Founder Series: Florence Kwok, Founder of Airbook

BeemaBroker

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BeemaBroker

4 min readApr 30, 2019

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Icebreakers:

Coffee/Tea Order: Iced Vanilla Latte

Currently Listening to on Spotify: Khalid, Bad Bunny, and Blueface

Currently watching on Netflix: Agents of SHIELD

Favorite City: Los Angeles

Team Pizza or Team Tacos: Tacos

Interview:

In a few words can you describe what your business does?

Airbook is a curated marketplace of engaging employee experiences, including fitness classes, training and development, and team outings.

What inspired to you start Airbook?

I used to plan team activities and found it difficult and tedious to research and plan. There was no centralized resource to find and compare activities and prices, and no easy way to automatically qualify vendors. It would end up taking anywhere from hours to weeks to lock down a team activity.

What have been some of your favorite activities you have planned for clients?

I’d have to say our axe throwing activity or diversity and inclusion talks are the most fun and rewarding activities to plan and participate in.

Do you have some go-to event recommendations for small teams who are on a budget?

You can filter by price on our website, and easily view vendor prices for each activity.

In what ways do you think activities add to a company’s culture?

$600 billion was lost to turnover costs in 2018, and the average employee retention rate is one year. The top two reasons employees leave is due to a lack of growth opportunities and poor workplace culture. Happy employees are 7x’s more likely to stay. It’s important to create a culture employees love through unique team activities, learning opportunities, and to practice health and mindfulness through fitness and meditation classes.

Did you always know from a young age you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

I’m a first generation Asian American who was raised with conservative and traditional values. It wasn’t until senior year of college that I first learned about entrepreneurship as a career path through a friend. And from that moment on, I knew I wanted to be my own boss.

How do you keep yourself motivated?

It helps that I have a strong support system. My close friends are bosses in their respective fields, and they inspire me to work hard every day.

Do you believe Founders should practice self-care? If so, what are some ways you practice self-care?

It’s important to take a breather whenever you begin to feel burned out. I usually take a walk, listen to music or chat with a friend. It helps me feel refreshed and ready to take on the day.

What was the best lesson you have learned from other founders?

Avoid all the distractions that come with building a company, and focus on your customers first and foremost as your north star. Remember to keep a pulse on your customers. Reach out to them, talk to them, understand them, and have your employees speak to them as well. It’s important to focus on their pain points, and not their suggestions when trying to determine the best way to improve your product or service.

Let’s take a look at amazing corporate experiences you can book with Airbook!

Visit www.useairbook.com/ to book an event today! Use code “BEEMA” for 5% off any activity for first time users.

Promo Code:

Visit www.useairbook.com/ to book an event today! Use code “BEEMA” for 5% off any activity for first time users.

Learn more about Florence:

Florence created Airbook as a way to help companies build a sustainable culture. She graduated from UC Berkeley and most recently worked in the tech industry as a Senior Manager. She previously worked at Intuit and App Annie and has experience in design, marketing, and market research.