[Coworker] Ruud — Illustrator and community member at Porto.io
Hi Ruud and thank you for your time! Could you please introduce yourself?
Hey there, thanks for having me!
My name is Ruud Hendriks and I run a little freelance illustration business called HeyHeyMomo where I draw cute characters and designs for children and children at heart.
Originally I am from a small town near Maastricht in the Netherlands, although it has been a while since I actually lived there. Currently I am very happy to be situated in Porto, Portugal.
You are based in Porto, what made you decide to move there?
For a freelance expat Porto is a very attractive city. It has a low cost of living compared to most European cities, generally a nice climate and best of all; amazing food. People around have no problems speaking English either, which can be very helpful as Portuguese turns out not to be the easiest language to learn. For me, anyway…
When I was looking to find a new home two years ago Porto could be found on a site called nomadlist (nomadlist.com) ranked in the top 5 of best cities to live in for expats in the world!
Though I was convinced to move to Porto, I never planned on staying longer than a year. The plan was to move around Europe a bit more but I got convinced rather easily to stay indefinitely. A lot of that has to do with the community I got to know and love around here.
You are a coworker at Porto.io, how did you found out about it and why did you choose it?
Finding Porto.io was rather easy. Before making the move I checked online for coworking places, as I learned before that working alone from home is not for me. Porto.io simply came up first in the search results and in my first week here I dropped by and I never left.
How would you describe the community at Porto.io?
The community in and around Porto.io is a huge part of why I love being around here so much. In the past two years in Porto I’ve learned to know so many lovely people from all over the world in all fields of work. I think we (I say we now) have a talent in making new people feel at home in the coworking space as soon as possible and integrate them in not just the work life, but also the social life in Porto.
There is a core group of people you will find here day in and out permanently, with an addition of folks traveling around and will stay temporary. It is always sad to see people go because 9 out of 10 times they found their way into the group in no time.
Do you collaborate with other members? If so, how does that work?
As my work is kinda niche, it’s not a super common thing to collaborate. But even though that’s true, it did happen multiple times for me. At this very moment I am making graphics for a developer from the coworking space who’s making an educational iPad game for toddlers! Before that I’ve worked with a scientist on an lesson pack about light pollution and astronomy, did a flyer for a local food tour and even have been commissioned to make a portrait or two of fellow coworkers!
It all happens really organically. People see me working on my big screen every day and if they like what they see they will come up and talk to me about things they would like me to draw. I’m always happy to see if I can help them out.
What’s your favorite coworking memory at Porto.io?
A few months ago some of our coworkers from Switzerland decided they wanted to introduce us to the Swiss tradition of ‘raclette’, where you grill cheese in little pans and eat it alongside some good wine and bread. We planned in one evening, invited everyone from i/o along with their +1’s and had an amazing night. There was an abundance of cheese and bread and the wine made our night evolve into a dance-off to terrible 80’s and 90’s music right here in the office.
Where were you working from before coworking started?
I started coworking in Scotland 6 years ago and I never went back. Before that I wasn’t active as a freelancer or illustrator yet, but was working in an office in the Netherlands as a web designer.
What’s the biggest change you’ve seen between those two ways of working?
I very much enjoy the freedom of filling in my own days. Going to the office is no longer a burden, it’s a privilege. I get to spend my days with people I actually want to hang out with, while still doing my own individual projects I’m very passionate about. And hey, if I don’t feel like it one day or it’s miserable out? I’ll stay at home. But I always feel like I’m missing out.
What do you love the most about coworking at Porto.io?
Probably the fact that I can bring my newly adopted little dog and best friend Buddy into the office with me. He’s been stealing hearts all over the place!
