Johan: “We met seven years ago in a club in Utrecht.”
Jolien: “When I saw Johan it was an instant hit, on my part. He was standing in the smoking area talking to another girl. Then I walked into the smoking room, even though I don’t smoke at all, and started talking. We danced together for the rest of the evening.”
Johan: “But I didn’t go home with her. You can’t know based on one evening whether you really like someone. So then we met again and then I knew.”
Jolien: “A year later we moved in together.”
Johan: “Here in Woerden, near my parents. I grew up here in a family of eleven children. I was the eleventh. Yes, my parents really liked children. My mother gave birth to her first child at the age of seventeen and had me at the age of 39. Motherhood suits her well. She is all love and care. And yes, all eleven children are perfectly healthy.”
Jolien: “Woerden is a town of fifty thousand inhabitants with city rights. We live in an old house from 1840. It is cold, but cozy. And you can enjoy nice walks in the area, which we often do.”
Working with animals
Johan: “I studied construction engineering. During my studies and afterwards I worked as a drone pilot for years. That was ten years ago, when drones were still new. I then gave demonstrations in shops and at fairs, especially in Germany. I then worked for the municipality for a while as a construction and environment supervisor. But I didn’t like that. I can’t stand it when my freedom is restricted. That’s why I became an entrepreneur. I am in e-commerce. First I sold baby supplies, now I have the company petlux.nl, which specializes in luxury cat supplies, such as a self-cleaning litter box. These are mainly items that make the owner’s life easy, such as automatic food and water bowls. Business is going well. I have also been employing someone for two years: my nephew Timo, my sister’s son.”
Jolien: “I sometimes also help out in the business. At first I did that more often, in addition to my own job, but now less often because I also want to follow my own path. I completed an MBO study in office management and work at the Chamber of Commerce in Utrecht. I help starting entrepreneurs with all the questions they may have. I either answer them myself or I refer them to someone who knows more about them. We also increasingly have young entrepreneurs, teenagers. They are also allowed to start a company in the Netherlands. The youngest I ever had was nine. Usually they do something with e-commerce, dropshipping, or coaching. Crypto courses, for example. I also train novice colleagues, for which I am regularly in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. I really enjoy my job.”
Johan: “Jolien is a bit more social than me.”
Jolien: “I enjoy having colleagues and going to work. Johan mainly works at home and at the business nearby. Then you see fewer different people.”
Johan: “My only colleague is my nephew and he looks a lot like me. But we have a lot of contact with customers. We do not work with AI chatbots, but really do it ourselves. Sometimes it is a lady who talks about her cat for 45 minutes and then leaves an enthusiastic review. We like that. We do not sell most of our products through our online store, but through old-fashioned, physical pet stores. We work with 250 stores across Europe, from Malta to Romania. It’s nice work. People who work with animals are often warm people. They have a heart for animals and their store.”
Jolien: “And we love cats. The nice thing is that they are stubborn, but also affectionate. We have two Bengals, Max and Lux, they are almost two. Sometimes they run around the house like crazy, sometimes they come to give a cup.”
Nice vacuuming
Johan: “Jolien cooks, I do the rest.”
Jolien: “I really enjoy cooking. When I come home from work I just love doing it.”
Johan: “It happened once in seven years of a relationship that I cooked.”
Jolien: “I love Italian, but I make everything. I like to always make something new. I make a lot of things myself with ingredients that we have left and sometimes I get a recipe from Instagram.”
Johan: “And so I do everything else. I am very organized, always have been. I don’t even give Jolien time to tidy up or clean anything. Vacuuming in the morning is something I enjoy doing. It calms me down.”
Jolien: “Sometimes he vacuums twice a day.”
Johan: “We don’t want children yet. I’m too busy with my business to be a good father.”
Jolien: “But I think we want it later.”
Johan: “We often work for the company in the evenings. Packing packages or unloading containers.”
Jolien: “You work sixty hours a week.”
Johan: “It doesn’t feel like work, it’s my hobby. I enjoy working on something that is my own and making people happy. When people are positive about your company, it gives you a good feeling. I don’t necessarily have to become financially independent, because I already know that I can’t sit still. So no, I’m not going to retire. I prefer a good company that is doing well.”