Check out Life @ 45 Degrees

You know, I really notice people are happy working here. They socialize, communicate openly and when they open their laptop, it’s not just to round off their nine to five.

Krista Gheys, Administration Lead and Team Support

First of all, who are you and what do you do?

I’m Krista, and I’m administrative lead at Bluu, a cluster of organizations which 45 Degrees is part of. We actually unburden the companies in our cluster by taking care of things such as HR, recruitment and administration. And from this perspective, I work for 45 Degrees. My responsibilities for 45 Degrees aren’t merely administrative, but I take on a tad of Team Support as well. If one of the colleagues has questions about billing, contracts or training, they can pull my sleeve and I’ll help them.

What led you to 45 Degrees?

I previously worked in IT, so of course you’re familiar with The Cronos Group. But if I’m being honest, I had never heard of Bluu and 45 Degrees until now. When I found out about Bluu and that 45 Degrees was looking for new people to strengthen their team I read the origin story of Bluu and the vision of Luk Denayer (Co-founder of Bluu) and I got interested. During the first talks, Anni Hielscher (Co-founder of Bluu), told me I would be working for 45 Degrees and Nimbuz, which are strong organizations, meaning they were looking for the right experience and expertise. She told me: you’re the right fit for the job. Et voila, she was right. I was looking for a new challenge and definitely found it here.

She told me: you’re the right fit for the job. Et voila, she was right

Krista Gheys, Administration Lead and Team Support

How is life at 45 Degrees?

I told you about being on the lookout for a new challenge, and being part of The Cronos Group definitely defines as ‘challenging’. Don’t get me wrong, in a positive way of course, but it’s peculiar to working in IT that everything changes and evolves very fast. You need to match that growth as a person as well and 45 Degrees offers more than plenty chances to do so. Besides being offered chances, you’re expected to hop on the dynamic around here. That dynamic is very ambitious and professional. 45 Degrees wants to move forward, both as a company and with their clients as well. So life at 45 Degrees displays this mentality, which is incredibly motivating to do your part as well. 

Are you ambitious?

I’ve been here for two months, so it’s hard to exactly point out what my ambitions are, but I’m really eager to keep on learning and to discover new things. You really notice that everything is negotiable and that everyone is looking for the right solutions to make you perform as good as possible or to make you grow into what you’re meant to do. Further, I really like being busy, so if I notice I have some spare time besides my administrative and support tasks, I’m definitely going to explore how I can make myself useful in a more broad approach. 

What are your next steps?

Well, I’ve joined only recently, so I think my next move will be really mastering my current responsibilities. It takes a little time to get to know the entire environment.

You know, I really notice people are happy working here. They socialize, communicate openly and when they open their laptop, it’s not just to round off their nine to five.  I think it’s really kudos to Diederik (Wyffels, managing partner) for creating such harmony in his company and making sure his people are connecting for the long term. He offers opportunities and you just need to seize them. It’s my job to organize the fun events, so in that perspective I really want to contribute to this positivity.