Jef van de Graaf™ 
Since the Neolithic era, humans have been fermenting food. But the science of fermentation was unknown until Louis Pasteur, a French microbiologist, discovered that living organisms caused the fermentation process. This process not only enhances the taste of foods like sourdough bread, cheese, and wine but also contributes to the survival of our species. What … Read more
Nothing pisses me off more than a good thing coming to an end. In this case, I’m referring to Google Domains selling out to Squarespace. But why is that a problem? It’s a problem for me because I’m a WordPress guy and right now all my domains — and some of my clients’ domains — … Read more
WordPress makes up 43.2% of all websites on the internet. From personal blogs to big corporations, WordPress is one of the most popular website builder. And there’s good reason for it. What once started as a blogging platform has evolved into the world’s most powerful website builder and content management system. Keep reading for the … Read more
Let’s say you have a few extra hours to spare during the evenings and weekends. You could sit around and binge another Netflix series but where does that get you 1 or 2 years down the road? Instead, why not invest your time learning a skill that allows you to escape your dead-end job and … Read more
For two years, I grew a small business in the countryside of Yamaguchi (that’s about an hour from Hiroshima). I provided in-house (or in-office) English lessons personalized to my students’ needs. I relied heavily on word of mouth and guerilla marketing tactics to grow from 0 to 65 students in less than eight months. This … Read more
Seventeen and a half years of my life were spent sitting at a desk, listening to a teacher, studying for a test, and, when I passed, getting a piece of paper with my name written on them. But — so what? Even though the education system involves a lot of learning and doing — nothing … Read more
Last year was the shittiest year of my life where everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. F*ck!!! On the professional side — three of my best copywriting gigs ended their contracts in the same month which had nothing to do with my performance. One of my clients hired an in-house team. Another client … Read more
I spent the better parts of my 20s riding a bicycle across countries without any plan or purpose as to where I was going. Most days consisted of waking with the sunrise, slipping into my cycling attire, packing up my gear, then brewing a cup of coffee as I mentally prepared for the day ahead. … Read more
