Tenacious team

I’m the owner, general manager, ‘space traveler’, father of three children and life partner. My favorite saying: Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage means to feel fear but to follow your inclination all the same. In my spare time I engage in exercise, voice training, dancing and good food.

Franken was a deliberate choice. I was looking for a company where a relaxed, informal atmosphere gives free rein to creative talent and employee input. From my marketing experience, I’ve noticed that regular dialogue with customers is key. In my view, the combination of good communications with the customer and a modicum of originality is what makes Franken Standbouw so unique. What’s more, as the latest addition to the ‘family’, I’m being greeted with a lot of goodwill and professional competence. It’s a company where, on returning from a customer visit, it feels like coming home. And the more visits I do, the more I feel that.

In my ‘other home’ it’s a weeny bit more homely. Where I find the ultimate in relaxation, in the company of my little daughter (... and my husband!). She surprises me every day. In her I discover a world of childish amazement and playfulness. So if I’m talking about my hobby, it’s her I mean. She causes me to stop and ponder every golden moment of every day. A life that, without her infant innocence, would simply whizz past....

• Born on 26 September 1977.
• Impassioned by interior design and architecture.
• A qualified interior designer, interior decorator, shop front fitter and flower arranger.
• Highly-motivated and driven.
• Eager to learn about new trends and developments.
• On Franken’s payroll since 2000 as Project Manager.
• My goal? To make a difference.
• Spare time: gardening, entertaining three sons, enjoying life, …

At Franken you get the chance to extend yourself and learn new skills, thanks to freedom of action and operational independence. It’s mind-expanding to work, as part of a team, towards a common goal: a design project which both the customer and Franken feel at ease with. The mutual respect that surfaces daily is the motivation we need to buckle down, each day, to our work. A daily routine? Far from it! Each day brings something new, keeping the job exciting. And, to be honest … that’s just the way I like it.

I’m responsible for a lot of the technical administration and logistics at Franken. So I ensure that the right stand awaits the customer at the right trade fair... and by the agreed deadline.
Delighting in life’s simple pleasures...

In my spare time I enjoy a dash of culture. Not art with a capital or small letter ‘A’, but simply something that I enjoy. Drama, a dance show, music or a better-quality film? Well, if it’s good quality I’ll jump at it, regardless of genre. Reading matter? Well, that limits itself to a wide variety of magazines. Except, that is, on holiday, then I will toss a book or a paperback into my bag. And where those bags are headed is usually decided by the whole family. A place, preferably, where we, ourselves, can set our own pace and, so long as the Sun accompanies us on our travels, little can go wrong...

I’m the Mum of two boys. So much of my spare time goes on their upbringing. I do the accounts and administration at Franken, a job with a lot of variety. Highly-motivated, flexible, daring, enterprising,... is how I’d describe myself. It’s great working at Franken Standbouw! The working climate is pleasant and amicable. We are a good team which delivers an outstanding result!

I’ve been working for ten years already at Franken, as a Works Assistant. Franken is the first and only employer in my career. Why I enjoy working here? Well, here you have a say in things, you can help brainstorm the extension to the workshop, production issues and about how the work is done. Everyone knows everyone, and everyone is prepared to talk to anyone. You’re not a number, everybody is on the same footing. It’s a great and enthusiastic team with which, on occasion, you hang out after work. Outside Franken I keep in shape by going running, on a regular basis. I’m also active in the Kluisbergen volunteer fire brigade.

After a period of creative training in decoration, stand kits at trade fairs, spatial design and a few trainee posts, I joined Franken. I now feel at ease and employable in several domains. I also believe that the more initiative you show and buckle down to something, the more confidence, opportunities and responsibility you’ll get. At Franken I enjoy the pleasant work climate and the good, agreeable colleagues. There’s always scope for creativity and your own input. Everybody at Franken is approachable. It’s a mixture of healthy doses of stress and moments of relative calm. Their other strong points? Well, the good relations with customers and the chance to work abroad from time to time. The fast-changing work environment, in the workshop or out on site, as you prefer. The variety, too, of the work: carpentry, painting, electricity,....

I’m Simon Gousseau. I come from Moen and currently live together with my girlfriend Aline in the neighboring municipality of St-Denijs. My spare time? Well that goes on the scouts and all manner of related activities. Creative things: painting, drawing, murals, art,.... interest me too. I’m also proud of our dog Hummer which I often go on walks with. I also play drums, with a few friends, in a small rock group called ‘Hold your Horses’. We rehearse every Thursday evening in ‘The Mouter’ café in Moen, and that’s always a convivial place to play! 

I joined Franken because I can develop new skills there, of great practical use. There’s also a lot of variety in the work we do.

I think it’s positive too that there’s a good atmosphere in the workplace. It’s not just about doing our jobs and that’s that. Sometimes we meet up after work on a Friday to have a pint together.

Another advantage is that – through Franken – I’ve already seen quite a bit of the world.

At the request of Frank, our General Manager, I’d like to tell you why I chose, eighteen months ago, to come and work at Franken. Let me begin by telling you a little about my life, so that you can better understand my reasons for coming here.

For thirty-six years now I’ve lived and worked in West-Flanders, the region famous for the subtitling on TV, the region of the boerkes (the yokels) and the region of the hard workers. That’s how they see us, anyway. But I’m proud of those regional traits. For, here in the West-Flanders, it has to be dirt cheap. So your best ploy is to make something out of nothing...

There were seven in my family: brother, sister, mother and father, grandma and a handicapped uncle. My father was a small businessman. My mother was at home, bringing up the family. My parents were late-developers: they didn’t get married until the ages of forty-five.

The living-in uncle was the pride of the family. He was an artist no less, despite his handicap. Though his output was low, he fought, tooth and nail, for his professional independence. That made us realize that you have to fight hard sometimes, in order to be happy, afterwards, with what you’ve produced.

During my youth I was a (committee) member of several clubs, including the KRAK youth club. It was on the verge of closing down but we had, on our team, the courage to fight on... and decided to stage a festival. But put on a festival with no funds: how do you do that? We believed in ourselves and the challenge, like before, was to make something from nothing. We did reasonably well. So well in fact that the festival carried on for twenty years. Each year we started, once again, from scratch. It was the challenge to establish a festival, in a creative and sustainable way, but also with due regard for the protection of the environment. We were the forerunners, you see, of reusable beakers and produced as little rubbish as possible on site in order to reduce the country’s growing waste mountain. Rational thinking and the creative talent to make something out of nothing are the mission, or leitmotif, running through my life.

Aged 19, I went to work in a painting business, specializing in total interior design (and layout). We worked for customers who, without exception, had already achieved something considerable in their lives. This opened up a whole new world to me. There I was given a piece of advice from an older man: you must steal, in the positive sense, not with your hands, but with your eyes. Your hands are for working and with those hands you must try to reach the same level as I, and do it a tad better if you can. Through that advice, I have learnt to battle in life, to become better at my job and to keep that ‘edge’.

I wolfed down all manner of training courses, but only those relevant to my job or what I wanted to achieve. In that period I was a fireman too: there, once again; fighting to help people in their grim predicament and to save lives. It’s unbelievable how much gratitude you get in return. Another pearl of wisdom: someone who shows respect, will gain people’s admiration, and respect is something you have to earn. In the spare time left to me, I was also a member of a drama club. There I painted the décors and did the stage lighting.

The day that I left the family home with my girlfriend was a big step in both our lives. With no financial support, here too we started with zilch. Both of us are fighters, headstrong people and West-Flemings who don’t hang their head in adversity. The contrast, therefore, between our professional and private lives was huge. We have an objective and, one day, we hope to achieve it. We’re not there yet but, step by step, we’ll get there, by working our butts off and seeing the bigger picture.

After 16 years of hard toil, we’ve finally built our dream house in the Flemish Ardennes. We’ve worked hard for this.... and will continue to do so. Through my hard work and by pinching, with my eyes, from other skilled craftsmen, we have completed a project that will pass muster. A fine example of creative architecture. Although I wasn’t trained as an architect (I did work in a firm that did total interior design), I have built up a personal view. Because of the legal regulations we were obliged to engage an architect, but on the understanding that I – as Principal of the Works – would have the last word on everything: the overall design, materials, which contractors, the lighting solution(s), the design of the furniture, advising on color matching,... We built our dream house on a limited budget. That was a real challenge. So, within our tight budget, we made something from nothing.

By pinching ideas with my eyes, my creative skills, being alive to sustainability, with due regard for the protection of the environment, being willing to take risks and by battling away, we have produced something that we can be proud of. The people who have seen our project grow admire the finished result.

There’s no accounting for tastes. To some, it doesn’t fit in with the surroundings. They say it looks like a tin box, a warehouse or a shop front. Others say it’s truly unique and distinctive. Well, we’re not going to lose any sleep over it, we’re contented with what we have.

So I have come a long way to get to Franken. A firm that shares my interests, objectives and vision on life and work. Franken is the unique combination of my professional (interior decorator) and my non-professional life (crew experience, décor painter, problem-solver, a jack-of-all-trades, a creator and a fountain of ideas). If that isn’t turning your hobby into a profession! The contact with the independent subcontractors is a plus-point. From them too I can learn all kinds of ‘tricks of the fair’.
I’m not rich in money terms. More the richer, though, in terms of job expertise and what I can do with my hands. That, to me, is invaluable. Being able to apply those skills to a project or an exhibition stand is a challenge, each and every time. I use a lot of horse sense: it doesn’t burn a hole in the customer’s pocket and is innovative to boot. It is with this vision that I take up the challenge with Franken. In my view, that can only be positive for our company and the customer will benefit. That (free yet of great value) ‘little extra something’. To be better –and stay better – than rival stand designer/erectors.

To make something out of nothing and outperform the rest, on a low budget, is the challenge in these economically-challenging times. My challenge is to assist my younger colleagues by sharing my substantial experience and, together with them, strive to deliver top-quality stands or projects. In this way we create happy customers and a strong company. A win-win situation.

Having the best or the dearest materials doesn’t make you the best craftsman. It’s through your creativity, problem-solving ability, being able to do with what one has,... that you turn out a top-quality and worthy product. Giving it your all, day after day, with passion and pride. It’s a belief, really: with a clear vision you’ll appear more convincing and you can get a lot done. You represent both yourself and your company. In this way you’re able to satisfy the customer’s requirements, deliver quality solutions, thereby earning the customer’s respect and trust.

Life is for risk-takers. Having the nerve to think positively, to see further than the end of one’s nose. Daring to think creatively, getting the message across and getting stuff into production. This leads to an efficient and innovative result. I always work with a goal in mind, communicate that to the customer and to the colleagues and then pursue that goal. This is a challenge, each and every time. I can’t but say that I have a good technical insight and can apply this in a budget-friendly way, in close consultation with superior, general manager and customer. My previous employer always used to say: “Impossible problem? There’s no such thing. Obstacles are there to be overcome. There’s a solution to every problem.”

I’m not pretending, with my 39 summers, that I know and can do everything. You’re never too old to learn and I’m still learning something new each day. Even if it’s only something silly.

Conclusion: Franken’s vision is, every day, to get all employees on the same hymn sheet, pursuing a common goal - a real challenge, that’s for sure! It’s only possible if we operate as a close-knit team. It’s a vicious circle which is always and never round.