Interview With Mike Thakur, Founder at The Work Lodge & The Gabriel Foundation

Mike Thakur managed a $100 million sales division for an $8 billion company in the UK before moving to the US. He took some time off to give back working with multiple non-profits before joining The Guidry Group as Chief Operating Officer. Guidry is world famous in the security world for Kidnap, Ransom, and Extortion. A crazy ride for almost 5 years before launching The Work Lodge.

The Work Lodge is located in NW Houston. It has a clean, simplistic design aesthetic with bright, colorful splashes in the common areas. They have over 100 private office suites along with coworking, meeting spaces and more. Their coffee comes from Rockin' & Roastin, the coffee company founded by Joey Kramer, drummer for the legendary rock band Aerosmith, who also works at The Work Lodge.

We sat down with Mike Thakur, founder of The Work Lodge, to learn more about what they do.

What are the best things about coworking compared to a traditional office space?

The openness of the community and being able to share in the successes of everyone around me. Even if my day isn't going great, knowing one of my new business friends just closed a great deal or celebrated a new client gives me energy and excitement that translates into increased positivity and productivity for my business.

Does The World Lodge host events for your community?

Yes. We host fun stuff (mixers, monthly birthday celebrations etc.), workshops on topics that help our Member businesses grow and more. Impromptu challenge on the games console might have happened on more than one occasion.

What is your favorite coworking space you have been to in a different city?

Vuka in Dallas. Creative, down to earth and casual. 

See the top coworking spaces in Texas

What is working best for The Work Lodge in terms of marketing right now?

Visibility and Traditional Marketing is delivering more than online traffic in conversions.

What is your biggest differentiator compared to other coworking spaces?

Location. We are built in the suburbs for folks who have families and want to shrink their commute time. Being located close to home and amenities (think grocery stores and practical amenities, not just the fun ones) helps them save even more time.

What is the toughest decision you've had to make in the last few months?

Removing a member who was repeatedly ugly to my staff.

If it was possible, what advice would you give yourself 10 years ago?

Think bigger.

Favorite place to travel to?

California. Can you ask for more?!

What are some of the best things about your coworking community?

Our members are pretty much amazing. Such an honor every time I get to visit and learn more about who they are and what they're achieving through their businesses.

Our staff is incredible. Committed, resourceful and they bring the energy every single day. Honestly, I feel blessed just to walk into work every day.

What book are you most likely to give as a gift?

Setting the table by Danny Meyer. Amazing book about someone who CARES. Really inspirational for me as that customer experience passion is something that drives me crazy some days in my endless quest for improvement.

What is your favorite app or online tool?

Flipboard. Gives me my daily news all in one place.

What was the best event that you recently attended?

FACES Casino night for Autism. Great cause, great fun, great people and it took me over 15 minutes to lose all my chips! I was pretty impressed.

What business would you love for someone else to start?

Last minute ideas for nights out within a searchable radius. Sometimes it gets tiring looking through multiple sites just to find out if something cool is happening close by. An aggregator would be seriously cool.

What advice do you have for new business owners?

Hustle, graft and don't stop. This ain't no 9-5 gig.

Twitter: @theworklodge