Hey y'all, so we're taking a few weeks off to rest and work on some new episodes.

In honor of giving ourselves this time, I wanted to re-broadcast one of my favorite episodes

from this last year about our relationship with work. We'll be officially back with new episodes

on September 17th, but in the meantime, enjoy this one and I'll catch you all soon.

When Kari Patterson woke up one Wednesday morning back in 2018,

she expected it to be like any other day. But then, I came into work and there were balloons

everywhere and barbecue. Her office was having a party at 9 a.m. At the time, Kari was working for a

startup called Team, this IT company that specializes in office management tools based in Salt Lake

City. And it turned out that the balloons, the barbecue, it was because the company had just been

acquired by another startup, a really big one. And that was literally the first time I heard the word

WeWork. Yeah, they were getting acquired by WeWork. That's the company that leases co-working spaces

and became famous for its work hard play hard culture. Their CEO, Adam Newman, was revered as a

kind of eccentric genius. That is, until their $47 billion IPO crashed and burned last year.

But back in 2018, WeWork was a startup darling, one of the hottest in the country.

Kari's bosses were thrilled about the acquisition. They had these t-shirts custom made hand-letter

that said the future is amazing. Yeah, well, Kari did not feel like the future was amazing.

In fact, standing there in the middle of the festivities, she burst into tears.

I was crying because it's hard to find a tech company that really values a female IT person.

It really is. I had had so many bad experiences until I became a part of this tiny startup.

She was afraid the acquisition meant her company would disappear and she'd get fired.

But her boss told her not to worry that she'd keep her job. It just meant she'd join the WeWork

family. One that she'd soon discover was pretty dysfunctional. Looking back on it now, WeWorks,

...