Monica, Office Manager at Flow, ensures that her colleagues lack for nothing. Originally Indonesian, she fell in love with Friesland, where she now lives, during her studies. She enjoys organizing events, saving for driving lessons and can drink like a man.
Manager of everything
"I'm Flow's Office Manager, even though we barely have an office - only on Tuesdays do we rent a space. Still, there's plenty for me to do: from taking care of administrative matters and answering customer questions to organizing events. I'm kind of a jack-of-all-trades, doing all sorts of things that aren't related to the app. I enjoy organizing things and making sure my colleagues are happy in their work. For example, our intern recently mentioned that he sometimes misses the personal contact with colleagues because we work from home a lot. Now I'm looking into introducing some kind of online 'coffee breaks' to promote social cohesion."
Corona dog
"I really enjoy working from home. I live in Leeuwarden, and if I had to travel to Amsterdam every day I think I would go completely crazy. And then my friend and I also have a dog, an American akita named Kuma. That means "bear" in Japanese, because with his thick coat he is just like a bear. Kuma is a real corona dog, who came to us in the middle of the pandemic. He is now in his adolescence and suddenly gets angry when we leave him alone for a while. Then he takes all the garbage out of the trash, which makes a huge mess. If I am right, it is a phase, and will get better soon. I just hope so, haha!
Love for Leeuwarden
"I grew up in Jakarta and moved to Leeuwarden when I started studying Leisure and Events Management four years ago. Soon I knew I didn't want to leave here. I love that it is so peaceful here in Friesland. Leeuwarden is big enough for nice cafes and restaurants, but not as big as Amsterdam or Jakarta, where everyone is individualistic, hurried and not so friendly. When you walk down the street in Leeuwarden, you are often greeted by passersby whom you don't know at all. That's super nice!"
Savings
"Since working at Flow - my first full-time job - I have a little more to spend. Now I can put money aside, which is very welcome because I want to get my driver's license. After that my savings goal is a car of my own, and after that a house. My friend, who is from Leeuwarden, would prefer to live in China, but I keep him here, in Friesland. If it's up to me, we'll never leave here."
A little spice
"With Christmas coming up, I'm working on a Christmas package and event for all Flow colleagues. It has to be fun for both the people here in the Netherlands, as well as the colleagues living in Georgia or South Africa. That's where I find the balance: offline and online. Furthermore, I am busy answering customer questions. I'm their first contact, and if I can't answer the question, I put them in touch with someone at Flow who can. I really like that my job is so diverse. That's what I had said in my application: diverse, and with a little spice. I'm pretty organized by nature, so I like having to perform under pressure from time to time. I do like a challenge."
Work-life-balance
"What I miss about Indonesia? The delicious food! When my family visits here they bring my favorite food: fried duck. My mother makes that herself at home and she takes it frozen in her suitcase. I put it in my freezer, and then I'm good to go. But what I really like about living in Holland is the work-life-balance. On Friday afternoon around 5 o'clock work is done here and everyone goes into town for a drink. Where I come from, it is quite common for your boss to schedule another meeting on Friday evening at 8 o'clock. I don't want to just work really hard for the next 40 years without having time to spend with friends and family."
Wine and whiskey
"When we were on a work trip with all of Flow a while ago, I amazed everyone with my drinking skills. I'm 6 feet tall, but I can drink like a 6-foot-2 guy. I can drink just about anything, but love wine and whiskey the most. My colleagues were impressed and also a little worried, haha. I learned that drinking here in the Netherlands, simply because I am friends with many farmers, and drink with them. It seems cool to go to one of those barn parties somewhere in a field. That's still on my bucket list."
