Marketing Foundations
Started at HMA and got thrown straight into client work. Emails, website updates, giftcard campaigns — each restaurant has its own voice and I had to figure that out fast. Cheung Kwong is playful, Eemland is sophisticated, Den Engel is Brabants gezellig. You learn by doing.
Marketing at Scale
The volume kicked in. Every piece had to feel like it came from the specific restaurant, not from a template.
Valentine's campaigns, Carnaval content, recruitment posters, website builds — 321 deliverables across 12+ clients. Every piece had to feel like it came from that specific restaurant, not from a template.
Venneper Lodge needed a family-friendly Valentine's angle. Den Engel needed "3 Uurkes Vurraf" energy. Balance Hospitality needed 5 different recruitment posters for 5 different brands. I had to build a system for it or drown in the work.
restaurantreview.ai
This is where things changed. I went from writing emails to actually building software. Set up a React project, connected Supabase for auth, integrated Google Business API, designed the dashboard — all in about four weeks. I had zero React experience before this.
Security & Refinement
The less glamorous but equally important part. Ran security audits on client websites, figured out which APIs would actually give us access (spoiler: not all of them), and set up a Mac Mini with SSH so I could develop remotely with Claude Code.
OpenClaw x HMA
Everything clicked here. I noticed every task at HMA follows the same pattern — signal comes in, someone makes it, someone checks it, it gets published. So I asked: what if AI agents handle the repetitive parts? That became a 16-page roadmap, 12 specialized agents, and a dashboard I'm actually building.
CLAW
Started with holiday emails and WordPress updates. Now building a SaaS product and designing a 12-agent automation system. Teaching myself React, TypeScript, Node.js, and a dozen APIs along the way. The story's still being written.
Competencies Earned
- Switched between Cheung Kwong's playful tone and Eemland's sophisticated vibe daily
- Made 30+ posters that actually look like they came from each restaurant, not from me
- Built a bilingual NL/EN URL system for Portugalia because their guests speak both
- Wrote a 16-page Vision & Roadmap with Nick — not just ideas, actual buildplans
- Designed 12 agents that each handle a specific part of the marketing workflow
- Took restaurantreview.ai from "we should build this" to a working prototype
- Mapped out Podium, Birdeye, Reputation.com — found the gaps they don't cover for Dutch restaurants
- Tested which APIs would actually cooperate (Google yes, TripAdvisor... eventually, Eet.nu no)
- Ran SEO audits on client sites to see where the quick wins were
- Learned React, TypeScript, and Supabase by building restaurantreview.ai from scratch
- Figured out Claude Code and Cursor as AI pair programming tools — game changers
- Set up my own dev server (Mac Mini + SSH) and learned security the hard way (OWASP)
- Ran a Van Westendorp PSM analysis to find the price range people would actually pay
- Set up Basic/Pro/Enterprise tiers for restaurantreview.ai with clear feature splits
- Wrote partnership proposals to TripAdvisor and Google that framed it as a win for them too
Technologies & Skills
Clients Worked With
