Meet Niki Ghys

After completing her studies in Commercial Engineering in Leuven and earning her Master’s degree at UCL, Niki knew she wanted to work in Finance. But what exactly? She wasn't sure yet. That's why she started her career as a consultant at Accenture and Trifinance. This gave her the opportunity to work in different companies and roles.

Financial Wizard

She eventually stayed at one of those clients: Sanoma, the Finnish media company that owned magazines such as Humo, Flair, and Libelle. It was an international publicly traded company where she prepared the monthly financial reports for the shareholders.

She enjoyed working there and liked the challenges, but she always knew that one day she would work for AQUALEX. "Alexander [Niki’s husband and founder of AQUALEX] often said, ‘You work so hard for others. You could do the same for us. We could really use your skills to help us grow and professionalize faster.’ But I wanted to do my own thing first and gain experience elsewhere. Because I knew that once I made the move to AQUALEX, it would be final.”

Getting to Know Everyone

From the start in 2010, she was closely involved with AQUALEX. She followed everything and was always present during team-building events or dinners. "I found, and still find, it important to know everyone well within the company."

2014 was a turning point. That year, she assisted AQUALEX with reporting for the first time and saw a role for herself in budgeting and forecasting. But it wasn't until 2016 that she started reducing her work at Sanoma and began working more for AQUALEX. Her responsibilities? Finance and HR.

More Than Just Numbers

Today, her financial responsibilities have grown too large to also handle the daily HR tasks. That’s why Dimitri recently joined the team as HR Manager. However, she still keeps a close eye on HR.

Why? "Because our people are central. We need everyone equally to achieve our growth. That’s why we ensure that everyone is treated equally and that no one feels like just a number here. Performance reviews are, of course, conducted by the managers. They know their people better than anyone. But HR ensures that these meetings happen, that the personal development of our people is addressed, and that everyone feels at home here.”

Working with Growth Figures

And the biggest challenge in Finance? “The rapid growth of AQUALEX. We must ensure we can handle that growth financially. But the fun part of that continuous growth is that we can present growth figures every month and keep investing, for example, in R&D for developing new products and in IT to further automate our processes.”

Internal Promotion Opportunities

This growth also offers opportunities for our "amigeau’s" (nickname for AQUALEX team members). “Because of this growth, new roles are being created, and people here get plenty of opportunities. We aim to promote as many people internally as possible into new or vacant positions. Look at Maxim Sanctorum, who joined without sales experience and is now the team leader of the B2B team. Or Edouard, who started a few years ago as an intern and is now taking on the role of COO. To enable this internal mobility, we provide plenty of training and coaching.”

Flexible Optimists

One typical aspect of AQUALEX is the positive vibe. That’s tied to the kind of people who work here. “AQUALEX attracts positive, enthusiastic people, and that’s also the type of people we look for. Flexibility is also important to us. It works both ways: if we see you working hard and being flexible, we are very flexible with you as well. We don’t mind if you need to go to the dentist for an hour or prefer working from home a bit more.”

Niki finds great satisfaction in the fact that people internally refer to the “AQUALEX family.” “We make sure the amigeau’s see each other often and create memories together, even outside of work. For example, we organize an FMC event (Free Meal & Communications or Fun with Colleagues) every two months. And once or twice a year, we hold a team-building event. These are original activities that require a lot of preparation and are always a surprise until the day itself.”

Niki, Personally

• Niki lives in Beveren-Leie, is married to Alexander Vanlerberghe (founder of AQUALEX), and is the mother of Louise (5) and Hélène (7).
• Hobbies? Social activities. She loves nothing more than meeting up with friends and family or traveling with them.
• Once a week, she works out, usually with friends, combining the social with the sporty. Which sport? That depends on the season: kangoo jumping (a lot of fun, you should Google it), tennis, spinning, or boot camp with a fitness trainer.
• Motto: Always stay positive. Or: Happiness is a choice you make for yourself. You can always complain about what you don’t have, but what’s better than being content with what you do have?
• At least once a week, she stops by the local frituur (Belgian fry shop), and after any trip, it’s always her first stop on the way home.