Women-Only coworking spaces - a new global trend is developing

The Wing in 2016 opened the first coworking offer for women-only in Manhattan's Flatiron Tower and has since expanded with similar female coworking spaces in SoHo, Brooklyn and Washington DC planning other new spaces in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and London.

CEO Audrey Gelman and her business partner Lauren Kassan came up with the idea for the Wing, as they felt they could create an atmosphere and environment which was different from the rest of the world - by being women-only.

They were heavily surprised by the vast number of women who are working flexibly today and needed a dedicated space to do it accompanied and supported by other women.

Today less than two years since their world premiere the Wing first-mover is no longer the one and only to create coworking spaces and attractions for women entrepreneurs and freelancers.

Female aesthetics

In several major cities around the world, many new, gender-segregated variants of the successful coworking concept are currently being planned and opened.

"It's our mission to create space and spaces for women where they are better able to obtain their challenges and goals, and where they together can establish valuable networks and communities," Audrey Gelman states.

The Wing opened in 2016 their first coworking spaces for women-only on Manhattan - in the spring of 2018, the fourth in the row opened in Washington DC, and more new spaces are underway. Photos: The Wing

More the new coworking spaces for women only are offering and including rooms for breastfeeding and childcare, various beauty products and libraries exclusively with female writers.

Interior designs are typically targetting female values and aesthetics. Some spaces offer mentoring programs and different workshops focusing on professional challenges that women are facing.

Europe is on

Since the opening in 2016, already 20,000 women have applied for Wing membership - among them more famous American businesswomen, artists etc..

"We have to realize that women continuously will be facing tougher professional barriers and challenges than men - obstacles that might be much easier for them to handle or find inspiration to handle among other women," says Stacy Taubman, who has also opened a coworking space for women only, Rise Collaborative Workspace in St. Louis.

Last autumn Blooms emerged in London as first coworking spaces and business club for female entrepreneurs, and in Uppsala, the Swedish Hera Hub opened and attracted at once more than 30 most dedicated female users.

"Hera Hub is strictly designed and created for women-only," assures Sophia Renemar, who launched Sweden's first coworking space for women-only last autumn. Photo: Hera Hub

"Women always were involved in systems built by and for men. With Hera Hub I aim to change this oldfashioned pattern - our coworking spaces are strictly created and designed for women-only," Sophia Renemar announced when she opened Hera Hub last fall.

She expects to open a number of another Hera Hub spaces in Sweden's largest cities with Stockholm as next station.

In Germany, Femininjas in the spring of 2018 opened their first women-only coworking spaces of an upcoming German nationwide chain, while other European cities are still waiting for the newest trend of the coworking concept smash hit to turn up. ●

Read more:
Thespaces.com: 5 of the best women’s coworking spaces
The-wing.com: Co-Working & Community Designed For Women
Slate.com: Where Is the Demand for Women-Only Coworking Spaces Coming From