18123_NSFM-mei-2021_Guts_Totaal_UK_1_Spreads_LR

guts
stories
Desley Cremers
Commercial
talent
Aartsen Venlo.
Tell us about your
parents’ business.
My parents have been running a cultural centre
and restaurant in Tegelen for almost 25 years.
It is called De Haandert. Or ‘The Temple’, as my
mum likes to call it. They do events for all ages
and every form of art and culture, for groups
ranging from 10 to 2,450 people. The centre has
two halls, a foyer, conference rooms and a music
school. There are spaces for Carnival events,
weddings, birthdays and concerts from classical
music to hard rock and hardstyle. De Haandert
also has its own choral, theatre, concert band and
other groups that rehearse there every week.
You decided not to go into the
family business. Why?
I grew up helping out at De Haandert and used to
think I wanted to take over the business someday.
But when I was thinking about what to study,
doubts began to surface. I really enjoyed marketing
and sales. Then I noticed that restaurant work
coincides with times my friends were going out and
having fun. What's more, my parents run the business
together, but what if I get a girlfriend who’s not into
that? All those things added up were reason enough
not to take over the business.
How did your family
take it?
My family has been really cool about it.
They see I'm in my element and like that
I tell them about experiences I'm having
at Aartsen. It makes them happy,
which makes me happy. I have no regrets
about choosing Aartsen. There are still
loads of opportunities for me to develop
myself and continue growing.
If you ever do have
second thoughts,
could you go back?
I think I'd be lying if I said no. If I genuinely
wanted to, there would always be room to
talk about maybe taking over the business.
But I had the guts not to take the familiar
path, to go down a new one, and I still
stand by that choice to this day.
After graduating, I had several jobs, but nothing I was
really excited about. Untill Tim Huberts (Aartsen Venlo)
connected me with Aartsen. That was the ideal next
step in my career. I realised early on that the restaurant
business mentality I knew so well – the long hours,
working hard and especially a talk-is-cheap work ethic –
also apply here.
nonstop
fresh/ 35