{"id":806,"date":"2017-01-27T16:42:17","date_gmt":"2017-01-27T15:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/?p=65353\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:05","slug":"iemand-zien-lopen-op-mijn-schoenen-is-zo-gaaf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/01\/27\/iemand-zien-lopen-op-mijn-schoenen-is-zo-gaaf\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s amazing to see someone walking in my shoes\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Where do Erasmus University students end up? In this series, graduates speak about their career path and their lives: what have they learned? Along the way they\u2019ll provide you with tips about the dos and don\u2019ts when building a career.<\/p>\n\t

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Kevin van Wijk<\/a>\u00a0(33)<\/p>\n

Study:<\/strong>\u00a0Pre-master Business Administration, master Entrepreneurship & New Business Venturing (2006-2008)<\/p>\n

Current job:<\/strong>\u00a0Owner of the Rotterdam footwear brand Vico<\/a> since 2012; a hybrid of a sneaker and a formal shoe. The name comes from vicus<\/em>, which means \u2018street\u2019 or \u2018neighbourhood\u2019. Each new pair of shoes is named after a neighbourhood or street. \u201cI don\u2019t wear any other kind of shoe except for football boots. I have 18 pairs in my closet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Career path:<\/strong>\u00a0After graduation Kevin travelled regularly to China, Vietnam or Indonesia as a product manager for the footwear company Premium Inc. That\u2019s how he learned about the world of footwear. He left after two years and started Vico with a partner. Their collaboration was unsuccessful and when Vico went bankrupt, Kevin just couldn\u2019t abandon his company, so he bought it back from the receiver.<\/p>\n

Offering a shoe entirely produced in Europe, he chose a very specific niche. This was a good move as turnover grew in 2016. Some of his customers even own 15 pairs.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

\u201cI always wanted to be the first to get a close look whenever a friend got a new pair of football boots. I was only six, but even then I was obsessed with the idea of how shoes are made. As an adolescent that led to an endless quest for the first-rate sneaker. Every pair I\u2019ve ever bought is stored in a warehouse. I don\u2019t dare throw them away because that one type of material could be the one that inspires me to come up with a new model.<\/p>\n

Even now the first thing I do when I see someone is look at their shoes, and then the face. I often travel to Porto where our shoes are made and when I\u2019m at Schiphol Airport I\u2019m always looking at the ground to see shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sinds<\/figure><\/div>

Owning a business is relative<\/strong>
\n\u201cI used to spend the entire week on Vico-related work, but I now take Sundays off to spend with my family. Our relaunch taught me that owning a business is relative. We\u2019re not afraid to choose for producing a limited quantity of shoes made of good-quality Italian leather. These are small steps, but it still means growth, even if it\u2019s slower-paced growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I decided on this goal I made a step-by-step plan to realise it. Working systematically like this is something I learned during my master\u2019s programme, where I also learned how to give corporate presentations. At the university you clock a lot of hours on presentations\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be disillusioned<\/strong>
\n\u201cBy now I know what I\u2019m good at and what would be better if I outsource it. Letting things go is hard for me because I\u2019m a perfectionist, but luckily deadlines force me to make decisions. Setbacks and falling flat on your face can make things more difficult, but the trick is no to let yourself become disillusioned.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yoga and indoor football<\/strong>
\n\u201cI was already interested in how other entrepreneurs run their businesses when I was at university. For inspiration I preferred to interview creative business owners rather than accountants. I also got tips from stories told by guest speakers, such as \u2018read for an hour every day so you\u2019re occupied with something else besides your business\u2019. I manage to do that from time to time, preferably with books where I can learn something. For relaxation I play indoor football and practice yoga.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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