Having a friend (or friends) is something we all have in life because why wouldn’t we? Having friends is like having air to breathe. I mean, we’ve all heard the saying, ‘no man is an island.’ We will all encounter people that will either ruin us, break us, or change us for good. I, myself, have had friends for almost 10 years already, and I can say they are the most precious people in my life besides my loved ones.

Especially in a workplace, we all have those people we sometimes don’t really see eye to eye with, people we are comfortable with, and people that light up our day. We even have that thing called ‘work family.’ However, in a setup like ‘co-working spaces,’ this could be different in ways or such. Me, personally, have now worked at The Company Cebu for more than a month already, and so far, it’s been a joyride. I love seeing my fellow interns every chance we get since we all don’t have the same schedules, but besides that, I treat them as my ‘internship family’ because they have been the kindest and most supportive people during my stay. They made every single day less harsh, hard, and tiring.

Here in The Company Cebu, the clients are not exempted from this because everyone here is part of the community. With the co-working space setup, they are all placed in an environment where they meet people from different fields, and that is one of the most amazing things about it, knowing these clients are usually alone in the workspace or with a few employees of their own. A client I had a great time talking with the other day is Iren Pronk of Infinance.me, a recruiting company for private equity funds and investments. He was someone who felt the same way, too.

The Company Cebu as the 3Fs: Friend, Family, F?… F-Hooray!

Iren, who comes from the Netherlands, went to the Philippines to grow his business into what it is now, straight from university. In his stay here, he has experienced a lot of coworking spaces before landing at The Company Cebu. When I asked what made him stay at The Company Cebu, he kindly replied, ‘the people.’ In his previous coworking space, he mentioned that nothing really compared to what The Company Cebu did for him. Before, he didn’t really have people around him with whom he felt comfortable talking. Unlike here, he met people who helped him upscale his business, people whom he got to hire to work for him, and people with whom he is already planning to start a business with. I mean, talk about Mister Congeniality!

“You have colleagues without having the political aspect of having colleagues.”

These were the words that came straight out of Iren’s mouth that really made me tilt my head because he does have a point. Sometimes, in work or any setup where we collaborate with others, we all come to a point where we get so pissed—pissed at all the backstabbing that people do. Because of that, we all imagine a setup where we go to work and be happy simply because we don’t see their faces, and it won’t affect our day or work. For Iren, this stays true dearly because, for him, the downside of working in a corporate or traditional office is that you have a lot of ‘chika.’ And we all know there are two types of chika, the good ones and the bad ones. Although here at The Company Cebu, he does encounter ‘chika,’ Iren deals with it differently—by not having to deal with it. Because he doesn’t have to work with the people around him at The Company Cebu in a way that affects his work or company.

Working Alongside People You Don’t Have to Befriend for Work.

According to Iren, in a workplace, it’s hard to make a lot of friends, so staying at The Company Cebu changed that experience for him since he enjoyed being with other people. Iren emphasized the fact that in this setup, he doesn’t feel the need to think too much about the downside of having friends at work, unlike in a traditional office where negative ‘chika’ and backstabbing to get ahead happens a lot. Not to mention, you have to work with people you don’t like just because you’re in the same company. But here at The Company Cebu, though he hasn’t experienced dealing with people like that, he feels reassured knowing he can have friends in the same place as his work setup, just not in his ‘work.’

In my case, I find it hard working with people I’m not comfortable with since I tend to become really awkward around them, and it really shows on my face. So that already adds up to an already awkward situation (plus the added social pressure). When working, I really find ways to be able to work with people I am comfortable with, but also people who are completely different from me since that’s important too. We all can’t be good at everything, that’s why I often say I’m a jack of all trades, master of none. We really have to be with people who bring out the best output possible. And here, during my internship, I can confidently say I’m grateful for this bunch of people I sip coffee and ‘TEA’ with because I have learned a lot from them, the same way they have learned a lot from me. And I like it that way. I like that it didn’t feel like a competition but instead a place for all of us to grow, especially with the staff or our seniors, who never made us feel inferior to them. They all helped bring out the best in us—as a group and as individuals.

Coworking? You mean Co-winning!

Though I wasn’t surprised, to be honest, when I heard Iren say The Company Cebu played a huge role in his transformation. Because beyond working in a space like this, which enhanced his performance, especially with supportive people around him, The Company Cebu didn’t just help him professionally but also personally. Moving from another country, The Company Cebu made his transition smoother, as working alone on his business had felt isolating, particularly in the beginning. They have given him connections and networks he could’ve never found anywhere else. And I do agree with that because in my stay here, I can confidently say there’s no place like The Company Cebu—home.