The next chapter

DATE

October 2026

nathalie van durme
phot. katoo peeters
©2026

what new life sets in motion

On becoming a mother for the third time, growing as a founder and making space for what comes next.

your role grows with your company

Some moments in life set more in motion than you could ever anticipate. They make you look differently at what you’re building, the role you play in it, and what might need to change in order to keep growing.
I find myself at one of those moments again.

.OTG is a different company today than it was a few years ago. Our team has grown, our projects have become bigger and so have our ambitions. Somewhere along the way, my own role has evolved too. Becoming a mother for the third time suddenly makes that very tangible.

Soon, there will be a period when I’ll be less present. Not gone, simply present in a different way. Less automatically part of every meeting, less involved in every step, less available for that quick: “Nathalie, what do you think?”

And strangely enough, that doesn’t just feel exciting. It also feels right.
Because this period is accelerating something I’ve known for a while needed to happen: making space. For my team, for myself and for the next chapter of .OTG.

You never build a company alone

As a founder, it’s easy to feel deeply connected to every part of the company. You know the clients, the stories behind the projects and all the decisions that shaped the work. That instinct has been an important part of how .OTG has grown.

But .OTG stopped being solely my story a long time ago. Every day, there’s a team building this agency alongside me. People who know our clients, take responsibility, challenge each other, make ideas better and care deeply about the work.

Perhaps one of the most beautiful parts of growing as a founder is realising that something that once felt so personal is now carried by an entire team.
And that gives me an enormous sense of trust.

From being everywhere to being where it matters.

Of course, trusting your team and actually giving them space are two different things. I love being involved. I’m passionate about what I do and, admittedly, quite a perfectionist when it comes to the work.

But I’m learning that I don’t need to be involved in everything to make a difference. My role is to set the direction. Ask the right questions. Spot opportunities. Protect creative quality. And give the team the context and trust they need to move forward independently. That’s not stepping back. It’s stepping into a different role.

The same is true creatively. Good creative direction isn’t about making every decision myself. It’s about creating a standard we all understand and protect. Making sure we understand why something works. Not simply correcting the work, but explaining the thinking behind it.

Because when a creative vision exists only in one person’s head, it’s fragile. When a team understands it, questions it and helps sharpen it, it becomes stronger. I’m not lowering the bar by letting go. I’m trusting the team to help me uphold it.

“My role within .OTG isn’t becoming smaller. It’s becoming sharper.”

— nathalie van durme

©.OTG

MAKING SPACE BEHIND THE SCENES

We’re making that same shift behind the scenes: clarifying roles, sharing knowledge and improving processes. Not to turn .OTG into a rigid system, but to create more space for the work itself. And my team deserves a huge amount of credit for that. I can create space, but it only works because there are people willing to step into it. People who take ownership and are confident enough to make decisions.

Perhaps that’s what growth means to me today. We often think of growth as more: more clients, more people, more revenue, more visibility. But growth can also be found in what becomes less dependent.

In a team that doesn’t have to wait for approval. In knowledge that isn’t held by one person. In clients who trust the agency, not just the founder.

I recognise something similar from my previous pregnancies. They were intense periods, but they also set things in motion. They pushed me to make choices that, looking back, were often exactly the ones that needed to be made.

Making space for what comes next

When you’ve built something from scratch and poured so much of yourself into it, letting go can feel surprisingly personal. And then new life literally comes along and reminds you that you can’t hold on to everything at once.

I imagine many women who are both mothers and entrepreneurs will recognise that feeling. That constant question of how to make it all work: your family, your company, your team, yourself. I don’t think there’s a perfect way to do it. But I’ve learned that these moments can also force you to make choices you might otherwise have postponed.

More than anything, I feel trust. In the team that’s here every day, in what we’ve built together and in what’s still ahead. My role within .OTG isn’t becoming smaller. It’s becoming sharper.

And maybe that’s what this period is teaching me once again: sometimes, when you can no longer do everything, you’re pushed to make exactly the choices that needed to be made.

Sometimes it takes new life to make space for the next chapter.