1. Describe what you do in 3 words.

M: Help other companies (to get better in what they do).

2. Your hobby?

M: Field hockey, cycling, mountain biking, rowing, wintersports, ice skating, photography, music, gin collecting (and drinking), cooking.

3. Your background: where did you grow up, school, formation.

M: I grew up in Heemstede/Haarlem where I did my kindergarten, elementary and highschool, then I did the Hotel Management School in The Hague.

4. What is your daily trigger?

M: People are my daily trigger, for sure.

5. What do you think Design Management stands for?

M: Managing the image and reputation of a company through a well-chosen design strategy.

6. How important do you think design is in business?

M: I think it is crucial because it will give a company a personal signature, a “face”.

7. Coffee or tea? Beer or Wine?

M: Morning tea, then coffee, evening gin & tonic then wine….I do not drink beer!

8. Why do you think the world and all companies needs design for?

M: It is all about looks these days and a well chosen design gives a company a recognizable product.

9. Your biggest achievement yet?

M: Privately, that would be being happy and healthy with lots of family and friends around me. Business-wise, it would be that I made a true difference for companies I worked for and was able to change their direction in a positive and profitable manner.

10. If you could have one dinner with anyone in the world, who would it be and why?

M: Definitively with my mother, she died a year and a half ago and was a great person that went through a lot of terrible things during her life but was always positive and a loving and giving person!

11. The first 3 things you notice about a person in a meeting?

M: Openness, Looks and Participation.

12. What would you tell your 10-years-ago self?

M: Invest all you have in Apple now and then early 2016 change everything to bitcoins and sell by the end of 2017! Oh no that is very materialistic, I would say “keep open for change and new things!

13. If you wrote a book, what would be the title?

M: “It’s not easy being me and other life lessons.”

14. Five things you couldn’t live without.

M: My family, my bike(s), my camera, my health, sleep.

15. The most important quality of yours that brought you where you are right now.

M: I leave that to others to judge, but if you force me it would be my skill to connect with people.

16. I couldn’t have done it without…

M: Monique, kindergarten, elementary school, my neighborhood, high school and since as long as I can remember my wife- the love of my life and the absolute better side of me!