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Alicia Navarro
Founder & CEO at FLOWN. Co-founder of Skimlinks. Board member.
Alicia Navarro is a serial tech entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of FLOWN, a company focused on helping people achieve deep work, productivity, and flow states.14
Professional Background
Alicia has a strong track record in the tech industry:
- She founded and led Skimlinks for 11 years, which was a successful venture that exited in 2020.16
- She also served as the Chairman of Yourkeys, another company that had a successful exit.4
- Currently, she is at the helm of FLOWN, her latest entrepreneurial venture.1
FLOWN
FLOWN is described as a deep work toolkit and communal focus platform designed to assist remote workers in accomplishing significant work while enjoying the process.7 As the founder and CEO, Alicia is passionate about creating tech companies that have the potential to change the world.5
Expertise and Interests
Alicia is known for her:
- Passion for product development, branding, design, and company culture.3
- Expertise in deep work, focus, creativity, and achieving flow states.4
- Experience in coaching other entrepreneurs.5
Public Presence
Alicia is active in sharing her experiences and insights:
- She maintains a blog called Navarland, where she documents her entrepreneurial journey, travels, and personal growth.2
- Alicia is a passionate speaker and often participates in events to share her knowledge.2
Her LinkedIn profile (username: alicianavarro) reflects her role as the Founder and CEO of FLOWN, as well as her previous experiences and achievements in the tech industry.36
Highlights
My product engineer called me "intense" today. Here is why it was an incredible compliment.
He said "𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗲𝘀" and shared an article called "A few thoughts on intensity" (link in first comment).
As I demo our platform - to investors or customers - no one can believe we have built so much with such a small team.
And we do it all while working fully remotely. With generous leave and care policies.
The only way to do this is through intensity.
To make remote work 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, you have to push hard, be intense, in the right places.
- 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 - we are agile and experimental, but there is no excuse for each iteration to not be as good as is reasonable under the circumstances. Don't waste an iteration.
- 𝟮𝗗 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿-𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 - it is easy to get people excited or focused in 3D real-life. To get people to pay attention via Zoom in 2D, you have be more animated, dynamic... almost a caricature of yourself.
- 𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 - loyalty and human bonds are easier to form in person. To achieve tight connections in remote teams, you have to expose a bit of your heart sometimes, to create a safe space for others to do the same. That can feel intense, but it is essential for creating a high-performance remote work culture.
- 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 - every startup is a miracle. The odds we have to overcome to just survive, let alone flourish, are mind-boggling. There is too much work to do, with insufficient resources and time to do it. It takes immense intense effort to get there.
Warren Buffett once said: “Intensity is the price of excellence.”
Do you agree?
💃🏻 Follow me Alicia Navarro for more stories and science about focus, flow, and the future of work.
♻️ Repost if you think it can help others in your network!
🖐️ Try FLOWN at flown.com, or talk to me about using FLOWN in your business or university go.flown.com/business

We have some huge news to share. It may not seem huge, but what it means is huge.
One of the most renowned wellness brands in the world - SoulCycle Inc. - is partnering with FLOWN, so their motivating and inspiring instructors will lead a schedule of our focus sessions. I’ve been describing FLOWN as a “SoulCycle for work”, and now we really will be a “SoulCycle as you work”.
Why is this significant?
When I first met up with inspiring SoulCycle CEO Evelyn Webster, I initially just wanted her mentorship as I built FLOWN out as an impactful consumer brand that injected ‘sparkle’ into people’s work day. To our mutual delight, we discovered immense overlap between our company’s respective missions: SoulCycle wants to inject ‘soul’ into people’s day, and they use the bike as the means for these physically and emotionally transformative experiences.
We realised that success at both work and work-outs relied upon similar ingredients:
- accountability – someone cares that you show up, that you don’t give up
- focus – an environment that encourages you to block out distractions
- community – a sense of being part of something bigger, that brings meaning and human connection
FLOWN does this for work; SoulCycle does this for exercise. What if we merged these worlds… what if we could work with the incredible talent from SoulCycle – instructors who turn every class into an inspiring event, who have loyal fans and sub-brands themselves – and train them to also lead FLOWN focus sessions, bringing that same spirit and magic of a cathartic exercise class, to a sprint of work?
If your favourite instructor already leads you to achieve great results on the bike, can you piggy-back off that, and let them lead you to achieve great work goals, beyond the bike. This bold and innovative move by SoulCycle should be an inspiration to many brands, looking to be a bigger and more impactful part of their customers’ lives.
And for anyone who hasn’t yet tried the exhilaration of a FLOWN focus session, now is the time! We’re still offering a 30-day free trial, so book in a few focus sessions with SoulCycle instructors (and our own incredible facilitators, of course!) and experience that feeling of ticking things off your to-do list, and feeling great at the end of your work day. Read more about the partnership and attend one of the SoulCycle-led focus sessions starting this Monday 26th June (it's free for first 30 days, no credit card required): https://lnkd.in/dEPWmg8e
