01 /

About me

For a long time,
I thought I
wasn’t good enough
for this.

And yet, years ago, I was already building websites with HTML and CSS.

But the road from there to Diggiehippie® was anything but straight.

Looking back, maybe
that detour wasn’t
so bad after all.

This is how I ended up here↓

← spoiler: everything turned out okay in the end

Portrait of Ann Boen, founder of Diggiehippie

02 /

The technology already existed

It didn’t start
with Diggiehippie®.

In school, I took a course in multimedia techniques and created my first websites using HTML and CSS.

I found technology interesting. I programmed. I experimented.

And yet, I dropped out of school when I was around twenty—about a month before exams.

Failing the same class twice had, by then, done a lot to convince me that I probably just wasn't cut out for this.

Technology
stayed.

My confidence
didn’t.

03 /

The short version of a not-so-short detour

Then I did
pretty much everything
but this.

Rice Cakes

Yes. A factory full of rice cakes.
No. I don't miss the smell.

↓

All kinds of jobs

Above all, I was trying to figure out where I really belonged.

↓

Almost 12 years as a taxi driver

In Mechelen, Beveren, and Mol, among other places.

↓

Airport
transfers

For years, I’ve been taking people on their vacations while my own schedule consisted mostly of work.

There is no obvious path to web design, automation, and digital systems.

But apparently, it didn't have to be obvious either.

04 /

Then came 2020

Working 70 hours
a week suddenly
wasn’t much of
a life plan anymore.

The coronavirus brought airport transportation to a standstill—and eventually me, too.

For the first time, I had to seriously consider whether I wanted to continue organizing my life in the same way.

The answer was pretty clear.

So, no.

That didn't mean, however, that a perfect new plan was suddenly ready.

After all, they still had to make a living.

05 /

The Unexpected Next Step

I applied
for a courier job.

It turned into
a helpdesk job.

After my airport transfer, I re-registered with a temp agency.

My plan: courier.

Their plan: definitely not to send me there.

They did have another job opening, though.

That's how I ended up at a help desk.

Apparently, sometimes
a career path just
needs a wrong
turn.

06 /

Back to School

And then I went
back to the thing
I once thought:

I can’t do this.

I eventually earned my high school diploma and then went back to school.

This time, in programming.

And whereas I had dropped out years earlier without a degree, I now graduated with honors.

Apparently,
“I can’t
do this”
was never
really
the
problem.

Sometimes you just need to take a different route.

And a few extra years of life experience apparently helps, too.

07 /

It became official somewhere around here

“Can you build
a website for me?”

Yes.

“…Oh. Wait.
An invoice.”

To be honest, that's pretty much all there is to the story of how Diggiehippie® came to be.

Someone knew I was working on websites and asked if I'd like to make one.

So I applied for a business license and got started.

With a laptop, technical know-how, and a creative mind that often wants to go in seven different directions at once.

No master plan.

It's a start, at least.

The first year was uneventful. And that was fine.

Diggiehippie® was something I could build up alongside my regular job, without it having to be my whole life right away.

08 /

From Website to System

But “building a website”
quickly turned out to be
too small for
the way I think.

The more companies I got to know, the more often I saw the same thing.

The website was just one part of it.

Behind the scenes were forms, emails, tools, client data, manual steps, and systems that didn't always communicate well with each other.

And my brain mostly
wanted to know:

Why are we actually
doing it this way?

Starting in late 2024, automation and AI became an increasingly integral part of my work.

Not because every company needs even more technology.

Because I was increasingly realizing that websites, processes, and systems needed to be considered as a whole.

I still build
websites.

I just don’t look

only at the
website anymore.

09 /

How My Brain Works

My brain likes
seeing how all
the pieces fit together.

Give me a company with a website here, a form there, three tools somewhere in between, and a manual workaround that nobody even knows why it exists anymore…

…and I want to know how it all works.

What can be removed?

What could be simpler?

What needs to stay the same?

Where can technology be useful?

I love
technology.

But only
when it
solves something.

10 /

The Core

Technology
doesn’t have to
make you feel
stupid to be

smart.

I know what it feels like to think you should already understand something.

That's why I don't expect you to know which CMS, API, automation tool, or integration you need.

That's my piece.

You know your business.

You can say what's wrong, what frustrates you, or where you want to go.

And yes—you're welcome to ask questions.

Even the ones
you think
you should already
know.

11 /

What It's Like to Work With Me

No account manager.
No middleman.
Just me.

When we work together, you'll be dealing with the same person who tries to understand how your business works, thinks along with you, and handles the technical aspects.

To me, “personal” doesn’t mean there are no boundaries.

Well, so you know who you're working with, what's going on, and why.

I listen first.

Because a technical solution is of little value if I'm solving the wrong problem.

I'll explain it in simple terms.

Technical knowledge doesn't have to be a contest of difficult words.

I'll help come up with ideas.

Even when the answer is that something doesn't need to be built.

I'm still curious.

Technology is changing. So I keep learning.

I'll also speak up if something isn't a good idea.

You're not paying me to say "yes" enthusiastically to everything.

Portrait of Ann Boen, web designer and AI automation specialist behind Diggiehippie.

12 /

Apparently, I'm not the only one who says that

I can tell you
how I work.

They’ve
experienced it.

      UITSTEKENDE  
   Gebaseerd op 19 recensies 
    
 
 
 
   
 
 
       Geplaatst op Google  
   
   Bastien Burm 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifieert dat de oorspronkelijke bron van de recensie Google is. Ann Boen is echt een zeer professionele webdesigner. Ze kent haar vak echt enorm goed. Dankzij deze samenwerking is mijn website steeds up-to-date en conform de nieuwste digitale trends. Daarom raad ik Diggihippie echt aan voor alle jonge zelfstandige ondernemers en iedereen die een website nodig heeft.
  
 
      Geplaatst op Google  
   
   Kasa d'Vizin 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifieert dat de oorspronkelijke bron van de recensie Google is. We asked Ann to completely redesign the Kasa d’Vizin website, and the difference with our old website is enormous. She managed to translate who we are as a small guesthouse into a website that feels genuinely like us.

Ann presented her own ideas, but listened carefully, asked the right questions and was incredibly quick whenever something needed to be changed or adjusted. Nothing ever felt like too much trouble.

We are genuinely proud to send our guests to this new website of ours. Working with Ann was easy, efficient and an absolute pleasure.
  
 
      Geplaatst op Google  
   
   Hannelore Glibert 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifieert dat de oorspronkelijke bron van de recensie Google is. Ann is niet alleen een schat van een mens op persoonlijk vlak, maar ook professioneel goud waard!

Na enkele mislukte pogingen om met andere bedrijven een nieuwe website te maken, kwam ik via een gemeenschappelijke kennis (Nona’s Bakery, de beste koffiekoeken op deze planeet, allen daarheen!) uiteindelijk bij Ann terecht. Toevallig was ze samen met haar twee superschattige hondjes aanwezig op een event van de bakkerij. Ik zag mijn kans om een gesprekje aan te knopen, en daaruit groeide een heel fijne en vlotte samenwerking.

Ann is niet alleen bijzonder professioneel, je voelt ook dat ze écht naar je luistert en haar best doet om je wensen volledig te begrijpen. Ze is enorm flexibel, vraagt voortdurend om feedback om zeker te weten dat ze op het juiste spoor zit en volgt alles razendsnel op. En tussen al het zakelijke door was er ook af en toe tijd voor een fijne babbel.

Na amper een maand had ik ineens een volledig nieuwe website! Voor mij is Ann echt een godsgeschenk, en bovendien gewoon een megatoffe madam om mee samen te werken.

13 /

Where I Am Now

I’m still
building.

My full-time job gives me security.

Diggiehippie® gives me energy.

And for now, the two can coexist.

I have no desire to turn entrepreneurship into a competition to see who gives up the fastest, hustles the hardest, or puts in the most hours.

I want to build something different.

A business
that fits
my life.

Not the
other way around.

Work that I'm good at. Clients I click with. Room to stay curious.

And enough freedom to still have a life along the way.

14 /

For those who still like to see the receipts

Yes, I have
the technical
credentials too. 😌

Programming

Associate's Degree Program — graduated with honors.

10+ years

Experience with websites and digital solutions.

Web Design + Automation

Experience with digital solutions for self-employed individuals, small businesses, and organizations.

Keep Learning

Web technology, automation, AI, and anything else useful enough to catch my attention.

15 /

Enough about me

Now tell me
what you’re
dealing with.

You don't need to explain to me what technology you need.

Tell me about your business, what you're trying to achieve, and where you're running into difficulties right now.

First, we'll see if there's a good fit—between the problem, what I can do to help, and, just as importantly, between us.

No technical plan.
No stupid questions.

Tell me where it's getting stuck→

Let's just get to know each other first

For a long time,I thought Iwasn’t good enoughfor this.

It didn’t startwith Diggiehippie®.

Then I didpretty much everythingbut this.

Rice Cakes

All kinds of jobs

Almost 12 years as a taxi driver

Airporttransfers

Working 70 hoursa week suddenlywasn’t much ofa life plan anymore.

I appliedfor a courier job.It turned intoa helpdesk job.

And then I wentback to the thingI once thought:I can’t do this.

“Can you builda website for me?”

But “building a website”quickly turned out to betoo small forthe way I think.

My brain likesseeing how allthe pieces fit together.

Technologydoesn’t have tomake you feelstupid to be

No account manager.No middleman.Just me.