“You’ve had quite a unique career path…“
— Direct quote from an ECD, agency name withheld.
Facts 💯
While I was writing my Master’s thesis, I founded Moderne Hippies - a Dutch platform for adventurers, free spirits & bon vivants. The Moderne Hippies Markten events in Amsterdam played a key role in building its community: people who wanted to make a positive impact and live more consciously. To support the events, I managed a blogger collective of 20 content creators. At its peak, the website drew about 50,000 unique visitors per month.
With 22,000+ followers on Facebook and over 10,000 on Instagram, Moderne Hippies was well ahead of its time in exploring themes like freedom, adventure, and conscious living.
High-quality blogs written by and for people who believed there was a better way to live - that was the core of Moderne Hippies.
Moderne Hippies was sold in 2023.
My very first creation: Moderne Hippies
Moderne Hippies grew mainly through social media, back when it still wasn’t taken seriously in the marketing funnel. Soon enough, brands started asking me how on earth to do the same - and just like that, the rest of my career began. I started freelancing for major corporates… even a bank. Yes, the irony of a hippie working for a bank isn’t lost on me.
Meanwhile, I also did the YouTube thing for a couple of years.
My first book: Duurzaam Reizen
Because of my platforms Moderne Hippies and Professional Wild Child, I was asked several times to write a book. In 2019, I realized I wanted to explore what sustainable travel really means - and that idea became Duurzaam Reizen.
The book was published in 2020 by Kosmos Uitgevers.
Shadow Work School
In 2021 I founded the Shadow Work School; an online program focused on shadow work. Shadow work is a term used to describe the process of exploring and integrating the unconscious or hidden aspects of ourselves. It involves delving into our subconscious mind and acknowledging and working with the parts of ourselves that we may have repressed, ignored, or denied.
I again relied on social media to gain traction for the course. It just wasn’t my intention to become “the Instagram coach,” so after a few rounds I stepped away and decided to leave that part to the professionals.
(Next to ‘just’ being creative, it did make me realize I love guiding, coaching and managing.)
From blogging days to Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and now even TikTok - with a few viral hits along the way - I’ve now graduated to the honorable title of being a ‘social media granny.’
