From a young seedling to a firmly rooted leader.

Two days after her eighteenth birthday, Mariska started working at Enza Zaden. No completed vocational qualification, no carefully mapped-out career plan, and certainly no idea that she would one day lead a team of more than twenty people. She knew just one thing: she would rather work than sit in a classroom.

Almost eighteen years later, Mariska is Team Leader of the Germination Laboratory. Not because she followed a straight path, but because she kept exploring wherever her curiosity took her. From supporting R&D and working in the greenhouses to Finance, and from temporarily helping out in the germination lab to becoming a lab technician and eventually a team leader.

2008: Getting started

On her eighteenth birthday, Mariska receives a phone call. Can she start at Enza Zaden the following Monday at 6 a.m.? A few days later, there she is, ready to get started. Without knowing exactly where this opportunity will lead. She joins R&D, working in wet seed cleaning and helping with crop care and various activities related to plant breeding.

2008 - 2012: A bit of everything

During her first four and a half years, Mariska works in all kinds of departments at Enza Zaden. Wherever an extra pair of hands is needed, she steps in. During the growing season, she helps with plant breeding and crop care in the greenhouses. In winter, she switches to Finance, assisting with accounts payable, cost calculations and controlling.

2011: Lending a hand in the germination lab

When Mariska is 21, a temporary position becomes available in the germination lab. There is no time to hesitate; she grabs the opportunity with both hands. For several months, she helps test and assess seeds. And that is where Mariska makes an interesting discovery. The department, the hands-on work, the precision: she wants more.

2012: A permanent position as a lab technician

As her temporary contract is about to end, Mariska finds out she is pregnant. She expects her time at Enza Zaden to come to an end, at least for the time being. But the opposite happens. She is offered a permanent position and can return to the germination lab after her maternity leave. She starts as a lab technician, at the beginning of a journey in a department that will go on to shape much of her career.

2012 - 2023: One seed at a time

Mariska gets to know the germination lab inside out. She completes training courses and modules, learns about more and more crops, and eventually masters almost everything that comes her way in the lab. One of her favourite tasks is seed purity testing. Sometimes, that literally means examining thousands of individual seeds to check whether any don't belong. The more she learns, the more responsibility she takes on.

2023: A team leader who stays hands-on

Today, Mariska leads a team of around 22 to 25 people. Her responsibilities include coaching, quality management, audits, protocols and improving the lab's processes.

But does that mean spending all her time behind a desk? Definitely not. She has deliberately kept her technical skills sharp and still steps in on the lab floor when things get busy. Having worked in so many different roles within the department herself, she understands what is happening and what her colleagues need.

Fun Fact: Half a lifetime at Enza Zaden

Mariska is only 36, but she has already spent half her life working at Enza Zaden. Not many people can say that. She's practically part of the furniture by now. #AtHomeAtEnza