‘It’s a great feeling to communicate with the entire world.’
C H R I S VA N G A A L former Global Logistic Coordinator
THE TRAVELING SALESMAN ‘The bar raises high in this branch. It continues like a storm. Nothing wrong with that, but you need humor and a grain of salt to keep looking at the business: no matter how important a person is, or how expensive his suit, eventually it’s about the man – or woman – beneath that outfit. It’s about connections. Coming from a temporary employment agency, working in a macho world of builders and painters, I soon learned to find connections, I knew how to disarm people. Eventually at Exellyn I turned my focus to logistics: the tougher world of don’t talk the talk, but walk the walk. That fits me well. I’ve known Martijn and Roberto since high school and they knew I was not afraid of new adventures and not shy of working hard. I did not know anything about IT, but put me anywhere and I will be fine, I will get things done. It’s a great feeling to communicate with the entire world. I considered myself a traveling salesman
and flew to every destination where I was needed. That was a privilege, especially in the early days, when we were just a small team in Nijmegen. And nobody in the world knew where that place was. To find the connection in such circumstances, to find out with whom we could cooperate: fantastic. And it didn’t matter whether you talked to someone from Argentina, the Philippines or Venezuela. However, I quit in 2021. I worked extremely hard to guide the company through the Covid pandemic: the world was in lockdown and international companies suffered the consequences. I could only succeed because of the network I had been building over the years. That pays off now. All and everything came together, this was my grand finale. But now, someone else may take my place. I am set on a different course: shortly I will open Billies Bakery Shop, named after my ten-yearold son Billie Jean. I am going to sell
pastry, sausage rolls and chocolate. Small, but with potential, since I am used to balancing three hundred balls at the same time. And that is exactly what I plan to do: it will be more than a bakery. Close to home this time, just around the corner, on Nijmegen’s most beautiful street. In after school hours my son can come and hang around in the shop. After 10 years of flying all over the world, I now want to spend more time with my family. I am back home again.’ •