Before Mouse Inc. Before television work. Before the campaigns. There was just a little girl sitting behind a chunky 90s computer screen in her parents’ bedroom.
That computer became my portal to another world.
While most kids played outside, I disappeared into The Sims, RollerCoaster Tycoon, online Doll makers, weird internet communities & endless creative experiments in Microsoft Word with WordArt, glitter fonts and way too much Comic Sans.
Long before social media existed, I was already creating identities online. Building websites on platforms like CU2 and Sugababes, editing photos in Paint Shop Pro and redesigning my little corners of the internet almost every week.
Fun fact: A fortune teller predicted my career.
She once told me, when I was around ten years old, that I would be extremely good in working with computers which will end up being part of my job.
My obsession with creativity followed me into art school, where I studied drama, mime, drawing & music. For a long time I thought I’d become an actress or dancer, until I realized my real passion lived somewhere between storytelling, psychology, branding and the digital world.
So I studied Graphic Design and after that I went to an academy for Art Direction. I missed the stories behind my creations. I wanted to learn more about story telling and creating concepts, worlds and experiences people could emotionally connect to.
At 21, I graduated and dreamed of working for the biggest creative agencies. The only problem? Nobody wanted to hire a 21-year-old without experience.
Luckily, I ended up working at De Telegraaf, where I stayed for 11 years and discovered content creation, photography, writing and social media. Around the same time, I started my fashion blog as my own creative playground online.
The.Blog.Changed.Everything.
My first collaboration ever was with Zalando: a €50 voucher in exchange for a blogpost. At the time, it felt unreal that creativity on the internet could actually become a career!
Then social media exploded.
Suddenly blogs became secondary and platforms like Instagram and Facebook took over. I rolled into the influencer and content creator world before people even fully understood what influencing was.
It was exciting, but after years in that bubble, I got a bit bored…
One of my biggest side quests appeared:
*AR filters*
I became obsessed with immersive design and started creating filters and digital experiences for brands like Maybelline, L’Oréal and HEMA. What started as design work slowly evolved into full creative campaigns, activations and art direction.
When Instagram pulled out their AR plug and deleted its filters, I realized I had drifted away from the bigger dream: building brands and creative concepts.
Meanwhile I joined Het Perfecte Plaatje on RTL 4 as the graphic designer behind the show’s visual transformations. While helping contestants create surreal edits and fantasy visuals, I jokingly called myself their “personal computer mouse.”
That’s where Linsey Mouse was born
Because that joke turned into my nickname – now my alter ego – Linsey Mouse. People on set started calling me Magic Mouse or The girl with the magic wand who made the visuals come alive.
And my Mouseyverse started to grow.
Today, Mouse Inc. is my Holistic Branding Boutique where for the first time, everything finally clicks: graphic design, storytelling, fashion, psychology, branding, performance & internet culture.
That little girl behind the glowing 90s computer screen would completely lose her mind if she saw what we’re building now.
