Nikki

What do you do at Wieni?

I’m a digital project manager, working across different clients and projects. Most of my work involves DatoCMS and Drupal projects, where I act as the bridge between the client and the internal team of designers and developers.

I’m responsible for making sure projects are delivered on time and within budget, while keeping everything aligned along the way. What I enjoy most is seeing the end result. Especially with smaller or shorter projects, you get that sense of progress and achievement much faster, which is really motivating.

What did you do before Wieni?

I worked around twelve years for Boondoggle, focusing on content marketing and development projects, mainly with Sitecore and in recent years also with Umbraco, Contentful and Directus. I was closely involved in both the design and development phases of websites.

Before that, I worked for six years at a smaller company focused on promoting the use of media and video in education. I co-organised an annual competition and conference, and provided training for educators across Europe.

Throughout my career, I’ve always enjoyed guiding projects from start to finish, and continuing to support clients afterwards with new features and improvements. I also really like working with different profiles, from designers to front-end and back-end developers.

Why Wieni?

My first conversation with Bart immediately felt right. It was a very open and warm discussion, and it was clear we were on the same wavelength.

What stood out to me is how flat the organisation is. There’s not a lot of hierarchy, which makes collaboration smoother. Even without much face-to-face contact, there’s still a lot of productivity thanks to tools like Slack and the way communication is structured.

The connection with Craftzing is also a big plus. There are many other project managers to learn from, and there’s a strong culture of knowledge sharing. That was especially helpful in the beginning to get familiar with the Wieni way of working.

Who is Nikki outside of Wieni?

Firstmost I am a young mother learning everyday how to also manage a toddler, an enriching experience! I would love to spend all my spare time reading, walking in nature, listening to music and working with my hands, be it gardening (a never ending project and inspiration!), doing crafts (drawing, sewing or crocheting) or playing a boardgame. I enjoy the small things in life and when we can, we rent an AirBnB in a city, near the seaside or close to a forest, and we always try to catch a Zoo visit to spot new animals.

What kind of work excites you the most?

I like projects where I can guide everything from start to finish and really see the impact. Delivering something concrete and valuable for a client is what motivates me most.

I also enjoy the dynamic of working with different disciplines and bringing everything together into one cohesive project.

Which tools can’t you live without?

Jira and Github are essential for tracking projects and keeping an overview. I also use Google Sheets quite a lot, although I still miss some of the flexibility of Excel.

AI-based note-taking tools are becoming more interesting as well, and I’d like to explore them further to improve efficiency in my workflows.

What do you want to learn in the next 12 months?

I’d like to dive deeper into AI and see how it can help streamline project management processes. There’s a lot of potential there, from note-taking to automating certain tasks.

I’m also curious about how far I could go in creating things like mockups myself, even though that’s typically more in the designer’s domain.

Lightning round

1. Stand-up or async updates? Stand-up

2. Deep work: morning or late sprint? Morning

3. Tabs or spaces? Tabs

4. Dark mode or light mode? Light mode

5. Remote or office? Remote

6. Coffee, tea, or lemon water? Lemon water (or Cola Zero Decaf)

7. City or nature? Nature

8. Summer or winter? Summer

9. Music or silence while working? Silence

10. Notion or pen and paper? Notion (or similar)

11. Podcast, book, or blog for learning? YouTube tutorials