From square feet to human experience.

Overview

Can real estate stop being the blocker—and start becoming the enabler of meaningful work?

In this episode of The Flexible Office Economy, Mark Gilbreath welcomes Lisa Picard, former CEO of EQ Office and one of the most thoughtful, provocative voices in the built environment. With a career that’s spanned institutional capital, design thinking, and tenant experience, Lisa brings a rare systems-level view of what’s broken in commercial real estate—and what needs to be rebuilt.

This isn’t about desks or amenities. It’s about designing energy. Lisa shares what she learned leading Blackstone’s U.S. office portfolio, why she believes most landlords still don’t understand their users, and how the best real estate acts more like a platform than a product.

If you’re serious about the human side of the future of work, Lisa’s perspective will challenge you—in all the right ways.

Episode Highlights

• Why the traditional office is “optimized for the wrong signals”
• How EQ Office redesigned its model around experience, not tenancy
• The difference between space that works—and space that feels right
• How landlords can become enablers of energy, not just providers of square feet
• The metrics that matter more than occupancy
• Lisa’s take on what real estate must unlearn to stay relevant

Lisa Picard doesn’t just critique the old model—she’s built what comes next. This episode goes beyond the buzzwords to explore what it really takes to create places that earn their keep, drive performance, and make people feel something.

For landlords, investors, occupiers, and strategists who want to stop playing defense and start building for what’s next—this one’s essential.

It’s not just real estate. It’s human-centered systems thinking.