As a driven twenty-something, Wendie Gerrits (44) leaves Leidschendam in South Holland for Stein in Limburg. She hits a dead end in her teaching job, resulting in burnout and a disability benefit (WIA). She wants to do something that truly makes her happy and reinvents herself as a chef. What starts as a hobby and a search for connection turns into a nourishing business: Lekker van Wendie.
Billy (31) valt op. Hij draagt een zonnebril van Ermenegoldo Zegna, een fuchsia-kleurig pak met daaronder een rode trui. Daaroverheen een lange, wollen Burberry jas. ‘Gevonden op Vinted,’ zegt hij stralend. Bijna al zijn kleren koopt hij tweedehands. Het zijn merkkleren van goede kwaliteit. Sinds zijn tienertijd is Billy gepassioneerd over mode. Als hij op een ochtend voor zijn kledingkast staat en roept dat hij niets heeft om aan te trekken, besluit hij zijn passie – mode – en interesse – artificiële intelligentie – te combineren. Hij start zijn onderneming Closist en ontwikkelt een applicatie die gericht is op het toegankelijker, leuker en duurzamer maken van mode. Niet door recycling te promoten, maar ‘reduce and reuse’. Closist biedt sinds zomer 2024 een platform aan waarop gebruikers een gepersonaliseerd stylingadvies kunnen ontvangen.
She was first ushered into the kitchen when she was six years old. Now Nathalie Tomasoa (47) has her own kitchen in her own warehouse. Her career was not a linear path; after studying Leisure Studies, she worked in logistics for a long time. That experience comes in handy now, as many things have to come together efficiently without compromising the quality of the food she prepares. The StartersCentrum was a logical stop on the road to self-employment.
Since January 1, 2025, Roan Funcken (35) has owned the menswear store where he had his own wedding suit custom-made years ago. If anyone had told him back then that he would one day take over and run MILL Tailoring in the heart of Valkenburg, he would have thought he was crazy. Roan is making a remarkable career change: from chemical analyst to tailor-made suit wizard. He seems to be cut out for the fashion industry and entrepreneurship, for which he also receives tailoring advice from the StartersCentrum Limburg.
Carla Weekers (46), a specialist in lifestyle and hormone balance, sees lifestyle as a healing art, or even more so, as the art of living. She aims to bridge the gap between the medical world, medicine, and lifestyle. "Listen to your body when it starts to whisper, before it starts to scream," Carla urges.
Every private baking event is sold out, and the baking workshops are also doing well commercially. Cas Wolters (30), a household name and trendsetter, is a real calorie bomb. For five years now, he's been alternating between the baker's hat, the entrepreneur's hat, and the teacher's cap. What's his recipe for staying fresh and fruity? And how's his relationship with StartersCentrum Limburg going?
