in Cincinnati House Fire H five, which prompted a move to Columbus, Ohio. So raising Columbus until probably 20 years old when I moved with my wife after honeymooning in Costa Rica down to Atlanta here in 2016. Okay. I just found what I had wanted,
00:06:43 originally wanted to talk about. But wait, so I have to say, so I'm also a soccer referee. It's soccer season and Whoa. Okay. I, I am not paid, which may be a good thing because then definitely like my standards are, I mean it's still, you know, we take it pretty seriously, but I soccer refereeing, so sometimes I'll do two games and I'll coach a game on a Saturday and then I'll go home and sleep.
00:07:06 Cause you have to pay a lot of attention. Yep. Like I'm always, And also, even though we have sideline reps, if I'm the center rep, I'm always doing the like flu, pink, blue, pink. Like you have to know who last touched the ball and your brain has to like process it fast enough and yeah. Call the Right.
00:07:21 Is it foul or they just, It's a lot of, I dunno, The center ref generally gets paid more than the sideline refs. So if it were a paid opportunity, I'd say kudos to you. Yeah, I should, I should get a raise for my, Okay, here's what I saw in your LinkedIn profile that we have to talk about.
00:07:38 Recognized for outstanding memorization of pie 326 digits. Did I, did I actually put that and Yes. I'm amazed that I A put that on there. B left that on there. Yes. In seventh grade It was great cause I was like, this is fun. We have to talk about this. That's my interesting fact that all the Coworking conferences. Okay.
00:08:00 In fact at Lexi League of Extraordinary Coworking Spaces in Seattle, that was my interesting fact. Oh, I must have missed that or else I somehow didn't process it. That's hilarious. Yeah, so you know, fifth grade was just a mere 144 digits. So I felt like I had to really up it for Miss Shock in seventh grade Grade. That's amazing.
00:08:17 I was gonna mention that to my daughter cuz she's new to Pie and then spelling the district runner up. Yeah. Yeah. Always been quite hyper critical when it comes to spelling and grammar, which can be a great thing in business and also a horrible thing in personal relationships. Totally. That's Funny. It gets, it gets me into trouble quite often.
00:08:37 Just Wanna correct people's grammar. I used to think I was pretty good at grammar until I started using Grammarly. Have you ever used Grammarly Grammarly's Always. Like that's not right. Oh wow. Okay. So I use it for Just turn that off. An off feature there Is an off feature. It's kind of, I, I definitely underuse commas. I never,
00:08:59 It's always like you need a comma there. You need a comma there. Anyway, Queen of the run on sentences. I mean, must be totally okay. Wait and hold on, there's one more. You're gonna go to your LinkedIn. I think these are good cuz it really humanizes you. I was like, this Luke guy is really best German student award.
00:09:20 Oh, here we go. Yes. Yeah, deu. Wow. Yeah, That's amazing. My parents met in German class in high school, so they started speaking a foreign language to one another when we learned how to spell, I have six siblings, so they started speaking German to one another as a kid and I was just fascinated, so curious as to what they were actually saying.
00:09:44 And I knew as part German myself, they were so I went ahead Leave you out of the conversation. Totally. Okay, I see. They're like, there's seven kids, so there's seven total kids. Sure. Correct. Yep. Within, within 10 years. So yeah, definitely tight knit, but I was, I was really the only one that kind of clung to German.
00:10:02 Others learned Spanish, French, Latin, It's quite, quite the family. Okay, got it. Okay. Interesting. Okay, so now wait and wife and two kids. Yes. Yeah, I have a wife, Stacy and five year old Ivy and one year old Asher. Okay, awesome. Okay, so now we've covered a little bit of the,
00:10:21 the personal piece. Okay. Yeah. Personal. How did you get into Coworking? Because your background is not Coworking related or real estate related. So yeah, tell us that story and then we'll talk about what you're doing at Thrive. It's such a long story that I took a few notes, if That's OK For us. First off, just wanna say thank you for having me.
00:10:42 It's an honor to be on the podcast. I will say my, without, hopefully no one else takes offense to this, but my favorite podcast of yours is with Mark Gilbreth, in which he just goes down the list of all the value that he's adding their LiquidSpace and that they're not an aggregator, but more, I think it's a hybrid space platform.
00:11:02 He Was really, Yeah, He's right. So I, I was actually thankful that he made that distinction. Cause me too, I, I didn't know either. And it's really cool what they're doing. So, but yeah, I try to follow as much as possible between yours li alums. So yeah, just wanna say thanks for the welcome going from sports to recruiting to day trading in crypto in 2020.
00:11:23 There has been such like a warm, welcoming, collaborative community in which someone as competitive as myself, I'm not used to. I'm used to seeing my name and my number on a board and being compared to every other seller in the room. And the top third are gonna get promoted. The bottom third are gonna get X and the medium are kind of position elsewhere.
00:11:45 So, no, it's been a blast so far, but we're just getting started. So how did I go get into Coworking? So out of college I worked in sales at the Atlanta Hawks. So I started in this nine month training program with probably 15 to 20 other ticket sales reps. I worked in downtown Atlanta 1 0 1 Marietta, for anyone familiar with that big building.
00:12:05 The V on it used to be Centennial Tower that lights up at night. So WeWork actually took over one of the floors in our building back in 2018 and our team was growing and consolidating, consolidating some of the real estate portfolios. So our marketing and sea level execs actually worked up on the floor above us for quite a few months. So kombucha, free breakfast,
00:12:28 tight knit spaces with all glass walls. Not as much privacy as we were used to or anticipated. So that part was definitely a culture shock, but what a great view and a cool experience. And we're meeting all this, we're meeting other tenants in the building in which we were just, oh, the Hawks are on floor nine, 18 and 19.
00:12:47 That's their island. Don't go on that island. Yeah. But really opened us up to like, oh, there's other people that work in this building. Like, it was really neat. It's like a mindset shift. Yeah. Like absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, I just wanted to jump in really quickly before we continue with our discussion. If you're working on opening a Coworking space,
00:13:07 I wanna invite you to join me for my free masterclass. Three behind the Scenes Secrets to Opening a Coworking Space. If you're working on opening a Coworking space, I wanna share the three decisions that I've seen successful operators make when they're creating their Coworking business. The masterclass is totally free, it's about an hour and include some q and a. If you'd like to join me,
00:13:30 you can register at Everything Coworking dot com slash masterclass. If you already have a Coworking space, I wanna make sure you know about Community Manager University Community Manager University is a training and development platform for community managers and it can be for owner operators. It has content training resources, templates from day one to general manager. The platform includes many courses that cover the major buckets of the Community Manager role from community management operations,
00:14:03 sales and marketing, finance and leadership. The content is laid out in a graduated learning path, so the Community Manager can identify what content is most relevant to them depending on their experience and kind of jump in from there. We provide a live brand new training every single month for the Community Manager group. We also host a live q and a call every single month so that the community managers can work through any challenges that they're having or opportunities get ideas from other community managers,
00:14:35 build their own peer network. We also have a private Slack group for the group, so if you're interested in learning more, you can go to Everything Coworking dot com slash Community Manager And like, oh this is Coworking. I've, I've heard a little bit about, about this, but, and you know the whole, you know, Adam Newman was growing that empire at the time.
00:14:55 Now, before the pandemic begun in March, 2020, I was selected to part in the Hawks Inaugural Innovation Lab. This was with my former hiring manager, John Adler and the super smart Cornell grad, Jen Choi, who was the director of innovation. So she came from a background, ex experience leading product and innovation teams at Dropbox, McKinsey, Amex, and Accenture.
00:15:19 So she came in with, you know, the capital that the Hawks had provided to really infuse like, how can we think about topics, whether in game experience like fan experience or flex work arrangement, Like all sorts of topics. Like, let's narrow down that first topic that we're gonna select. So within State Farm Marina there, the first topic was flexible work arrangement.
00:15:42 And so I'm, I was very passionate as I live about a half hour away from the arena and I was in there every day selling tickets, then working all of the home games, doing on court fan experiences. So if you can imagine, I was the guy doing the tunnels like let's go hawks. Like getting everybody hyped up in the tunnel, making sure that they didn't trip punch,
00:16:02 hit any of the players. So that was a blast. But you know, I now have two kids. I just had the one at the time. So after our daughter started realizing how often I was actually gone, I was, you know, my heart felt a little weary on that. Yeah, right. I always wanted to be around for my family.
00:16:24 So I was getting ready to switch positions or careers altogether when this happened and pandemic hit, we were super well prepared as an organization cuz we had just migrated over to teams and so we were good to go. I really value the hybrid approach of going in every now and then and the social element of still that in-office component without a mandate to come in.
00:16:46 Yeah. So my, my first days, you know, my early days at the Hawks were, it was very micro managerial. We crush outta college so no arm enough foul there because they're teaching you life skills too. People, I do kind of buy that argument when people argue like, what are you doing with like, with your 22 at home all the time?
00:17:04 Right? Totally. And I was one of the few not going out with that social component because I had a wife and all of a sudden a kid. So it mattered even more to me to see people in the office because that's where I was building relationships and getting face time with, you know, senior level reps and, and hiring. So after the pandemic hit,
00:17:23 obviously I was in group ticket sales at the time, but I also sold court side seats in annual suites. So the CDC comes out to the group ticket sales department. It, by the way, they were one of our clients, so we sold tickets to them downtown Atlanta and they were the last group, I'm shocked I'm saying this, but they were the last group to cancel before the pandemic.
00:17:43 I love it on their outing. So they were brushing it off like, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine. Which was just mind blowing. But yeah, I was fortunate enough to get promoted quickly there and stay for quite a while. But, you know, pandemic hit no fans in the arena anymore. So I made a lateral move to it recruiting through one of my clients,
00:17:59 figured I'd work my way up and you know, being able to help people find jobs and learn more about technology and industry in which I didn't know a ton about but was super passionate and wanted to learn more about, I was like, let's just do a reset here. You know, I made really good money at the Hawks for someone in their twenties and with no experience,
00:18:17 but I was working a lot and was looking for a career shift. So four months in to my new career, brand new career post pandemic, I get a call from Ramon who I met years ago at a purpose driven leadership retreat in North Georgia, in which we got to know each other in a very genuine raw environment. And he called me right after,
00:18:41 you know, that meeting with the private equity group in Scottsdale, Arizona called 33 Degrees. And he said, so I just got outta the meeting and I I I just wanted to see where you're at. Like I wanted to plant a seed cuz we're gonna need help on the business development front. And you're like, my first call outta this meeting, like,
00:18:57 I need you just think about it. You kept in touch with him? I I had kept in touch with him, Yeah. Okay. We had met up for coffee a couple different times. He asked if I'd be the director of sales when it's just three or four locations and I was, for a 24 year old, I was making way more money than I was used to doing exactly what I loved.
00:19:16 I'm a die hard basketball fan. So like watching Kyrie Irving and LeBron shoot jumpers on the court and helping the kids just make sure they rebound correctly. Like that's my job. What was awesome and I didn't wanna give that up like, sorry Ramon. Yeah, I love you man. But yeah. But he's like, you know, this time it's different.
00:19:35 Like we have capital and like we're growing to 500 locations and I need you just think about it. And we met, you know, a little bit later and you know, the rest is history. But man, those people, I suppose he saw, you know, talent in me when we first met and an energy gave him the feeling like where you just know that it's a good fa like we're going to work together one day.
00:19:59 Yeah. I'm sure you can resonate with that. So yeah, so here at Thrive, like, you know, through our core pillars, it's love, purpose, and trust. We hire for good people like Ramon was doing with me that embody those ideals and then naturally fit our brand's culture right in the following order. Like culture, talent and skills and then experience.
00:20:20 So like you alluded to earlier, Jamie, I've, I've no experience in real estate prior, outside of buying two homes like as residential primaries and no experience in Coworking. I had been following it for a while so I could probably pull up texts since I never delete texts with Ramon that said, man, I'm sure you guys are struggling right now, but flex is the future.
00:20:39 Like take it from us who, we have three floors in downtown Atlanta, the Hawks and no one's in there there and they're not going to be in there for over a year. So to be able to have that, you know, decentralized workforce where you can work from anywhere, meet up with a buddy at a coffee shop and get some stuff done,
00:20:57 like that hub and spoke model was really attractive to me. And I was like, I really hope and pray you guys make it through this pandemic because the industry is gonna be hot. So I kept in touch for sure, followed up on the articles, had a little Google alert on Coworking and such. So yeah, that's kind of the story about how I got.
00:21:17 Okay. So I'm sure you a few hats that thrive, but what is, yeah, what's your primary purpose? Yeah, So small organization, we're wearing many hats as you could probably predict. So I've transitioned quite a bit. You know, I was fortunate enough to be called by Ramon to help spearhead our growth. And a lot of people ask me,
00:21:34 you know, what, what do you mean by growth? I have two people, two haters that think it's the silliest title in the world, you know? But if we're gonna do this in a really unique countercultural way, expanding where it's not just about the money or the fame, but it's about the impact we can make, that was really attractive to me.
00:21:51 So for me is anything that I can do. And I had never worked for a friend before in my life, so I didn't know how it would go. Really thankful the way it's worked out. But you know, if we're gonna grow sustainably in the way that, you know, we're touching thousands if not more people's lives, we're gonna have to do whatever it takes to get the job done.
00:22:12 So I've worn many hats. I've transitioned from when I first started it was just a lot of education and learning. You know, Ramone's been in the industry for 20 plus some years. What Is his background before Thrive? Yeah, He went to Business, I'll have him on too, so don't, you can gimme the Very short, he, he went to business school up at Bentley in Boston and then was about to go down that kind of financial banking industry world and realize he just didn't like it.
00:22:40 And so he's never worked like for somebody else per se in his whole life. Very entrepreneurial and very opportunistic. So he has been in commercial real estate for 20 years. He's worn like the broker hat, the investor hat, the underwriter, hat investor claim to fame really was like self storage units and single family housing through property management company. So in Georgia he had a company called White Fence that had over 2000 single family home rentals and he just managed them under a,
00:23:09 an entity. So he essentially, you know, and him and I are a lot alike in that we've made good money and lost it and had a really good opportunity and then lost it and kind of done some soul Searchie and realized like, what is that I actually wanna do with my life, with my career? Yeah. So that kind of leads to,
00:23:29 you know, I'm in the right, you know, early on he told me, you're in the right company, you're not in the right position. So I've been gaining just all sorts of different experience in Coworking and learned what it means to be a Community Manager a little bit just in supporting them. But my main role was like data analysis and walkability studies at first.
00:23:46 So if we have this massive goal of 500 cities Yeah. And, and I went to school for financial economics and business management. Sport management. Oh, okay. A little bit of, a little bit of a finance background. So we're gonna need to know like, you know, what makes it a good city and which do you grow to and which do you say no,
00:24:04 not right now. Maybe later. Yeah. So we did a lot of data analysis. My, my buddy Gabe and I, he comes from a finance and blockchain tech background at a Silicon Valley. We put together a sheet of over 600 cities in which we evaluate through tableau, kind of through heat mapping with all different parameters, walkability studies based on the census,
00:24:25 the population, the household income, the quality of the buildings within the downtown suburb. And really what we're targeting, which many have kind of figured out at this point is like vibrant, walkable, downtown city centers within suburban tertiary markets, mixed use developments. You know, these really where folks were remote employees are to is been our niche before the pandemic even happened.
00:24:50 I think pandemic just accelerated that notion. Yeah. Yeah. Wanting to work where you live already and where you be entertained And be able to work in places that are great pace places to live, Totally lower cost of living near family. Yeah. All those things. Absolutely. All those things. That's where I started. And then so that transitioned to like relationship manager and then and site selection,
00:25:13 deal negotiation, lease review, all that I was learning on the fly Jamie. So, you know, it just goes back to like culture, talent experience. Like I'm like a sponge and so you teach me anything, I'll do my best to reciprocate it. And so it got to know a few of the brokers in the industry quite well. Giovanni Pelvic,
00:25:32 Michael Kleinberg, love the guys at sas, Tom Cubas and Corey Hall. They're amazing. And so working really as like broker manage and then attorney management all of a sudden, like with lease review and PSAs, So much Holy, I'm detail-oriented, but Oh my god it's, I am not 60 page. Like reviewing a lease like that is like my worst nightmare.
00:25:53 I mean I do it and I do, you know, I look at leases for some of my Startup school members and yeah. Yeah. That's a great resource you provide cuz it's a lot. So, and Yeah, not detailed more than like, I mean, you know this at this point, like there's certain things you gotta make sure the lease the lease has with your internal core values are love,
00:26:12 purpose and what's trust. Trust. That's really interesting. You do business with people you like and you trust. Right? So, and I was gonna kind of pull out this stat related to enterprise companies, but like millennials and Gen Z are such a different subset and generation than the ones before. Yep. In which 83% of millennials and younger are, they want to work for a company that has a purpose behind it is purpose infused.
00:26:41 Yep. So, you know, understanding how many, just by the sheer population count millennials and Gen Z and beyond are, are coming up. Like that's important for us to understand as our target market. Like they won and they're willing to spend more money with the company's supporting philanthropic initiatives. Right? Yeah. So I I love that. But so Ramon is not a millennial,
00:27:05 right? He must be. He's He is calls himself, he calls himself the oldest millennial. Okay. He just turned 40 Right on the border. Okay. I was just doing the 20 years and I was like, Yeah, I am not. And I think it's hard to put yourself in that mindset if you're, so I love that he's adopted these core values.
00:27:24 Absolutely. Which sounds like you mentioned kind of the purpose driven leadership retreat, like are sort of core to his belief system anyway. Absolutely. I don't like hold onto that at work. I, yeah, I love that. I think that's very cool. Anyway, I'm, I'm sidetracking you a little bit, You know, That's okay. I just got,
00:27:41 I just got officially diagnosed with ADHD three weeks ago in which I've always known I've had it, but haven't gotten tested. So I'm right there with you. So now I transitioned with my sales background. We, Gabe and I, and Ramon did a lot of the growth and so we secured quite a few more locations than we anticipated. It's kind of funny,
00:28:01 Ramon was like, you know, don't expect many of these to materialize because Right. It just doesn't happen. And with the first few, with our private equity partner Yeah. We were gonna have to be really granular and specific with our criteria and we need home runs right now. Not like, Oh yeah, that could work out. That Would be a quality versus quantity the antithesis of the WeWork approach.
00:28:24 Right. I mean, that's kind of where they, And that's what we like. We're not just dropping thrives everywhere, at least at this stage. Like, we need to have proof of concept and we're being relied on by a group of investors and a network of, you know, this hospitality company with multiple plays. Like we are the flex space niche,
00:28:44 but they have many others. Right. Competitive social ventures, hotel equity. So it's in our best judgment to, you know, act on behalf of the company in which, you know, margins are high, but the community impact is high too. So it, it's, it's a constant balancing act. Like is there not enough supply in this market?
00:29:00 Like, you know, and Craig, I think with creative density and D Swap does a really good job of identifying how much square footage within a boutique market could be supported. So I love his kind of algorithmic approach there related to, you know, because the industry's growing rapidly, I think up to a 30% of US office open inventory by 2030, which is wild.
00:29:24 So people are gonna have to get creative. So that's kind of, I've been helping a little bit with sales, you know, helping fill units a little bit and then just transition a few weeks ago to growth in the form of enterprise sales and kind of key relationship management as well. So yeah, choosing to be an asset to the Company. I love it.
00:29:40 Right. You total Startup, like, okay, where can I add value now? And it certainly feels like Coach. That's exactly right. Yeah. Okay. So, So what does Zoom out a little bit for me in terms of Thrive and the growth plan. So perfect here, whatever you can share about kind of the, the private equity partner and then,
00:30:01 you know, what does that growth look like? Or you mentioned 500 locations, Is that 10 years? Five Years? Yep. Yeah. We have, you know, private equity group out of Scottsdale. They're, you know, pretty aggressive in that they like to somewhat close to 500 locations in, in five years. So understandably that is a whopping target that's A lot of leases for somebody to need.
00:30:23 Yeah. It's funny you mentioned that. So like, you know, there's so many different ways to grow, right? And if you're growing to 500 locations, start to do the math, you know, like it doesn't take a math major to realize, wait a second, that's a hundred a year, that's one every three or four days. Which is just wild to think about.
00:30:38 If you've ever opened a location and my first location was just recently in Charleston, and if you've ever opened a location, you know how much blood, sweat, and tears that goes into It Yeah. And how long it actually takes. Exactly. Yeah. Even if on paper you think, no problem. We Know. So that's a, it's a floating moving target,
00:30:57 but that, you know, 500 locations, we had four when we first started. We have, we have seven open right now, but another 17 organic locations in, in development already, you know, solidified the PSA or the management agreement or the lease. And then we have quite a few m and a deals as well. So there's a few different ways we grow organic could look like a management agreement,
00:31:19 it could look like a lease or a sublease converted to a traditional lease and then it could look like purchasing the building. So we are very fortunate in that, unlike a couple other operators, we don't need to stick with one world method. Yeah. And it has opened the door so much to creative deal structure. Right. And so the leases as a result are not as cookie cutter.
00:31:38 Yeah. But it's been fun to brainstorm with the landlords that are wanting to get into the industry, but don't, you know, they're underwriters even, you know, their lenders aren't willing to take on that much risk. Oh, well what, how about if we start as a management agreement, but then transition into a lease over time or vice versa and that all of a sudden you're like catching their eye a little bit.
00:32:00 Like, I mean okay. But you know, everyone saw the documentaries of WeWork and they understand that there's risk associated with that in general, but I think every industry has players in which there is a, you know, statistically insignificant variable there. Or not variable, but an outlier that gets all the press, but maybe not necessarily doing it the right way or,
00:32:24 or Or the way others are doing. Yeah, totally. Totally. So yeah, all two different ways that we're growing. But you know, the m and a piece is fun because starting a year and a half ago, many operators may have heard from us that are doing a really good job in their markets. So what we've, you know, brainstormed on is like we are acquiring particular locations and partnering with operators in markets that we believe in that are on that list.
00:32:50 And that scored really, really high. And we're coming to them and saying, Hey, you know your market way better than we will here in Atlanta. Yeah. Where I'm from in Columbus, Ohio, where Gabe's from in Charlotte. Like we know those markets, but not, not nearly as well as you do, especially the submarkets. So if there's,
00:33:05 you know, we're looking at simultaneously while we grow organically, which takes forever create like a coalition of local boutique operators in these vibrant, walkable city centers and mixed use developments, these thriving sub-markets that are coming out of the woodworks where we can make a real impact together with our joint mission and access to capital. Right. Whether that could look like a majority buyout or minority.
00:33:30 So if that's you, you know, we'd like to have a conversation, we're open to it. So there's been no conversation that we've shut down. We're very open and very, very flexible. We say that all the time. So Is there like in that category sort of a, this is a best looking fit? Like in terms of size or product mix or?
00:33:51 Yeah, I'd say like, you know, our locations Jamie are generally anywhere from 10 to 25,000 square feet. Yeah. We didn't even ask you that. We like dove right into spelling these in pie and I 3.1 for 9, 6 5 8. Yeah. Yeah. So 10 to 25,000 square feet. We believe in having a dedicated onsite Community Manager in each. And so sustain that in the financial proforma on the back end.
00:34:17 You have to have a certain amount of square footage for us to make it make sense, but also don't want it so big that people get lost in the shuffle and don't even know who's sitting next to them. Yeah. We're very, very communal and experience driven. So you'll be whitewater rafting and hang gliding and paintballing with the guy that comes in every other day.
00:34:35 So we want that, you know, we want to be able to curate opportunities and experiences like that with people that recognize, you know, the people coming in and out, but maybe not total strangers. Okay. This is a little bit of a side note, but I get the Thrive newsletter. Oh you do? Yeah. And I have to have Hannah on at some point.
00:34:56 Is she the one that writes them? Hannah has been writing the ones for our local like location team for quite some time, but now it's a gentleman named Mark. Okay. Well He's outta la He's an incredible, he's a ghost writer for quite a few brands that you know and love. Yeah, it's so funny. Like we have connections to all these different really interesting,
00:35:17 unique people through like Fix Ventures, Fix Solutions, which our CRO is like his layered on tech company. Oh yeah. It's been fascinating, like having access to like, despite being such a lean team. Yeah. We know we gotta grow to several hundred locations. So we've been, you know, outsourcing maybe not the best word word for it, but tapping in and leaning into the resources that we have through Chris,
00:35:41 who is co-founder of the Thrive Initiative with Ramo as well. Interesting. Okay. So who writes the shower thoughts? Shower thoughts generally? I think that's Hannah. I'll have to double check with That. I love this newsletter because that's good. It feels like boutique grant, right? It feels like a local brand and and I, and I love that about it.
00:36:01 And the, if you know, you know, Yeah, yeah. So Hannah was one of our first Community Manager here tta. And she gets it, you know, the brand, the culture, like yes, she oozes Thrive. And so when making hiring decisions, we look for people that, you know, emulate that culture and the brand and just being so passionate about what you do and and loving what you do so much that you can have fun at work.
00:36:27 Like that's possible. You don't have to just go in and work nine to five and then can't wait til five comes around. Like, we all work way harder and way more than we usually would because we're passionate about what we do because there's such an impact that we can make in people's lives through our nonprofit because the experiences and the adventures like open up the door for relationships and business connections that like never would've been there had you not decided to show up to the space today.
00:36:53 So we're looking to, you know, implement that at scale. It's challenging. Yeah. So how do you grow as a boutique operator at scale to the tune of 500 locations? Really, really challenging. So we're leaning on people like Hannah and people like Kate Sampson, our, our Community Manager up in Columbus, Ohio, or Dejo over in Holly Springs,
00:37:11 or Hannah Ello in Charleston. People that have lived there for quite some time. Josh, our former Community Manager, nicknamed like the mayor of Alpharetta. We want the mayor of Charleston being our Community Manager representing our brand. So I love that you, you Have to be really intentional, but you have to be really compelling as a company to attract those people.
00:37:29 Definitely. And that's one of the biggest challenges Those people have to show up and be on site every day, which you already said, like, you know, is a reason, you know, that one of your former jobs was, was challenging. I think that's hard for recruiting in that role. Definitely. Yeah. Making calls and just expecting to be in the office.
00:37:46 Yeah, that's totally true. So yeah, it looks like our tentative goal growth-wise is to have 40 locations open by the end of next year. That could, that's Almost one a week. Yeah. Since we're doing math, But by the end of next year. I know, but even that, you know, it's October something, we're mid-October now,
00:38:08 so 40 minus seven is 33. There's a few operators that have done a really good job. And that's a challenge too is is acquiring a space in which we've done twice now. Okay. A couple more on the way hopefully. But you know, acquiring a location that, or a space that has just one location generally takes just as much work as it takes to acquire a space with seven locations.
00:38:30 Yeah. So we've learned that and it's been a great test and I think, think the folks at Cova up in Columbus, Ohio will speak to this as well. It's been an awesome test related to identifying systems and processes related to an acquisition or a partnership in which it's, it's seamless for the members, which we care about most. Yeah. Like the community experience is better.
00:38:50 Honestly, it's so funny, the feedback we got from them Jamie, the members up in Columbus, Ohio was, you know, they were charging for snacks beforehand and they were like, We thought you were gonna come in here and change everything and you did, but for the better. Like, we don't have to pay for snacks anymore. That's really Funny.
00:39:08 So I think we got on their good side with that. Oh, so I interrupted you with the, so 10 to 25,000 feet dedicated team on site. What is your mix in terms of private space, open space? Yeah, it varies based on the market, you know, the demand and the supply in that market specifically. But I'd say generally it's between,
00:39:27 you know, anywhere from 50 to 75% private offices generally in that 40 to 60 range. We don't want like a prison cell of off offices. Yep. You know, it's a very experiential, walkable space To be the density for the p and l. Totally. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Especially if it's a smaller space. Like we have one coming up at 9,000 square feet,
00:39:48 like, you know, unfortunately, or fortunately there's gonna be more office spaces, but yeah. And then another maybe 15% meeting room, 20% Coworking. We're finding that like we're inserting a podcast room slash meeting room into each space, which is exciting. Dual Purpose, by the way, if anybody's watching on YouTube, this is a gorgeous podcast background. So a,
00:40:10 I will interview people all the time that have a podcast room and they're never in it. And I'm always like, What? Where are you at me that, you know, revenue Density, they, they couldn't afford to right? Somebody Actually, I don't know. Right. But it's perfect. It's like that brick wall, the little, it's, It's,
00:40:26 so the back, I'm a story, a quick story. Okay. We're both off track. I'm sorry. But this brick is actually, all of it was supposed to be there midway through construction. And this is a management agreement here. This midway through construction, Ramon runs over to the GC and he says, Stop, stop. You're not supposed to bulldoze that.
00:40:47 You're not supposed to demo that. And so halfway through the demo they stop Ramone And they look at it and they're like, and Ramon's such an incredible leader and optimist. He's just like, you know what? That looks amazing. Like, it like teeters off just like It is. Cool. Totally. And he's, It's just a, a statement piece for us now here in the meeting room.
00:41:09 Okay. Well yeah, it's a great background. It's perfect. Thank Yeah. So what does your leadership team look like right now? Yeah, it sounds like it's a moving, you know, it's evolving. Yes, It is. It's constantly evolving. I'll tell you that much. You know, I've, I've never worked in a small company prior to this.
00:41:30 I always worked in a big office with a, a lot of decision makers way above my pay grade. So it's exciting being in a, you know, leadership position. But yeah, it's interesting because you know, every three months that changes. So, you know, teams fall under this leadership structure of kind of, you know, Ramon is the co-founder and CEO of Thrive co-working and the initiative.
00:41:51 And then Chris as our CRO helps with marketing quite a bit and sales quite a bit as well. Just a storied background. Also co-founder of the initiative. And then it's such a decentralized organization, which obviously being a crypto blockchain guy myself, I love that. Like Dows just in general, but everyone in our organization is empowered to do their best work on behalf of the company.
00:42:14 So we feel as if we are not just representing ourselves, but representing the company in our words and actions. So I've never felt more empowered personally to freely add value and freely I think is the point there without fear of like micromanagement or shadowing or harsh criticism. So as soon as like there's attention and there's bound to be tension and growth through growing pains and such,
00:42:40 like Ramon immediately stops everything he's doing if he can, if he's within earshot of like, he's addressing the cultural issue immediately, which I think is a really good lesson in leadership to attack issues. Yeah. Before they become issues. So he's done a really good job leading us and that's part of why I think it's important to be in the office sometimes is because there's certain things you don't hear if you're not in the office,
00:43:06 just as a remote employee. So Ramon has been leading us here for, since 2015 when our organization was founded, but the JV with 33 Degrees was founded about a year and a half ago. So they invested us and basically fueled, you know, they're saying we'll fuel your growth corporate, like we're gonna fund your corporate salaries and such and benefits and then,
00:43:24 you know, let's grow together and knock this thing out of the park. So Ramon helps with overall vision, the real estate of course, and investor relations, construction and m and a. You have Chris doing overall executions systems processes. He runs a digital transformation company called Fix Solutions. So as a very storied Pass has worked for Monster, has worked for Staples leading like digital transformations and employee engagement platforms as well.
00:43:52 So he's awesome. Mountain bikes every morning at 7:00 AM so that's, that's fun. But yeah, and then I guess everyone else, you know, you have Susan, you have Rachel, you have Josh Hannah, you have Gabe leading m and a, you have me doing kind of everything from reciting pie to reffing soccer and then you have the location team,
00:44:11 right? So the location team looks like an onsite Community Manager. So in a world of automation and efficiency and you know, shout out to Alt Space Coworking in Colorado who's doing this sustainable approach, right? Yep. And I think there's, there's value there and it's cool this industry cuz there's a niche, there's so many niches and there's space A lot of different ways you can approach Yeah,
00:44:34 totally. Depending on who you wanna be and what you wanna accomplish. Yeah. No space is the same. It's true. So really we believe, you know, here at Thrive that the demand and the value of genuine competent human interactions and personalized touch, it's skyrocketing. Yeah. People crave human interaction. They walk into our space not just to like,
00:44:55 you know, get productive work done, but to feel like they're a part of something bigger than themselves. And that starts with the Hannah Neils and the Brandon a Pasos and the Taylor Hagens at the front door smiling, welcoming them in as they enter, right? So Community Manager managers, they're empower, empowered to do member events. Coffee, the adventurous program that we have here in Alpharetta and beyond and really empowering employees at the local level is important to us because a lot of the feedback that we get that helps corporate comes from the people in boots on the ground.
00:45:30 Right? Yep. That's no surprise. So yeah, very decentralized executive structure. You know, we, we'll we have a board that's gonna be launching here soon for both the Coworking space and the initiative. But yeah, Taylor was well represented at gwa, so it was really to see him win that award. That's right. I totally forgot about that.
00:45:48 Yes. That's Thrive. Yeah, he, he won US award for best Coworking bring Him on too. I should meet him and Hannah to do do episodes. Yeah, that would be awesome. But yeah, we're, we're honestly so blessed to have him because it starts with guys like that, that are able to then, you know, now wearing the head of regional Community Manager.
00:46:08 So he's managing the community managers all across the nation as it stands as we scale, you know, we'll have more positions to add, but he's managing the Charleston, the Holly Springs, the Columbus, Ohio, and then the three community managers here in Alpharetta, Canton, Milton. Okay. So, yeah, quite busy. He's a great leader. You know,
00:46:27 if you read some of his experience, he ran a coffee business in Nepal for five years and former missionary, like it just has a wild pass and a beautiful family, unfortunately sick at home right now. So hopefully he heals soon. But we're just super blessed to have the right people showing up and you know, with the 100% retention rate, it's been incredible.
00:46:49 So knock on wood there. Exactly right. We'll see how the next 40 locations go. Yeah, that's right. Who's responsible for filling the locations like LeadGen, That's, you know, LeadGen, Chris Smith kind of spearheads the lead gen on the digital social media side. Rachel Palazzo is the director of sales for us who's incredible and was one of the first community managers as well at Thrive.
00:47:12 So a lot of the leadership team started as a Community Manager, which I think is a testament. I was thinking about that when you were talking about Taylor. Like, it's awesome because not every, you know, lots of independent operators sort of struggle with how do you, you know, offer advancement to team members and you guys are like, you know,
00:47:31 the sky's the limit right now as you're growing and people can grow into new roles, which is fun. Yeah, very exciting. And then, so I was helping Rachel here for the last three or four months, but now I've kind of transitioned in the enterprise enterprise space. Right. So, So Is that an outbound sales role? What does that look like?
00:47:50 Yeah, so a little bit, it doesn't feel like outbound, you say outbound to somebody that came outta college making a hundred calls a day at the Atlanta Office. But I wonder, cause this topic just comes up a lot, right? From operators, like wondering yeah. What does that role look like? So that's partly why I ask like Right,
00:48:05 or relationship or partnership management or, and you don't have to tell us all your, all your secrets, but whatever you can can share about what it looks like. Very few of those. I'm quite transparent, you know, what does enterprise growth look like, especially for a boutique operator? What does enterprise growth look like? Is a great question. I think helping enterprise company leaders challenged with the hybrid work movement and model and really driving engagement to their workforce in a sustainable way.
00:48:33 So for example, we're working with the enterprise model that loops in the philanthropy aspect is unique as well. So there's a real estate play and there's a employee engagement play through our non-profit. So we're talking to a number of Fortune 501,000 companies that, you know, their leaders are really intrigued as to how we can curate like a hybrid work model by having thrive as like running the building and managing the space and having that enterprise company serve as anchor in our locations and infusing that culture of philanthropy and doing good and inspiring productivity.
00:49:10 You know, productive rich amenity, rich workspaces and and markets. You know, a company with remote employees in areas where we have a space existing in development or on deck in these vibrant, walkable areas. They are growing and need the scalability of the Coworking industry to help support their growth needs on the real estate side. And then just the ability to customize like a curated solution.
00:49:34 So we foresee enterprise tenant member serving as the building anchor and then we'll fill in the ecosystem of solopreneurs and growing small businesses around them to bring the vibrancy in the life and the energy that people expect in, you know, a thrive Coworking location here in Atlanta or beyond. So I think just that notion of 24 7 philanthropy 365, like through our change roundup program,
00:49:59 through our micro donation app, it's just really fascinating. So yeah, we're excited to see what that looks like. Cause enterprise growth, you know, you heard a lot at GWA and Miranda Stewart actually just called me like during, during our interview here. So funny. You hear a lot about it and like just how much growth is coming and how we're gonna be drinking out of a fire hose here soon.
00:50:23 So operators really have to step up and like landlords, you know, who, who are experimenting and dipping their toes in the industry, we have to step up and and think about what niche we're serving, what target market we're serving. Yeah. And then not necessarily pickle lane, but you know, the supply is way beneath what it needs to be.
00:50:41 So Yeah. That's exciting though on the, on the growing side of things because it's encouraging and validating cuz we have so much demand. I mean, Garrett with Huga in Charlotte is like, I have to turn people down every day and that just pains me. So it's exciting, you know, but sustainable growth matters so much. So that's kind of why we're looking to partner with folks is like,
00:51:04 hey, we have like access to capital in which we are ready to grow and you know, the markets that you wanna grow to. Yeah. So let's connect and see if it makes sense. Yeah. Well how that aligns. Okay, so I have 1 million more questions for you, but only a few more minutes. Can you talk a little bit about the not-for-profit side of the business and Yes.
00:51:22 You mentioned that a few times. I was just pulling it up on your website. Yeah. Give us the summary of what that Yeah. How that fits into the business. Perfect. That sounds great. It's part of why, part of like what Ramon mentioned in attracting me to the business was just, you know, in recruiting you're able to help people get jobs and put them in front of hiring managers and hope that they,
00:51:45 it's a perfect fit. There's so many things that could go wrong. Just so, so many out of all the industries I've worked in, recruiting is just it your matchmaking, right? I mean it doesn't always go super well. So, you know, with the initiative, I was really inspired by how much of an impact we could actually make. So what this is,
00:52:03 is a micro, micro donation platform through in-house tech that we've developed in-house where you can support worthy hyper-local causes to your city. Many of which these nonprofits, the causes being supported, they really struggle with fundraising and awareness. So by donating your spare change from everyday transactions, you'll be able to save money by getting a discount from that said retailer in the hyperlocal walkable city.
00:52:31 So, you know, that kind of manifests itself by going to Seviche next door, which we just went to for lunch today. Nice. And I'm, I'm shopping local and I'm getting a 20% discount, let's say on my food as a result of being in the Thrive Initiative program. So I spend 50 bucks, I get $10 off, and then I change Roundup,
00:52:50 let's say 73 cents. Well already I've saved $19 compared to what I have been spending. So just one, you know, client lunch could do that. Imagine like a family dinner. You can set minimums and maximums within the app that we've developed based on how much giving you'd like to do each month. But it tracks like your changed Roundup program. Okay.
00:53:13 Yeah. Through, you Know. And is this only for Thrive members? No. So Thrive members, they get a discount on their membership as a result of signing up. Okay. But it's for anyone and everyone that, and so we're just launched in Thrive Alpharetta right now, but soon launching in other markets as well. So it's kind of a piloted program here as it stands.
00:53:34 Interesting. Yeah, so we've had a few, we just launched a month ago. We have quite a few hundred Wow. People that have signed up already. It's exciting. Yeah. We'd like to see, you know, a couple thousand by the end of the year. And so, you know, there's potential here for millions in annual giving through micro donors and corporate partners getting on board,
00:53:53 rolling it out, and considering matching employee donations. So we have a couple enterprise groups, I think Fortune 100 couple enterprise groups that are really interested in this idea and this notion of engaging the remote employees in which they don't feel connected anymore to the company. Yeah. But they may certainly, if, you know, you incentivize them to support local in their community where they're at the coffee shop working,
00:54:19 where at they're at the co-working space, you're incentivizing them to shop local. It's a win for the small business because they're getting more traction and foot traffic than they ever have before. And then the non-profit's a, you know, an economic sustainable engine for them and, you know, their awareness is just crazy. So within the app, you can choose whichever of,
00:54:40 let's say eight cause categories, pull your heartstrings the most. You can choose to select and you can change that constantly. But yeah, it's, it's exciting just getting people on board with like our culture, our vision, our mission. That's more than Coworking. It's leading the way to conscious capitalism for cities and for small and large enterprises that don't have it yet figured out,
00:54:59 but partner with us. Like, you know, the initiative is the lifeblood of our organization. We see a real need there and we have the capital, thankfully, to deploy that and implement it as we grow. Yeah, that's, it's super, it's really compelling and obviously kind of part of your, your broader values. I just put the link in the show notes.
00:55:17 So talked about a lot of things today, but I wanna make sure we include that so that people Check that out. Change for good.org. That's join thrive initiative.org. There's a lot of eyes in there though. Yeah, exactly. The change for good.org might be easiest to remember. Okay. We're at the top of the hour. Yeah. Goodness. For taking the time.
00:55:36 I know this went so fast. We might have to do this again. Thank, thank you for taking the time to do it and for sharing your story and sharing what Thrive is up to. It was fantastic. And we wish you the best. If anybody was interested in anything you shared today about kind of partner opportunities. Yeah. How, how should they reach out?
00:55:57 Yeah, I was gonna say, if you're listening and have questions about partnering in any capacity as we grow, we're, we're certainly open to strategic partnerships, you know, as we really look to extend our reach and serve others. So we're looking to infuse purpose into the workday and the more sustainably and rapidly that we can do that, the better. So you can get in touch with us on our websites,
00:56:19 work thrive.com, work@thrive.com or change for good.org as well. Our contact info is on the Contact us page as well, where you can find me. Luke Wills on LinkedIn. I'm all over engaging in Jamie's content and many others. I know. You're great. You're very, yeah. Active on LinkedIn, which is fun For someone that's hasn't worked in the industry and just a year and a half,
00:56:43 like being able to follow industry thought leaders like yourself is such a blessing because not every industry is as collaborative as this one. I'll just say that Much. Yeah, no, a hundred percent. People say that all the time and, But you're also investing, right? You showed up at Juicy, you showed up totally ua. So making the time to do that and to engage and get to know people also makes a big difference.
00:57:05 Yes. Can't wait for the next ones. They just got announced. Oh, I, I'll go, I need to buy my Chicago ticket. Yeah. Although April in Chicago is, you know, it's a little risky, but I'm excited. Seattle was amazing for that one day and then every other day, Just terrible. Totally. I think I will be more mentally prepared for questionable weather in Chicago.
00:57:28 I lived in Chicago for 15 years. That's right. Yeah. I love that city, so that's exciting. Yeah, right. And DC again for gwa, so yeah, It's gonna be good. Cool. Okay. Well thank you again. And yeah, We can talk for hours. I have so much More Can ask you about too. Thanks,
00:57:46 Luke. We'll talk again. Of course. Thank you for listening to today's episode. If you like what you heard, tell a friend, hit that subscribe button and leave us a rating and review. It makes a huge difference in helping others like you find us. If you'd like to learn more about our education and coaching programs, head over to Everything Coworking dot com.
00:58:10 We'll see you next week.
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