While you can find our entire team on this website, we think those short biographies don’t do them justice. This month’s colleague in the spotlight: Kevin Beumer!
What did you do before you joined Aexus?
“As part of my studies, business administration at the Hogeschool Arnhem Nijmegen, I had to do an internship. At Siemens, I researched and wrote a case study about the implementation of a project management tool. They were happy with the outcome and allowed me to stay and implement the tool. I stuck around at Siemens, eventually working at their Dutch head office in The Hague. For my final internship, I went to their China branch. I stayed there for six months, before returning to the Netherlands.”
But you weren’t finished studying yet.
“No, I wanted to broaden my horizon further, so I decided to study Business Law. When I got my Master’s degree, I first did some legal work, in insurance amongst others. But it turned out not to be what I was looking for; I was behind a desk all day, while I get a lot of energy from client interaction. I decided to travel, in order to find out what I really wanted to do.”
Where did you go?
“Like everyone, I started in Asia. After travelling around for 5 or 6 weeks, I ran into my girlfriend, who was not yet my girlfriend at the time. We travelled together for a while and went our separate ways before deciding we wanted to see each other again. We met in the middle, which was Malaysia at the time, but did not want to return to the Netherlands yet. My girlfriend is Dutch as well and was living in Tilburg before she started traveling. So to Australia we went, doing all sorts of jobs. Only when I recruited new Uber chauffeurs, receiving a commission for each new hire, did the pieces fall into place. When the time came to renew our visas, we decided to travel for a little while, visiting Indonesia and India, but found we were tired of traveling. We decided to go back home, and I started looking for a job in sales.”
Which was not at Aexus yet?
“No, I started at a recruiting agency, working in the Arnhem region. I liked the work, but when we bought a house in Tilburg, I switched offices. Their way of working was a little different, and the job did not really align with my long-term plans. I already knew about Aexus and had connected with Marieke Lamers on LinkedIn. I have always found new technology and innovation interesting, because it allows us to be better at our jobs, streamlines business processes. Marieke approached me, because as it turns out they were looking for Business Development Managers.”
What were your first impressions?
“I immediately felt right at home. The talks, first with Koen, then with Eric and Roel, were really relaxed. There is a lot of warmth within the organization, people really get along with one another.”
What do you like most about your job?
“That the work is really unique: managing three or four partners, working with new technology, and talking to people from many different cultures – all on the same day. I also like that there is a lot of space: I originally only did lead generation for one of my partners, but I started joining their meetings as well. I have now become some their de facto strategic advisor, and our relationship is really friendly.”
What does a standard day at work look like?
“I have to say I very much like the ‘new normal’. I spend a lot less time on the road, driving to appointments. I would like for exploratory meetings to stay digital forever. I think it is much more efficient and saves everyone a lot of time. Nowadays, I can easily prepare for 7 or 8 meetings per week, while at the same time making sure I am getting new ones, keeping the ‘pipeline’ filled, as they say.”
Do you have plans for the future?
“At some point, I’d like to run my own team. Within Aexus, but ideally from a foreign country. I definitely wouldn’t mind better weather all year round!”
