The Wing SoHo: Where Women Take Flight... and Men?

You cozy up in a dimly lit corner, sipping on carefully crafted coffee. You slip under your covers and lay your laptop on, well, your lap. You are prepared to take on the world… but then you get crazy caffeinated or slothfully sleepy. How do businesswomen get sh*t done when they don’t like coffee shops or hibernating in their apartments? They pay for a co-working space.

The Wing is a female-centric “network of work and community spaces.” The outlet is a revolutionary concoction for women to proactively and comfortably work, collaborate, and network with other women. With nine, soon to be thirteen spaces serving more than 6,000 members, its success is noteworthy, especially with so much competition.

Although only conceived in 2016, The Wing takes inspiration from the longstanding women’s club movement. It is the perfect blend of a social club and professional environment, where work and play mix. Many also consider one of its founding values to be the prevention of workplace sexual harassment.

Here is the low-down on these ultra-aesthetically pleasing co-working spaces. Via a bi-monthly admissions process, members are accepted into the community with different packages at their disposal. Do you want to pay monthly? Yearly? At one location? At all the locations? What are the fees you ask? Well, for an All-Access annual membership, it is $2,700. This is the cha-ching-intensive decision accepted members must make in order to lay out their benefits and accommodations.

The price may seem steep, or it may tug at your heartstrings, knowing it is significantly cheaper than renting a store front or office in a major city. Now, if you need some convincing, here are the accommodations you have been waiting five paragraphs for. In every membership, big and small, (remember: there are no small parts, only small actors) amenities include WiFi, phone booths, a lending library, a café, stocked beauty rooms and showers, breast pumping rooms, free events and more.

At The Wing’s SoHo location, I had the pleasure of being the guest of The Lexington Line collaborator, LIM College peer, and friend Maeve Duke, a relatively new All-Access member. She graciously took me into her working space, which she uses to crack down on school assignment procrastination. There, in SoHo, The Wing’s largest space yet, my non-member Instagram-follower self was shimmying with excitement.

I’m here! I made it! But only for a couple of hours, so let’s get the scoop, shall we?

After we elevated (by elevator and state of mind) to the office’s fifth floor, I was met by a luxe and darling interior. The space encompasses two loft floors. The upper with quirky monogrammed phone booths, conference rooms, beauty and pumping rooms, and a large airy space filled with inviting tables, pastel soft furnishings, and lined with a color-coded book collection. The lower was home to The Little Wing, The Perch Café, and a more desirable open work space.

SoHo is the first location to hold The Little Wing, a babysitting drop-off area for The Wing’s working mothers. Noelle Hughley is a new “Space Staff” member at the SoHo location. At the front desk, she adjusted her attention to greet and dismiss members every so often while sharing the low-down on the service with me. The “Wingsitters” are pediatric CPR certified staff who offer babysitting up to three hours a day for $35. The pump rooms are another amenity that should be the norm but is still an enigma.

Duke chose to invest in The Wing particularly because it was the home base of her previous internship Limone Creative. She found that she enjoys the atmosphere, the aesthetics, and “being comfortable in knowing you’re not going to be judged.” This is, of course, in respect to the female-dominant friendly environment. I myself was a bit intimidated of the working women inside, but I kept thinking back to The Wing’s mission, which is “the professional, civic, social, and economic advancement of women through community.” I realized my reservations were naive and that the space was in fact filled with strong #girlbosses and “She-E-Os.” And while they may be humble, that’s certainly not criterion. After all, what subtle woman is going to wear a Casual Business Woman baseball hat or display a City Girls Doing WTF They Want keychain?

One of these successful women is Laura Stampler, a freelance journalist and YA novelist who I found lounging on a velvet couch. Once a member of Paragraph, a workspace available solely for writers, she has now made the distinction that, “The Wing is more nourishing as a social space.” She has made several friends via the space’s networking events, panels, and Camp No Man’s Land. This, I learned, is the supposed Cadillac of summer getaways.

But when work needs to be prioritized over socializing, Stampler and Duke congregate to the “quiet rooms” where the rule is: be quiet.

Each member who I spoke to has All-Access memberships which I realized relates to when Stampler told me, “You get what you give into it.” This is true. If you want to fully immerse yourself into the culture, you pay for access to all of its spaces, attend as many events as possible, and connect to other members through the iOS App.

The Wing’s inclusive yet exclusive environment makes an important contribution to society. It offers women the ability to work in a supporting and nurturing community without the anxiety of patriarchal and chauvinistic men in business suits lurking around… or so it did. After being sued for a $12 million gender discrimination lawsuit by James E. Pietrangelo (pfft!), The Wing changed its membership policies.

As of January 2019, the policy “provides that all applicants will be evaluated based on their commitment to The Wing's mission, regardless of their perceived gender identity.” Now, while accepting the trans-community and non-gender conforming individuals is widely commended, the fact that cis-men are now allowed is not popularly received information. One-year member Amy Quichiz is one of the many women who holds a damning opinion towards this. Quichiz said she once saw nine white men alone in a conference room and immediately felt uncomfortable, saying, “I would never bring a man, nor anyone who identifies as a man here.”

Quichiz and Mariah Bermeo use The Wing as a space to collaborate on their cofounded company, Veggie Mijas. It is a collective that educates minority communities (women, non-binary, POC, Latinx, etc.) about food systems and plant-based diets. Their values, missions, genders, and ethnicities don’t necessarily align with The Wing’s new policy or with the apparent dominance of Caucasian members.

Quichiz herself has experienced “microaggressions,” and since she is one of many, The Wing held a panel with founders Audrey Gelman and Lauren Kassan to air grievances and plan more diverse panels for members and staffers alike. She also commended The Wing’s scholarships for those who give back to their communities, which further diversifies the pool of members.

Some grievances of less social importance are that while The Wing offers bookable conference rooms, they are actually an additional $65. Now this is steep my friends. Bermeo said, “For the price we pay, the amenities should be more inclusive.” In addition to this, (dun dun duuuun) there are no microwaves! Technically, no outside food is allowed. I myself was hungry when I visited and opted to purchase a $4.36 chocolate chip cookie from The Perch Café.

Now, back to these men. Like I said, there has been adamant pushback, and I heard this firsthand. Stampler said she prefers the Flatiron space because the top floor is exclusively for members and said, “I just want it to be dude free.” However, while male guests are not allowed access, the small percentage of male members still are. So, it’s not actually 100% dude free.

While men are welcomed into this safe space, if they can’t respect its values, members would prefer it if they choose a different co-working space.

“Women have always been oppressed, so why are these men mad that they’re finally taking control?” said Duke. “If you don’t like it, go to WeWork.”

But let’s not discredit The Wing. It is still one of the very few spaces that specifically caters to women’s needs to thrive in a safe and encouraging environment. Whether an entrepreneur, freelancer, or student, The Wing is perfect for open-minded and kind-hearted professionals.

Staffer Hughley has noticed that management is uniting to make sure people don’t feel excluded. They are being proactive in ensuring their members follow protocol and in turn feel comfortable working and expressing themselves in this space. Staff is also being trained to use appropriate pronouns, which is vital for total inclusivity. All of this is imperative if The Wing wants to continue to embrace, empower, and engage creatives.

While The Wing’s many spaces are charming, they are so much more. They are exemplary examples of what every working woman wants. A platform to help achieve her goals, both professional and personal. And this could not be achieved without the community of badass women that have made it what it is. They are not small, and they are not subtle.

Although there are some flaws and unpopular revisions to this space, as is true of any work environment, it still held up to my giddy expectations. I mean a powerful female community and stocked showers? Sign me up! That’s right friends, feel free to gift me a membership 😉.