Jacques was born in a small South African town called Humansdorp and grew up in Jeffreys Bay, known for its world class surf break.
He grew up with a very big interest in the IT sector and got his first computer at age 5. From a very young age he knew that he didn’t want to work for anyone and thus kept himself motivated to go big or go home. He founded An1ken in 2007. At the time it was merely his online identity for freelancing and doing client work in the design sector which started in 2004.
As things evolved he made the decision to establish An1ken as a holding company for all his projects and ideas. He had to create a branch for the creative side of the group as that was the initial focus and that is how An1ken Creative was born. An1ken Creative was to be separate from the other projects, but still fall under An1ken and handle all the creative work.
An1ken Creative was his main focus up until he launched Creativeoverflow in late 2009. Creativeoverflow an online design magazine was his hub for expressing creativity in forms of inspiration, tutorials, interviews and more.
Now with multiple ventures and growing each year, An1ken is aiming to focus on different facets in life and establish a high quality group that will encourage change through actions. Whilst this is only the beginning for the An1ken Group, we certainly want to leave our mark. One venture however that is close to Jacques’ heart and in the works is the An1ken Foundation.
The foundation will help kids with talent and lack of funding attend schools and acquire a tertiary educations that would not have been possible otherwise. It will look into taking them out of the rural settlements and providing them with fresh clothing, food, housing, skills development etc. There are millions of people that are struggling daily and by raising a generation with the correct principles, values and skills we can rely on them to take things to the next level in the future.
The thing that makes An1ken so special to Jacques is not only because he started it back in 2007, but the meaning behind the word An1ken. Originally derived from “Any One Can,” it carries an encouraging message to motivate others by saying that, “If others could succeed, any one can succeed.”
Follow Jacques on: @Jacquesvh / Facebook / Pinterest / Instagram / www.jacquesvh.com