Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Kocurek.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Fibercove opened in June 2015, seeking to provide a professional, productive workspace and event venue in South Austin. Since our inception, we have hosted 250+ events and meetings while providing first-class office amenities to a variety of professionals. As a locally owned and operated coworking space, community and technology are the focal points of the company. Our mission is to ensure an outstanding experience for all those seeking to work, meet, celebrate, or learn in our space.
We work hard to create an environment that provides a comfortable, productive workspace that combines high-speed fiber internet with multiple wifi access points, a full-service cafe/bar, and professional work areas for any individual, team or workspace needs. Located in the heart of South Lamar District, fibercove is a space designed with efficiency and productivity in mind. We’ve equipped our meeting rooms and workspaces with the latest equipment ranging from electric standing desks, HD monitors, premium audio & video conferencing equipment, and ergonomic seating. We also now offer additional services such as a podcast studio with HD cameras, professional lighting & recording equipment (perfect for Zoom calls away from the house!), virtual office plans that include meeting room booking credits, and team memberships for those who will continue to work remotely or require additional flexibility with respect to Covid-19 or otherwise.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a lot of hard work, but overall a smooth road. When we first opened, some of the hurdles included managing the build-out, predicting the amenities people would value, balancing the office space/dedicated desks/open coworking areas in terms of how many of each and where, and later getting the first crew of members in the door so it didn’t feel like a ghost town.
COVID-19 hit us pretty hard; it was really tough and a lot of people left, although we were fortunate enough and very grateful to have the continued support of some of our members. We are a locally owned business and did receive the first-round PPP loan, however the PPP program focuses more on payroll than it does rent for determining loan amounts. When running a coworking business, rent is the largest expense, and for a while now, our small business has had only one employee on the payroll.
Overall, it is our mission to provide a space that is comfortable for our members. We are constantly getting their feedback and making adjustments as we see fit. We have been and will continue to follow the government and CDC guidelines to ensure we are supporting our members in every way possible. We are continually encouraged that people want to get back to “normal”, which means having our space as a place for them to work and network.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Fibercove?
Fibercove is a coworking, meeting, and office space located on South Lamar in Austin, Texas’ Zilker neighborhood. We have plenty of free parking and are within walking distance of the Hike & Bike Trail, Barton Springs, and Lady Bird Lake.
We provide an enjoyable, full-service coworking experience focused on productivity and connectivity for professionals. With fiber internet, multiple phone booths and private meeting rooms, standing desks, a stocked kitchen, and complimentary monitors available for use, our goal is to minimize everyday friction so that our members and guests can get working the moment they step through the door. We have always been a tech-forward, solutions-focused space; as the first business in Austin to offer Google fiber (since 2015) to our customers, we also have several wifi access points, ethernet drops in each room and multiple networks that span our entire space.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
The main takeaway from this experience is to listen to your customers which, in our case, are our members or any guest who needs to utilize our space. I personally speak to everyone who walks in the door and I answer every phone call. For companies across the board, the shift to WFH has had its positives and negatives. Each individual or team was thrown into being remote and had their own different difficulties as well, whether that be lifestyle, family life, financial, or other concerns. We have always taken a very flexible, case-by-case approach to members and guests who needed it, but one of the more challenging things I did was temporarily turn that into our business model. On the plus side, however, this experience has made it easier to shape our plan options and be creative with the future of fibercove because I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t. We believe that listening to our community and creating a more efficient, autonomous space will serve to fit the needs of those we seek to help.
The world is moving digital and we will continue to do so as well. We have a Slack channel for our members and frequent users, which provided a source for communication to everyone while they were away. We are currently in the process of creating an app for our members that will include a similar concept by way of member boards, private messaging, and private group boards. It will also allow them to customize their member portal with a selection of features we will have to offer! Our members can also update their company information, network remotely, view upcoming events or Happy Hours, see current and past invoices, have access to a QR scanner to use around the space for additional help or instructions, and much more!
Overall, when the crisis hit, we had to be agile-we made virtual social events for our members, knowing that coming to our space was their main source of social interaction outside of the work they did in front of the computer. As things opened back up, we had to adjust yet again and reconfigure the space, but in a way that was facilitated by the requirements by the government, CDC, and the feedback we heard from our members. Prior to re-opening our doors, we used that input to see what they wanted to come back to, what felt comfortable for them and adjusted accordingly. Our members are the center of everything we do. We are very grateful for the amount of feedback, virtual community, and support they gave us during this crazy time.
Contact Info:
- Email: getworking@fibercove.com
- Website: https://www.fibercove.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fibercove/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fibercoveatx
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/fibercove?lang=en
Image Credits
William F. Reed (Rude Boy Pictures)- shots of the workspace Andres Churin- my headshot Permission from both.
