7 facts about Erik Mastenbroek

You might have heard it through the grapevine: Erik Mastenbroek recently joined the Blastic family to focus on developing the Dutch market. About time we sat down for a coffee, so I could ask him all my burning questions. Ready to get to know Erik? Here are 7 facts about him.

First things first: who is Erik? "I'm a very positive and energetic person. I love marketing and sales, sometimes a little too much: my friends get annoyed when I keep talking about work at birthday parties (laughs). I'm a proud dad of three boys, and I'm married to the love of my life, Anouk.

I'm also very creative. Not in the drawing sense: my creativity shows when I'm thinking about solutions. Sounds cliché, but it's true! I love a good challenge, too. When things get too easy, I get bored. Sometimes I stay in the background, but mostly you'll find me in the spotlight, where I feel most comfortable."

I've heard you're a bit of a chameleon? "Yes, I guess I am. I'm very interested in people: how they think, how they behave. To really understand your customers or colleagues, I believe you need to adapt to them as much as possible, not the other way around.

For the last ten years, I worked abroad. International sales and marketing teams bring together people with different skills, experiences and business cultures. Focusing on the mission while creating coherence was my top priority. As a marketing manager, you need to keep your own team happy, as well as your CFO and CEO. I've worked with people from Finland, Germany, France, England and other European countries, and it always inspired me. It's interesting to know why we do it, but also how we do it. So yes: stepping into the customer's shoes and understanding their needs is definitely chameleon behaviour (laughs)."

How did you get to know Blastic? "Five years ago, I worked with Blastic as marketing director at Dom Security: I was a customer. We were about to start a digital transformation that I had to lead, with an international team spread over Europe. We were looking for a partner, and I felt a huge amount of trust when we talked to Blastic.

That transformation was quite a learning curve: we expected the website to be built in 3 months (laughs). After that first website, we worked on many more together. We learned to trust each other, and that's something you never forget. That's why I'm happy and proud to join Blastic myself: a lovely bunch of people who are knowledgeable and trustworthy."

What are your ambitions for the Netherlands? "In the beginning, I'll focus on networking. The news of my appointment is spreading like wildfire, and people are already reaching out. The market is huge: many websites were built in an attic and, 10 years later, are still run by a small company of 2 or 3 people. We're approaching 2021, and companies are ready for a digital marketing platform. After all that networking, we'll start building and accelerating those platforms."

"What success means to me? Setting goals together and reaching them together. For Blastic in the Netherlands, I'll be happy to win 10 customers and to learn new things. We already have a tremendous amount of knowledge in Belgium that we can build on, but I'm sure we'll learn plenty of new things as well."

"I always dreamed of one solo trip: no plans, no company, just me, myself and I. During my sabbatical, I took the chance. I flew to Zurich, took the train to Austria, skied and walked around. After 5 days, it was time to go home. I'm a social animal after all (laughs).

I also spent a lot more time with my kids. For the first time, I took them to school and picked them up afterwards. I'm extremely lucky with my family: without my wonderful wife Anouk, I'd never have been able to work and travel the way I did. My kids never made me feel guilty about it either. When I told them about Blastic, they were thrilled. They understand I'm going back to work full-time. The only difference? Instead of staying in hotels across Europe, I'll be sleeping at home more often."

To wrap up, I asked Erik about his parents and his childhood. "I'm an only child from a working-class family. I'm very proud of my parents: they taught me a lot about work ethic. My father worked overtime so we could afford the fun things, like a holiday once a year. My motto is work hard, play hard: do you want a nice life? Then you'll have to work hard for it."

We hope you liked getting to know Erik. As he said, it's nice to talk about personal things before getting down to business.