Now

June was a month in which I stepped out of my comfort zone, a lot. Instead of my usual daily work which involves coding, discussing implementation with stakeholders, and thinking about new ways to improve our marketing AI platform, I was now presenting almost daily.

A few of my highlights:

• I successfully ended my CMBA training program. This is an internal program at CM.com in which we worked for 9 months in 3 modules on a business case. There was also a lot of focus on personal leadership and presenting skills as well.
• I hosted a roundtable at the LevelUp marketing event in Utrecht
• I explained in a webinar how to use personalization with AI in your online marketing
• And I presented twice about CM.com's new data platform and predictions models we have been building at CM.com, the customer context platform. I was on stage presenting to 250+ customers, which was nerve-wrecking and exciting at the same time.

Presenting for a larger audience was something I wanted to do for a while, so I'm very excited I had all these opportunities to do so, and learn along the way.

The past few months were great! I've been loving life lately. I'm doing really fun projects at work, where I'm combining technical development of marketing AI models with presenting and demo'ing these models to clients and internal stakeholders. I've also recently hosted a roundtable at the Webwinkel Vakdagen, an e-commerce event in Utrecht. I really enjoyed this and would definitely like to present more often!

Besides my work, I'm testing how I want to create more on the internet. I've created an Are.na-like bookmarks page to have a dedicated place where I can collect my inspiration and outside sources. And I would also like to write essays more often. But I am still struggling to find a regular writing practice. I get all these anxieties about whether I have enough interesting stuff to tell and whether people would actually read it (or I get anxieties about people actually reading it and having negative opinions - these thoughts are all so stupid). I am aware that these thoughts are quite common, so it's not just me.

I've been playing a lot of padel, and doing some running in preparation for my 10K at the end of June. I really like how used I am getting to the higher frequency of exercising and how it's improving my mental state day-to-day.

Last month, I went to Madrid with my dad. He was there for a sustainability conference, and we explored the city for a few days. The architecture is lovely. I'm a sucker for Spanish architecture. And of course, we ate a lot of tapas.

I just got back from a 4-week backpacking trip through Mexico — Mexico City, Oaxaca (timed perfectly for Día de los Muertos), Puerto Escondido, Isla Holbox, Valladolid, Chichén Itzá, Bacalar, and Tulum. Ate my body weight in avocados, fell in love with West Coast fish tacos, and tried golf surfing for the first time. Highly recommend all three. I've written a blog post about all my tips.

Now back in the Netherlands, soaking up the holiday season with family and friends.

On the work side, I am still at CM.com and really enjoying it. We're a small team but shipping new product features at a solid pace. Feels like we've hit a good rhythm.