Audrey Gelman
Co-Founder of “The Wing”
A politician, PR Specialist, Spokesperson, and entrepreneur, to name a few. Audrey Gelman was born to a microbiologist for a father and a psychologist for a mother. A close friend of Lena Dunham, the American actress, writer, producer, and director, Audrey Gelman was a huge inspiration the the show “Girls” which was created by Lena Dunham, and which tackles the different issues faced by girls in their twenties.
Audrey worked in two successful political campaigns; the first of which was Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign which she joined in 2008, while the second was the campaign of Scott Stringer to win the position of New York City Comptroller, and where she served as Deputy Communications Director.
In 2013, Audrey joined the New York office of SKDKnickerbocker, the Strategic Consulting Firm, and it was during the long way she had to frequently take to the firm’s offices in Washington and Soho from her home in Brooklyn, New York that she got the idea of “The Wing”. During these travels, she longed for a place in the middle where she can rest, take a shower, and change her clothes, or just to hang out and chill between meetings.
She first thought of creating such a place and calling it “Refresh”, but believed that it was such a bad name. And when she met her friend, Lauren Kassan, they finally came up with “The Wing” and took it from there.
“The Wing” is a women’s-only workspace and social club in New York City, which was created to offer women, and only women, a common space to work, network, and connect, with a modern coworking setup of open-plan office spaces; all of which was created by an all-female team, including the founders themselves, as well as, the architect and interior design who helped bring Lauren and Audrey’s dream to life.
As of 2017, The Wing club has more than 1,500 members, many of whom are paying $3,000 annually for access to its locations, and has raised more than 10 million dollars from investors over the course of 18 months after its founding.
The secret for The Wing’s success lied primarily with its two founders who, at the age of 30, where both quite glamorous, and who have cultivated a circle of social-media celebrities and influencers who were some of the first members to join the club.
Moreover, The Wing’s Founders took women support and empowerment to the next step as, through their club, they took active steps to participate in events that concern women, and to organize their own events and workshops to do so. They even organized buses to take women to and from a Women’s March which was held in Washington.
The Wing, today, has four branches, three in New York City and one in Washington.
Audrey Gelman was listed by Politico as one of its 50 Politicos to Watch, and was named as one of the 30 Under 30: Corporate Climbers in 2014, and one of the 30 Under 30: Law and Policy in 2017, both by Forbes Magazine.
Written by Yasmine Mokhtar
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