Dieter Eyckmans, the sweet and dedicated partner, who might work a little bit too hard? For the series ‘Our Colleagues through the eyes of their family,’ Job Student Isabeau learned more about Dieter by talking to the one who knows him best, his girlfriend Maria. And that without Dieter knowing a thing.

When asking Maria to describe Dieter in 3 words, her answer is clear: “Dieter is a calm, friendly and dedicated person. And he is someone who likes to work a lot. He always talks very passionate about his work”, with a laugh she adds: “It seems like I already know the colleagues of Dieter, while I almost never met them in person.”

We were of course wondering which of Dieters personal qualities Maria thinks reflect on his work. “Dieter is always a very engaged person, so when he says he will do something, he will for sure do it, he is a man of his word”. She lovingly added that Dieter really is very honest and sincere.

A dedicated colleague and boyfriend

Maria and Dieter got to know each other when they were still studying, so they go way back. “From the moment Dieter started at b.ignited, I could feel he was really sure about his choice and happy with it. He immediately became more grown up and took his job very seriously. Which is a good thing, of course”. Even when Maria talks about the work-life balance at b.ignited, it is clear that Dieter loves his job, “Even in his free time, Dieter likes to take his laptop and keep on working or learning new things, I myself like to work as well, so it’s a perfect match between us. Most of Dieters free time he spends on IT related things, but of course he likes to go out to have a beer as well”, tells Maria, and she is not lying, she even already knows the Dutch word for beer – ‘Pintje’. Which is funny, being Maria was raised Cyprus and living in Sweden.

New beginnings for Dieter and b.ignited

Maria understands the dedication of Dieter to b.ignited, and she also really likes the relaxed atmosphere that lives in our company. “I really liked meeting Dieter’s colleagues, they have a lot of inside jokes, and it really feels like they are a big group of friends instead of colleagues”.

And b.ignited never stands in the way of friends, and definitely not in the way of love. That’s why Dieter gets the opportunity to move to Sweden, where Maria lives, and (maybe) to start b.ignited Nordics. Maria’s thoughts on this are clear: “I LOVE IT that Dieter gets this opportunity. I’m the biggest fan of this idea, you can really feel that b.ignited gives chances to their people. The same with the leadership and entrepreneurship program, Dieter had the chance to follow”.

Twins at work

At b.ignited, one of our inside jokes is the resemblance between two of our colleagues: Dieter and Koen. They are in no way related, or they just don’t know it yet. Of course, we were curious if Maria saw any differences. “Dieter once showed me a picture of Koen and at first I thought it was a picture of himself”, Maria laughs, “But when I saw Koen in real life, I both saw the differences and the similarities”.

After this talk with Maria we got an even better understanding of the person Dieter is. We could already tell that he was very dedicated to his work and that he’s a sweet and calm person. Nice to know that he’s the same at work as at home. We don’t want to see him go, but we wish him all the best in Sweden, and we can’t wait to visit our department in the Nordics.