Artwork for podcast The Psychology of Work: Why People Do What They Do
Building Community and Mental Health Support in Coworking with Liz Elam
Episode 522nd July 2026 • The Psychology of Work: Why People Do What They Do • Groops
00:00:00 00:33:16

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What if your workspace could help cure loneliness and provide free mental health support? In this episode, we sit down with Liz Elam, the visionary who built one of Austin’s biggest coworking brands and founded GCUC, the largest coworking conference on the planet. Discover how Liz is on a mission to reimagine coworking spaces as hubs for belonging and well-being, why tackling the loneliness epidemic starts at work, and how the future of mental health might be more accessible than you think. If you’re curious about how community, innovation, and mental health are intersecting in the future of work, you won’t want to miss this conversation.

Liz Elam is the founder of GCUC, the largest coworking conference in the world, and a pioneer of the coworking movement. After building Link Coworking in Austin, she became the first woman globally to exit a coworking brand in 2019. A futurist and sought-after speaker on the future of work, she hosts the bi-weekly GCUC Podcast and is on a mission to dismantle the loneliness epidemic through community.

KEY TOPICS

  1. How coworking spaces evolved from 50 to over 40,000 globally and why belonging is at their core [00:01:19]
  2. Using coworking communities to address the loneliness epidemic and mental health crisis [00:03:03]
  3. The push for coworking spaces to offer free, barrier-free mental health support and the challenges involved [00:05:29]
  4. Why measuring community, connection, and social wellness is the next big challenge for the coworking industry [00:19:30]
  5. The future of work: more solopreneurs, AI-driven shifts, and why human connection will become even more valuable [00:25:40]

Todays guest, Liz Elam, can be found online at:

Website: https://gcuc.co/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizelam/

Your host, Dr. Bobbi Wegner, can be found online at:

Groops: https://www.joingroops.com/

Harvard Extension School Faculty Spotlight: https://youtu.be/zwLai-lu-pk?si=GpKNhtxVvTrS3-pu

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbiwegner/

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