What Does “Health and Wellness” Even Mean?

Musings on our coworking space at Townsend

Author

Austin Tunnell
February 27, 2025

We’re deep in the marketing process for our coworking space at Townsend (I can’t wait to share more!), and as you can imagine, we’re being incredibly thoughtful about the why behind it. I’m a big believer in Simon Sinek’s “Start with Why”—then back into the How and the What.

Entrance to the coworking space—three separate buildings shaping a central courtyard. Rendering is our actual Sketchup model with JJ Zanetta doing an incredible job on color, detail and texture by hand.

With Townsend and this coworking space—which we’ll manage and hold with our investors long term—we’re not just trying to build buildings. We’re integrating hardware and software that work seamlessly together, each reinforcing the other. This is one of the reasons I’m so excited to move beyond just design + build and into infill neighborhoods and mixed-use projects. The architecture is just the backdrop for actual human activity. And we want to take part in shaping—and participating in—the culture that forms around it.

One of the core themes we’re weaving into this space is health and wellness. I’ve had my own health struggles over the years that I’ve had to work really hard on (and still do), and it’s also a core value at Building Culture. The reality is, we as Americans are shockingly sick. But beyond the physical (74% of Americans are overweight, 60% have at least one chronic condition, etc.), we’re also mentally, socially, and spiritually sick. Our modern world is a technological and abundant miracle, yet…why aren’t we hanging out anymore? Where is our culture? Our local pride? Our sense of community? Our happiness?

Hence, health and wellness as a core theme for Townsend. But what exactly does that mean?

Our very thoughtful marketing partners, who are working on the branding for the coworking space, asked me that exact question. I got an email yesterday: “Can you define what wellness is for you? Have you thought much about the attributes and benefits?”

They already know a lot of the what: we’re doing an outdoor social sauna and cold plunge courtyard, focusing on healthy snacks (and some indulgent ones), we’ll have weekly breathwork and meditation sessions, we’ll host both alcohol and alcohol-free happy hours, we’ll curate speakers and intentional conversations, and we’ll facilitate meetings between business owners and teams to share resources, processes, and software. The list goes on.

The central coworking courtyard with an MVP cafe (100 square foot micro cafe)

But that’s not what they asked. They were asking why. What’s the purpose behind prioritizing health and wellness?

I responded this morning, just a couple of hours ago. What I intended to be a short answer ended up being something much more, because I realized, while answering that question, I hadn’t actually answered it before, even for myself. We’d mistakenly started with the What and the How of health and wellness. And I wanted to share my response with you.

Also: this is a completely unedited email (I misspelled ‘principle’!), typos and all. In the age of AI and perfection, a little flow-state authenticity with run-on sentences might be refreshing. On that note, I may try sharing more off-the-cuff thoughts and musings, alongside the longer, more curated posts.

Here was my response:

Wellness: For me the guiding principal to wellness is meaning and purpose.  It's a life of pursuing and cultivating that, gaining clarity, going deeper, and becoming all that we can be in pursuit of it. I think there has to be a goal/vision, something to pursue, but then it's also having the right "why"--why you are pursuing that goal/vision. And that goal needs a noble cause.  (Worthwhile causes have a generative aspect to them, they give more than they take, always make the world better, in some small or big way, and are always difficult.  Simply pursuing money for money sake, for example, is not a noble cause, does not improve the world, and in the end, does not lead to real happiness or fulfillment). 

When people have real meaning and purpose, they are on the path, and while it's cliche, the destination isn't the actual point—it really is the journey.  Who you are, who you become in the process.  And ultimately I think it's about pursuing who we could be, becoming all that we can be--offering our unique gifts to the world (and to God), which is the greatest fulfillment to ourselves, to our family and community, and also happens to be there greatest gift to the world.

And then people who are really, truly on that journey want to be the best they can be physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, socially, etc, so that they can bring everything they are to bear, for as long as they can, on the path towards that goal.  If life is an adventure--you want to be healthy so that you can adventure.  Without physical health, for example, you really can't adventure, work on hard problems, become something.

So for me, this is actually the basis of wellness.  There is a cult of wellness out there, where it's wellness for wellness sake. It's performative, keeping-up-with-the-jones vibe, or simply narcissistic.  While a healthy lifestyle may be better than frivolous partying and alcoholism, it can end up being just as conceited and self-centered.  And if healthy living becomes the ultimate meaning/purpose, well, that just ends in the beauty obsession or the longevity game where people want to live forever and solve death or something.  I don't think that's a noble cause.

I want to age gracefully, and be healthy for as long as I can, but at the end of my life I also want some serious battle scares from one hell of an adventure.  There is no way to come away unscathed from a real adventure.  Wellness isn't about being afraid of aging or death—it's about the motivation and discipline to really live.

This was so much longer than I intended, but I'd never actually really thought about the question.  So thank you for asking.  Not sure if that can be made into marketing materials 😆

Attributes/Benefits: I think I answered some of this above, but to expound a little: I do think wellness has a discipline + fun component.  It's not always being disciplined or being in the gym every Friday night or never eating a cookie or something.  It really is more about being intentional, knowing what you want, knowing how to say no, being disciplined so that you can feel good about not being disciplined sometimes, staying endlessly curious, running experiments and trying new things to see how they work for you, being willing to change when something isn't working, having good relationships, lifelong learning, setting yourself up for serendipity and luck, taking appropriate risks, family, enjoying life, and endlessly developing physical, mental, emotional, social, professional, and spiritual well-being. 

I don’t think I captured everything here, but it’s a good start. Wellness, to me, is more than just a trend—it’s foundational to how we live, work, and build community. And with Townsend, we have an opportunity to create something that actually supports human flourishing. I’m excited to see how our why influences our what as we continue to unpack, plan and execute.

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Just hit reply.

More soon.

– Austin

SPONSORS

I really appreciate the sponsors for this newsletter!  Sierra Pacific Windows and One Source Windows & Doors.  We use Sierra’s product and work with One Source on many of our projects at Building Culture. If you are in the market for windows or doors for a remodel or new construction, talk to your local distributor about Sierra Pacific. And if you are local to Oklahoma, check out One Source, who sells Sierra Pacific, and has showrooms in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. They service the whole state.

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