Rene: “We are both so busy that magazines stay in our cellophane for a very long time. We read newspapers on the day itself, you know.”
Annelies: „On the other hand, our rush hour is largely behind us because for a few years now we are no longer in the split between parents, work, social things and children. Our parents have passed away and the children are 19 and 20, so they are more or less taking care of themselves.”
Rene: „My profession is business developer and I am busy with WeMeet, a rental platform for meeting locations in social heritage. If you are looking for a space, you can see what is available for rent on WeMeet. For example, the Protestant Municipality of Amsterdam rents out churches. But castles, museums, galleries, theaters and private individuals also rent out spaces. With that income, heritage can be maintained.”
Annelies: „I have a PR and communication agency, Fair Focus, that helps innovative scale-ups with their communication. I create newsletters, blogs, post on LinkedIn and organize events for my clients, mainly tech companies. Very varied and useful, because those people know a lot, but they usually don’t understand communication and PR.”
Rene: “WeMeet was founded in 2018, a rather unfortunate timing. When corona came, events stopped and there were almost no more live meetings. But now the rental is going well again, although we are looking for an extra investor.”
Annelies: “I got busier because of corona, because I had to fire my permanent employees. These were uncertain times for my clients, who were sometimes unable to find investors. No financial support meant no money for PR. Actually, it’s fine on my own, but it’s a lot of work.”
Rene: „I still spend about 20 hours a week in WeMeet, of which I am co-owner. I get shares as a reward for my work. I get my income from other business development projects and interim jobs. For example, I created an e-health platform for a Norwegian company. It is designed and built in Ukraine. I was in an online meeting with colleagues in Kiev this morning.”
Annelies: “All in all, we are both involved in social businesses. Not necessarily companies that are green and sustainable, but…”
Rene: “…that focus on things that matter.”
Pieterpad
Rene: “We are not people who work from 9 to 5. That will be because we are not employed.”
Annelies: „Before 9 o’clock and after 5 o’clock we also answer our business telephones. You win customers that way.”
Rene“As a result, it will always be rush hour with us.”
Annelies: “But that is also because both the children and we are not very keen on the clock. We have a slightly chaotic, but cozy household.”
Rene: “You never know when the kids will be home and join us for dinner.”
Annelies: “Our dog Chester makes sure we spend a lot of time outside. We have to walk with him 10 kilometers a day, otherwise he will eat shoes. René walks around the Amsterdamse Bos with him three times a week. And together with Chester we walked the Pieterpad. We are now working on the Marskramerpad. So nice, all those different landscapes…”
Rene: “On weekends people regularly come to eat. I love cooking.”
Annelies: „René does not go to the supermarket, but to the greengrocer, the butcher, the cheese shop, so that also takes a lot of time. We do everything on foot, by bike or by metro, because we got rid of our car two years ago. We live close to the North-South line. The funny thing is that we have been grumbling for years about the arrival of that metro line and are now major users.”
Rene: “In the years when the kids went to hockey and stay overnight, we had an old Volvo station. But we started to use it less and less and when it broke, we thought we would try it without a car.”
Annelies: “It also has something to do with the zeitgeist. And with decluttering.”
Rene: “And with the fact that we live in the heart of Amsterdam in a street with two shared cars.”
Sunny place
Rene: “We recently had all the woodwork on the back of our house renewed. That was a huge expense, but other than that we don’t spend that much.”
Annelies: “I have a wardrobe that offers enough for the next three hundred years. So I don’t have to spend money on clothes.”
Rene: “We have not arranged our pension extremely well. I have built something up, Annelies has not – she has been an independent entrepreneur since 1994. We do have some usury policies, but I don’t know whether they will pay off.”
Annelies: “We’ve talked about stopping work. But for now, we still really enjoy our work.”
Rene: “I think you’ll quickly get dumped if you stop. I wouldn’t know what to do all day. Drinking wine on a costa? You can of course sell your house and start working elsewhere. Or going to work in the winter from a sunny place.”
Annelies: „Yes, renting a house abroad or sharing it with others, that is a plan for the future. I find it difficult to take a holiday now that I run Fair Focus on my own. I actually work constantly. But of course we could also do that in another place…”
In Rush Hour, couples and singles tell how they combine work and private life. Participate? Mail to [email protected]
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of May 7, 2022