Launching a Wellness Startup Inside WeWork’s Earliest Coworking Spaces

Long before coworking went mainstream, I was running my own agency from a Fifth Avenue Manhattan office,  the kind with high rent, creaky elevators, and prestige but little pulse. I sensed the future of work was shifting, and I was ready to be part of something more flexible, collaborative, and visionary.

One day, while depositing a check at the Empire State Building’s Bank of America, I spotted a sign across the street in the Chase building:  “New Offices Starting at $600/Month, WeWork.”

It sounded almost too good to be true for Midtown Manhattan. A few days later, I toured the space, a raw but energized environment filled with glass-walled offices and fewer than a dozen people working the floors, including founders Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey.

I became one of WeWork’s first tenants, stepping into an experiment in how work could be reimagined. And soon after, I helped launch one of WeWork’s first on-site business concepts.

A Healthy Idea Inside a High-Energy Space

From day one, I noticed the telltale signs of startup burnout: Red Bulls stacked on desks, M&M’s by the handful, and takeout containers scattered across tables. The buzz was real, but so was the crash.

So I pitched something different:
A healthy food and beverage service, green juices, organic coffee, plant-forward snacks, and freshly made wraps, all tailored to fuel creative teams, not deplete them.

I didn’t just pitch the concept. I built it.

• Collaborated directly with Adam Neumann, challenging him to live up to his own promise of a collaborative WeWork ecosystem.
• Worked alongside then, CFO Ariel Tiger to map out cash flow projections, profitability timelines, and growth models.
• Created the full business plan, handled NYS sales tax registration, sourced clean-label food and drink brands, and designed the branding and messaging.
• Teamed up with Chris Hill and internal ops to align service flow, logistics, and community access points.
• Ran the cart myself,  serving co-founders, freelancers, and startup teams daily, testing pricing, packaging, and product-market fit on the fly.

I didn’t stop there. I packaged the idea and pitched it to other coworking spaces across New York, adapting it for different layouts and community cultures.

What This Project Showed Me &  My Clients

This wasn’t just an organic snack cart.  It became a startup inside a startup,  a fast-moving, real-world test of what happens when you turn a simple observation into a thriving microbusiness.  It also showed how a simple idea, born out of observation and empathy, could turn everyday problems into profitable, service-based microbusinesses.

I wasn’t just consulting. I was prototyping, branding, budgeting, scaling, and collaborating with a visionary team in real-time. My work blurred the lines between strategy, operations, and customer experience,  a perfect example of entrepreneurial marketing in action.

How I’d Use AI to Relaunch the Snack Cart Today

If I were launching the organic snack cart today, I’d have an unfair advantage: AI tools that compress time, automate grunt work, and deliver insights that used to take a full team. Here’s how AI supercharges each stage  from branding to customer service and sales forecasting:

1. Branding & Naming

AI can speed up ideation and sharpen positioning in minutes.

ChatGPT + Brand Archetypes: Use prompts to generate names, taglines, brand tone options, and positioning frameworks based on your target market (e.g., wellness-driven, high-energy professionals).

Looka or Brandmark: Generate logo options, typography, and color palettes to test visual identity styles.

Midjourney / Ideogram: Create realistic renderings of branded carts, packaging, or even social posts — no photographer needed.

Don’t forget feeding values into a prompt (e.g., transparency, vitality, sustainability) to get a full-fledged brand voice guide.

2. Sales Forecasting & Cash Flow Projections

The guesswork is over,  AI can help you make dynamic, data-backed decisions.

Excel + ChatGPT: Build smarter financial models that auto-adjust based on seasonality, customer flow, or pricing shifts. For example:
“What’s my break-even point if 60% of tenants show up daily and 10% make a purchase?”

Kraftful or Causal: Use no-code forecasting tools powered by AI to simulate different revenue models.

Retail Demand Forecasting AIs: Tools like ClearCOGS use predictive analytics for inventory planning, especially useful if you scale to multiple locations.

3. Menu Development & Sourcing

AI can refine your offering based on dietary trends and user input.

ChatGPT Vision + Nutrition APIs: Upload a photo of an ingredient list or menu item and get instant suggestions for substitutions, cost savings, or allergen-free versions.

Trend Prediction Tools (like Spoonshot or Tastewise): Discover emerging ingredients, top-requested snacks, or popular flavor profiles in coworking or wellness spaces.

4. Customer Service & Loyalty

Build a lightweight but personal experience with AI-first tools.

Manychat or Tidio: Set up a smart chatbot on your site or QR codes on the cart that answers questions, offers promos, or takes pre-orders.

Humankind or Attentive: Use conversational SMS to ask, “Hey, want your matcha latte ready when you arrive?”

Zapier + Notion + GPT-4: Automate tracking of customer feedback and preferences, then summarize them weekly to improve your offering.

5. Marketing & Content Creation

Maintain a consistent presence with minimal time.

Canva AI & Opus Clip: Turn one video of you preparing a fresh salad or smoothie into 10 short-form clips, email content, and Pinterest posts.

ChatGPT SEO Prompts: Generate blog posts and landing page copy optimized for “healthy coworking snacks” or “best organic grab-and-go in NYC.”

HeyGen or Synthesia: Create video explainers or “meet the founder” clips using your likeness, useful for multi-location or remote customer touchpoints.

6. Pricing & Personalization

AI can maximize sales through smarter pricing and segmentation.

AI-Powered Price Testing: Use tools like Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) calculators to test ideal pricing bands. Dynamic Offers: Generate personalized discounts based on behavior, e.g., “It’s your 5th green juice this month, next one’s on us!”

7. Expansion Strategy

AI helps scale without the same overhead.

ChatGPT + CRM tools: Create automated outreach messages to pitch your snack cart to other coworking spaces, events, or wellness centers.

AI Personas: Simulate different user types (e.g., busy execs, startup founders, freelancers) to refine messaging and product selection.

Back then, I  wore every hat,  strategist, operator, barista, bookkeeper.
Today, AI gives us leverage. It handles the repetitive, reveals blind spots, and helps you focus on what matters most: customer insight, brand energy, and high-impact decisions.

Additional Lessons I Learned Launching a Business Inside WeWork

1. Test Fast, Learn Faster
Working inside a startup meant no one was waiting for “perfect.” I had to build the concept quickly, test it live, and make adjustments on the fly. That experience sharpened my ability to move from idea to execution with speed and flexibility, a mindset I now bring to every client engagement.

2. Solve a Real Problem, Visibly
The Red Bulls and takeout containers weren’t just clutter. They were symptoms of a culture running on empty. I realized the best ideas aren’t always the loudest,  they’re the most needed. I built a business around a basic human truth: people do better work when they feel better physically.

3. Be Bold Enough to Challenge the Founder
Most tenants saw Adam Neumann as untouchable. I saw him as someone with a big promise to fulfill. So I walked straight up to him and pitched a business that could bring his vision to life in a new way. That boldness opened doors, sparked dialogue, and led to real support from his executive team. It taught me that confident conversations move business forward, even when they feel risky.

4. Collaboration Isn’t Passive,  It Has to Be Sparked
WeWork promised collaboration, but community doesn’t magically appear. I learned that someone has to light the match, offer something useful, gather people around it, and invite real interaction. That’s what my cart became: a daily ritual that connected people beyond the glass walls of their offices.

5. Brand Isn’t Just Visual, It’s Experiential
Everything, from the handwritten menus to how I greeted each person, became a reflection of the brand. I learned that emotional resonance doesn’t come from a logo; it comes from small, consistent moments that make people feel seen and taken care of.

6. You Don’t Need Permission to Innovate
No one hired me to create a food business inside a coworking space. I saw a need, built the solution, and took action. That experience cemented my belief that if you're waiting for a job title or formal green light to make something better, you're already behind.

7. Operations Are What Turn Ideas Into Revenue
It’s easy to get caught up in concept. But I also handled the unsexy parts,  registering for sales tax, sourcing vendors, forecasting margins. These operational foundations made the idea real,  and ready to scale if the timing was right.

8. Challenge Your Assumptions, Or Pay for Them
Our original sales forecast was based on full occupancy. But when I walked the floor, I noticed a surprising pattern: only half the tenants showed up daily. That gap between theory and reality taught me a crucial lesson,  assumptions don’t run businesses. On-the-ground observation does. It’s a reminder I bring to every marketing strategy and growth plan I build today.

9. Real Growth Happens in Messy, Unstructured Environments
That early WeWork wasn’t polished. It was raw, noisy, and in constant flux. But that chaos was exactly what made it fertile ground for innovation. I learned that growth doesn’t come from waiting for clarity,  it comes from creating clarity in motion.

For Founders, Creators, and Innovation-Led Brands

If you're building something new,  whether it’s a hospitality concept, wellness startup, or a community-driven retail experience, you need someone who not only sees the bigger picture but knows how to bring it to life from scratch.

This project is proof that I do more than advise. I help brands test bold ideas, structure smart growth plans, and turn collaboration into momentum.

Let’s build what’s next.
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