We had the good fortune of connecting with Michele Ho and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michele, can you tell us about an impactful book you’ve read and why you liked it or what impact it had on you?
“One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow” by Olivia Hawker. Set in 1876 in rural Wyoming, the story is about how 2 families come together after an unspeakable betrayal. One husband is dead, another is in prison and the women are left with their young children facing a harsh winter on the frontier. The drama between the women isn’t what impacted me, but more so the hard life these families faced on the frontier. I think the majority of us are aware of how privileged our lives are in modern-day 2020, but reading this story was a stark reminder of how hard our ancestors worked just to survive. I wonder how any of us would have fared in a time when life was so unforgiving? This story made me think of how often my Japanese mother and my grandmother would sternly say to me, “gaman!”, which loosely translated, means “to suck it up”, and to have perseverance, patience, and tolerance. In a day when we’re often so disgruntled over the many inconveniences we face in our modern days, I think about how hard life must have been on the frontier and it reminds me to dig deep and find my inner “gaman”. 

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We launched our family-owned small business nearly 17 years ago. We’re a boutique management firm specializing in VIP airport concierge services (“airport meet & greet”) with representation at over 500+ airports worldwide. It’s a niche industry that most people aren’t familiar with. Our representatives meet passengers at the airport and help them through every step, ensuring they safely board their flight. It sounds far simpler than it is! Traveling during Covid can be confusing, time-consuming (hello 5 hour layovers!), and exhausting. We’re here to make things easier for our customers. Our core clientele is the Hollywood entertainment industry, business executives, and high-wealth individuals. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has introduced us to a whole new generation of customers who find our services essential. We’re seeing a surge in the everyday traveler – people who are merely trying to get from point A to point B as safely as possible. Some are leisure travelers, some are essential healthcare workers, and some are family members who got stuck here before the pandemic hit. We recently had a family book our services to help their parents, who had been stranded in the States for nearly a year because of Covid. Their parents were non-English speakers and had a long layover at LAX. Our team swooped in to take care of them and made sure they could board their flight back to Asia. It’s been exciting and heartwarming to be able to help people during these challenging times.

One of the things we’ve learned is that relationships are everything. We’ve been in business since 2004, but our owners have been doing this for over 35 years. Some of the customers and local affiliates they worked with in the late ’80s and ’90s are still with us today. Those relationships contributed to our success, and we’re immensely grateful for our customers and partners. We truly feel there is no other company like ours! There might be other “meet and greet” companies, but we are unique in that we’re a full-service, worldwide management firm. Most competitors stick to just the US domestic market or only the European market. But we coordinate our services in every state, country, and continent, all from our headquarters in Los Angeles. Customers can book all their airport concierge services directly with us, whether it’s at LAX, JFK, London, or Zurich, streamlining their travel planning, so they aren’t chasing down a dozen different companies to get the job done.

What values & principles mean the most to you?
Our brand and story have always revolved around three core principles: 1). Experience. With our owners having more than 35 years in the industry, our experience surpasses our domestic competitors. There might be other companies with better technology or fancier marketing, but none of them can claim they hugged Dolly Parton on the tarmac or shook Gene Kelly’s hand. It’s decades of experience, thousands of clients, and more than 50,000 bookings that have shaped us and taught us things you can’t learn overnight. 2). Integrity. Certain things can’t be compromised, and one of those is our integrity. We will always be upfront and honest about what we can and can’t do and will never make false promises. 3). Trust. Trust is earned; it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a testament to integrity and trust when our customers come back to us year after year. Whether it’s that A-list celebrity, a high-wealth individual, or someone’s elderly parents, our clients know they can trust us with their most important travelers.

What has been your biggest challenge?
As a small business, our biggest challenge has been the Covid-19 pandemic. Being in the travel industry, there aren’t too many ways to pivot. We’re at the mercy of the virus, the travel restrictions, and the much-anticipated vaccine. Many companies have used their downtime to focus on improvements. And while we’ve done the same, we’re also using this time to remain educated on what’s happening around us, so we’re well prepared when our customers come to us with complicated questions that might typically fall outside our area of expertise. As this is a fluid situation, we are learning new things every day. What’s true today might not be true tomorrow. We’re still in the throes of the pandemic, so I can’t say we’ve overcome this challenge yet, but we are gloved up (literally!) and tackling it head-on! Most importantly, it’s our goal and mission to be here for our customers, old and new, when they’re ready to travel again.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My mother! She came to the United States from Japan as a teenager. She didn’t speak a word of English, but worked hard to learn the language and immerse herself in the American culture. After raising a family, she started working for the airlines as a ticket agent and was recognized year after year for highest sales in her department. She moved her way through the travel industry, eventually co-founding our company, Airport Assistance Worldwide. She is the hardest working, strongest, most resilient woman I know. She taught me perseverance, she taught me to speak my mind, and she taught me to never take no for an answer. I owe everything I am to my mother.

Website: www.airportassistance.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/airportassistanceworldwide
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/airport-assistance-worldwide
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VIPairportMeets
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/airportassistanceworldwide

Image Credits
@Lisa Bronitt @stellalevi @ IPGGutenbergUKLtd @moodboard @Peshkova @Pressmaster Jennard Jamito – 3KG Photobooth and Fred Shots Photography

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.