‘I’m learning all the time what I can do to help agents achieve their goals. The discipline I grew up with in the dance world helps me do that’

She was three years old when she started dancing. At the age of 11 she began her professional dance career. Krista Derx is now 24 and has said farewell to her promising career as a dancer. In February 2014 she started working as an agent for arvato in Maastricht. Since May 2015 she has been a senior coach. She misses the world of dance, but is happier than ever before. Krista lives with her boyfriend in the centre of Maastricht. An ‘ordinary’ life and an ‘ordinary’ job. She never thought she was so cut out for a job as an agent, and she could never have imagined that she would land up in the customer service profession at all. Krista won a place at Codarts, the international art university in Rotterdam. She did her internship in New York. Her dream was to live and work abroad. But the turning point also came in America. She suffered a protracted injury from which she never fully recovered. This led to frustration and self-reflection. Krista wondered whether she still had a future in the tough world of dance. She was always focused on maximum achievement. It was all or nothing. Less would make her unhappy and so, with a heavy heart, she bowed out. She watches every programme about dance. She enjoys it. But she doesn’t dance any more herself. Apart from dancing, she also likes singing and acting. She’d still like to do something with that. But, ‘doing something with that’ doesn’t sit well with the former dancer. Again, it’s all or nothing.

Dancing has made her what she is today. She has applied the same drive and energy to her work for Zalando at arvato. First as an agent, and now as a senior staff member. ‘I do my utmost to achieve the targets that are expected of us. I’m learning all the time what I can do to help agents achieve their goals. The discipline I grew up with helps me do that. I take my work seriously, I’m reliable and want to continue developing. I’ve had to get used to it and find my own way. But now that I’ve found my niche I’m working all the more enthusiastically. I still see plenty of growth opportunities and am very grateful for the potential arvato offers me.’