Who are you
I am Yvette Hoogland, 52 years old and living in Nijverdal. I am married and we have a daughter and a son.
What business do you have?
I am the owner and manager of Grandcafé N-Joy in Nijverdal. It used to be a snooker/pool/billiard center called Balls & Brains. I have been doing this for 30 years now.
The transition from Balls & Brains to N-Joy came because as a music lover I wanted to offer live music to our guests. That was difficult in a building full of billiard tables. In addition, I wanted to do more in terms of dining and thus add more seating and coziness. So during the remodel, the kitchen was also addressed right away.
What are your plans for your business and what are you running into?
Our main problem is that the municipality only allows us to use amplified sound twelve times a year. We don’t have the ambition to do something every week, but a little more than once a month would be nice. After discussions with the municipality and an acoustic study, it turned out that we would actually have to build a box-in-box to meet the conditions. Then you’re at least a ton further, so we’re not going to do that because it’s not profitable.
Why did you join the MetalBC?
As I mentioned, I’m a music lover. And then I also have a brother, who is also a member of the club, who has been inundating me with metal all his life. By the way, I can appreciate that better now than when he had a room next to mine back in the day haha. Especially in view of the things the MetalBC organizes at festivals, we thought it would be a nice idea to join.
What music/work-related story have you experienced in practice?
From my own experience, I know that people from the metal and rock scene are just really nice people. Back in the days of Balls & Brains, a group of old school hard rockers would always come. Sometimes there were four of them, other times there were six. Some were even friendlier than others. Those denim jackets with patches may look really rough, but they were comfortable coming in with “Hey Yvette, I got you a tangerine!”. The same goes for my brother’s group of friends. All metalheads, but very nice, normal and reliable.
In what area would you like to spar with other members of the club?
I myself am more of a listener. I never know exactly what certain people do and I am curious about that. That way you automatically make contacts that you might be able to use in the future. You have to get to know everyone a little bit and know what they do.
Want to know more? Contact Yvette.