Insight: Linda Van Lakwijk
Issue 86 / Tue 13th Apr, 2021
Behind the scenes of every kite brand are the hidden figures dreaming up ideas, ploughing through paperwork, and making decisions that drive the brand forward. In Insight, we get to know the women at work in the industry. In this issue, we meet Linda van Lakwijk from Kubus Sports BV and Prolimit. Read more to hear her story!
Behind the scenes of every kite brand is a team of industry members dreaming up ideas, ploughing through paperwork, and making decisions that drive the brand forward. Today, we get to know Linda van Lakwijk, one of the women behind the scenes of Dutch brand Kubus Sports BV, the parent company for Prolimit.
Linda, thank you for joining us or this interview! What is your role at Kubus Sports BV, and what is their relationship with Prolimit? What do your responsibilities include?
I am the marketing coordinator at Kubus Sports BV, which is the company behind Prolimit. Besides Prolimit, Kubus Sports BV owns more brands, including STX (inflatables), two large hockey brands, and more. Next to our own brands, Kubus Sports is also the importer of several water sports, winter sports, and hockey brands such as Naish, Nitro, and Elan.
My role at Kubus Sports is the coordinator within the team and the first point of contact. I am mainly responsible for the marketing strategy, marketing targets, budgets, campaigns, sponsoring and riders, arranging shoots, agreements with media partners, contact with our agents and dealers, etc. At least half of my work time is spent on the Prolimit brand, but that differs within the team. We are a team of five, so we have to do whatever needs doing, and we roll up our sleeves where necessary.
Is the team made up of actions sports lovers or more of a corporate vibe?
Most of us are action sports lovers in some way, or they practice action sports themselves, love to photograph it, or have been working in the industry for a long time. The vibe at the office is super informal. They were already calling me Lin or Linnie from day one! I can’t wait to score some epic after-work sunset sessions with the team now that the days are getting longer again.
What is it like working for a company that creates kitesurfing products? How is the work/life balance?
People always think that when you work at a water sports company, you’re located near the beach and can go to the water whenever the conditions are good. This is definitely not the case! When it’s windy, we are at the office, making sure our customers can get the best products they need for any conditions. But, it’s more reason to appreciate every minute on the water in our spare time, and it’s cool to be able to test all the products yourself.
What has the last year looked like for you with the new challenges presented by COVID-19?
COVID-19 brings another challenge to face since we can’t travel abroad to attend shoots. Now, we have to rely on our riders. We already knew our riders were taking on a lot of responsibility, but I am very proud that with these new circumstances, they were able to organise product shoots with only remote assistance. It helps that we have riders like Pablo Amores, who we have been working with for a long time who has attended many shoots. He knows what we want and need!
Tell us a bit more about yourself. Where are you from, and what were you doing before joining the world of kitesurfing?
I am a 33-year-old girl from the Netherlands, where I was born and raised. I grew up in a town called Dronten, which was, for Dutch standards, not too close to the North Sea. Our perception of a long drive is different here in this small country than people from Canada, for example. You can cross The Netherlands from North to South in less than 4 hours, so 1.15 hours from the sea feels quite far away.
I was a happy kid and spent a lot of time outside playing soccer, korfball, building caves in the forest, etc. When I was 18, I was pretty done with village life and decided to move to the city to party. Well, study, but you know how that goes!
I graduated with my bachelor in Commercial Economics in 2009, focusing on events, media, and entertainment. I was always interested in working in the music industry and started my first company, a booking agency, during my study. For a while, I worked as a freelancer before I decided to pack my bags and go to Turkey for seven months to work in tourism. That is the moment I became addicted to being at the beach.
My first full-time marketing job was in 2012, working for a company in the movie and entertainment industry, where I did digital marketing for several large cinema movies. In 2013, I realised that I wanted a change in my personal life. That was where my road to kiting began.
Why did you choose a career within the kitesurfing industry? What is your kiting background?
As a kid, I had always been a bit of an adrenaline junkie, so I wanted to do something ‘extreme’ and preferably on the water. I randomly booked a 3-day kitesurf course in the summer of 2014, and after that, there was no looking back!
To find that balance of working in an industry I loved, I started working as a digital marketer at a holiday review platform and weather website in 2016, where I learned a lot about wind! At the end of 2019, there was a vacancy in my dream, and I joined Kubus Sports BV/Prolimit.
What are the upsides of working with a kite brand? And the downsides?
The upside is working with the products you love to use most in your daily life! You can be part of and help develop these products, give input, requests, needs, etc.
The downside? There isn’t really a downside. Your work just doesn’t stop when you step out of the office! When I am at the beach, I always check what people are wearing, which I didn’t notice before. It’s fun and rewarding to see so many Prolimit products on the beach. We do spend a lot of time behind our computers. But, hey, we’re working on the products we love!
Outside of the office, what is your after-work and weekend life like?
When I’m at work, structure and planning are crucial, and it’s important to me that my work is appreciated. Thus, I can be quite a perfectionist. I have no structure at all outside of work, meaning I don’t plan stuff anymore since I’ve started kiting. Everything depends on the wind forecast!
Nowadays, my work doesn’t stop when I step outside of the office. I try to spend as much time as possible on the beach. Sometimes, I fill in as an instructor and try to get people enthusiastic about the sport and, of course, get them excited about our products.
When you’re not doing kite stuff, what are you doing?
Besides kitesurfing, I love to spend time in the mountains snowboarding, longboarding through my city on a lovely summer evening, SUP when it’s hot and there’s no wind, mountain bike, or walk in nature with my camera. Since COVID-19, I started to realise that I like nature photography a lot.
What has been the proudest moment of your kitesurfing career so far?
For me, this was when I got approached by a brand for a sponsor deal. I am definitely not a pro-rider and never expected to get a sponsor deal, but they saw me as the face of the Dutch women kitesurfing industry, which was so rewarding to hear.
In the Prolimit lineup, which gear are you riding and why?
It depends on the temperature since it can be pretty cold here in the Netherlands. During the winter, I prefer to wear the Prolimit Oxygen 6/4 with Thermal Rebound. This suit is super warm and keeps my body warm even in temperatures close to freezing. When it gets a bit warmer, I switch to my Prolimit Flare 5/3. I love the Flare wetsuits’ design and, because of the Down Airflex, it’s super soft and stretchy.
Next to that, I use the Pure Vapor 2021 harness, which we just released. It has improved in terms of shape and has a smaller bar pad than the previous model, which better suits a woman’s body. I like the ‘hardback’ concept of the harness. It has a stiff back panel to maximise support, and the sides have more edge flex to allow rib and hip comfort and sideways bend.
Is there any exciting news for 2021 from Prolimit that you’re allowed to share with us?!
The Summer collection looks rad! For all the girls riding in cold conditions, we will add a Hooded Oxygen to our 2021/2022 winter collection. We are continuously working on expanding and improving our collection and products, and there is much more to come soon!
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By Crystal Veness
Editor at IKSURFMAG, Crystal Veness hails from Canada but is based in South Africa. When she isn't busy kitesurfing or reporting on the latest industry news for the mag, she is kicking back somewhere at a windy kite beach or working on creative media projects.
