"Dredging boots on, pack a backpack and go to the customer!"

"In the past, I really didn't see myself in the role I have now within our company," Yvonne van Tunen opens the conversation. She is commercial director at Van Tunen BV, the primal Dutch but globally operating family business in rental of earthmoving equipment. "The great thing about a family business is the pride with which people work, only I didn't see that as a child. Always those conversations about work at the kitchen table ... as a girl I didn't like it at times."

Fortunately, the current situation is completely different. "Now I am partly at the helm of our beautiful family business and I thoroughly enjoy it. Putting on the dredging boots, packing the backpack and going to the customer! When you grow up in a family business, you are naturally brought up on the subject. I remember accompanying my mother to the business during the school vacations to help her. At that time I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up... In the end I chose to study retail and I studied business administration. That was nice and broad, and to be honest, I still benefit from it every day," outlines Yvonne.

"Do what you like."

"My advice to anyone about to choose an education or look for a job is 'Do what you love!' That goes for boys, girls, men and women. Perhaps even more so for women than for men, because our society is still not quite set up for women in typical "men's professions. Above all, don't let it stop you, I didn't either." Yvonne says she worked at Manpower where she discovered that working with people suited her best. "In addition, I greatly enjoyed being able to take a look in the kitchen of other companies. The foundation I laid for myself by working at Manpower has shaped me. Even though Van Tunen BV always deals with enormous machines, nothing happens without the people behind them.
A machine can be on or off. Working with people involves feeling and emotion. Running the business with empathy, that's where my strength lies."

Creating order out of chaos

Yvonne entered Van Tunen BV in the administration department. "That was after my work at Manpower, in 2010. Through that position I moved on to a secretarial position, actually at the request of my father. It was crisis time and he could use all the help he could get. Of course, I immediately said yes, because you just need each other. I could help him create order out of chaos, a very rewarding job."

Grown in the position

Yvonne accepted her current position as Commercial Director after one of her brothers left the company, leaving that seat vacant. "Commercially I was fine on all sides, but on the technical side there were quite a few gaps," Yvonne explains. "There was a lot of catching up to do. I still remember the first meeting with big dredge men. Terrifying. That conversation, however, opened my eyes: you see that everyone has his specialty and you can't understand everything. Men engage each other's expertise much more easily than women do. Once I realized that, it became easier. So my advice to women who are facing the same problem is, 'Just do it, get that job that you are uncertain about, but that you know you can contribute something with your talent. What you don't know, go ask and come back with a good answer. Together you can do anything.' Especially in the infrastructure sector, nothing happens without cooperation. These days I put together a team of colleagues when I go out, each with his or her own expertise. Ideal! All credit to them."

"Women are sociable until they bang their fists on the table."

"Acceptance of women in a typical man's world is sometimes an issue," Yvonne continues. "Within our family, of course, I was already the only girl, and discussions about work were always held among the men. Now when I develop a strategy, I have to take on the technical part of our company on my own. My view is that you should not think of technical solutions for a customer until the order is in. As a woman, you are cozy until you bang your fist on the table. As a woman, you have to be willing to 'stand your ground'."

Yvonne does notice that the group dynamic changes when a woman is at the table: "Where men normally freak out, there they react in a controlled way when a woman is present." As a woman with ambitions, it is important to find a balance for yourself and those around you, Yvonne believes. "I turn 33 this year and am a young mother. It was exciting to also have a family with this job. I got my inspiration to go for it from women in executive positions who have gone before me and who show that hard work and raising children can be combined." She concludes, "Nothing is impossible, but take time for yourself. Come into your power and don't be afraid to be vulnerable. You have to have that balance at home and at work, then the dynamics will remain optimal."