March 25, 2026 01:03:18 E24

24. Brokers, personal branding, AI, and scaling with Kane Willmott

Kane Willmott has been building iQ Offices since 2012. Today, he has eight locations across Canada (and counting). He's also the former president of the GWA, the current president of LExC, and, somehow, an Ironman athlete in his “spare” time.

Kevin's been calling Kane the unofficial CEO of Coworking for years. The title fits, and this discussion will show you why.

In Episode 24, Kane gets into the decisions and strategies behind iQ's growth, including:

How he used AI to analyze iQ's customer data and discovered that 82% of their desks were occupied by enterprise companies, and how that one insight led to a full repositioning of the business.
Why iQ cut hot desks, dedicated desks, and lounge passes entirely, and stopped renting single-person offices, and how knowing your core customer makes every other decision easier.
His broker strategy and why he's making the case to brokerage managing directors that coworking deals are the best way for junior brokers to build a book of business.
Why iQ doesn't try to out-pay competitors on broker commissions, and why speed and ease of doing business is a bigger moat than the rate.
His take on where websites and AI are heading, and why spending $100K on a website right now might be the worst investment a coworking operator could make.
The Van Halen brown M&M story and what it has to do with building a data discipline that actually works.

If you're running or scaling a coworking operation, this one's worth your time.

Want to connect with Kane? Find him on LinkedIn and check out iQ Offices

By the way, you can also:

About 2 Marketers and a Coworking Podcast

Hosted by Kevin Whelan of Everspaces and Taylor Mason of Talemaker, 2 Marketers and a Coworking Podcast dives deep into marketing tips, tools, insights, and strategies you can actually use to grow your coworking business.

🔔 Hit subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode.

Creators and Guests

Host

Kevin Whelan

Kevin Whelan is a marketing advisor and trainer helping coworking/flexible office businesses build profitable growth.

Host

Taylor Mason

Taylor works with coworking operators and flex office industry service providers from across North America to craft and implement customized, done-for-you, results-driven content marketing strategies.I work with coworking operators and flex office industry service providers from across North America to craft and implement customized, done-for-you, results-driven content marketing strategies.