In this week's recap, Hector is joined by William Edmondson from iPostal1 Workspace to break down the biggest stories in coworking, flex work, and the broader workspace industry.

From the rise of the personality economy to major market moves reshaping the global coworking landscape — there's a lot to unpack.

Plus, we have a brand-new global survey on coworking tenure that we need YOUR input on.

📌 Topics Covered:

0:36 — The Personality Economy: Are we finally seeing the shift from brand-first to people-first business?

• Why personal brands are becoming foundational infrastructure
• How AI is amplifying the shift — and what that means for coworking operators
• The dead internet theory and why human beats automated in a world of AI slop

12:20 — iPostal1 Expands into Canada

• 800+ Canadian workspaces, and most aren't yet capturing virtual mail revenue
• How iPostal1 is investing in Canadian market awareness, Canadian dollar billing, and partnerships with Canada Post & Purolator
• Why indie operators can't afford to leave this revenue on the table

16:50 — Indie Coworking by the Numbers (via Coworking Café)

• 73 US cities analysed — St. Paul leads with 80% indie market share
• The Midwest dominates indie coworking density
• Debating what "indie" really means when self-funded operators like Perfect Office Solutions hit 30+ locations

20:58 — Market Moves: A Big Week in Coworking M&A & Expansion

• JustCo lists on the Singapore Stock Exchange, raising $100M SGD
• The Malin expands to Brooklyn | Saltbox raises capital | ROAM launches workspace services
• Attico raises €180M across Iberia | Monday expands into Spain
• What this consolidation wave means for indie operators thinking about exit strategy

30:10 — Gigs or Careers? Coworking Tenure & the People Problem

• Why coworking struggles to retain its best community managers
• Real examples of community managers who became CEOs and owners
• Introducing the Coworking Tenure Survey — take it at twic.co/tenure
• The rise of fractional leadership as a retention alternative

33:43 — Jobs Board & Upcoming Events

• iPostal1 is hiring a Director of Business Development → twic.co/jobs
• GWA Immersive in Toronto | GCUC Manchester | Global Coworking Alliance Summit

🔗 Links & Resources:

• Follow along with the newsletter: https://ThisWeekInCoworking.com/week-22-2026/
• Take the Coworking Tenure Survey: TWIC.co/tenure
• Jobs Board: https://TWIC.co/jobs
• iPostal1 for workspace operators: https://iPostal1Workspace.com
• CoMRAA (virtual address advocacy): https://CoMRAA.org
• Events calendar: https://TWIC.co/events

This Week In Coworking is a weekly newsletter and podcast covering the global coworking industry. New episodes every week.

Hector Kolonas is joined by Momchil Blaskov from OfficeRnD to dig into this week's biggest coworking stories.

(1:43) OfficeRnD's new AI Sales Agent — what it does, how fast operators can go live, where it lives today, and what a full agent suite could look like by Q3.

(10:13) Childcare as a workspace amenity — the real cognitive load on working parents and why most spaces that try full childcare eventually scale back.

(16:03) WOTSO's day pass experiment across Australia & New Zealand — a two-thirds price cut that nearly doubled revenue and shifted 70% of bookings to self-service.

(27:09) Poland's flex market — 30% growth over three years, 4.6M sq ft, now over 3% of total office stock.

Read the full newsletter: https://thisweekincoworking.com/week-21-2026/

What does a coworking operator do when they discover Claude Code? They vibe code a brand new website in 20 hours, replace a bunch of SaaS tools, and build custom apps without writing a single line of code.

In this episode, Hector Kolonas sits down with Justin Moran (founder of Workplace in Massachusetts and operator of 5 coworking spaces) to break down how he's using AI, automation, and vibe coding to run lean, cut costs, and build exactly the tools his business needs.

In this episode:

• How Justin grew from 1 → 5 coworking locations with just 5 staff
• 80 automations that run his business on autopilot
• How a ski trip conversation led to 90 days of Claude AI obsession
• Vibe coding a full website, chatbot, AI answering service & booking widget in one rainy Sunday
• Replacing Calendly and Intercom with custom-built tools
• The framework for deciding what to vibe code vs. what to leave to the pros
• Security guardrails every operator needs before deploying AI-built apps
• How to get started with Claude... even if you've never coded before

📄 Full show notes, blog post & summary: https://TWIC.co/claudecoworking

Chapters:0:00 Introduction1:30 Justin's Background & Workplace Growth7:00 Running Lean with Automation17:00 Discovering Claude & The Vibe Coding Journey26:00 What to Vibe Code vs. Leave to the Pros33:00 Security, Guardrails & Getting Started40:00 AI & Staff: Setting Guardrails44:00 Wrap-Up & Resources

Connect with Justin Moran:https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinmoran/

Connect with This Week in Coworking:🌐 TWIC.co📸 Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube @thisweekInCoworking

This Week in Coworking is the podcast for coworking space operators, flex office founders, and workspace entrepreneurs. Hosted by Hector Kolonas.

coworking #vibecoding #claudeai #flexoffice #coworkingbusiness #AItools #automation #operatorlife #proptech #worksplacetechnology

Community Magic, Smart Pricing, and Network Effects in Coworking (Week 19, 2026) | This Week in CoworkingHost Hector Kolonas and guest co-host Eyal Lasker of Flexspace review This Week in Coworking newsletter week 19 (2026), discussing how a Pearl’s Cowork community manager turned a virtual office mail pickup into an all-day member connection and what makes these “community magic” moments feel authentic. They explore how data and automation can free community teams for human matchmaking while systemizing discovery, availability, and pricing. Eyal explains Flexspace’s AI-driven smart pricing agent, first proven on meeting rooms (showing price elasticity) and now extended to private offices, delivered inside existing sales workflows (HubSpot, property management systems, or Excel). They also cover Ramp’s new connector bringing spending data from 50,000 businesses into Claude, and debate Sarah Travers’ argument that utilization and multi-location network effects matter more than location counts when expanding within a region versus new markets.00:00 Welcome and agenda01:43 Community magic from mail04:01 Data powered matchmaking06:05 Smart pricing at Flexspace10:01 Sales workflow integration11:34 AI pricing and micro markets15:27 Ramp data for Claude18:08 Sarah Travers on utilization19:50 Network effects and expansion25:26 Wrap up and where to meet

Hector Kolonas hosts Alex Garza of Alliance Virtual Offices to discuss partner testimonials on how Alliance drives additional revenue while handling compliance, payments, and customer support, plus new network-driven meeting room bookings across locations.

They review advice on responding when a large coworking brand opens nearby, emphasizing differentiation, market validation, and leveraging increased awareness without copying competitors.

The episode highlights new Coworking Cafe data showing US coworking growth (9,136 spaces in the top 50 markets; 163.9M sq ft, about 2.9% of office space) and UK/Ireland surpassing 4,500 spaces, noting competitiveness and continued expansion opportunity.

They also cover an AI coding-agent incident where Cursor deleted a production database and backups in seconds, and debate guardrails for AI-enabled development.

Finally, Hector argues Google Calendar shouldn’t be the “glue” for system integrations.00:00 Welcome and Agenda01:09 Alliance Partner Wins05:28 Meeting Rooms Network07:50 Big Brand Next Door12:25 Coworking Growth Data16:42 Virtual Office Pricing19:32 AI Deletes Database24:41 Google Calendar Trap28:10 Wrap Up and Thanks

Launching 28 Neighborhood Work Clubs Fast: Switchyards, Third Places & the Future of Coworking with Kayla GottschalkIn this episode of This Week In Coworking, host Hector Kolonas talks with Kayla Gottschalk, Atlanta-based launch lead at Switchyards, about building and launching neighborhood work clubs and how “third places” differ from traditional coworking.

Show notes with links and details at https://twic.co/28clubs

Kayla shares her path from facility management and furniture/workplace transformation through COVID into coworking, and explains how Switchyards creates a homey, human-centered feel through lighting, music, coffee, and design details. She discusses selecting spaces with a flexible mindset, moving fast with an in-house approach, and selecting local vendor partnerships, and why coworking is evolving into multiple niches within a broader personal workspace ecosystem. Kayla also shares what’s next for her, how to connect via LinkedIn and CoBuilt (cobuilt.io), and advice for corporate professionals looking to enter coworking.00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro00:54 Kayla’s Role at Switchyards02:39 Career Path Into Coworking05:05 Third Places Explained06:26 Designing the Switchyards Feel07:42 Site Selection Basics09:08 Launch Process and Speed10:58 Furniture and Build Strategy12:12 Future of Work and Coworking14:10 Predictions for Next 3 Years15:36 What’s Next for Kayla16:48 Career Advice and Wrap Up

Host Hector Kolonas and returning guest James Shannon recap week 17 of 2026, reflecting on GCUC and a recorded elumo demo.

James shares three elumo improvements based on early adopter feedback: a new wireless door handle for fast, simple retrofits; a shift from per-user to fixed per-room monthly pricing; and faster deployment via expanded integrations beyond OfficeRnD to platforms like Yardi and Nexudus.

Follow along at https://thisweekincoworking.com/week-17-2026/

They explain elumo's goal of monetizing meeting rooms while improving member experience through tap-to-book, charge, and open access and enforcing credit-based usage. The episode also discusses leaders entering coworking from other industries, designing “me” versus “we” space zones, dynamically toggling rooms between offices and bookable space, the unbundling of office/buildings, and a roundup of AI developments including tracking, security risks, and new AI features from OfficeRnD, Nexudus, and Salesforce.00:00 Welcome Back and GCUC Recap00:50 Illumina Demo Highlights01:35 Wireless Lock Retrofit02:32 Per Room Pricing Shift03:43 Faster Integrations Rollout04:43 What Illumina Actually Is06:29 Credits and Fair Use Enforcement07:56 Operators From Outside Industry12:39 Designing Me vs We Zones14:04 Dynamic Space Monetization17:13 Toggle Any Space Bookable18:28 Fax Machine Unbundling19:24 Everything as a Service20:26 Gen Z UX Expectations22:31 AI Chaos Roundup25:46 AI Pricing and Value29:16 Data Foundations for AI30:28 Wrap Up and Where Next