Viva Magazine about entrepreneur Marike

On August 26th 2015, magazine Viva published a piece on entrepreneur Marike in their "Workzone" rubric. A year earlier, Marike was in the Viva 400, a list of the 400 most inspiring businesswomen of that year. The original article was published in Dutch but an English translation can be found below.

I do not answer the phone in fishnets and lingerie

“And what do you do?” It's a commonly asked opening question at a network event. And a good one, according to VIVA, so we ask someone every week. This week: Marike van der Velden (31), owner of high class escort agency Society Service.

"My workday mostly consists of emailing and calling. With clients and the ladies working for me. Running an escortagency isn't al that exciting, you know. My day is not filled with requests for anal sex. I also don't answer my phone in fishnets and lingerie, like some men like to think. I entered this business by accident. At a party I met an other student interested in starting an high class escortservice. I thought... why not? Entrepreneurship is entrepreneurship. Sadly, there are many prejudices. My company and I were featured in a documentary by TLC the other day. The next day I girl in the street walked up to me and asked: 'You're that whore aren't you?' and poured her milkshake all over me. I just stood there and looked at it."