To New Beginnings!

More than 7 years ago I got the opportunity to start working for Clarabridge, in the beautiful city of Ghent. Coming from banking, I was dropped into this - for me - new world of SaaS. I was greeted by a vibrant atmosphere and team of highly driven and intelligent people: I was finally home!

In October 2023 Qualtrics (who had acquired Clarabridge in 2021) decided to collectively dismiss the Ghent team at the end of Q1 in 2024, due to organizational restructuring. At first, it hit me quite hard as this meant saying goodbye to a group of colleagues whom, in the meantime, I have been fortunate enough to call my friends (how often in life can you call your colleagues your friends?!).

It meant saying goodbye to this inspiring environment, which offered me the chance to grow and learn from several experts in their domain(s). It meant saying goodbye to the many companies I worked/was working with and it meant saying goodbye to the offsite bootcamps, the afterwork events and the general sense of belonging …

Fortunately, that initial feeling turned into a desire to act. And very soon after the announcement, together with a small team we tried to spin out the Social Connect platform and reinstate the Engagor Brand. Despite a couple of unsuccessful attempts, it didn’t leave me empty handed:

The intense collaboration with this team resulted in a new and exciting project.

Together with Anthony, Jared, Thibaut and Thomas (big shout out to these guys!), we buried ourselves in the world of AI and worked on a new product that will have its impact on the way we approach work. Very soon we will be making an announcement as we can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on. Stay tuned!

As we are now all spreading our wings towards new horizons, it dawns on me that these past 7 years have been quite a unique, once in a lifetime experience. So I want to end this post with gratitude for the amazing ride it has been:

Thank you Brecht and Jozefien, for introducing me to this wonderful team and hiring me in the first place!

Thank you Emma, for being an awesome manager. Challenging me where needed in order to let me grow!

Thank you Anna, Candace, Koen, Maria, Thomas and Timothy for being the best CSM team out there!

Thank you Katrien, Eddy & Peter, it was great listening to and drawing from your experiences during our chats, both work and non-work related!

Thank you to all the customers I have been working with! Our recurring meetings and brainstorm sessions always took place with great respect for one another. It was great seeing you all come up with these ideas to make our tool a better product. It was a pleasure meeting you in person before we were thrown into a worldwide lockdown and I truly hope we’ll get another chance to work together!

A massive thank you mister Jurriaan Persyn, I still remember your session on the Engagor API and how it made me feel at first 😅. GETPARAM will never be the same again 😂 . Thanks to you, these last few months have been one of the most insightful and informative moments of my career.

A very special thank you to my partner Helena. Thank you for supporting me in starting a new company and keeping me sharp, whilst we raise our 2 under 2. I would not know how to piece the puzzle together without you.

There are still so many people to thank, so I’ll end with thanking the entire Engagor/Clarabridge team, for welcoming me with open arms and being a truly fantastic work family! 🙌

I look forward to our reunions.

As I mentioned above, I am currently in the midst of working on a new product. If you want to learn more about it already, be sure to send a dm and we can have an (online) coffee together.

Here’s to new beginnings!