What do you do at Wieni?
I am part of the Craftzing company, but I take up a full-time role within Wieni as a product owner or product manager for Play Media. For all of their digital products made by Wieni, I am the spokesperson. I make sure that there is a well managed backlog, where all issues are nicely prioritized, and that everything is delivered on time.
This means I answer a lot of questions on all types of issues on a daily basis from the partner. With the internal team we have daily standups to manage the progress and I act as a validator when testing their work before it goes to Play Media. I also coordinate the deployments to make sure that all changes and new features go live as smoothly as possible with as minimal an impact for the end user as possible.
I like working with Play Media, because you can really see the impact of the products you are creating. And generating impact is something that I really value in my work.
What did you do before you joined Wieni?
Before my role at Wieni I worked for other partners at Craftzing, like Telenet. Which is a very similar role and also why they matched me with Wieni.
Prior to Craftzing, I worked at a company called Sitecore where I was active as a product owner. They have a Digital Asset Manager and I was responsible for the image and video processing for this tool.
Even before that I was part of The Master Labs, an IT company in Kontich, where I first got into contact with technical analysis. That is also where I grew into the Product Owner role.
What are the biggest similarities and differences between Wieni and Craftzing according to you?
I think the atmosphere in both companies is very similar. They both have a very pleasant and friendly way of working, they offer a lot of flexibility in how and where you work. The cultures are very close to one another, which made for an easy transition.
I guess this is also part of why the joining forces of both companies is such a good match. A lot of similarities and a good compatibility. They add to each other.
The biggest differences between Craftzing and Wieni are in my opinion the remote first approach and the international mindset at Wieni.
Remote first really allows you to plan your work according to your private appointments,... It allows you to have a lot of freedom. At Craftzing we have a lot of flexibility as well, but it is still quite different.
The international mindset at Wieni comes from English as the main communication language between the colleagues. It adds a different vibe that makes them different from Craftzing.
What is your favorite past-time outside of work?
I am very much into sports. Two years ago I started doing triathlons.
A lot of my friends are very sporty and they draw you in. It started with a bike during covid, and then evolved into triathlons. I started with a quarter-triathlon and am now training for half distance triathlons. Full triathlons are probably on the list for the future as well.
I enjoy the trainings and the competitive aspect of it. Driving myself to get better, faster,... is really my thing.
Sometimes you push yourself too hard and you meet your limits. At the beginning of the year I injured my foot from overtraining and had to take a two month break from running. It happens, you learn from it, and then you start again.
I also take surf lessons and go skiing. I would like to start freestyle skiing as well, but to be honest - my time is limited and I have to start making choices.
Apart from sports I still enjoy going to bars like in my student years. I also really enjoy discovering new restaurants and cuisines.
With my friends we organize a dinner party once a month where we pick a random country and you then have to make a dish from that specific country. Next week it is my turn and I am cooking a dish from Barbados. I need a special vegetable called okra for this, and I cannot find it anywhere. ChatGPT to the rescue - it said only a local farmer can help me with that.
What is still on your bucketlist?
Take the lessons for freestyle skiing and be able to do a backflip.
I would really like to go skydiving once.
And visiting Japan, South-Africa and Mexico.
Also, space travel seems nice. I would like to see the moon. But that remains a dream for now.