I grew up in beautiful Amsterdam, in a family where commitment and growth were very important. I learned then that it is not only about the final result, but also about the effort you put into it, and things had to be done well, never just 'halfway'. Music always played an important role and brought us together. Yet as a family, we also had considerable 'challenges'. It was sometimes difficult and because of this, I had to learn to be independent at a young age. I tried harder so that my parents didn't have any extra worries about me. This later made me develop an automatism to solve things myself and not ask for help from others, which cost me a lot of energy and 'toil'.

In adolescence, I learned how important thoughts are to how we feel, that you can choose your thoughts and that thoughts are not facts. This insight helped me stay positive, and inspired me to help others deal with stress. Even in primary school, I enjoyed 'coaching' by helping others. This coaching passion has only grown over the years. People often give me back that I radiate calm, that I am a good listener, but also dare to confront. In my coaching, I am clarifying, reflective and committed, and I am genuinely interested in the person sitting across from me.

After completing my secondary school, there was high unemployment and recession. Because of the high probability of unemployment, I was advised against studying psychology, and I then opted to study economics, with which the chances of employment were much higher, and then a profession in financial administration. After working for a long time in the business world in small and large organisations, also as an executive and part of the management team, in 2008 I followed my heart and successfully studied psychology at the University of Amsterdam. My dream of coaching became reality when I made the career switch to coach/psychologist. Since then, I have enjoyed coaching more than a hundred people in career, talent and development processes, with reintegration into the labour process, stress and burn-out and with increasing personal effectiveness.