Please introduce yourself, tell us who you are, how you came to PPE, and what you did here?
I'm Michelle Reijngoud. I am Dutch, 31 years old. I worked at PPE from 2020 to 2022 as a communications and event officer. A part of my job was recruiting new students through online international fairs and marketing, the other part was encouraging the community within the existing PPE students by helping to organise extracurricular events, and so on.
I saw the job listing, and the international and multidisciplinary aspect of the study really spoke to me. I didn’t study PPE myself because it didn’t exist yet, but I really enjoyed my time at university, so it kind of was a way of extending my attachment to the academic world. I studied International Business Communication at the University of Nijmegen, which had a multilingual program with a track in French, and then I did a master’s in Linguistics at Utrecht University with a specialisation in Intercultural Communications. So, I’ve always had some themes throughout my career that signalled the international, multilingual, and creative aspects, though it wasn’t as clear, for example, as studying medicine and becoming a doctor.
What are you doing now? How did you end up doing so?
After my studies, I worked in sales, marketing and communications. Mostly because I was leveraging my language skills: first, it was French, then English and now Dutch as well. So, I continued in that line of marketing communications.
After PPE, I moved to Paris for a job, working as a country manager. The job entailed localising marketing strategies for a durable fashion brand, and I was responsible for the Dutch and Belgian markets. So, of course, quite different from promoting an academic program - I was promoting recycled tights. But the thing that was still the same was looking at each market and thinking, how are we going to localise this? So, asking questions like, does marketing PPE work the same in the Netherlands as it does in France? So, I loved being in between two cultures, adapting things creatively with branding and events, but after a couple of years, it shifted to just digital marketing and numbers, and that’s really not my thing. I was pretty miserable after a lot of my friends got fired, so I quit even without another job lined up. Luckily, I soon got an offer to teach Dutch at the Nouveau Centre Néerlandais, which actually brought me back to the start of my career.
I studied French in my bachelor’s and use it every day, which is one reason I wanted to move back to France; to keep using it. I think languages and humanities often get overlooked in school, but skills from them, like analysing situations and the way they shape you, are things you use all the time, even if it’s hard to pinpoint exactly how. It’s funny how the skills that feel obvious, like me speaking Dutch, are often the ones that actually open doors - I forgot how much I enjoyed teaching.
I always really liked interacting with the students, so that’s what I'm doing now during the evenings, giving private Dutch classes to French people. That allowed me to explore the illustration part during the day, which is something I've been doing basically since I was two years old - I was drawing. I’m also part of an online UK program with portfolio reviews and creative directors, and I also make some money doing live illustration.
You have moved away from the Netherlands. How do you stay connected to your roots while building a life abroad?
Living abroad has also been a big part of my life. I studied abroad and did Erasmus in Bordeaux, lived in Italy freelance translating, and basically moved every six months. That created these expectations from friends and family about “oh, where are you gonna go next?” but I’ve realised it’s quite nice to move somewhere without a fixed end date, sit with it and see how you feel. Now that I have also been teaching Dutch, it became a way for me to stay in touch with my Dutchness while speaking French on a dailly basis, and my husband’s American and he speaks Dutch, though a little weird, but it allows me to stay connected to home.
Illustration has been a passion for you since you were very young — what made you decide to actually pursue it as a career path, to really commit and take that leap? What has your journey looked like so far?
At my former job for the fashion brand, a colleague said, ‘Oh, Michelle, can’t you do your drawings at the pop-up event?’ So I did quick live portraits of the guests, and it turned into this really fun and interactive element. What I learned from that is that often it’s other people who see your skills and make them desirable, while you might just see it as something you do in your free time. Others framed it in terms of visibility, branding, and connection — the kind of words that make a skill marketable. That experience, that I could draw like 50 portraits in one evening while still being sociable, proved to me and others that I could do it. I then used that to pitch myself to other companies, and from there the ball just kept rolling, mostly through ex-colleagues spreading the word.
But again, something that comes so naturally to you, you think, ‘yeah, but why?’, and of course, there’s not always a lot of money in it, which is a valid reason. I am not saying to drop everything and follow a risky path, but having a part-time job while pursuing a passion project on the side can be a great way to see how it goes - that’s what I’m doing right now.
I’d also say it helps to ask others what they see in you, and literally just write those words down. Sometimes they notice skills or potential you don’t. If you only keep your ideas to yourself, it’s easy to spiral into doubt, but share them, even if you are at a networking event or a party, share your secret dream projects with people, and something will come from it.
Do you have any advice for people who either want to move away from things they’ve studied or want to start a new business? Or any general advice?
I’d say connect with other people in the field because it makes you feel less alone and helps you understand the day-to-day reality, especially if you want to freelance or start a business. I also had a one-off dream about becoming a sign painter, but talking to others and trying workshops made me realise “oh, I’m not really good at that”and “I don't enjoy it much”. So focus on what you really want to do, not just what seems in demand and adjacent to what you are good at, and then test it with others’ advice, because the job market and technology are changing all the time anyway. Sometimes the answer is no, and maybe it should stay a passion project and that’s okay, not everything has to be monetised. Maybe you like ceramics - just do it for yourself. It doesn't have to become a business, but if you really have a plan, then remind yourself that people are usually happy to help, so don’t be afraid to reach out.
Is there anything exciting in your life outside of work that you want to share with the PPE people? Any advice?
Anything exciting outside of work? Well, I’m trying to find a way to combine languages and teaching with illustration, so more like visual stories, columns, or reportage. I’ll have to follow my own advice and actually reach out to magazines or media to pitch ideas and get seen. And I have moved around quite a bit, and didn’t even really like Paris at first, but sometimes it’s worth pushing through a bit, creating a community, and not going with your first judgments. Sticking with something and not always thinking about the next step. And I know you are all super ambitious, but it’s good to stay in the moment sometimes.
Opportunities can take you anywhere, and it’s important to seize them, but there’s value in sticking with something, building a community, and staying present. But I know you are all more on the other side of the spectrum, and if I were talking to students that never left the Netherlands, I would be pitching “Leave. Leave, for Christ's sake, leave, see something new.” Personally, for now, Paris is where I’m staying - though I don’t see myself here for the rest of my life.