Sietske
‘My profession is: going into the mountains with the girls’. Sietske (34) is leaving the armed forces after a career as an Air Force officer and is moving to Austria. She gives this video interview while walking through the mountains with her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter in a baby carrier. She is now going all out for her hiking company 'Girls in the Mountains'.
From the interview:
'I'm from the city of Breda and used to see young cadets at the Royal Military Academy. From the age of twelve, I insisted that I wanted to go there too. It seemed adventurous: you could be physically active, sporty, and it wasn't a typical nine-to-five job.
In primary school, I loved gymnastics, swimming, and horse riding. By secondary school, I was a true 'horse girl', with photos of Olympic champion Anky van Grunsven hanging in my room. I started with dressage competitions and later moved on to show jumping. It was awesome. Until the age of thirty, I practiced eventing — a combination of cross-country, dressage, and show jumping.
I was the first in our family to join the military. Later, my younger sister followed. At the Military Academy, I studied business administration. Alongside our studies, we regularly had weeks where we learned military skills, like shooting. Later, I completed a master's degree in accounting, auditing and control at Erasmus University. I worked as an officer at the Ministry of Defence, at Air Bases, and at Air Force Headquarters. Pretty ironic really, because in the end I was working in an office from eight to four, like a public servant. With one exception — I spent five months in Dubai in 2014, when that location served as a transit hub to Afghanistan.
I met my boyfriend at the Academy. We often spent time together in the mountains and dreamed about how great it would be to live there. In 2018 we decided to make it happen. We ran a chalet in Austria for one winter, which made us realise that we preferred being out in the mountains ourselves rather than just looking after guests. That's when I came up with the idea of starting my own business helping others discover the mountains. Of course, I had the usual limiting thoughts, like: can I really do this? Who would pay for that?
In the end, I always see the positive side. I never let things get me down. Perseverance is my motto — with my horses, at the Academy, and now as well. In 2020, I registered my business, 'Girls in the Mountains' (Meiden in de Bergen). The following year, I completed my training to become a mountain hiking guide in Austria.'
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