Gen Z isn't coming. They're already here. And if your space isn't thinking intentionally about how to attract and welcome them, someone else's will.
That was the undercurrent running through a recent Coworking Convos session hosted by Cat Johnson of the Coworking Creators Lab. Cat brought together four sharp, community-focused voices to talk about what it actually takes to earn the attention and membership of younger workers. Their insights ranged from Instagram strategy to the way you give a tour, from free events to pricing philosophy.
Lauren Urlacher, Fellow Coworking
Lauren didn't rely on her own assumptions. She went straight to the source.
She asked her Gen Z members two questions: how did you find us, and what made you decide to join?
Most of them found Fellow through a basic Google search, and they skipped right past the sponsored results. "Gen Z really hates being advertised to," Lauren said. They landed on the organic listing, read the website to understand what Fellow is, and then migrated to Instagram to figure out who Fellow is.
That distinction matters. Lauren described Instagram as proof of your vibe. Fellow's account doesn't chase followers or viral reels. It just documents what it's like to work there. You see the colorful workspaces, the local coffee, and most importantly, the members. Heads down together, laughing over a fresh loaf of sourdough someone brought up from the coffee shop downstairs.
Then there's the tour. Gen Z can smell inauthenticity from a mile away. So the tour isn't a sales pitch. It's a conversation between people who might be about to become friends.
"Don't leave them alone in their vulnerability."
If someone admits they're lonely, or that they haven't found their people yet in a new city, Lauren meets that honesty head-on. She shares that she sometimes feels isolated working from her art studio. She tells them they will meet people here.
And on day one, she makes sure to introduce new members to someone they have something in common with, often doing sign-up paperwork in the kitchen by the community table so that organic introductions happen naturally.
- Go organic. Gen Z scrolls past sponsored posts. Your website and Instagram are your real front door.
- Instagram is proof of your vibe, not a marketing channel. Show your people, not just your space.
- Give tours like you're already friends. Be transparent, crack a joke, ditch the script.
- Meet vulnerability with vulnerability. If someone says they're lonely, share your own experience of isolation.
- Onboard in the common area. Sign people up at the community table so introductions happen on day one.
- Open seating is a competitive advantage. Hot desks create more chances to meet new people than private offices ever will.
- Don't write off Gen Z on relationships. They're often the first to introduce themselves to someone new, and the first to take friendships outside the space.
Carlito Smith, Hunt Street Station
Carlito started managing Hunt Street Station when he was 21, and he came to the space not as a staff hire but as a member. He was using the podcast studio, meeting friends, being creative in a city that is, as he put it, just art. He got drafted in through the work he was already doing.
That origin story shapes everything about how Hunt Street operates. The space is covered in art from local people. It doesn't feel like a business in the traditional sense.
"We don't have any interest in building a place where people feel like they have to play a character," he said. "We're all playing a character. You might as well just play the one closest to you."
His programming reflects that philosophy. Fashion shows, concerts, markets, DJ sets. The events aren't designed to convert attendees into members right away. They're designed to make Hunt Street Station a household name in Detroit.
And it's working.
Local influencers reach out to Hunt Street specifically because of the culture the team has built.
"They don't necessarily remember our prices," Carlito said, "but they remember the moments they had there."
- Let the space be a reflection of the people running it. Authentic culture can't be manufactured from the top down.
- Program for memory, not conversion. Events that become part of the city's culture bring long-term brand equity.
- Follow your own nature. Do what gives you energy. The events Carlito runs reflect who he is, and people feel that.
- Youthful energy isn't about age. His 45-year-old co-manager has it in abundance. It's about genuine curiosity and joy.
- Ask real questions and mean them. Knowing a member's kid's basketball schedule is the kind of human detail that makes a space feel like a community.
Claire Zhu, LANS
Claire Zhu of LANS came to the conversation with both insider knowledge and personal experience as a Gen Zer.
Vibes: what you're really selling
Young people are not coming for your chairs, your standing desks, or your bean-to-cup espresso machine. They're coming for the feeling of the place. Big windows. Warm lighting. A sense of energy in the room. The presence of other people doing interesting things. Claire is direct about this: vibes are hard to quantify, but they're the actual product.
Content: social media is how decisions get made
Gen Z doesn't use Instagram the way operators think they do. It's not just a marketing platform. It's a search engine and a decision-making tool. When a younger person finds your space on Google, their next move is to open your Instagram. What they see there either confirms or kills their interest.
Claire's checklist for content that works:
- Skip the generic messaging. Phrases like "join our vibrant community of innovators" read as AI-generated filler and get scrolled past instantly.
- Don't make it too polished. Heavily edited, magazine-style photos feel disconnected. Real moments beat perfect ones.
- Keep it simple and outcome-driven. "It's time to get out of your house" is more compelling than a paragraph about amenities.
- Avoid obviously AI-generated graphics. A Cinco de Mayo poster that looks machine-made loses people fast.
Pricing: her controversial take
Claire pushes back on the free trial week. Her argument: free lowers perceived value, and it delays action. If someone visits for free, their next thought is "maybe I can find another free one."
By the time they circle back to you, they've forgotten you exist.
She'd rather see an accessible day pass price, around $20, that feels worth it without requiring a long-term commitment. Gen Z, she notes, isn't ready for a two-year membership, but they'll show up four times a month at the right price point. That's a meaningful relationship with the space, and it often leads to conversion once they get funded or land a client.
- Vibes are the product. Lighting, energy, and the presence of real people matter more than any individual amenity.
- Think of Instagram as a decision tool, not a marketing channel. It's where the yes or no happens.
- Good content is simple and specific. Skip the jargon. Show what it actually feels like to work there.
- An empty Instagram is a dealbreaker. If someone shows up and finds nothing, they're not showing up in person.
- Consider scrapping the free trial. A $20 day pass signals value better than a week of free access.
- Day pass to membership is a real pipeline. Young members often convert once they hit a funding milestone or get serious about their work.
Rose Rivera, brand marketer
Rose Rivera has seen coworking from multiple angles. She's marketed for a coworking brand. She's been a paying member. And at 28, she's a Gen Zer who's been in corporate America long enough to know what she's looking for in a workspace.
Her first point was about messaging consistency. Events every three months don't signal community. They signal an afterthought. If events are the only way you're showing potential members that connection happens in your space, then members will assume connection only happens when you schedule it.
That's not really community. That's more like calendar management.
"You have to be very intentional about how you position the relationships that your members build amongst themselves," she said. That positioning happens through how you show up online, not just what you post.
Rose's bigger point was about your relationship to the neighborhood around you. Being a community hub isn't just about what happens inside your walls. It's about whether your space shows up as part of the broader community it sits in.
She also pushed on the idea of the third space. True third spaces, she argued, have no entry fee. That doesn't mean you throw open the doors to everyone every day. But it does mean opening your space for events where the cost of admission is low or free. A fashion show. A book club. A cooking class hosted by one of your own members. Lectures on Tap, where a local expert shares something they know with a room full of curious people.
"If you want a village, you have to be a villager," Rose said. The person who shows up to the free event in your space today might not need a membership for another year. But when they do, they'll know exactly where to go.
She also made a clarifying point about who Gen Z actually is right now. The youngest members of Gen Z are already in their early to mid-twenties. Many are well into their careers. "We're already here," she said. "It's not happening tomorrow. We're going to work from somewhere. It's either your space or someone else's."
- Show up consistently. Sporadic events send the message that community is also sporadic.
- What you market and what members experience has to match. The gap between the two erodes trust fast.
- Your space is part of a neighborhood. Ignoring what's happening around you sends a message to younger members who want to feel safe and included.
- Open the space for community events, even when there's no immediate revenue attached. That's what being a real community hub looks like.
- Make your programming accessible. A fashion show with a low entry fee, a free book club, a member-hosted workshop. Events don't need to be elaborate to be memorable.
- Correct the misconception. Gen Z isn't made yp of teenagers. They're 20-to-28-year-olds already working, freelancing, and starting businesses. They're your market right now.
What it all adds up to
Across all four speakers, a few things came up again and again. You can't fake authenticity. You have to show up consistently. Your space needs to feel like a reflection of the real people running it, not a product pitch dressed up with nice furniture.
And the coworking spaces that will win with younger members are the ones thinking about transformation, not just transaction. Office rental is a transaction. A space where someone finds their people, launches their business, and shows up excited on Monday morning because of the community waiting for them, that's something else entirely.
As Cat Johnson put it at the end of the session: coworking has always been scrappy and cool and innovative and pushing the boundaries. The spaces that embrace young people, with all their quirks and expectations and desire for something real, are the ones that will shape what coworking looks like next.
The question isn't whether Gen Z is coming to coworking. They're already there. The question is whether they'll choose your space.
Coworking Convos is a monthly virtual event series hosted by Cat Johnson. Each month, a different topic is presented by guests with real experience, who are subject matter experts and walk the walk in the coworking and flex space industry.
Coworks is a partner of Coworking Convos and the Content Creators Lab, and we have the privilege of sharing these dispatches afterward — spotlighting the juicy tidbits and powerful takeaways shared in the hour-long conversation.
But by no means does this replace the real value of being there! Check out the next Convo and be in the room when it happens.
