I think we all share an important role when it comes to this. Everyone brings their own atmosphere to the group and workplace. It might sound politically correct, but I am being genuine. Generally we’re all in a good mood together, we have a nice time together. One is a bit more of a clown and the other is more of a dog (inside joke). Everyone brings their their own kinda good vibes.

I went to the Academy of Arts and was looking for an internship and already knew Sam. I wanted to learn how to be an entrepreneur so I found Sam and his business to be a good match. I started my internship without the role of a shoemaker and no intention of becoming one, but from one moment to the next I fell in love with it (“You fell in love with Sam?” is being asked in the background. “Uhm, yea sure. Kidding, I mean shoemaking ofcourse”).

And yea, that’s how I ended up staying here, through my internship like most of us.

I think recently the new stance we build for the Sneakerness event. Before this it was displayed on a OSB plate, but this time made a stance with beautiful pillars that were a nice decoration. This was a real game changer. Each year we join the Sneakerness event we work on a better display of the sneakers, because we share our input as a team and try to come up with new things. I’m also very proud of the 250+ shoes I was able to produce here.

I’m also an artist apart from being a shoemaker so of course I spend my time on making art. I also enjoy soccer a lot. On saturdays I wake up early to go out and play a soccer match. I’d love to make more shoes in my personal time, but unfortunately I don’t have enough time for this.

Stepping out of my comfort zone. I was always used to ideas just coming to me. There were enough ideas, but the execution was a bit lacking ‘cause of procrastination. I think I’ve learned a bit from Sam to really take action when you have an idea. I have improved most when it comes to this part of working.