Tineke Ammerlaan – Sieperda, The Netherlands

Who are you, can you tell us a bit about your background?
My name is Tineke, I’m 33 years old, and I live on a dairy farm in Friesland, in the northern part of the Netherlands together with my husband and our 3 children. When I was young I didn’t see myself in a career having anything to do with agriculture. I was born and raised on a dairyfarm but only saw the downsides. Later, when I grew a bit older (and wiser) and my father past away I started realizing how much I missed that life, the freedom and the special informal culture within the industry. That made me decide to orient myself to a job within the agricultural sector. I studied International Business and chose to specialize in Food and Agribusiness. Next to my studies I worked as a milksampler and during this period I also learned to know my husband, of course, a dairy farmers’ son.

What do you do for UNIFORM-Agri and how did you develop yourself within the company?
After completing my studies in 2011 I applied for a job at UNIFORM-Agri as a Sales manager for the Northern part of the Netherlands. I started together with two other new people and directly felt at home. The short communication lines, the international character and the informal way of working suited me well. After a couple of years as a sales manager my work was more and more oriented to other markets then the Netherlands and we decided that I would only focus on international large accounts. In 2019 I was asked to become the Sales Director of UNIFORM and also join the management team. Within this position I am responsible for the commercial department within our organization. In my daily work I have many meetings with our international teams and dealers. I see it as an important task to be in contact with all departments in our organization. By doing that I can make sure the teams and dealers located in other places of the world are able to seize opportunities and grow their customer base. I find it important that everyone within my team has the feeling that they are heard and feel save in their job. That is an important base to allow employees to develop themselves which makes it possible for us to benefit from their talents.

“Our company culture is very ‘Dutch’ , we are direct, honest and initiative is highly appreciated.
If that is something you like, you’re at the right spot!.”

How do you combine your work, your family and your business at home?
Being in this position means a big responsibility, but within UNIFORM-Agri responsibility also comes with flexibility. If you can handle the responsibility you will also receive a lot of flexibility. That is essential for me, being a mother of 3 children and married to a dairy farmer. Sometimes it will mean that I work a bit more in the evening when the kids are to sleep but I have the flexibility to take a day off when they need help at school. The most challenging moments are when I travel for business, leaving the house with prepared meals in the freezer and schedules on the fridge. Fortunately I have a husband who supports me and is proud of what I do so also when it’s extra busy for him, it doesn’t mean that I cannot go.

What can you advise people looking for a job at UNIFORM-Agri?
Our company culture is very ‘Dutch’, we are direct, honest and initiative is highly appreciated. If that is something you like, you’re at the right spot! We look for employees who are passionate about what they do and are a team player. We care about you as an individual, we give you a save environment where you can develop your talents further. In the end, every person working within this company has the same goal: Creating and supporting a high quality, innovative herd management software that makes our users all over the world happy to be our customer.