When co-founders Jamie Hodari and Justin Stewart opened Industrious, a coworking space in Chicago, a year ago, they thought their tenants would be small companies and individuals like they had been: corporate orphans and freelance loners with a kicky aesthetic.

Instead, they discovered big firms increasingly interested in letting millennial employees use Industrious as an urban outpost with a better workplace vibe than the home cubicle farm in the suburbs.

So with reclaimed wood and quirky antiques, frosted glass walls and creaky wood floors, the pair has charmed tenants and gotten bigger ideas.

“Everything good is unexpected in the office context,” Hodari said. “No one expects even the barest moments of warmth or hospitality, so moments matter in that context.”\

It’s one of a handful of lessons Hodari and Stewart think they can take on the road as they prepare for national expansion of their Chicago-based brand with office spaces already under way in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, St. Louis and possibly other cities soon after that. The Detroit natives, who have taken outside investment to fund the expansion, were scouting their former hometown earlier this month, Hodari said.

But their year in Chicago — they recently doubled floor space on the third floor of 320 W. Ohio St., then added modular space on the sixth floor above — has been full of lessons:

Think big. “We were envisioning most of the tenants being something closer to us,” Hodari said. “The first thing we learned was how much of the demand came from national companies looking for a Chicago location.” Fast-growing companies, especially, are happy to avoid a 10-year lease when they don’t know how many employees they’ll have next year. The answer for many of them: A ready-made space, a flexible lease and room to grow, Hodari said.

Design matters. Millennials aren’t the only ones who appreciate good design, but their impact as a customer group has been important, Hodari said. “They would rather share a stunning beautiful room than have a much less impressive one all to themselves,” he said.

Be personal. As hotels and restaurants have done, Hodari said he and Stewart have learned the importance of paying attention to personal details. Their space’s tenants choose to expand in place more than seek office space elsewhere, he said. With leases extending month-to-month, they expected to hunt for more tenants every four weeks. Instead, they’ve had to seek out more real estate.

Allow connections. Employees like being across the hall from a freelance lawyer, marketing firm or accountant. When growing companies out-grow their space at Industrious, Hodari said, they increasingly have asked to let their employees stay connected to programming, events and coworking even after moving out.