Koen Van Belle, a hardworking dad of two. He is the reason behind the series “Our Colleagues through the eyes of their family’. When Isabeau, a job student, first started working for b.ignited she was asked to write a portrait of Patrick, the Managing Partner of b.ignited who is also her dad. Now, for her second time at b.ignited, she’s doing portraits of the colleagues, without them knowing anything about it. For Koen, she contacted his spouse Julie, who was more than eager to tell us a bit more about the person Koen is behind the b.ignited scenes…

Being married since 2013 and raising two kids together, six and one-year-old, Julie is the perfect person to have all the insights on Koen. When asking her how she would describe him, she didn’t have to think twice and immediately takes of: “Koen has high expectations, especially for himself. He will always set a high bar. Luckily, he is also very helpful, always eager to learn and certainly loyal. A great example of his loyalty reflects perfectly in his work. When his colleagues don’t find the time for a project or task, Koen will always offer to help or do it himself, even if he doesn’t have the time for it. Because it needs to be done, for the good of the company.”

Julie is also sure that being demanding is a characteristic that definitely comes back in his workplace, yet seen positively. He will always do his best to motivate and challenge others, which shows his helpful side. Although that motivation sometimes consists of unpleasant prospects with a cactus…

“The work-life balance at b.ignited is a very good mix. They are very flexible with hours and that way people can arrange their work. Which is a big plus with two kids at home. Of course, it is up to Koen to do something with this flexibility, but he is so committed to his work he has difficulties of letting it go when he is at home”, smiles Julie.

IT at work and at home

In his free time, he enjoys learning new things, Julie told us he is very eager to learn: “Koen will always do his best to develop himself and try to learn as much as possible. But beside that, he likes to game with his friends and play board games”.

That Koen loves his job, reflects in everything he does for b.ignited. And that is something that Julie notices as well when she joined us for one of our afterwork events: “Koen is really enjoying the events at b.ignited, I feel he is really himself at those events and probably at work as well,” tells Julie, “It is fun to see and hear how there is such a loose and relaxed atmosphere”.

Quitting b.ignited, but finding the right way back

A while ago, Koen left b.ignited. But about a year later, he came back. “Koen was not at all happy at his new job, I even got a bit worried about him. So I’m really happy he returned to b.ignited, I could feel his mood change immediately”.

Twins at Work

At b.ignited we sometimes laugh with the resemblances between Koen and Dieter, they really look alike, but are not at all related. Or at least they don’t know it yet. And Julie also noticed this: “Koen told me he followed a course and that Dieter had to follow the same course the week after that. The teacher asked Dieter why he was back, clearly thinking he was Koen. But luckily, I can tell them apart”, Julie laughs.

Hearing all this from Koen’s partner is not a big shock to us. Koen really is the same person at work than he is at home. And that’s a good thing. We are happy that he left us, this way he knows that nowhere is better than at b.ignited. And now, we never want to see him go again!