Emerce interview with Virtuagym’s COO Quinten Francken-Bosman

Endeit Capital’s portfolio company Virtuagym welcomed the Chief Operations Officer (COO) Quinten Francken-Bosman since August 2020. Online magazine Emerce interviewed Francken-Bosman about how she ended up at Virtuagym and what drives her in her work.

Below an English translation of the interview by Francken-Bosman. The original Dutch text of the interview can be found here on the Emerce website.

Did this position just fall into your lap?

“After ten years abroad, of course, I had to dust off my network again, so I started talking a lot. I wanted to sharpen my search and found out that it had to be an international company, the added value of a multicultural work environment was clear to me, and they have to grow quickly. I was also looking for a large team and – call it – purpose. That motivates and makes it easier to attract people.”

How did you eventually find Virtuagym?

“After several discussions with venture capitalists, I ended up with the brothers and founders Hugo and Paul Braam. They were looking for a female COO, someone who was hungry. Personally, I like that the founders are still on board. That brings the passion that I am also looking for. You will also find that commitment in the industry we work for, but the fitness entrepreneur is not that digital savvy. That’s where we come into play with software and support.”

Why did you appeal to this position?

“That is a combination of several things, but in general terms it’s about structuring, professionalizing and helping to build the culture. The latter is incredibly important, because there is a strong corporate culture here and we want a remote first policy. That’s exciting, but we’ll figure it out as we go along. You also talk about making the strategy clear, so that people know what to focus on. And about working with investors.”

What did you bring from England?

“At Photobox I’ve got to know many cultures and nationalities. That now helps me at Virtuagym. I have become a more open person after ten years abroad. My blinders are off. As the English say, I have become humble and grateful for what we all have in the Netherlands.”

What drives you in your work?

“People. Talented people who want to move forward and achieve something together motivate me. Sometimes they are hindered, for example by things that are not clear. Then I can help individually, but also bring teams together. Actually, I have been in charge of this from my first role at PostNL. I just didn’t know what that was called. Now we are talking about servant leadership. It focuses on matters such as listening, empowering, being authentic and acting directly and personally.”

Can you satisfy your hunger?

“Yes. Talented people who want to learn are the best to work with. They are here a lot. It doesn’t matter if they are inexperienced, because with an open attitude and enthusiasm you go fast. That is really wonderful. You can already see quite young people managing teams here. If they are authentic and humble – those are my core values ​​- then they become the best. I want to help them in that process.”

Where will you be in five years?

“I can still see myself in a role like this for a while. There is a lot to do and learn. In the long term it was my dream to become a coach. I was also trained to do this via the internal program of PostNL. But actually, coaching is exactly what I already do in practice. In general, I see that people benefit greatly from having a coach. So where will I be in five years? Never say never, but I don’t think in a corporate company anymore. There you will not find the growth and speed that I am looking for, nor the kind of people and striving for an end goal.

Original source: Emerce