NEP has been recognizing International Women’s Day for the last few weeks by celebrating women’s achievements in broadcasting and live events. Over the years, we have seen a rising movement of women taking on more roles in these industries and there are amazing professional opportunities and career paths for women. Today, we highlight Sjoukje Lezwijn, AV Assistant for Faber Audiovisuals, and Suzan Peetoom, Client Manager for NEP The Netherlands. We hope their stories will inspire more women to consider a career in our industries. If you or someone you know is interested in applying to NEP, make sure to visit https://www.nepgroup.com/career/careers#openings to view all of our current openings.

About Sjoukje

Sjoukje Lezwijn is an AV Assistant for Faber Audiovisuals in the Netherlands. Acquired by NEP in 2014, Faber is a leading European company providing solutions for complete audiovisual productions. She began working for Faber in 2018 immediately after completing her video production education. Her main responsibilities as an AV Assistant include helping to build LED-screens, camera work, remote camera work and AV installations.

What sparked your interest in the industry?

From a young age I have always loved filming and editing videos, and when I came across a video production school, I immediately fell in love with this industry; seeing all the cameras and equipment there was amazing. That's where I started my video education and training. After that I started working at Faber Audiovisuals.

What do you consider to be the most significant achievement(s) of your career so far?  

Being a part of huge live shows in venues and putting together amazing shows with my colleagues are significant achievements we make from time to time. Doing this makes you appreciate this field a lot.

Can you see any signs that the historical gender imbalance in the industry may be starting to shift?

As education and awareness about the industry and surrounding topics continues to grow, I see more women getting involved. For example, in my video production school, we were the first class with almost all women, which had never happened there before. So I hope this will continue and bring even more women to this amazing industry that is full of potential!

What is your advice for women who are looking to get into the industry?

Follow your ambitions and hold on to them, sometimes you will have to overcome some difficulties but the happiness it brings you to follow your ambitions and dreams will outweigh them all in every single way.

About Suzan

Suzan Peetoom is Client Manager for NEP The Netherlands located in Hilversum. She began working for NEP in July of 2013 and is responsible for several national accounts. One account she is currently managing is the Eurovision Song Contest, which is going to be held in the Netherlands this year. Before coming to NEP, Suzan studied hotel management and worked for several hotel chains over the course of nine years.

What sparked your interest in the industry?

I have a background in hospitality from my education and career in hotel management. A former boss who was working at NEP at that time wanted to expand the sales team with people with a hospitality background. I knew that this was a unique opportunity for me to start in this completely new world and I haven't regretted it for a second. This industry is comparable with the hospitality industry - extremely vibrant and subject to continuous change. It continues to spark my interest everyday.

Can you see any signs that the historical gender imbalance in the industry may be starting to shift?

Yes, definitely. Compared to eight years ago, there were only men in almost any of the positions. Now, there continues to be more women in various roles. I am proud that NEP is acknowledging not only gender imbalance but lack of diversity of all types in the industry.

What is your advice for women who are looking to get into the industry?

Just do it! From day one, I have felt hugely valued and respected by everyone working at NEP. The industry was completely new to me but I never felt that I was disrespected because I am a woman with hardly any technical background and experience. On the contrary, everyone took the time to answer my questions, showed interest in my background, wanted to give me the technical explanation in detail with the aim that I could grow in this industry. I believe that one of the core values of a NEP employee is authenticity. As the years progressed, I always felt appreciated for my contribution to the company. I wish every woman could work for such a company one day.

What do you consider to be the most significant achievement(s) of your career so far?

All the significant achievements I have made within NEP cannot be attributed to one person. NEP's strength is that with every major tender, you always have a team of specialists with enormous passion for the profession, who motivate each other to go the extra mile and have the eagerness to win the deal...together. I also believe that I can make a fantastic offer, but the real difference is made by my colleagues during the broadcast registration.

Very cliche, but here I really think that ''one team'' ensures that achievements are accomplished.

Read other stories in our series:  

https://www.nepgroup.com/post/celebrating-international-womens-day-deb-honkus  

https://www.ct-group.com/us/news/creative-technology/creative-technology-celebrate-women-in-av-worldwide/

https://www.nepgroup.com/post/celebrating-women-in-the-industry-meet-neps-stephanie-demoss-and-leigth-mitcheltree

https://www.nepgroup.com/post/meet-neps-caroline-ramsay-and-storm-cowle