What did you study?
Romance languages and literatures.
Fun fact 1: I was in the very last year that was able to take that study path!
Fun fact 2: For the sake of completeness, I should really add ‘and Latin’. Thanks to the hours of Latin I studied, I could teach Latin in the lower level of secondary school. But I think it’s better for everyone if I don’t do that.
What did you do in previous jobs?
I have always been a consultant for communications agencies: first for a few years at a major international agency, and now I’ve been at Outsource Communications, – Blue Lines’ sister company – for 11 years.
How did you end up at Blue Lines?
Blue Lines and Outsource have been working closely together for several years already. When we heard that Sofie (co-founder of Blue Lines) wanted to take a new direction, we had a chat with her and Stef and agreed to take over her part of the company and the associated tasks. Et voilà: a year on and Stef has a new partner in crime!
What does a day in the life of a managing director look like?
That’s a difficult question, because no two days are the same. My combined management roles at Blue Lines, VCA and Outsource Communications, plus the tasks I take on as a senior consultant for Outsource, mean that my schedule is – to put it mildly – unpredictable.
What’s your greatest challenge?
Saying ‘no’. I suffer from a mild form of FOMO when it comes to professional projects or challenges. Although I have to say that the pandemic taught me to set my boundaries a little more firmly.
What would you miss most about your job if you ever made a career change?
My colleagues. The interesting projects. Learning something new every day. Helping build great businesses. Being surrounded by language freaks. The clients. The challenge. Quite a lot in fact!
What are your hobbies and interests?
Reading, eating, travelling. And to compensate for all the eating: running and playing tennis.
What’s your creative outlet?
I still write a lot for clients myself, partly because this lets me express my creative side.
Which profession would not give you satisfaction?
Another difficult question! I think that I would always look for ways in which to derive energy and satisfaction from my work. I think I would probably find that more difficult in a very repetitive and restrictive job because I’m now used to the complete opposite.
Do you have your own motto in life?
I always try to keep in mind the idea that you’re in control of your own life. There are many better and more eloquent ways to express that, but that’s what it boils down to.
What is still on your bucket list?
Taking a long break for a road trip, although I don’t know where yet.
Say you move to a desert island and you can only take one thing with you. What would you choose?
I would buy an e-reader so that I could take lots and lots of books with me. Or is that cheating?