Name: Femke Vonk
Job title: Global Editorial Manager Decorative Paints
Location: Sassenheim
Country: the Netherlands
Who is Femke Vonk?
I joined Deco in October 1989. That’s 21 years with the same company; makes me feel like a dinosaur sometimes. But the years have just flown by; and I have met so many fantastic colleagues and have been able to so many inspirational things! I have worked in Marketing, Color Mixing, Information Management and finally Communications. For the past few years I’ve been responsible for Deco’s intranet; initially for the more technical side, later increasingly for the content and our Deco Inside magazine. Since January 2010 I’ve been able to do what’s closest to my heart - write fulltime! I feel like a fish in water and can hardly wait to open my laptop every morning.
I live in Leiden, conveniently situated between Amsterdam and Sassenheim, with my 10-year-old son Jesse. When I’m not writing either for work or pleasure, I like reading what others have written. Together with the love-of-my-life Robert, I enjoy watching films and cooking elaborate meals. We often go away for weekends when we look forward to letting others cook for us.
What does color mean to you at work?
Writing for Deco means searching out the most colorful stories every single day. Not just literally but also in the metaphorical sense of the word. Stories that show that we care about our people, the community in which we live, and our world as a whole. Many stories find their way to my desk, but you can often find the most inspiring stories in the most obscure corners of our organization. Each in their own way, there are so many individual colleagues doing the most incredible things for others and the world. People who don’t think they’re doing anything special, who don’t talk about what they do, it’s these individuals you have to search out.
In my 21 years at Deco I’ve learned a lot about color and it continues to fascinate me. I don’t believe the fiction that ‘green is relaxing’ and ‘if blue is your favorite color you’re wise’. It’s not that simple. But I am convinced that color has an enormous impact on people in many ways. My work brings me into contact with all sorts of people and departments and it’s always a joy to listen to people enthuse about color.
…and outside of work?
My home is painted mainly in muted tones, but the longest wall in my sitting room is painted red with the text ‘Happiness is not a destination, it’s a method of life’. Each morning when I get up and walk into my sitting room the color and these fine words make me happy. I feel that the text belongs with the color and the color with the text. And together they give me a lift.
What is your all-time favorite color and why?
I love lots of colors, as long as they’re bright or mellow. I love bright yellow, all shades of pink, vivid green and, of course, as a true-blue Dutch woman – orange. When the occasion arises I wear the color with pride, and a nod and a wink. But for as long as I can remember my favorite color has always been red. A deep, clear red makes me feel happy, positive and confident.
If you could choose one color that most closely matches your personality, what would it be and why?
Red, without a doubt. It’s perhaps not a color I wear often but it is the color that I feel most at home with. To me it’s the color of life, energy and passion in the broadest sense of the word. I want to be able to give my all in everything I do. This means that I sometimes make life difficult for myself, but I wouldn’t want it any other way and probably couldn’t even if I tried!