There is one thing that can make or break a customer experience: pronunciation.
Senior Client Onboard Specialist Monique Kolii saw this firsthand with clients at FareHarbor. Founded in Hawaii in 2013, the company has since opened offices in Holland, Australia, and across the lower 48 states in the U.S.
While Kolii was taking part in professional development opportunities at the travel tech company, she saw a need to create a course of her own.
“I then combined my personal passion of Hawaiian culture with a business need, leading to the creation and delivery of “Pronunciation with Purpose: Hawaiian Language & Business Essentials” — a workshop designed for teams to practice pronunciation, understand cultural values and build client trust,” Kolii said.
Leading the course allowed her to improve her facilitation skills and bring attention to an incredibly important part of client relationships on a global team.
Built In spoke with Kolii about her experience and how professional development programs at FareHarbor helped her — and the business — succeed.
FareHarbor creates tools for travel rentals, like boat rentals, museums, food tours, events and more. The company operates across more than 90 countries.
What new skill or role did you want to learn? Explain why this was important to you.
I aimed to refine my workshop presentation skills, focusing on engagement through delivering cohesive and clear presentations. This was important to me because I strongly believe that proficiency in facilitation is essential for effectively communicating ideas, guiding conversations and sharing knowledge, which are skills that are universally valuable in any professional context, regardless of role or company.
How did your employer help support this time of learning?
FareHarbor’s commitment to learning is evident in our core value, “Be Curious and Learn,” and in the many opportunities available to grow. I was named “Top Learner” in 2024, a recognition that comes with a one-year MasterClass subscription and, more importantly, reflects a shared dedication to learning both from myself and FareHarbor.
One key contributor was my role as a “Learning Champion,” where I boosted employee learning motivation and gained a deeper understanding of tools like LinkedIn Learning, Mindtools and Blinkist. By spreading awareness to the organization about these tools, I was also able to get first-hand experience with how effective they can be. These helped me build a foundation for the skills needed to be a strong facilitator.
I then combined my personal passion of Hawaiian culture with a business need, leading to the creation and delivery of “Pronunciation with Purpose: Hawaiian Language & Business Essentials” — a workshop designed for teams to practice pronunciation, understand cultural values and build client trust. This workshop was both a learning opportunity for other employees while simultaneously a development opportunity for my own personal growth.
What was the outcome of this experience? How did it impact your future growth in your profession?
The creation and delivery of the workshop allowed me to directly apply the skills I had been working to develop in a meaningful, real-world setting. I now am more confident in my ability to facilitate, honed my presentation skills and am better positioned as a point of contact for teams looking to learn how to support our clients in Hawaii. These opportunities have shown I can blend my personal passions with business needs to contribute professionally to FareHarbor.
