Could you tell us a bit about your significant successes in your role?

I have been at WeWork Mexico for over 5 years and during that time I have supported the business from different perspectives, ranging from negotiation and execution of agreements with clients and services providers, to licenses, permits and regulatory matters, as well as labour and employment, corporate matters, marketing, sales, health and safety, construction and support in the day-to-day operation. Also, I have been part of the internal team that handled some arbitrations during the last couple of years and helped implement pandemic regulations in our buildings.

In my current position as head of the Mexico legal team, and member of the local leadership team, I have been involved in the design and implementation of the strategy, not only for the legal department but also for the business, and I’m fortunate enough to lead a group of young, smart and very talented lawyers that have taken over my previous duties in a brilliant way, so I can focus on the bigger picture.

What is the biggest risk to your industry or organisation and how are you contributing to prepare your organisation for this?

The pandemic was a difficult time for WeWork. We quickly went from a promising business in Mexico to having the lowest historic occupancy in our buildings, and then starring one of the greatest comeback stories in the business world, surpassing our highest historic occupancy in record time. Further, the pandemic also provided a unique opportunity to assert as pioneers and advocates for flexible working spaces and to come up with new products to accommodate the new normal. Today, we do not only offer our traditional memberships, but we have also launched new products such as our ll Access memberships, which provide more flexibility for members, based on their needs.

The biggest risk for WeWork right now is the scepticism that certain companies, that are more traditional, have around flexible working solutions, even though there is a clear trend that shows employees want hybrid working models. We need, not only to provide these solutions but also show those companies, with hard data, all the benefits that our value proposition has for both them and their employees. In this great effort, all areas of the business are involved, and in our legal team’s case, whenever there’s a potential roadblock, we come up with creative solutions based on our legal expertise and a business-oriented mindset, to get the deals done, and thus become true business partners.