Petra van Berkom

Office Manager

In 1980, I graduated as a young girl from the then well-known Schoevers Institute. This education prepared me to be a secretary within one year. Immediately after graduation, I started work as executive secretary at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam Bank and entered the office of the management board every morning in my high heels and skirt with a stenoblock and the agenda under my arm to go through the day. Those were also the days when management was still “superior” to staff and had to be treated with great respect. The birth of my daughter changed my full-time contract into part-time employment, and I started working as a department secretary. After almost 20 years I left the bank to broaden my horizons. I chose a secretarial position in Healthcare.

A period of reorganization began, and after a few wanderings I met Paul, who was starting up AreaMedia. With the two of us, we grew into a full-fledged company. Where Paul is mainly outside our customers, I am the contact point and hostess for clients, suppliers and colleagues. I love being the spider in the web of our organization and ensuring that everything runs smoothly behind the scenes.

Although I was previously not involved with media other than traditional TV watching, this has changed in recent years. With “compulsory homework” for, among others, Netflix and BBC First, I watch TV very differently nowadays and find it fascinating to know what is needed behind that TV screen and of course on your laptop or phone to see these programs.

The stenoblock has now been omitted and we start the day together with coffee and the joint coordination of business, both with the director and colleagues.