TRD panel: Co-working after the We-pocalypse

The Real Deal and SPACES are teaming up next week to bring a panel of
co-working leaders to LA.

On November 20 Bridgid Coulter of Blackbird, Kat Lau from Industrious, and Jim Doorn of IWG will lead a panel discussion at Playa District LA examining the fast-changing landscape for creative office spaces, titled “Is co-working built to last?”

Bridgid Coulter is the founder and CEO of Blackbird House, the first flexible office space that focuses on women of color. Blackbird, which opened this summer, aims to “foster a collective of women of color and their allies, of all ethnicities and genders, with similar values rooted in diversity and inclusion with a focus on Productivity, Wellness and Community.” Although its first location is in Culver City, Coulter has plans for the firm to expand quickly across the nation and internationally. Before Blackbird, Coulter founded an eponymous interior design studio in Santa Monica.

Jim Doorn is IWG’s Executive Vice President for the Western US. As EVP, Doorn oversees co-working brands including Regus and SPACES, totalling more than 300 locations. With 19 years of experience in the flexible workspace industry Doorn has seen its evolution into the powerful sector that it is today.

Hiten Samtani

Katharine Lau is the senior director of real estate at Industrious, whose eight Los Angeles locations include one inside Playa District. Prior to Industrious, she served as Manager of Development at Equinox, supporting the expansion of its portfolio of fitness clubs, and has previous experience at L&L Holding Company and PGIM Real Estate.

TRD’s West Coast publisher Hiten Samtani will moderate. The panel discussion comes on the heels of WeWork’s failed IPO attempt and ouster of former CEO Adam Neumann, a seminal event in the history of the co-working sector. Interested in joining us? Buy tickets here.