Looking to Network? It’s Hot Times for Saunas

Where can you find business leaders relaxed and chatty, year-round? You might say the golf club. If you guess the gym, you're getting warmer. In fact, the answer is saunas—the newest after-work hot spot.  

The sauna market is expected to grow by $151 million by 2029, boosted by both the home sauna market and the rise of saunas as after-work networking spots, according to Technavio, a tech research and advisory company. One chain, Perspire Sauna Studio, will soon have 100 US locations, with 200 more in development. Another, Othership, offers guided sweat-to-ice-bath classes and is popular with the tech crowd in Brooklyn and Manhattan, some of whom do business in three-digit temperatures. Why have saunas become the networking venue of the moment? “People are burning off steam,” says Kim Waller, senior client partner in the Organizational Strategy practice at Korn Ferry, who sees a similar phenomenon when she moonlights as a yoga teacher. “They have their defenses down, and they’re more open to building community across generations and roles."

To be sure, golf still reigns supreme among more seasoned leaders, followed by the gym. Indeed, more than a few ambitious employees of yore have taken up weightlifting simply to gain an audience with an otherwise inaccessible executive. “You can’t lie when you’re hoisting 150 lbs. over your head,” says David Vied, global sector leader for medical devices and diagnostics at Korn Ferry. But those gyms are often at members-only clubs. These days, tony gyms still bustle with boldface names. “There are a ton of executives and leaders working out on a Saturday morning—you can see their cars parked outside,” says Renee Whalen, senior client partner and North America consumer market leader at Korn Ferry. 

Today, younger generations have gone off the beaten path, in search of a place to relax that does not involve alcohol or physical prowess—or smartphones. Sauna-and-soak spots have long been popular after-work gathering places in cities like Portland, Oregon; now they’re entering the mainstream. Experts point to the intimacy of sharing a sauna: Showing up in a small wooden space in minimal attire is a very deliberate choice. “It’s not happenstance,” says Dennis Deans, vice president of global human resources at Korn Ferry. “It opens the door to finding other commonalities.”  

Of course, the sauna crowd tends to be health conscious and fit, which makes it somewhat self-selecting. Saunas are more attractive to able-bodied, fit individuals who can afford the entrance fee. There’s also a gender factor: Some people don’t feel comfortable appearing nearly nude in front of opposite-sex bosses or colleagues. 

Yet fans say that at saunas, the chatting is natural, just as it is at yoga studios and tennis clubs. People with no interest in business will find themselves casually chatting with an executive, just by virtue of sharing a small, hella-hot room. “It happens organically,” says Waller. 

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