Sharon Streuper, together with her partner Rob van Velzen, runs the attractive interior design company Maison Sucre. The two entrepreneurs started as colleagues at the former interior design company Suikertuin, but have now been running their own company Maison Sucre for eight years. If you had told Sharon in her younger years that she would become a successful entrepreneur, she would not have believed it. What is this career like make over gone? Who was her designer of life?Text: Mical Joseph
Image: Maison Sucre
“As a young girl I had a part-time job at a trendy clothing store in Maassluis. I worked there on Fridays after school and on Saturdays. During the week I went to high school with my chosen field of Retail. Afterwards I studied HBO Tourism here and ended up at a business hotel as an assistant manager. This didn't really suit me, so I started working at a Rotterdam event agency. Here I organized parties and large events for years and provided artist guidance. After this period I ended up at interior design company Suikertuin, the predecessor of Maison Sucre, where I was introduced to the beautiful interior design profession.”
“At Suikertuin I learned the tricks of the trade, the love for interior design and an eye for details. At one point the owner, Annemiek Bakker, stopped her business activities. Together with my partner Rob, whom I had known as my colleague for at least ten years, we started our own company in 2012 and called it Maison Sucre. A nod to our school.
I never actually had the plan to start my own business, I don't come from a standard entrepreneurial family. My father was an insurance inspector and my dear mother really had the caring role at home. She knew exactly by the way I opened the garden gate after school whether I had had a good or bad day!”
“That is certainly Annemiek Bakker, the owner of Suikertuin. I have had such a good connection with her since day one we met, we are still four hands on one stomach. I was her left and right hand during Suikertuin's time and because of her I do what I do now. Annemiek is straightforward, has her heart in the right place and gave advice on how to run this company well. She also helped Rob and me financially in the beginning. We are very grateful to her for that. But she is not just a wheelbarrow, she is also very special to me personally, I always call her my sugar mother.”
“Creating beautiful, warm, personal interiors for people, that is my passion. Maison Sucre is a design style in itself, we are inspired by the most beautiful articles and materials. Customers come to our showroom by appointment and experience a total atmosphere; the various period rooms are completely furnished with furniture, luxurious curtains and special decor. It makes me genuinely happy that people can relax at home and are happy with the house we have furnished.”
“I learn something new every day that means you have to keep switching gears. When running a business it is important every day full-focus to be and not to forsake. The world is changing so quickly, especially now. It is therefore important to continue to think positively in business terms.”
“Believe in yourself and have a positive outlook on life. I have the mentality 'it can't be done, it doesn't exist and if I can't do it then I'll learn it'. I would say this to my younger self. You get there with the right mindset.”
“When customers come by to discuss their wishes, I look beyond just this wish. We sometimes go deeper into the person, what suits them and why that is the case. These special conversations often also bring up other topics and this sometimes has a psychological effect. So I may not be a wheelbarrow, but I do hope to help people move forward in life. Both in interior and personal areas.”
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