We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ben Granas a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ben, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

Pre-Covid nearly all mental health therapy was conducted in-person, which meant that it made sense for therapists to have their own office space. Now, more than 50% of all sessions are virtual and traditional office space has become a drain on therapists’ finances. This had really upended the entire model for some landlords, but has opened new opportunities for office space providers like Olida. We are able to save therapists tons of money while providing a better experience and more flexible terms than what they previously had. Similar to what we are seeing with office space around the country and a general shift to downsizing or flexible space, I think that will continue to be the new norm for therapists.

Ben, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am the founder of Olida, a network of shared office spaces for mental health therapists. We focus on helping therapists to mee their clients’ needs while offering clean, modern office space and affordable memberships.
I first got started with this business in 2019 while I was helping my wife, who is a psychologist, to find office space for her practice. We looked at a ton of different offices and sublets but could not find anything that looked like it had been furnished after 1985. We needed a different option for her if she was going to build a modern, high-quality practice.
We struggled to survive through covid, but we have seen a huge amount of interest in our services over the past few years. We now have 500 members across 5 locations in Los Angeles, and are expanding to the Bay Area, Washington DC, and NYC in 2025.

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

Covid was a constant near-death experience for Olida. We signed our first least in January of 2020 and opened our doors that June. I had to fund $10,000+ per month out of my own pocket to pay the rent, all while having almost nothing come in the door. We had to resort to all kinds of crazy things just to make a little bit of money – we had music videos shot in our office, student film projects, and even a model tryout for a swimsuit brand! After about a year we were finally able to sign up enough therapists that I felt like we could survive, but there were a lot of sleepless nights.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Offering people a very niche product, but one that they need rather than just a nice-to-have, has been the best way for us to build our reputation. If a therapist needs to see their clients in person, they need to have a physical office space. But by offering more than just the bare minimum in terms of experience and services, we are able to turn a commodity product into something that really is able to sell itself. At this point a huge percentage of our new members come through referrals from existing members which speaks to our reputation in the community.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://olida.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/olidatherapy/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/olida-suites