Office Hour
Podcast Description
What does it take to lead in a world that never stops changing? Join ‘Fast Company’ editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan as he sits down with the world’s top leaders in business, government, and culture to explore the trends shaping our world right now. From groundbreaking innovations to shifting workplace dynamics, each episode dives deep into the forces driving change—and the leadership principles that guide today’s most influential minds. Whether you're a forward-thinking executive, an entrepreneur, or just curious about what’s next, ‘Office Hour’ delivers bold ideas and candid conversations that will help you navigate the future.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast explores a variety of topics including leadership principles, workplace dynamics, technological innovations, and social trends. Episodes feature discussions like labor movements in response to political shifts, the impact of AI on jobs, and how businesses are adapting to changing consumer behaviors.
What does it take to lead in a world that never stops changing? Join ‘Fast Company’ editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan as he sits down with the world’s top leaders in business, government, and culture to explore the trends shaping our world right now. From groundbreaking innovations to shifting workplace dynamics, each episode dives deep into the forces driving change—and the leadership principles that guide today’s most influential minds. Whether you’re a forward-thinking executive, an entrepreneur, or just curious about what’s next, ‘Office Hour’ delivers bold ideas and candid conversations that will help you navigate the future.
Bahram Akradi is the founder and CEO of Life Time, the Minnesota-based chain of upscale “athletic country clubs” – these are gyms you want to hang out all day in, basically.
Akradi has always seen — and marketed — Life Time as more than a gym: a kind of lifestyle hub that brings together training, recovery, sport, wellness, food, work, and socializing. You can even get your GLP-1s there, if you’d rather lose weight the new-fashioned way.
Life Time has been in rapid expansion mode of late, with around 200 locations nationwide. Its financial performance has been strong, with Q2 revenue up 14 percent year over year, to $866 million, even as its member numbers remain relatively flat. The company is trying to get more money out of each member – we talk a lot about how.
In 2025, when we named Life Time a Most Innovative Company, told Fast Company it could fill new clubs with practically no traditional marketing, often drawing waitlists as soon as a location was announced. In this conversation, we’ll ask whether that demand remains as strong—and explore the company’s expansion ambitions, its deliberately premium economics, its quality standards, and what it takes to scale a high-touch experience without diluting it.
We’ll also discuss Life Time’s pandemic-era reset, its ambitions in longevity, and whether a business built around sweating in immediate proximity to other humans is truly AI-proof.
Fast Company is the world’s leading progressive business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, leadership, and design.
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