The Cure for Coworking Space Imposter Syndrome with Jerome Chang & Jackie Latragna

51% of the industry gets ignored at the big conferences. Jerome and Jackie built something for the people actually in the trenches.

The Cure for Coworking Space Imposter Syndrome with Jerome Chang & Jackie Latragna

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“For an industry that professes to be about community, that’s the co-part of coworking, it sure doesn’t include the entire community. We owe it to ourselves, practise what we preach...”

Jerome Chang

Tired of running yourself into the ground?

Then stop running alone.

On February 24th, the London Coworking Assembly presents Unreasonable Connection Goes Live!—a one-day working session for the people running London’s most vital neighbourhood spaces and the public sector allies working to help them thrive.

It’s a day to share the load, find real solutions, and build a new playbook, together.

Find your crew.

Jerome Chang started coworking in 2008.

He runs the oldest coworking brand in America. He’s a licensed architect. He also plays aggressive adult slow-pitch softball.

That last part surprised Bernie, too.

Here’s what didn’t surprise him: Jerome stopped going to the big conferences.

In London, over 51% of coworking spaces are owned by operators with one to five locations. Jerome calls them “people in the trenches.” But walk into a major industry conference, and you’ll hear the National President of WeWork talking about strategies for hundreds of sites.

After the top three or four brands—WeWork with around 200 locations, Regus with 1,000, and Premier with 120—everyone else drops to fewer than four locations.

That’s the actual industry.

Nobody was building events for them.

So Jerome built one. The Coworking Operators Weekend. Now in its second year. Rotating through secondary cities: Los Angeles, then Raleigh, then Detroit in 2027, Denver in 2028.

Jackie Latragna handles marketing for Pacific Workplaces and helps organise the event. She came from logistics two years ago and is still shocked at how genuinely helpful people are in this industry. Her takeaway from last year: “You walk away from an event, and you know every single person’s name.”

The conversation goes somewhere uncomfortable too.

Jerome points out that Biznow—a traditional real estate publication serving one of the most conservative industries in America—manages diverse speaker lineups at every event. Coworking, built on community, does worse.

Bernie shares his own awkward moment: telling a conference organiser that 70% of their lineup was men. The response: “The women just don’t call me back.”

Bernie’s answer: “You have to call them more. They’re not hanging around waiting for you to call.”

One attendee last year opened her space within the previous twelve months. She came to confirm she wasn’t doing everything wrong. She brought her dog.

She left knowing she belonged.

⏱ Timeline Highlights

[00:00] Bernie opens with the stat that frames everything: 51% of London coworking is owned by operators with one to five locations

[01:27] Jackie’s introduction: marketing at Pacific Workplaces, wants to be known as an epic baker, got a KitchenAid mixer for Christmas

[01:58] Jerome: started in 2008, oldest coworking brand in America, licensed architect, and “a very greedy bass runner” in adult softball

[02:50] Bernie: “It’s the aggressive part in that sentence that threw me off.”

[03:28] Why Jerome created the summit: big conferences shifted toward macro topics, leaving operators in the trenches

[05:40] Jackie on connexion: “You walk away from an event, and you know every single person’s name.”

[07:25] Jerome: Smaller rooms mean every conversation is accessible, even if you know no one

[09:21] The industry reality: after the top three or four brands, “everyone’s under three or four locations.”

[10:56] Jackie’s most anticipated session: using your space for events as revenue—” I haven’t seen this topic anywhere else.”

[13:07] A new operator came to confirm she was on the right path. She brought her dog. She left knowing she belonged.

[14:13] Jackie on why this industry is different: “Somebody in the room is going to help you, and they’re going to help you genuinely.”

[17:03] Bernie’s COVID memory: the daily Zoom calls where the peacocking operators finally asked for help

[19:13] Jerome’s sharp comparison: Biznow does diversity better than most coworking conferences

[22:15] Bernie’s confrontation with a conference organiser: “The women just don’t call me back.” His response: “You have to call them more.”

[23:16] Jackie: “Maybe they’re just scared to be the first one.”

[24:14] Event details: February 6-7, 2026, Raleigh, North Carolina

The Actual Industry

After the top three or four brands, everyone’s under four locations.

Jerome lays this out plainly. WeWork has around 200 sites. Regus has 1,000. Premier has 120. Then there’s a cliff.

The majority of people running one, two, three spaces are. Bernie adds London data: over 51% of coworking spaces there are owned by operators with one to five locations.

These aren’t hobbyists.

They’re the actual industry—but they’ve become invisible at events designed to attract sponsors and impress investors.

The Operators Weekend exists because someone finally said: the majority are still in the trenches. They deserve content that meets them where they are.

Events as Revenue

Jackie flags something most conferences miss entirely: using your space for public events as a revenue stream.

“I haven’t seen this topic anywhere else,” she says.

The logic is obvious once stated. Meeting rooms sit empty during off-peak hours. Workshops, pop-ups, markets—each represents income and visibility.

But obvious doesn’t mean easy.

How do you price event space without undermining membership? How do you promote to the broader community without alienating members who value quiet?

The Saturday session tackles this directly. For operators watching margins, this could change their financial model.

Why Small Rooms Work

Jerome and Jackie both circle around something counterintuitive: smaller events create better connections.

When you walk into a room of 300 people, existing relationships look like cliques to newcomers. Jerome puts it simply: “Unless you’re very socially outgoing, you’re not breaking into those tight-knit groups.”

In a smaller room, every conversation becomes accessible.

Jackie saw this firsthand last year. She’d spot someone new, learn their background, pull over someone relevant. “Then you just fade into the background after that conversation starts, and you just watch it blossom.”

The choice to rotate through secondary cities—Raleigh, Detroit, Denver—serves the same purpose.

These aren’t glamour destinations. The focus stays on the room, not the location.

The Diversity Problem

Jerome doesn’t soft-pedal this.

He’s watched coworking conferences stay predominantly white and male for years—despite an industry built on community rhetoric. His comparison lands hard: Biznow, a traditional real estate publication serving one of the most conservative industries in America, does better.

“If they can do it, my gosh, we are overdue.”

The problem isn’t just optics. Jerome notes that he—and others—stopped attending certain conferences because they didn’t want to aid the situation by being there.

That’s lost ticket sales for organisers who refuse to change.

Bernie shares his own uncomfortable moment. He pointed out a 70% male lineup to an organiser. The response: “Well, the women just don’t call me back.”

Bernie’s answer: “You have to call them more. They’re not hanging around waiting for you to call.”

Jackie adds the quiet truth: maybe women and minorities aren’t responding because they’ve never seen anyone like themselves on stage.

They don’t want to be the token.

The ask has to be both authentic and persistent.

Coworking Space Imposter Syndrome

Bernie introduces a phrase that deserves circulation: “coworking space imposter syndrome.”

He’s heard it roughly a hundred times.

Operators with 70 desks saying, “Oh, I’m not a real coworking space.”

His comparison lands: “It’s like the artisan coffee guy on the corner going, I’m not a real coffee shop because I’m not Starbucks.”

This syndrome has real consequences. It keeps independents from attending events where they’d find support. It stops them from contributing knowledge. It makes them vulnerable to copying what chains do rather than building what their neighbourhood needs.

Jackie shares a testimonial.

One attendee opened her space within the previous year. She came not for strategies but for confirmation she wasn’t doing everything wrong.

She left knowing she was on the right path.

Sometimes the most valuable thing a conference offers isn’t new information.

It’s knowing you belong.

What COVID Revealed

Bernie recalls March 2020.

Daily Zoom calls. Nobody knew whether to stay open. Whether to paint the building in bleach. What was coming?

What struck him wasn’t the panic.

It was the person who showed up asking for help.

People who’d been peacocking at conferences—claiming fifth-location expansions, talking big numbers—suddenly revealed the truth: “My mum lent me the money for the building and she wants it back because this has happened.”

The crisis stripped away the performance.

This matters because peacocking creates imposter syndrome. When someone tells you they’re opening their fifth location this year, you feel like a fraud struggling with your second.

COVID revealed that many of those claims were theatre.

The Operators Weekend seems designed to keep that honesty alive.

Small rooms. Operational topics. People who actually want help, not people performing success for an audience.

Cities as Strategic Partners

One session in the programme points to something most operators haven’t explored: partnering with municipalities.

Cities need activated buildings, supported entrepreneurs, and community hubs. Coworking spaces need legitimacy, visibility, sometimes planning permission or rate relief.

When the relationship works, both gain.

The session promises real examples: spaces that have partnered with economic development teams, tourism boards, and city planners.

For Bernie, this connects to his broader mission: educating MPs and local authorities about coworking’s value as civic infrastructure, not just desk rental.

Too many officials still see coworking as fancy hot-desking.

The work of changing that perception happens one partnership at a time.

The Practical Details

The Coworking Operators Weekend runs February 6-7, 2026, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Friday: Managing Multiple Locations, Automation and Integrations, Mail Solutions, City Partnerships.

Saturday: Sustainability and ESG, Selling Space for Public Events, Career Development, AI for Operators, Referral Partnerships.

Tickets available through the LUNA event app.

Find the organisers on LinkedIn under Coworking Operators Weekend.

Email Jackie: jackie@pacificworkplaces.com

Email Jerome: jerome@blankspaces.com

The February timing avoids the packed conference season in autumn and spring.

Links & Resources

Coworking Operators Weekend

Tickets: LUNA event app “Coworking Operators Weekend.”

Jackie Latragna

Jerome Chang

Projects & Community 2026

Bernie’s Projects

One More Thing

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Written by

Bernie J Mitchell