Mille Bonekamp

In this edition of our Employee Spotlight, we sat down with Mille Bonekamp, Application Manager, to learn more about her role, what inspires her, and what it’s like to be part of the IXON team. 

What did you do before joining IXON?

Mille: “I studied International Business and Management, which took me from Arnhem to Umeå (Sweden), Reading (England) and later to Innsbruck (Austria). I was convinced that I wanted to work and live abroad, so that’s what my Bachelor and Master degrees were all about. During these studies, I’ve figured out that I actually really loved being close to my family and love living in The Netherlands.

So from Innsbruck I moved back home to start an SAP traineeship. That led me to Salesforce Consultancy, which I’ve done for over 5 years, before realising that consultancy didn’t make me happy. I wanted to work close to home and across the entire organisation, with projects that I could see in action ‘in the field’. That’s how I ended up finding a job at IXON as Application Admin initially, before growing the team. IXON felt like the place where I could be myself, unapologetically. Turns out it is that place!”

What do you do at IXON, and what do you enjoy most about your job?

"Within IXON, the operations team is responsible for all things related to running the business.The ‘behind the scenes’ roles so to say. As IT & Compliance manager, I ensure that, together with the team, all employees can do their day-to-day work as smoothly and easily as possible. This can mean fixing bugs in the system, building new functionality or changing existing processes.

What I like most about this job is that I can see all areas of the business up close and help make life easier for my colleagues. Sometimes it’s in little things like resetting a password, but it can also be about a bigger project like implementing a new tool. It’s a challenge sometimes to handle all requests that come in, but that just adds to the satisfaction getting things done!"

What accomplishment are you most proud of at IXON?

"Starting out ‘solo’, together with some close colleagues, we were able to build a team to support the internal processes and ensure that all different systems get the attention they deserve. It doesn’t always work out perfectly but I’m so proud of how far we’ve already come as a team. We’re constantly evolving and I’m happy to be of service to our 'customers’. It makes me happy to hear when they are excited about something new we’ve built and implemented"

As Team Lead, Mille brings enthusiasm and team spirit to our team. She also keeps IXON’s internal processes running smoothly, while continuously driving improvement and positive change.

- Bauke Spoor, Legal Officer
 

Why do you enjoy working at IXON?

"At IXON, there are many different people with different ideas, hobbies and interests, which makes for fun conversations and (a crowd favourite) fun events! During my time at IXON, I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone and even felt safe doing it, because everyone is really supportive and joins in on the fun! It’s given me the unique opportunity to learn a Māuri HAKA and to Abseil from the company HQ building. I would have never done any of those things by myself, so I’m grateful!"

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

"I am always interested in learning more about all kinds of things, from the influence of bees on our ecosystem to the human brain. For me personally, supporting nature is definitely a passion. Nature doesn’t have a voice and as I truly believe that working alongside it is beneficial to everyone, I like being a voice for positive change.

Besides reading a lot about these subjects, I’m also learning new things when I can. Learning to play an instrument is really great for your brain (and it’s fun ;)) so I currently have lessons to learn to play the trombone!"