Jesse: “I have two types of friends: a group that also works in the media and lives the same life as us. And a group with a completely different life: they live in rooms and live student life to the fullest. They are sometimes a bit impressed by us, with our house and two cars in front of the door.”
Jelle: “But I don’t think they’re really surprised by it either. We were both ambitious from a young age. We knew what we wanted and we went for it. When we had both been working for a while, we liked having a little more security. After a two-year search, we were able to buy a house here in Warnsveld.”
Jesse: “Now we indeed have the house-tree-little story fairly complete. We realize that it is different from the average 25-year-old. Of course, it is not self-evident that we could already buy a house now.”
Jelle: “It’s nice to have your own house.”
Jesse: “And we might as well drive to the other side of Amsterdam if we want to go out. We can combine both lives.”
Holy day off
Jesse: “Our schedules are completely different and we both do a lot of work together. I will try to explain it in a somewhat clear manner. Starting with Monday: that is our sacred day off.”
Jelle: “We introduced this when we discovered that we actually worked every day of the week. Now that Jesse has been working every weekend for three years, Monday has become our day off. With the phones on silent and the laptops closed. We also had to learn that, because the rest of the world is of course at work on Mondays. In the meantime, everyone knows that we will not be available.”
Jesse: “On Tuesday morning we will have breakfast together at Bakker Bart in Zutphen; that has become a tradition. When we finish the croissants, the working week starts.”
Jelle: “I am employed three days a week at a vocational school in Arnhem. There I teach the training to become a media editor. I also work as a freelancer for one or two days on the radio programs News and Co and With a view to tomorrow. I often have a night shift on Saturdays, where I read the NOS news on all channels. Then I start at 11 p.m. and finish at 6:30 a.m.”
Jesse: “I used to make radio at night, but I can’t cope with those changing times. Jelle is much less bothered by that.”
Jelle: “Well, I don’t know how to do it either. I always sleep like a log.”
Jesse: “My week first consists of a three-day block of work for our own audio company, with which we make podcasts and radio programs. The weekend is for BNNVARA, then I will make the program together with Jeroen van Inkel Ringing scumbag on NPO Radio 2. I always said: I will never make radio in the morning on the weekend. But now I haven’t had a weekend for three years, haha. That says something about how nice it is with Jeroen. We really clicked from the start. It does mean that I have gone to bed at 8pm every Friday and Saturday for the past three years. Fortunately, that is now changing, because with Rinkeldekinkel we have moved to a later time slot. So the alarm will be set three hours later. Delicious!”
Jelle: “It is always the magic of radio that drives us and that we feel strongly. That can also be a pitfall. We understand each other’s passion for the work so well that you can always understand it if someone wants to let out a jingle or takes on that one night shift job.”
Jesse: “Sometimes I think about what it would be like to have your weekend free. Now I miss birthdays or outings quite regularly.”
Jelle: “But that also seems boring to me. I don’t often think: I wish I had more days off. And it also has advantages: if we want to go to the zoo on our Monday off, for example, it is wonderfully quiet!”
Luxury for our age
Jesse: “We have divided the tasks well in house. Or to be honest: largely outsourced to a cleaning lady.”
Jelle: “That sounds luxurious, for our age. Although we also do things ourselves, you know. For example, the kitchen is my domain.”
Jesse: “My father also really enjoys cooking. The two compete against each other to see who has cooked the best or most beautiful.”
Jelle: “Then I make a huge tapas board of one meter, for example. Jesse’s father is more from the Asian angle. His parents live a village away and we eat together every Thursday and play games. Others may think: do you want to go to your in-laws every week? But it’s always super fun.”
Jesse: “It almost feels more like friends than parents. It’s nice that they live so close.”
Jelle: “We are both from here and we have not considered moving closer to Hilversum.”
Jesse: “That car ride home from Hilversum is also a nice way to leave that strange, hyped-up media world behind you. As soon as I drive over the IJssel on the A1 near Deventer, I think: hey, back home.”
Jelle: “In news reports, my NOS colleagues often explicitly add that the place names are in the Achterhoek or in Limburg. That is why I take extra care to also mention that it is North Holland in a village like Velserbroek. I am proud to be an ambassador of the non-Randstad.”