John Egan

I didn’t start in coworking. My background is in hospitality and large-scale operations, where I was responsible for big teams and thousands of people at a time. In those environments, you learn quickly that you have to treat every child and every family like they’re a precious gift, because they’re trusting you with something important. That perspective has stayed with me, and it shapes how I think about leadership and the spaces we create today.

To me, a workspace is never just an office. It’s where someone is building their business, supporting their family and trying to grow something meaningful. Their business is how they’re feeding their families, hiring more people and making the world a better place. When you see it like that, it changes how you show up. It’s not just about providing space. It’s about supporting people in something that really matters.

I believe culture is built in the day-to-day, not in big statements. At Lucid, that means everyone takes ownership. It can be as simple as wiping up counters, or noticing when someone is standing at the desk and stepping in to help. Even if it’s not your role, you say, “Hey, can I help you?” and create that moment of hospitality. Those little things add up, and clients notice them.

I also think a lot about how the workday feels. We spend a lot of hours away from our families, and work shouldn’t be something people dread. The workday should be enjoyable time. That doesn’t mean lazy or unfocused. It means creating a space where people can come in, feel energized and actually want to be there. We’ve built environments with great lighting and meeting rooms that look like you want to get some business done in there. It’s intentional. It’s built for people who are serious about their work.

One thing I see often in coworking is a lack of real connection. It’s easy to provide space. It’s much harder to build relationships: knowing people by name, understanding what they do and helping connect them with others. Something as simple as “Good morning, Jeff. How’d your daughter do in the soccer game?” creates a different kind of experience. Over time, those moments build a culture where people feel like they belong.

We also try to create an environment where people interact naturally throughout the day. Whether it’s grabbing a drink, stepping out of the office or running into someone in the hallway, those small touchpoints matter. Otherwise, work can become very isolated, and very sedentary if you’re staying at your desk. So we create opportunities for people to move, connect and engage with the people around them.

There’s also a misconception that running a coworking space is passive. It’s not. It’s a lot of operational work. You’re constantly thinking about hiring the right people, keeping the space clean and professional, and bringing in members who are engaged. The best environments are filled with people who are hustling and working. When people are active in the space, it creates energy that benefits everyone.

At the end of the day, my philosophy is simple, and a lot of it comes back to ideas that have stuck with me over time, like the concept of the golden goose. If you take care of the people, the results follow. If you don’t, nothing else really works. That’s why we focus so much on the experience, on the team and on the relationships inside the space. Because when you get that part right, everything else tends to take care of itself.