It's International Men’s Day and I think that’s the perfect opportunity to celebrate the men behind TopVintage! As you probably know TopVintage is created & powered by women, but what is that like for our male colleagues? To show our appreciation (and to get all the juicy details of course ;-)), I interviewed five of them. Keep on reading to meet some of the men behind TopVintage! 

Let’s meet Patrick

What is your job at TopVintage?

If you're reading this, you've probably at some point received a TopVintage e-mail. Or as we like to call it: the love letter <3. Together with my colleagues Auke, Zoï and Corine, I work on writing the most beautiful love letters for you every day. My role in this is managing the planning and making structural improvements to the love letters.

A lot has already been done, but there is always room for further improvement. Do you have any tips? Let us know! We <3 getting feedback from our customers. You can send your feedback to [email protected]. Don't have any feedback, but your life just isn’t complete without sending me a lovely message? Then please do! But only nice messages though! ;-) 

What does a typical day at the office look like for you?

When I think of TopVintage, I think of vlaai (the traditional sweet pies from the Limburg region) & “sjnacks” (the Limburgian version of the word ‘snack’). A typical day at the TopVintage office just isn’t complete without these components. Thanks to Corine we even have a ‘sjnack-corner’: an area in the office specifically designated for sweets, cakes and chocolate. My favourite place to be <3.

As a man, what is it like for you to work at a female-driven company? 

To sum it up in one word: special. An answer that triggers you to keep reading, because ‘special’ can mean several things. Oh yes, you are talking to a real marketer ;).

TopVintage is a real female-driven company with a sprinkling of male influence here and there and that works just fine for me. However, things can be hard for me sometimes. Being a man, I would have to use the word ‘special’ again to describe some of the topics that come up. Topics that I suspect are usually only discussed in female company and I think you can imagine the topics that I’m referring to. Even topics that make you go ‘surely they won’t be talking about that’… Oh yes! 

But hey, I wouldn’t be me if I hadn’t figured out how to turn this to my advantage. Everything I learn here, goes home with me. A great example: By my count, eight TopVintage babies were born over the past three years. Can you imagine how much I am learning from these ladies? And all that info will come in handy soon, since I am about to become a dad for the first time. 

But despite all those upsides, there are also some downsides, namely, Outfits! You do need to look good, of course! Luckily you don’t have to wear a suit, but a lot of people within the organisation keep an eagle eye on what you are wearing. That’s why I always try to look fashionable. And that brings me to the next downside: the outfit struggles of my co-workers: 

·         What should I wear?

·         What are you wearing to the party?

What differences do you see with companies where women don’t make up the majority? 

Every company is different and you notice that in the workplace too. I’ve worked at a company that could be described as a ‘typical male-dominated environment’. I really enjoyed working there as well, but there the main focus was work, productivity, achieving goals and climbing up the corporate ladder. That sounds fine in itself, but it was very individualistic. So if you ask me, I prefer working at a company like TopVintage.

What is your funniest workplace story? 

There are so many fun moments at TopVintage. I can’t really tell you the funniest thing I have experienced in the past few years off the top of my head, but I can share my most recent funny story. It actually relates to this blog. I struggled with my answer to the question “what are the downsides of working at a female-driven company?” So I figured I would ask my lifelines: Ruiz (from Finance) & Lester (from IT). But before they could answer my question, a (female) colleague piped up: “OUTFITS, Patrick. OUTFITS!”


Let’s meet Maurice

What is your job at TopVintage?

My formal position comes with the fancy job title of ‘Managing Director’, but really I'm kind of a jack-of-all-trades. In my job I get to get involved with and lend a helping hand to every team within the organisation, be it logistics, e-commerce, IT or finance. What I like best about my job is thinking about the future. What is our strategy going to be and what actions do we need to take to remain successful? And then come up with the answers to these questions together with our team leaders, our teams and our employees.  

What does a typical day at the office look like for you? 

A day at the office at TopVintage equals ‘never a dull moment’, it’s very varied and my schedule is always packed. Navigating all those women. Discussions with different teams and people, meetings with third parties like for example our bank, making a PowerPoint presentation or doing some budget planning, thinking about the business challenges awaiting us and last but not least figuring out how to ensure that the people working within the company continue to be Happy People. In other words, plenty of questions and challenges that need to be dealt with on a daily basis.  

As a man, what is it like for you to work at a female-driven company?

The dynamic of working at a female-driven company is totally different from the dynamic at a male-dominated workplace. You don’t have to deal with those high levels of testosterone, with men with big egos or men that want to be the boss. Within the female-driven environment of TopVintage an atmosphere is created in the workspace that makes women feel safe, there is a sense of taking care of each other. The focus is more on acting in the team interest  than on acting in self-interest and there is also a bigger focus on long term instead of short term. Creativity and feelings are far more important factors in achieving success than judging someone on results. If you run your business in the way described above, success will come almost naturally.

There is a part of me that would not want it any other way, in other words more women at the helm in an organisation setting an example to men. There is still a lot that men can learn from women! 

What is your funniest workplace story? 

There is my birthday when my entire office was filled with birthday decorations, confetti and a photoshopped picture of my bare chest without chest hairs (they got that wrong ;) ) that was put up all over the building.

Or the time when I came back to the office after my hometown of Valkenburg had been flooded and there was a massive pile of sweets and chocolate on my desk, my colleagues’ way of giving me some comfort and support.

And then there is Secret Santa with all the references to the copious amounts of chocolate and cake that I eat. Who, me?? 


Let’s meet Raymond

What does a typical day at the office look like for you?

My TopVintage day starts and ends at home… that’s what happens if your wife works at the same company :)

As team leader of the logistics team my day starts while I am still at home. While I’m having my morning coffee I get behind my laptop to check the number of orders that have been placed and then put those orders through to the handheld scanners. This way everything is good to go the minute we walk in. If I waited to turn on the computer until I got to work it would just be a waste of time. 

I arrive at work somewhere between 8 and 8:15 am and once I get in I might have to make some last minute changes to the work schedule due to people calling in sick. This is followed by a brief informal meeting with the assistant team leaders of the inbound, outbound and returns department. Then there are the administrative tasks that need doing and of course, I also check in with the different departments within logistics to see how things are going and if there are any special wishes, needs or comments. Oh and I shouldn’t forget to mention that hardly a day goes by without there being some kind of meeting.  

There is always plenty to do, so time flies while I’m at work. Then I go home but work is not quite finished yet… it continues over dinner. We talk about our day, who has experienced what, we share bits of news or something hilarious that’s happened. We always have something TopVintage-related to talk about at dinner.

As a man, what is it like for you to work at a female-driven company?

To me one of the big benefits is the makeup of the logistics team. It's not just nice to see the differences but it's also great to work in such a diverse team. All age groups (18-65), all educational backgrounds (from secondary vocational education to higher professional education) and all types of employment (trainees, zero-hours contracts, part-time and full-time) are represented within the team. 

But it isn’t all rainbows and unicorns. Within logistics, women tend to be quite opinionated about others and quick to judge which can cause some awkward situations but there has never been anything that I haven’t been able to resolve.  Men can argue and call each other names at work and at the end of the day go out and have a beer together, with women the situation is usually more delicate. 

What is your funniest workplace story? 

Oh there have been so many funny moments, like that time when we completely wrapped a colleague’s car in foil. Or hid someone’s bike so at the end of the day they were unsure whether they even rode their bike to work and never caught on. It’s also fun to hide behind a rack in the warehouse and then gently tap someone with a broomstick so they become slightly paranoid and tell you that they felt 'something' when walking along the corridors. 


Let’s meet Ruiz

What is your job at TopVintage?

My job title is financial controller. I am responsible for the correctness, completeness and timeliness of the financial figures. Among other things, I manage all money flows within Topvintage, I prepare reports and I’m always at hand to answer questions from within the organisation.

What does a typical day at the office look like for you?

I start my working day with a cup of hot coffee. And while I’m sipping my coffee, I start up my computer and check my e-mails. I also look at the previous day’s result and process customer payments. I check the completion of orders and identify any omissions or inaccuracies. I then report those back to the different departments. Throughout the day a number of colleagues will usually stop by my office with all kinds of questions. For example questions regarding budgets or expenses claimed or maybe just to ask how my day is going.

As a man, what is it like for you to work at a female-driven company?

Overall women are much more thoughtful than men are. One of the best times at the office is when it’s somebody’s birthday or when for example a co-worker and their partner have moved in together. Their entire office is decorated and they are given some thoughtful gifts. Women are also less selfish than men. The team interest comes first and this makes for a very pleasant atmosphere at work. Besides, as a man in a female-dominated company, you never have to queue for the toilet. But of course, everything has its pros and cons and here is one downside: you will definitely be told if your shoes don’t match the rest of your outfit… But that’s really the only downside I can think of.  

What is your funniest workplace story? 

Too many to mention really but it’s still special to me that when I come to work on my birthday my entire workspace is wrapped in gift wrapping paper. The chair, the desk, the screens, the keyboard, the mouse. Even the stapler. It’s such a shame to unwrap everything again! 


Let’s meet Lester

What does a typical day at the office look like for you?

I am a software developer and part of the IT team. My work is very diverse, but my main focus is the look and user friendliness of our webshop.

I usually start my day by answering emails and other messages. I want to finish as much work as possible from the day before. Every day, my team has a morning meeting to start the day, where we talk about what we have done and what our plans are for the day. But in reality the day doesn’t always turn out like that. For example you are busy building a cool new feature and then you get a notification of a critical problem on the website. Of course, that needs to be sorted as soon as possible and takes priority! 

As a man, what is it like for you to work at a female-driven company?

Although the IT team consists mainly of men, I have to collaborate a lot with other teams that consist mainly of female colleagues. Compared to the ‘beige and boring IT department;, the decoration of the female departments is much more colourful and tasteful. And there is always a pleasant atmosphere. I do feel that there is less competition when women make up the majority of the workforce within an organisation. I think women are much more interested in their co-workers and want to take care of each other. 

A downside… erm… female colleagues are more likely to panic when there seems to be something wrong with their computer. Tip, turning it off and on again often helps. ;)

What is your funniest workplace story? 

I like to keep my workspace tidy and clean, so most of the time my desk is almost empty. But at TopVintage your desk is fully decorated when it’s your birthday, which is a total nightmare for me. And it was something they hadn’t done to me in all those years. But last year there was no escaping… my entire desk was covered in garlands, glitter and photoshopped pictures. It took me quite a while before I could get to work and I found glitter in my clothes, shoes and bag for days after.