The love of music brought Peggy and Rob together

After finishing pre-university education, Peggy enrolled in the Psychology program in 1991, Rob one year later. Peggy moved into a room in Tilburg and discovered life as a student. That didn't go off without a hitch. Although she had been alright in high school, Peggy struggled to go about studying in an effective way. Peggy: “I had to skip some classes because of an operation, so things didn’t get off to a good start.”

The reverse was true for Rob: “I did not find my feet until I went to university. I am inquisitive by nature, always wanting to try new things, so I joined all kinds of boards, for instance, that of study association Complex and the student basketball association Pendragon. I was very much into basketball and was a member of a lot of committees. Clearly, studying was not my top priority.”

The Stragglers Group and everything we experienced together still puts a smile on my face to this day

The ‘Stragglers Group’

At one point during their studies, Peggy and Rob both received a letter with some study advice from their academic advisors. The options? Dropping out, continuing, or a good talk. Both ticked the latter option. Peggy: “The two of us were assigned to the Stragglers Group. I believe it was a pilot project, set up to give students who were lagging behind in the number of credits earned, another chance. There were about ten of us. I remember meeting Rob as if it were yesterday. Behind a table, there were two tall, handsome young men. I introduced myself and they introduced themselves to me: Rob and Per. Per is still a good friend of ours."

"The Stragglers Group and everything we experienced together still puts a smile on my face to this day. A special group of people with unique stories. Hours, days, weeks, months, we spent together studying. If someone was late for class, they got a fine. That allowed us to go to the pub quite regularly. The Stragglers Group was the making of us both. To this day, we are grateful for the opportunity the university gave us then. We both passed our first year and a few years later we graduated.”

Music as a unifying thread

Peggy: “When we were studying, we basically lived our own lives and had different relationships, but now and then we met up. Then we made music together: Rob played the guitar and I sang. At one point, I became the lead vocalist of a pop-rock cover band. After some time, we needed an extra guitarist. I asked Rob if he was interested. That was the start of our joint musical career.”

“After graduation, we continued seeing each other and making music together. We both had jobs. When our respective relationships stranded, we realized we felt more for each other than just friendship.” And so they became an item. Peggy and Rob moved from Tilburg to Eindhoven. Having worked as an external adviser and head of HR, Rob started his own business in 2006. “In 2008, I became a partner. We coach workers and teams, provide tailored training, conduct assessments for our clients, and advise them on their workforce. Besides bringing up our two boys, music has now become the unifying thread in our lives. We have a home studio, make our own music under the name of Suitcase Rebel, and we are busy developing a show for theaters and companies in which we can combine music with the HR profession.”

Date of publication: 22 April 2024