Irina Brouwer is the founder of byDesign – a unique coaching method for personal and organisational change based in Rotterdam. After a few years at Deloitte, she moved into consultancy and coaching, combining her previous work in education and business. She lived at Zoku on a regular basis for two years, whilst she worked between her home in South Africa and her European base in Amsterdam.
What path has your career taken?
I went from being an education rebel, to a corporate innovator and an entrepreneur – joining the two.
Which book have you gifted the most, and why?
“Love Yourself and It Doesn’t Matter Who You Marry” by Eva-Maria Zurhorst – I’ve gifted this to all my girlfriends, because it’s true and important to find yourself in yourself and not in the eyes of your partner, your children, your friends or your work.
What does home mean to you?
Simply put, home is where the heart is at rest, the soul is singing and it smells like freshly made breakfast
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Welcome to Zoku
A place you can call a second home, even on your first visit.
So much more than a long stay hotel. It’s a neighborhood.
Where the neighbors borrow more than a cup of sugar.
They share ideas and ambitions.
They mix the local lowdown with the global highlights.
Where the word on the street keeps you streets ahead.
For this is a ‘good company’ company where everyone can bring their dreams to the table.
Where those busy connecting the world can catch up with each other and the scene surrounding them.
Smart and uncompromising, Zoku is a hive of smart lofts and friendly spaces, designed so you can stay connected, well rested and throw yourself into your work, your play and our city.
This is a place that is furnished to fit, not to split.
Encouraging each other to live, not exist.
To dream, not sleep.
To smarten up, rather than dumb down.
To go at it together, rather than alone.
Together we can work hard, play strong and rest easy.
Whilst we blur borders, combine cultures and live our dreams.
Live Zoku
