Simon Keijzer started his career in 1990 at Sportservice Noord Holland, but in 1992 switched to the Amsterdam advertising agency LaMarque, which was co-founded by current Miles partner and strategist Arnold Mensinga.
After a few years at LaMarque, Keijzer co-founded Combat, a communications agency that focuses on adolescents. Nevertheless, he needed to satisfy his passion for sailing and in 1997 accepted an invitation from the Dutch team to participate in the Whitbread Round The World Race, Brunel/Sunergy. As back-up crew, Keijzer was also responsible for communication and sponsorship logistics. In 1999 and 2000 he was part of the media team that covered the Louis Vuitton Cup and the America’s Cup in New Zealand. During the Olympic Games in Sydney (2000) he handled the media and sponsorship logistics of the Dutch Olympic sailing team. Keijzer also worked during the Volvo Ocean Race (2001-2002) as communications and content manager for the Swedish team Assa Abloy.
In 2002, after acquiring extensive experience at the specific junction between sponsorship management, sports communication and media relations, Keijzer decided to broaden his experiences with other sports and took a job with NOC*NSF (the Dutch Olympic Federation) as press relations manager and communications advisor.
In 2004 this lead to a position as media relations & publications manager (also known as press officer in football terms) with the Amsterdam Football Club Ajax. Keijzer worked at Ajax for 2 seasons. But in 2006 he and Arnold Mensinga forged plans to establish Miles in 2007, a company specializing in Emotional Branding; uniting brands to people and emotions.
In 1998, having studied Economics, Mensinga went straight into the world of advertising. From 1990 till 1997 he was the strategist of the Amsterdam based advertising agency LaMarque. As co-founder, the young account planner was also regarded as the ‘conscience’ of this successful agency.
In 1997 the ‘reverend’, as he became nicknamed, decided to travel the world to broaden his horizons. A year later they were broad enough. He returned and started a wholesale business dealing in luxury articles from Australia and New Zealand.
This growing company also offered Mensinga enough room to start-up other initiatives. Once again is he the ‘conscience’ of Miles and indispensable as strategist for their customers, setting out the fundamental frameworks.
Formerly tournament manager of the Holland Cup - the largest international youth football tournament of the Netherlands - for Euro-Sportring, she later went on to do something similar for the same company in America, commissioned by Nike USA. Willeke has also worked as senior manager for the Richard Krajicek Foundation and as the European Human Resource Manager for the American company VWA Inc. Oh yeah, and she started in Almere, as branch manager with Manpower Employment Agency.
With a side step to Indonesia for a few years, where she was the manager of a PADI Scuba Diving resort, this ‘Jane-of-all-trades’ is now responsible for the projects, people and operation of Miles.
Freek took his time in gaining life-experience as a history student. In 2007 this thinker graduated, and as a graduation gift was given a ‘job tryout’ with Miles. For more than a year now Freek has been making good use of his historical awareness (sense of reality) and writing talent, and is now being trained on organizational qualities.