Stephen Marks: From Corporate Attorney to Wellness Consultant, Yoga Instructor and WELL AP

Shifting career paths is always a difficult change to navigate, however, it is especially challenging when one is transitioning between two different fields of work. WELL AP Stephen Marks worked as a corporate real estate lawyer for 20 years before transitioning to his current career as a consultant for well-being. In addition to becoming a WELL AP and consultant, Stephen also teaches yoga, meditation and sleep meditation.

While Stephen transitioned into a new field of work, he pursued the WELL AP credential to build on his own credibility and knowledge of the industry. In this interview, Stephen reveals how he developed a relationship with IWBI, health and well-being as he began his new journey.

1. What led you to pursue the WELL AP credential? What personal/professional significance does the WELL AP hold for you?

When I first became aware of the WELL Building Standard, I was working as a real estate lawyer. During that time, I also had a passion for well-being which inspired me to train as a teacher for yoga, meditation, and sleep meditation. I first read about the healthy building movement around 2016 in the press, and the desire for healthy buildings made perfect sense to me as someone who spent a lot of time sitting in an office working long hours. In some ways, I found it hard to believe that this topic didn’t have greater coverage. Although sustainability was a commonly addressed topic at that time, the concept of healthier buildings was largely neglected.

Throughout 2016, I also spearheaded an urban-focused hotel concept based around well-being, yoga and meditation. The concept may have been a bit ahead of its time, but while I worked on this project, I was able to focus on the relationship between human health and buildings.

There was no real eureka moment for me when it came to obtaining my WELL AP credential, but my desire to implement and create healthy buildings was growing within me for some time. I wanted to make a difference in corporate well-being programs and also incorporate some of my own knowledge of health and well-being into wider organizations. In the span of a couple years, I was working with organizations ranging from Google, BDO, Knight Frank, Wateraid and the UK government.

I feel privileged to be part of the WELL community. I’ve experienced nothing but support, encouragement and enthusiasm from the UK IWBI and Delos teams. Admittedly, the exam was quite a lot of work for me as I did not come from a traditional engineering or architectural background. I felt a great sense of accomplishment when I earned the credential. More importantly, I believe that I’m taken seriously by property owners who inquire about the metrics of health and well-being. Having the WELL AP badge helps support my credibility.

2. How do you feel your background in law has helped inform the way you’re able to promote health and wellness in buildings and communities?

I have a solid understanding of what it means to work long hours in an office from my days as a lawyer. There’s so much that can be done to promote a healthy office environment that is currently not being done. I see organizations that address promoting a health office environment as “future-proofing” their spaces.

Considering my legal background, if I can get into a project early enough, there are certain questions I insist occupiers ask their landlords if pursuing a WELL Certification. These can come up later during the due diligence process, so it can save time and cost if addressed earlier within the process.

Finally, I think my legal background gives me a real attention to detail so that I can understand things with a forensic eye. Some of the WELL requirements are quite technical, so my legal background and years of experience within real estate help shape my understanding of this content.

3. How did you first get involved with yoga?

I started yoga after a serious back injury in my mid-20s. I was an active sportsperson and was forced to rethink my whole physiology. I’m so pleased I didn’t opt for surgery at that time and placed my confidence in the tradition of yoga instead. While my body was in the process of healing from yoga, I began to see the mental benefits of a regular yoga practice when I was working in a high-powered legal role. Yoga helped me rebuild my body and it empowers me now to train as I like to. Practicing yoga also provides a calmness and a detachment which is so important in our current information-overloaded society.

4. How has your yoga practice impacted the way you understand health and wellness?

One of the greatest gifts of a yoga practice is the ability to listen to your body and increase your awareness of your mind and what is going on around you. When you sit on the mat for a physical practice or meditation, you’re often forced to confront yourself and slow down. Yoga in its many forms gives us the ability to step back and relax.

We can all increase our awareness at a basic level when we become more conscious of the physical environments, the air we breathe, the materials we use and of the amount of light within our homes and offices.

And at the end of day, we are physical beings and movement is also incredibly important. Even if you consider yourself an active and sporty person, the body also needs time to unravel and unwind with activities like yoga.

I also believe yoga engenders a sense of community which is incredibly important as we seem to be living in an increasingly lonely world. This has been described as a crisis of connection. As we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic, I hope yoga studios, retreats and events can once again encourage this type of communal connection.

5. When someone asks you what it means to be a WELL AP, what do you tell them?

Being a WELL AP means that you have a detailed understanding of how to make buildings and physical places more healthy. I always remind people that over seven years of detailed scientific research preceded the WELL Building Standard. There really is no better metric for measuring and enhancing human performance in the context of health in our physical environments. For me, the WELL Building Standard is scalable and institutional in a way that no other health metrics are.

6. What would you say to people on the fence about or considering becoming a WELL AP?

Go for it, certainly. It’s amazing how you’ll be able to transfer the knowledge to your own home or your own working environment. In my own experience, I applied information about reducing noise transmission and soundproofing from the WELL Building Standard into my own home after becoming a WELL AP. The healthy building movement is only going to get bigger and more visible, so be a part of it.

In addition, I would say that the WELL community is incredibly inclusive and helpful with excellent resources. I can’t ever recall coming across organizations like IWBI and Delos that are so willing to help and promote you.