Family first

Before talking about work, we have to talk about my family. My amazing wife Fay Verdonschot and I have two lovely daughters. Since 2015, we live in the beautiful town of Wijchen, The Netherlands.

The short version

My professional journey has been one of growth and connection. After studying Artificial Intelligence at Radboud University Nijmegen, and later Computer Science at HAN university, I started working in customer service at XMS, a role that evolved through several company changes.

A tweet from a classmate introduced me to Yoast, and in 2013, I joined the company as a developer. It didn’t take long to realize that webdev wasn’t my passion (nor skill), and I transitioned to customer service. Over time, I grew into managerial and leadership roles, eventually becoming Head of Relations after Yoast’s acquisition by Newfold Digital. My incredible decade at Yoast came to an end in December 2024.

I got involved in the WordPress community quickly after I joined Yoast. Attending my first WordCamp Europe in 2013, I was warmly welcomed and began building enduring relationships within the ecosystem. Over time, I contributed to the project as a GTE for Dutch, event organizer, and event mentor. I co-organized multiple WordPress Meetups and WordCamps, solidifying my role as a community figure.

In December 2024, I embarked on a new chapter with Emilia Capital as Director of Community and Partnerships. Emilia, led by Yoast founders Joost and Marieke, invests in projects which improve the web. And we’re building a tool called Progress Planner which helps website owners combat procrastination. This role marks an exciting new adventure for me, allowing me to leverage my experience and passion for building connections.

The longer version

Younger Taco

After finishing school, I went on to Radboud University Nijmegen where I studied AI before it was cool. I loved the ethics parts of the studies (thanks to Pim Haselager), but struggled with the computational side of AI (read: I’m convinced my mind is not made for maths).

After struggling with maths for a few years, I decided to quit. I applied for the studies Automotive, but faith decided differently. So, instead I started the part-time studies Computer Science.

Part-time studying meant I also had to find a job. Via friends, I ended up with XMS fiber-to-the-home (which later became ITNS, KPN, Telfort, and then KPN again) where I worked in customer service.

When my work location changed from Wijchen to Hoofddorp (yeah, that’s on the other side of the country), I stayed with the company for a while. But as things changed, I had to find a new employer to keep my sanity.

One of my classmates, Gaya Kessler, retweeted this guy named Joost de Valk, who owned a company called Yoast. Yoast’s job ad sounded nice, as they were hiring for talent and attitude, not for skill. In my application letter, I promised to bring cake to my interview. And so I did. And got hired.

Yoast

And on August 1st, 2013, I joined Yoast as a developer.
Worst. Decision. Ever.

I quickly learned I did not want to a developer, and Yoast learned I would never be a real developer. And so I transitioned back to what I’d done before; customer service.

As the company and product grew, so did our support inbox. And just a few months later, we started hiring support engineers. Over the years, the team grew, and I became a manager.

At Yoast, I worked with a boatload of amazing people from whom I learned a lot in various fields. Too many to name them all here. But what I’m most grateful for is that I had the chance to work closely with some of the best SEOs in the world, like the ever-amazing Jono Alderson, queen Carolyn Shelby and mister Alex Moss himself.

A few years in, I joined Yoast’s management team. And in 2022, after the acquisition of Yoast by Newfold Digital, I joined Yoast’s leadership team as ‘head of relations’. A position I enjoyed until December 2024 when I left the company.

The WordPress community

Just a few weeks after joining the company, Yoast sent me to the first WordCamp Europe in Leiden. I had an amazing time there. Many of the people I met at that event are still friends today. And thanks to Jeremy Felt, Dre Armeda, Brad Williams, Andrew Nacin, and Helen Hou-Sandy, and quite a few others, I felt só welcome in the WordPress community.

I love talking to people, and I love talking to new people, constantly expanding my network in the WordPress ecosystem. Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to travel to a great number of events around the world.

Fairly quickly after ‘joining’ the WordPress Community, I learned about the polyglots team and started translating WordPress to Dutch. Thanks to Remkus, I was promoted to Global Translation Editor for Dutch (#nl_NL).

Besides attending events, I also started organizing them. Gijs Hovens and I (re)started WordPress Meetup Nijmegen, I joined the WordCamp Nederland organizing team (2016), led the organization of WordCamp Nijmegen (2017 & 2018), and co-organized WordCamp Europe (2016 & 2017).

After all that organizing, I decided to join the community team and become a mentor for other WordCamps as well.

Public speaking & MC’ing

One of the most awesome things I got to do at Yoast, besides hiring amazing support engineers, is public speaking. I’ve spoken about community and SEO at several meetups and conferences. And, I got introduced to MC’ing at conferences, which I like even better.

So if you have an event coming up; don’t forget about me 😉

Onwards to Emilia Capital

Or should I say, back to where it started? After selling Yoast, its founders Joost and Marieke, gradually went on to do other things, like investing in companies that make the world/web a better place.

With the team at Emilia, they also started building a new plugin for WordPress, Progress Planner, which aims to help people fight procrastinating tedious website tasks (like writing an about page).

And in December 2024, I joined their growing team as Director of Community and Partnerships.

This really is the start of a new adventure, so let’s see where we go from here!