{ "id": 2190, "date": "2026-07-21T21:15:03", "date_gmt": "2026-07-21T19:15:03", "guid": { "rendered": "https:\/\/diggiehippie.tech\/?page_id=2190" }, "modified": "2026-10-07T09:39:01", "modified_gmt": "2026-10-07T07:39:01", "slug": "about-diggiehippie", "status": "publish", "type": "page", "link": "https:\/\/diggiehippie.tech\/en\/over-diggiehippie\/", "title": { "rendered": "About Diggiehippie\u00ae" }, "content": { "rendered": "
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01 \/<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

About me<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t

For a long time,
I thought I
wasn\u2019t good enough
for this.<\/h1>\n\t\t
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And yet, years ago, I was already building websites with HTML and CSS.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

But the road from there to Diggiehippie\u00ae was anything but straight.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t

Looking back, maybe
that detour wasn\u2019t
so bad after all.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\tThis is how I ended up here\u2193<\/span>\n<\/a>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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+<\/p>\n\t\t

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\u2190 spoiler: everything turned out okay in the end<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Portrait\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n

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02 \/<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

The technology already existed<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t

It didn\u2019t start
with Diggiehippie\u00ae.<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n
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In school, I took a course in multimedia techniques and created my first websites using HTML and CSS.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

I found technology interesting. I programmed. I experimented.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

And yet, I dropped out of school when I was around twenty\u2014about a month before exams.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Failing the same class twice had, by then, done a lot to convince me that I probably just wasn't cut out for this.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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Technology
stayed.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

My confidence
didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n

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03 \/<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

The short version of a not-so-short detour<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t

Then I did
pretty much everything
but this.<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n
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+<\/p>\n\t\t

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01<\/p>\n\t\t

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Rice Cakes<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Yes. A factory full of rice cakes.
No. I don't miss the smell.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n

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\u2193<\/p>\n\t\t

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02<\/p>\n\t\t

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All kinds of jobs<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Above all, I was trying to figure out where I really belonged.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n

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\u2193<\/p>\n\t\t

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03<\/p>\n\t\t

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Almost 12 years as a taxi driver<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

In Mechelen, Beveren, and Mol, among other places.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n

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\u2193<\/p>\n\t\t

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04<\/p>\n\t\t

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Airport
transfers<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

For years, I\u2019ve been taking people on their vacations while my own schedule consisted mostly of work.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n

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There is no obvious path to web design, automation, and digital systems.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

But apparently, it didn't have to be obvious either.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n

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04 \/<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Then came 2020<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t

Working 70 hours
a week suddenly
wasn\u2019t much of
a life plan anymore.<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n
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The coronavirus brought airport transportation to a standstill\u2014and eventually me, too.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

For the first time, I had to seriously consider whether I wanted to continue organizing my life in the same way.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

The answer was pretty clear.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t

So, no.<\/p>\n\t\t

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That didn't mean, however, that a perfect new plan was suddenly ready.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

After all, they still had to make a living.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n

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05 \/<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

The Unexpected Next Step<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t

I applied
for a courier job.

It turned into
a helpdesk job.<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n
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After my airport transfer, I re-registered with a temp agency.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

My plan: courier.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Their plan: definitely not to send me there.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

They did have another job opening, though.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

That's how I ended up at a help desk.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n

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Apparently, sometimes
a career path just
needs a wrong
turn.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n

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06 \/<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Back to School<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t

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

I can\u2019t do this.<\/h2>\n\t\t
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I eventually earned my high school diploma and then went back to school.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

This time, in programming.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

And whereas I had dropped out years earlier without a degree, I now graduated with honors.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n

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Apparently,
\u201cI can\u2019t
do this\u201d
was never
really
the
problem.<\/p>\n\t\t

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Sometimes you just need to take a different route.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

And a few extra years of life experience apparently helps, too.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n

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07 \/<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

It became official somewhere around here<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cCan you build
a website for me?\u201d<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Yes.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

\u201c\u2026Oh. Wait.
An invoice.\u201d<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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To be honest, that's pretty much all there is to the story of how Diggiehippie\u00ae came to be.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Someone knew I was working on websites and asked if I'd like to make one.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

So I applied for a business license and got started.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

With a laptop, technical know-how, and a creative mind that often wants to go in seven different directions at once.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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No master plan.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

It's a start, at least.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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The first year was uneventful. And that was fine.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Diggiehippie\u00ae was something I could build up alongside my regular job, without it having to be my whole life right away.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n

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+<\/p>\n\t\t

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08 \/<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

From Website to System<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t

But \u201cbuilding a website\u201d
quickly turned out to be
too small for
the way I think.<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n
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The more companies I got to know, the more often I saw the same thing.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

The website was just one part of it.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Behind the scenes were forms, emails, tools, client data, manual steps, and systems that didn't always communicate well with each other.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n

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And my brain mostly
wanted to know:<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Why are we actually
doing it this way?<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n

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Starting in late 2024, automation and AI became an increasingly integral part of my work.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Not because every company needs even more technology.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Because I was increasingly realizing that websites, processes, and systems needed to be considered as a whole.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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I still build
websites.<\/p>\n\t\t

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I just don\u2019t look<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

only at the
website anymore.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n

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09 \/<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

How My Brain Works<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t

My brain likes
seeing how all
the pieces fit together.<\/h2>\n\t\t
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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\u2026<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

\u2026and I want to know how it all works.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n

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01<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

What can be removed?<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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02<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

What could be simpler?<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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03<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

What needs to stay the same?<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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04<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Where can technology be useful?<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n

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+<\/p>\n\t\t

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I love
technology.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

But only
when it
solves something.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n

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10 \/<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

The Core<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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Technology
doesn\u2019t have to
make you feel
stupid to be<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t

smart.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n

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I know what it feels like to think you should already understand something.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

That's why I don't expect you to know which CMS, API, automation tool, or integration you need.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

That's my piece.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n

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You know your business.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

You can say what's wrong, what frustrates you, or where you want to go.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

And yes\u2014you're welcome to ask questions.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t

Even the ones
you think
you should already
know.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n

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11 \/<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

What It's Like to Work With Me<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t

No account manager.
No middleman.
Just me.<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n
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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.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

To me, \u201cpersonal\u201d doesn\u2019t mean there are no boundaries.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Well, so you know who you're working with, what's going on, and why.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n

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01<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

I listen first.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Because a technical solution is of little value if I'm solving the wrong problem.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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02<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

I'll explain it in simple terms.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Technical knowledge doesn't have to be a contest of difficult words.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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03<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

I'll help come up with ideas.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Even when the answer is that something doesn't need to be built.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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04<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

I'm still curious.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Technology is changing. So I keep learning.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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05<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

I'll also speak up if something isn't a good idea.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

You're not paying me to say \"yes\" enthusiastically to everything.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n

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+<\/p>\n\t\t

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12 \/<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Apparently, I'm not the only one who says that<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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I can tell you
how I work.<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t

They\u2019ve
experienced it.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n

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