Kitty de Jong studied Dutch language & literature at Leiden University in the late seventies of the past century. The design came in her life by accident when as a student, she happened to meet Gert Dumbar at Tel Design where he was one of the creative partners.
When Gert Dumbar left Tel Design to set up his own agency in 1980 Kitty joined him to become Studio Dumbar’s business manager. In 1990 she changed an employed position for a position as a full business partner in Studio Dumbar.
This big adventure ended some 20 years later in 2002 when both Gert Dumbar and Kitty de Jong considered it time for a change. After leaving Studio Dumbar, Kitty set up her own communication agency in which she worked successfully for a couple of years, mostly for clients in ICT.
All the while not severing her ties with the design industry altogether, as she also was a member of the board for the Dutch Design Awards and thus maintained contacts with the design branch and the BNO. When BNO in 2005 needed a business consultant to handle all business-related questions for its members, the match was easily made.