Yesterday I was on the edge of my seat to podcast with Paula A. Madrid.
We’d spoken on the phone before.
Missed each other at the Workspace Design Show London in February.
So when we finally hit record, I was all in.
Paula is a Colombian-born New Yorker who built an extraordinary career—first as a clinical and forensic psychologist, and now as the founder of Blue Panda Office Spaces.
She’s not trying to be trendy. She’s trying to make you feel something real.
“I aim to make places beautiful and comfortable for people.”
That’s how she introduced herself on the podcast.
And it shows.
Her spaces aren’t therapy rooms—but they’re shaped by the kind of wisdom you only gain supporting people through disasters, courtrooms, and crises.
When Paula talks about design, she talks about safety.
About real plants, soft sofas, and silence that isn’t sterile.
About offices that respect your nervous system as much as your workflow.
“If you can’t feel safe in the space, nothing else happens. No healing. No creativity. No real work.”
You hear it again and again on this podcast:
“This is the first time I’ve been able to focus.” “I don’t have to mask here.” “I feel like I can breathe.”
That’s what real coworking does. It lets people show up fully, without disappearing.
⏯️ Subscribe and Listen to the Coworking Values Podcast here.
🧭 What That Looks Like Across Europe
Through the European Coworking Assembly we’re helping lead RES-MOVE Project a project connecting coworking spaces across 10 countries with people from migrant backgrounds.
Led by Jeannine van der Linden, Jacqueline Mayer (Boulos) and Dimitris Manoukas —this is about action, not slogans.
Coworking becomes a real tool for belonging, not just a buzzword.
✉️ Virtual Offices Done Right (Or Really, Really Wrong)
Paula also runs a virtual office service at Blue Panda Office Spaces—and she does it with intention.
Mail isn’t just admin. It’s trust.
We talk about this in her episode, and we go deeper in this piece:
📄 The Hidden Cost of Virtual Offices
👉 If you offer virtual services, read this.
It’s part of our three-month deep dive on virtual offices with our London-based friends at Nexudus.
Then ask yourself: Are we building community—or just selling addresses?
One of the strongest points from longtime virtual office operators?
Make service users part of the community.
Otherwise, they’re ghosts in your inbox.
⏯️ Subscribe and Listen to the Coworking Values Podcast here.
👀 Who Gets Seen?
Today our friend Elina Jutelyte posted something that I have to bring to your attention:
“Why does the freelancing industry still have a male face?”
Over 9.3 million women in the EU are self-employed. But the dominant voices?
Still mostly men.
Elina writes:
So here’s a list of some of the most brilliant women I know, based in Europe, who can speak with just as much authority about running a freelance business, as well as share their outlook on the future.
Please tag more brilliant women, so we have this list growing
👉 Read Elina’s full post and add to the list here.
🫥 Not Disappearing
Visibility isn’t vanity. It’s survival. It’s dignity. It’s community.
That thread runs through Paula’s story, RES-MOVE Project, and everything we’re building.
It mirrors what we’ve been writing in this newsletter.
🧵 I wrote more on this here: 🔗 Not Disappearing: How Real Flexibility Keeps Us Human
It’s about the quiet pressure to vanish—and the radical power of showing up as you are.
🧠 Meeting Our Brains Where They Are
In our latest episode, Emily Breder and I talk about the gap between “knowing what to do” and actually doing it.
We dig into neurodivergence, executive dysfunction, and a quote from Sam Sundiuis that stuck:
“Meet your brain where it is.”
It’s simple. It’s not magic. But it opens a door.
📣 Listen to: How to Finally Get Sh*t Done (Even When Your Brain Won’t Cooperate)
We also share a community prompt that has already sparked surprising and honest conversations in coworking spaces around the world.
⏯️ Subscribe and Listen to the Coworking Values Podcast here.
📣 European Coworking Day 2025
TL;DR: Here’s All You Need To Do
1️⃣ Host one simple event — coffee morning, Q&A, open coworking, whatever fits your space
2️⃣ Register your space so people can find you: European Coworking Day
3️⃣ Open your doors and share the story on May 14th
That’s it.
- No big budgets.
- No complicated plans.
- Just desks.
- Tea.
- Real people.
And the choice to be visible—and make space for others to be, too.
- This article is part of a series leading up to European Coworking Day on May 14th, 2025. To register your space or learn more, visit European Coworking Day.
- Save time with live coaching and feedback for your event in our online “Live Coworking Space Event Fix” session – RSVP here.
- Get our free email course: 5 Biggest Mistakes Coworking Community Builders Make (And How to Avoid Them)
Thanks for your time and attention today!