BNR Radio MKB Cafe podcast by Lauren Verster about an escort agency

On August 25th, 2025, Dutch presenter Lauren Verster interviewed Marike van der Velden, founder of this high class escort agency, for her podcast series MKB Cafe on BNR Radio. In this first episode after the summer break, the programme steps straight into a sector that is often surrounded by assumptions. The escort world is frequently associated with glamour, money and excitement, yet it is also a business that still carries a strong social stigma.

More than twenty years ago, Marike started Society Service shortly after graduating, with a university background in Business Administration and just €2,000 in start-up capital. What began as an unconventional business idea grew into one of the largest high end escort agencies in the Netherlands, with around fifty escorts and thousands of clients. In the podcast, she speaks openly about what it took to build that company in a world shaped by taboos, prejudice and practical obstacles that many other entrepreneurs never have to deal with.

Escort agency owner: "It’s actually not all that exciting"

In conversation with Lauren Verster, Marike reflects on how she built Society Service into a leading name in the Dutch high end escort sector. She combines the mindset of an entrepreneur with the realities of working in a branch that is still widely misunderstood.

One of the most striking things about the interview is how calmly Marike dismantles the clichés around her work. She explains that the business is not primarily about scandal or sensation, but about mediation, judgement and human connection. In her agency’s approach, a booking is not simply about sex. The social side matters just as much, and often more. Clients may spend an evening having dinner, talking, going out together or sharing an experience before intimacy even becomes part of the encounter. That personal connection, she explains, is what defines the high end segment.

That is also why not every request is accepted. If someone is looking only for a quick sexual transaction and has no interest in any real interaction, she would rather turn the booking down. In her view, that kind of mismatch leads to a disappointing experience for both the client and the escort. The women and men she works with are not there to play out a flat stereotype. They are there to create an experience that feels natural, comfortable and personal.

Throughout the episode, Marike comes across not as someone chasing glamour, but as a serious business owner who spends most of her time arranging logistics, screening enquiries and making careful matches. She even jokes that her work is much less exciting than people imagine, because in reality it mostly happens behind a computer and on the phone. What she enjoys most is hearing afterwards that people genuinely had a good time, whether that means a client felt at ease, a couple shared an unforgettable evening, or an escort came away from a booking feeling respected and comfortable.

At the same time, the conversation makes clear that running this kind of company comes with a price. Because of the stigma surrounding sex work, Marike says it is still extremely difficult to arrange things that many entrepreneurs take for granted. Disability insurance is nearly impossible for her to obtain. Banking and payment processing remain complicated. Even property and insurance matters can become difficult once the nature of the business becomes known. Although she operates legally and follows the rules, she still has to prove herself again and again in ways that other business owners usually do not.

That tension runs through the whole interview. On the one hand, she describes an agency built on professionalism, structure and long term thinking. On the other, she speaks candidly about a society that often continues to treat the industry as suspect, no matter how carefully or responsibly it is run. Rather than becoming bitter, she approaches those barriers with a practical mindset. She has built financial buffers, kept her lifestyle modest and learned to create security outside the systems that often exclude her.

The interview also touches on reputation and criticism. Marike explains that public online discussions about escorts are often crude and reductionist, focusing on explicit details rather than the quality of the overall experience. She deliberately keeps her distance from that world. Instead, she prefers to judge success by the private feedback she receives from clients and escorts themselves, which is often thoughtful, warm and appreciative.

By the end of the conversation, what remains is not a sensational story, but a nuanced one. This episode of MKB Cafe is really about entrepreneurship under pressure: about building a company in a field where prejudice can be just as challenging as competition, and where resilience matters as much as commercial instinct. Marike’s story is not presented as glamorous fantasy, but as a real business journey shaped by discipline, persistence and the ability to keep going in an environment that does not easily make room for her.

Play the episode here. It is in Dutch, but the automatic translation function allows you to view subtitles in other languages: