All businesses are run by people. This is where you get to know who we are and how we move through our landscape. Introducing: Inside the Brand, a new content series where we informally dive into the industry with our clients and get their unique insights.
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For ten years, Maha has been “supplying girls with sneakers” from the centre of Amsterdam. In recent years, Maha has evolved its offer to combine more high-end fashion with its sneaker/streetwear offer and a new cafe on the same street to give people a place to get together. We met Joanne and Luca, two passionate sneaker and style lovers who work hard to make Maha the brand that it is.
“The best thing about working at Maha is working with friends and like-minded people, and having a good time. It’s genuinely a warm and welcoming place, and we’re committed to always keeping that part of the DNA.”
Thanks for meeting with us today, especially as you’re in the middle of a lookbook shoot. Can you give us a little intro to your role at Maha?
Joanne: I’ve been at Maha for three years as the Operations and E-commerce Manager. Before that, I was always working in sneaker spots whilst studying my Bachelor's (in Styling) and Master’s (in Communications) in Amsterdam.
Luca: I’m the Content Manager, responsible for all the visuals, the rollout of content, and our social channels. I studied photography (and still take photos for Maha sometimes), but that background helps with managing the content I work with.
How did you end up at Maha?
Joanne: When I was younger, I had every sneaker possible and loved the scene, so I worked at places like Size, Carhartt, and Sneaker District. I knew Dian personally (Maha Co-Founder), and he asked me to join the team.
Luca: Maha was always somewhere I wanted to work, and it happened to be good timing that there was a job opening because it’s a small team, and vacancies aren’t always available.
Joanne: I also recognised Luca from her resume and was like, “Oh, I used to work with this girl at Sneaker District!”
How is it to work in a team that considers itself good friends as well as colleagues?
Joanne: Overall, it’s the best. Coming into the office and seeing a friendly face, knowing you’re all on the same page about things, knowing you can share how you’re really doing. But since becoming a manager, I’ve had to step up my game, and there are times when I need to call things out if they’re not going as well, which can be hard with friends. That’s probably the most challenging thing about my job.
Luca: I actually find it easier to share with friends if I’m not vibing with something, especially if it’s in a real way, not like in a passive-aggressive or half-joking way.
Joanne: Yeah that’s true, if it’s done with respect, then you know you’ll work it out anyway. And since we’re a close team, it’s just so nice seeing each other grow and backing all of our progress. We give compliments and truly mean them.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Joanne: Admin first – checking emails, Google chat, connecting with the warehouse to see what we need in store. Luca and I connect about socials most days. We have the flexibility to work in our office, the store, or the cafe, which is nice.
Luca: It’s an informal environment, which you feel in the way we work, but also how we’re each able to do our own thing. There’s a clear understanding and alignment of what the ‘bigger picture’ is for the brand, and I feel I can express myself creatively within that. I guess because we’re all interested in the things we do, our job is also our passion, so then you’re always doing things from the heart.
How do you keep up with industry trends?
Luca: I spend a lot of time online gathering inspiration from brands. Instagram is my main platform. But there’s inspiration everywhere, even just being in the store and seeing how people are dressed. When you do what you’re interested in, you’re also always seeing inspiration. But it does mean you never really switch off.
We can relate since our team is also very interested in the fashion scene, but that also means the lines between work and downtime are blurred… In our collaboration, the shared interests help us understand your needs better. How do you find working together?
Joanne: Yeah, for sure. We also had the personal connection that brought our two companies together, and you feel that in the way we work. It’s warm and safe, we have similar values when it comes to both work culture and personal interests.
Luca: Since my background isn’t marketing (but rather creative), I’m eager to learn more, and I love to see the numbers to see how we can improve or what we can do differently. The NSL team is great for guiding that process and filling in the gaps with their expertise. It really feels like an extension of our team with additional capabilities and knowledge.
Joanne: I also appreciate that there’s never the feeling of asking a “stupid” question, the team is so good at explaining and guiding in a respectful way. It’s also helpful to get an outsider perspective on things – rather than the internal team vision being the only vision – but I never feel that NSL is pushing their own agenda.
No, that’s not our style. We work to complement your vision rather than changing it.
Joanne: Exactly, it’s a far more collaborative process.
Community is one of your brand values and a big part of your identity. Tell us more about how that comes to life.
Joanne: It’s really important to us that people feel welcome to shop our products and be in our spaces - physical and online. When I was younger, I didn’t always feel super comfortable in the Zeedijk, even though I loved the stores and brands there. So it’s about creating an identity that feels open, safe, curious about style, and authentic. When we shoot content, we think about what our community wants to see and close the gap between the audience and the models. We shoot a lot in the store, and we use community members rather than just paid models.
Luca: We also have a lot of trust from the brands, so they generally let us create content without restrictions.
When it comes to hype products, how do you make sure your community is prioritised?
Joanne: Reaching our community is so important to us that sometimes we’ll choose to only do an in-store launch for certain products. That way, we know it’s actually a person buying them! It’s also so nice when we do the in-store launch because we get to meet the community and they’re not always what you expect. For example, when we launched the Nike King's Day Air Max One, we had a lot of old school sneaker heads (not just women!) coming by. When we do raffles online, I personally do the manual process of making sure a bot isn’t getting the product. It’s a lot of work, but part of putting the community and brand first.
You mentioned that events are an important way to connect with your community. Does one stand out as particularly special?
Luca: I loved the first collaboration with the location, Pre-Reserved, for Nike Thunder. Everything worked out so well. It was a complete experience from the food, to the music, to the decoration, the guestlist… It was amazing to see how guests styled the shoe as well. As part of the community building, we invite people who we believe actually care about the brand and product, who would wear it rather than sell it on Vinted as a PR piece.
Joanne: For me, it was the party in Pacific (Westerpark) release of the Nike Air Max 1 in denim, leather and Obsidian. It felt like everyone was there; you really saw how our community had grown.
Luca: I have to say though, when I was “just” a Maha fan, I used to hear about their events and think they were so cool, but wasn’t totally comfortable just showing up to them. But then there was one event led by Nike, an analogue workshop, and I felt this was something I could join. It’s nice also having a variety of events because big social ones can be intimidating.
And finally, we can’t leave without knowing what two stylish women like you consider a fashion essential in your wardrobe.
Joanne: A good jeans, in indigo blue.
Luca: A classic loafer.
See an example of Maha’s community building via Klaviyo and retention strategies, managed by our team.
