Woman Behind The Brand: Sophia Tienstra
“On paper, I am more successful than I am now in my account.”
Sophia Tienstra, one of the most beautiful mothers in Amsterdam, surprised everyone in 2021 with a new project: LX Matten. Yes, doormats, yes. Because they are abundant, but the beautiful mats? They are in the minority. And that was the cue for Sophia to take action.
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The moment to start your own business is always a tricky one. When are you completely ready? I always find the statement by Kristien van Dillen, Eva Jinek's manager, so strong. “Just start, otherwise there is always a reason to postpone it. You can always improve it along the way.” Does that resonate?
“Definitely! The webshop went live with only illustrations. Producing all entrance mats to measure and in fixed sizes and then arranging storage for that was too big an investment at that time. In hindsight, this was also the best choice, because shortly after the launch, I changed colors and removed some colors. After six months, I started planning the first shoot and I still needed a space for storage; this became our first showroom in the Pijp of Amsterdam.”
Why did you feel that the market needed LX Matten?
“I always had the desire to run a business with a product, but was always waiting for ‘the idea’. When I was heavily pregnant and had just moved to a ground-floor apartment in Amsterdam, I wanted to set up my own wallpaper. When we were working on the hallway and I needed a custom doormat, I thought: why are there no colorful and beautiful design doormats available? I immediately fell in love with the idea. That’s where our slogan came from: ‘it was love at first sight!’ It still feels that way.”
There is always something in a process that goes well or poorly. What was that in this case?
“I have really romanticized and underestimated entrepreneurship. When you run a business, you are responsible for your team's salaries, the rent of an expensive property, and you make a lot of investments. If an investment doesn't pay off, it involves a serious amount of money. I have had to toughen my mindset in that regard. I think much bigger now than when I started. I am very frugal by nature and turn every euro around, but I am now putting everything into growth for LX Matten. I think people quickly underestimate businesses run by women, but that drive to prove myself diminishes as growth continues. Let people underestimate me, that just adds extra fire.”
“At first, I also found it difficult to manage a team, after all those years as a lonely freelancer. I find it hard to give criticism and always want to keep it pleasant. Now I especially enjoy working with goals. Then the results can evaluate themselves. You learn a lot from making mistakes and going through challenges, and I think I have grown a lot in this area recently.”
In what way do you want LX Matten to stand out?
“The First. The Best!” – I read this slogan recently and embrace it. We do not appeal to bargain hunters who want the cheapest quality. We stand for taste, style, and originality. We are the original and offer the best quality in dry and clean mats available on the market. Actually too beautiful to be a doormat, but our designs look great due to the rich tufting. In terms of margin, it would have been more advantageous to offer a cheaper quality. But you can immediately feel and see the difference in real life. And I love beautiful things, so also a beautiful doormat. Our customers do too.”
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Let's talk about you. If someone had told you as a little girl that you would do this later, how would you have reacted? And what would you want to tell your younger self?
“In grade 8, all my friends went to HAVO or VWO. Without consulting, I had to go to VMBO according to the teacher. A friend’s mother had also said that I was more of a MAVO girl. In our village, I was one of the few growing up with only my mother and with Moroccan dark curls. It felt like a huge rejection that many more children with a foreign surname have experienced. It became a longer path, but you know what they say. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!”
As a child, I was always talking and therefore not the ideal student. Instead of doing math, I preferred to fill entire sketchbooks with clothing designs. I was always drawing, crafting, or making bracelets. At a young age, I also sold my bracelets on Queen's Day, washed cars for money, and had part of my sister's paper route.
So if you had told young Sophia that I would later have a business with colorful dry and clean mats, I would have thought that was pretty cool. Having my own store selling my own products in Amsterdam is something that fits me so well when looking back at my childhood.
As a girl in grade 8, I fantasized about how I would someday show my university diploma at the elementary school in a convertible, but now I laugh about it. I no longer need to prove myself to anyone. The convertible and the diploma both worked out.
I wouldn’t want to give myself anything. Let me stumble, learn, skip, fall, and get back up.
What did you think you would become when you were younger?
“At first, I wanted to become a veterinarian (just like my daughter now), but when the veterinarian put our dear, overly fat Labrador to sleep, that dream was over. In grade 5, I was already saying that I wanted to become famous. I was the biggest fan of Katja Schuurman, so I actually just wanted to be her. I had my hair the same and wore the same big round earrings. I danced at selection level and found acting super fun. But I never considered going to drama school. I didn’t know about those kinds of options as a teenager. That felt way too far away.”
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What did you study and how has your career progressed?
“After HAVO, I studied Advertising, Marketing, and Communication at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam and then did a Master's in Communication Science at UVA. After college, I had a part-time job at TVOH, where I got into conversation with Nick & Simon. I worked for them for years as a regular freelancer, in addition to having an online review platform for beauty products and working for fashion brands like Arma Leder and writing for Cosmopolitan and Quote magazine. Together with my friend Liza Sips, I launched a YouTube channel focused on getting pregnant and being pregnant, and I also did various things, such as organizing events for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a dinner for the then Prime Minister.”
“Sometimes people want to put me in a box, but I think my strength is that I embrace so many different styles. I also like many different people and jobs, but I am always energetic and entrepreneurial. I often take the first step and only then think about it. Nothing has just come my way; I have created everything myself! My health has just not always cooperated.”
I often feel that in your life, everything contributes to something that was ‘meant to be’, but that you are not aware of it during the journey you take. Even a major setback can have shaped you later to handle something bigger. Do you recognize that?
Wow, this remark is very relatable. I think you often don’t see what lies behind a big smile. We women are often stronger than we think, and life is often mercilessly unfair enough. Sometimes life makes you stumble, but in getting back up lies the strength. In setbacks, there is also room for unprecedented growth or a different path. It also gives peace to think: “This was meant to be.” With small setbacks, like a flat tire, I can already think: “This was meant to happen.” It puts things into perspective nicely. The most important thing in life is that you learn to find happiness in the little things. From the morning coffee with a hug from someone you love to a walk in the woods. Nature heals.”
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Talking about money may not be entirely comme il faut, but hey, we are here to help each other as women and also to guide each other in life. So is it a bit of a stretch, having your own business, or does world domination come later and the euros flow in then?
I talk very easily about money and find it bizarre that I hardly know what my friends earn. Or what their mortgage is.
On a monthly basis, I now earn a DGA; that is, the salary of a Director-Major Shareholder (DGA) (minimum 56,000 and maximum 80,000 per year MM) because I am now a B.V. and give myself a market-conform salary. That’s not very exciting. It only becomes interesting when our next step succeeds and I can distribute nice dividends. It only really becomes interesting when I sell my company. On paper, I am more successful than I am now in my account. I did buy my dream bag as a gift for myself. I am otherwise very frugal. Even if my revenue doubled, I would still shop at ZARA.
And finally, where can we buy LX Matten?
Yesss, in our webshop LXmatten.com. It’s also nice if you follow us on Instagram or Tiktok via @lxmatten. We share many examples there. You can also follow me privately @SophiaTienstra. I will also share our mega renovation there soon. We bought an old fixer-upper and made all the plans and choices last year. The reorganization is now determined, and we will soon enter the permit process. We are going to fill our entire house with our beautiful doormats, luxury rugs, and carpets in our designs.
Image: Instagram | Sophia Tienstra
