Gaby van Kesteren is the founder of BIRD and we're going to let you get to know him a bit better.

I am Gaby and I am one of the founders of the jazz venue BIRD. About 14 years ago, I started BIRD together with Philip and of course my lovely wife Nina.

My idea with BIRD was to create a beautiful place where everyone is welcome, can be themselves and can fully enjoy delicious food and good music.

The BIRD venue initially started in the first two arches, and after 3 to 4 years of hard work, we had built up enough capacity to open arch 3, of course with the pizzeria and that beautiful wooden oven.

Moreover, our staff, well not really our staff but the people we work with, are like a family. We are a small family business, initially starting with about 12 people, and we have now grown into a company with no less than 75 people who, in one way or another, are involved with BIRD. Whether it's about food, drinks, design, communication, programming, technology, you name it, I am very proud of that.

My favourite things about BIRD are mainly the diversity of people who work there, who we work with, who I am allowed to work with. Every day is different in terms of technology, maintenance, experience, so I can really enjoy that and on all levels actually, from maintenance to management to purchasing and sales.

What I would pass on as, well, the founder of BIRD, papa BIRD, grandad BIRD, you name it, is mainly the message: don't take life too seriously, but take each other seriously. Respect each other and enjoy each other, make sure you can create and do really nice and beautiful things together that way. This way you can always make the world a little bit more beautiful!