{"id":1580,"date":"2020-10-07T11:55:37","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T15:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/en-GB\/ideas\/?p=1580&preview=true&preview_id=1580"},"modified":"2020-10-27T09:45:11","modified_gmt":"2020-10-27T09:45:11","slug":"how-a-surrogacy-service-brings-teams-back-to-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/en-GB\/ideas\/community-stories\/member-spotlight\/how-a-surrogacy-service-brings-teams-back-to-the-workplace","title":{"rendered":"How a surrogacy service brings teams back to the workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2020 has been an unprecedented year for businesses<\/a> everywhere, but veteran-owned surrogacy, in-vitro fertilisation and egg donation agency Patriot Conceptions<\/a> has managed to bring on six new recruits despite dealing with some unique challenges. Before the pandemic, founder Haotian Bai and his team of eight served a customer base that was primarily located overseas. But with ongoing travel bans, they\u2019ve had to refocus their strategy on domestic families first.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018When COVID-19 hit, we were just as worried as everyone else, but we ramped up business development, informational technology and marketing, and we were able to keep up and continue to profit despite the travel restrictions,\u2019 says Bai.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Bai was serving as a chemical engineering specialist in the US Army, he saw just how difficult it was for service members struggling with infertility to gain access to surrogacy services. This painful experience is exacerbated because soldiers are already mentally stressed, he said. The experience led him to start Patriot Conceptions. Now the business helps infertile couples, same-sex couples and single parents with in-vitro fertilisation and other surrogacy services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bai is excited to have the team \u2013 14 employees and growing \u2013 back in the office at WeWork Park Tower<\/a> in Costa Mesa, California. The team is currently going to the office in rotations to accommodate social distancing measures.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018If today we have IT together, tomorrow it’ll be the marketing crew, then the day after, the internal services department,\u2019 Bai says. This model ensures that there is ample space for every employee (now seated at every other table instead of shoulder-to-shoulder) while ensuring that the most relevant co-workers get time to make progress face-to-face \u2013 or at least in the same room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018With our new recruits and the need for social distancing<\/a>, we\u2019ve upgraded to an 11-seater space,\u2019 with not all employees coming into the office at the same time, Bai says. \u2018It\u2019s been a positive transition for us.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n

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