Our people
Our people
In this job, planning and organizing is a challenge that I am very pleased with. I like to be among people and have the drive to help others.
In August 2017 I followed one of our programs: Communication for Excellence. That was a unique and special experience. It gave me more insight into how we are as human beings, both business and private, and how we can make life a lot easier and more efficient. I'm proud to be a part of this warm team at the office that feels like home.
"Since mid-August 2022 I have been responsible for the Open Trainings of How Company and i am a part of the great team.
Before I came here, I worked as an account manager in business services for over two years. Before that I worked as a cultural entrepreneur at my own company, which I did with great passion and pleasure for eleven years. I provided cultural lessons for children who could follow singing, dance, musical and theater lessons directly after school at their own school. With the slogan 'You are worth it' I expressed how I view children. But the same goes for adults, of course. The fact that people are worth it and matter can be overlooked by an exclusively task-oriented focus. I think it's great to be part of a club that has the vision to be meaningful in this area in order to sharpen the focus on people in a company again so that tasks can be performed more efficiently.
I live in Nieuwegein with my sixteen years old son. Soon we will start together with a short Krav Maga course. I also do Modern (ballet), street dance, running, rollerblading and I like to squash. I love people, having fun and doing spontaneous fun things. You can also find me alone on the beach somewhere. Amazing!"
"I am a student at the Amsterdam University of Aplied Sciences, studying Business adminastrations. In September 2022 I started an internship at How Company. This internship contained working on the finances of How Company. During my internship I also worked on the migration to a new CRM/Accounting system. The pleasant cooperation during the internship led to a parttime job as bookkeeper that I can fulfill easily during my time as a student.
Because of my education course I am broadly educated withing all aspacts of businesses, mostly within finances and data-collection/processing. How Company is the perfect place for me to utilize these qualities.
I am a very ethusiastic person who likes to share and tell stories about experiences I had. Because of that I love to be around people.
Football is one of my biggest passions, I am currently playing Sunday league football in a team of friends where we enjoy every minute from playing ninety minutes to enjoying a beer at the canteen after the match. After that we’ll watch the AJAX game together and enjoy the Formula 1 races on the Sunday."
"Since September I have been working at How company as an office support employee/DTP'er. Together with my colleague Wilma Almeida I take care of the layout of our material and we print and provide all the material needed for a training. After years of working in the graphic industry as a DTP'er, I started something completely different after bankruptcy, my own beauty salon. But I missed the graphic profession and working with a team. At how company I found that team feeling again and together we produce an amazing product.
I was born and raised in Landsmeer (where how company is located), am married and have a cat. I like to be "busy", but also like to go out for a nice (city) walk, dinner or go cycling with my husband and friends."
"Over the past 30 years I have worked in several leadership positions in retail, childcare and government. There I experienced that a small adjustment in my leadership or communication already makes the difference between working hard or achieving more together. Such as better business results, lower absenteeism, greater involvement and people who stay longer with the team.
In 2010 I came into contact with How's communication & personal development training courses. Their vision and way of training indicated what I had noticed for years. People make the difference with their leadership and communication. And that starts with me.
The training courses I followed at How and the lessons I learned from this inspired me to make my steps as a trainer and coach from 2011. Since 2023 I have been part of the trainer team of How.
I am the mother of a son (24) and a daughter (22). Enjoy everything that has to do with sun, sea, beach and water. I have been practicing yoga for years, meditating and the most difficult sudokus or a 5000 piece jigsaw puzzle make me completely Zen."
"In April 2022 I started as a graduation intern at How Company and since November 2022 I have been a permanent part of the how-team! The professional, but personal environment, flexibility, friendliness and the opportunity for personal development is what appealed to me to finish my study and the start my career at How Company.
Within How Company I focus on the marketing to help improve the organization's growth and I support my colleagues in the operations to ensure that our activities run as smoothly as possible. So we can continue to share our vision with the world. After all, everyone has the right to experience their full potential.
"In addition to gaining new knowledge and insights during my time at How Company, I experience what it is like to be part of a team where everyone respects each other and wants to bring out the best in everyone and what an impact this has on the productivity of an organization."
During my study years, I have been able to develop myself as a Young Professional with a broad business view with the help of the Business Studies course at the Hogeschool Inholland. These were special and instructive years in which I developed a growing interest in marketing, process management and now also the power skills. One of my own learning goals is therefore to keep learning and include the expertise in my work environment in my own development to experience my full potential. The first steps were taken when I had the opportunity to participate in the Communication Styles and Communication for Excellence programs."
KPIs are important of course, but only with a people-oriented approach can you strike the balance between the KPIs and the culture of an organization.
Organizations that get this balance right are able to go for their Excellence and achieve the maximum possible.
I live in Amsterdam IJburg, have 3 children and besides my passion for How Company, I also have a great passion for water sports, running, Ajax and consume a Belgian beer with a bitterbal."
"At home in my parents' company, I could already ask 'the tough questions' as a child. Why do we do what we do? Why do we do it that way? Because it's the way it should be, the answer was never satisfying for me. Later career in retail, in the police force and then for a large non-governmental organization I was always concerned with continuous improvement.
In 2005 I became acquainted with How Company. I followed a training that made me really understand what I already knew: Not the process, but the people make the difference and… my opinion is just an opinion. I decided to change course and have myself trained as a trainer and coach within How Company's own training program.
Back to the core, the 'why' and from there. Inspiring people to get started with that is such a privilege to this day.
My personal vision is to create a society where love (in the first place for ourselves) and partnership are the standard, by self-example and by training myself and others. That doesn't stop in the training room. It is part of who I am and so I take it home to my wife Linda and our three children and their partners which we enjoy together. My passion is sailing with our boat, with the family, with friends and alone. I completely relax on the water. If I can also enjoy then a glass of Zundert 10, then my day is complete."
Before I started How Company in 2003 I worked for BP and Randstad in sales, marketing and general management. A recurring theme in my (international) career has been leading change processes, from strategy through to implementation.
I am specialized in culture change, leadership, teamwork and personal growth in both multinationals and SMEs, non-profit and top sport organizations.
Helping people to see we can achieve so much more with far less effort by changing how we look at situations and developments. This is what drives me, and will continue to do so.
I would describe myself as an entrepreneur of life: the many burns and life lessons I have collected on the way have made me passionately driven to partner with others to improve things.Many of my insights on this subject are in my book “Liever een Blije Eikel” (2013).
I am father of 2 young children who keep me young and sharp. I love Italian food, as well as 'the wine' from Italy. But also the blond Belgian beer now and then must not be missed. I can be found regularly at the stand of the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam."
"When I was faced with the choice of what I wanted to study, I chose Applied Physics. I liked Physics and had no idea what I wanted to achieve. Physics seemed to be a safe choice and certainly a challenging study. I got there quickly I learned that I did not get so much satisfaction from making difficult sums, but much more from collaborating with others in projects and achieving results together. Through my former manager I started a training course about my communication with other people and with myself. I was immediately enthusiastic. This was what I had been missing all those years: How does that work in life? How do I work? How do other people work? How can I improve my relationships?
"I became increasingly involved with people and made the step from project leader to manager of teams. Where I always thought: I wish everyone that they not only achieve more at work and have fun at work, but also at home."
I asked How Company to take a look at the previous organization where I worked and now at Thales. At Thales, we wanted to set up a trajectory with another company to boost our technical leaders. 'Accelerate' is a trajectory with both a technical component and a leadership component. How Company set up and guided the leadership component for us. In all phases of the process, How Company actively thinks along about the best follow-up action. Accelerate has personally inspired me to go for trainership at How Company. Not an easy choice for a full-time working mom, but I'm still excited about it every day.
I am married and have two children. We like to go on vacation and if possible to America, for example to go hiking in Zion National Park or to visit our family."
"Throughout my years at ING it’s always been the human side that has interested me. I saw how important it is both in working with customers in and outside of the Netherlands, and in building teams and supporting young talented professionals in their development.
I came into contact with How at the end of 2014 and that made such an impact on me that I took the leap to join How Company’s train the trainer program.
I have always been passionate about supporting people and teams to grow. My motto is “create leaders not followers.” Look at what is possible, and go for it!
Why did How stand out for me? It was their genuine interest in people and what motivates them. Combined with the fact that I felt I could totally trust them. The humour and positivity were also pretty crucial.
I was born and raised in Amsterdam and a big fan of Ajax. Together with my husband and two studying children I love traveling, going out for dinner and concerts. The ideal Sunday is enjoying an inspiring book and a glass of wine by the fireplace together with my family."
"I became acquainted with How Company in 2017. At the time, my employer gave me the opportunity to follow the four-day training Communication for excellence.
This training made a deep impression on me.
"I saw in practice how the content of this training and the practical tools I had received as a participant had and still have an effect on my daily life."
"This is what I want", I thought, helping others by giving them frameworks and targeted handles, so that they can use more of their own potential.
People and working with people has always fascinated me. Besides being a trainer, I also work as an HR business partner at a large healthcare institution in Amsterdam.
I live in Abcoude with my husband and 2 children. I like to travel, sports and hiking. I can also enjoy a good show."
"The past few years I have been lucky enough to have worked with a lot of people in industrial and education organisations, some of the time as manager and some of the time as management consultant. If this has taught me one thing it is that the people in any organisation are the key to its success. And also that things don’t automatically run smoothly.
It was in 2013, when I took part in a How Company programme, that I experienced how powerful their trainings are. I saw how things could be done differently, what motivates people and how you can get them to handle situations from an attitude of personal responsibility.
I started to play with the tools and found out that I was able to get people to see how they could achieve more without working harder.
I’ve been working together with How Company since 2017. I am passionate about empowering people to get the most out of themselves, it gives me energy."
"I started my career in the financial sector almost 25 years ago. A sector dominated by professional competence requirements and strict protocols. And even though all those requirements served a purpose, I found that my degrees and knowledge of the rules weren't enough. To get results I had to be able to connect. Connect with customers, colleagues, my teams, or the directors of the organizations where I worked.
To further develop myself in this area, I came into contact with the people of How Company. After following various training courses and applying it in practice, I noticed that something changed. What I initially experienced as difficult and exciting in collaborations gradually became the most valuable side of my work. Learning to create results together from connection and daring to go beyond all expectations has become my main motivation. And also the reason to start working with How Company as a trainer.
A nice extra? That this is not limited to work. The same tools help me and my wife in our family of three adolescents to face the challenges time and again, make mistakes and then learn from each other."
My experience as manager (ING and Sogeti, among others) has taught me one thing in particular: it’s only possible to increase your results by working on your own personal development. Once people discover their power and drive, the improvements in performance follow automatically.
What makes How Company special in my eyes is that we approach performance from both the professional and personal angle. Our trainings are challenging, confronting, but above all practical. From my role as both individual coach and trainer it is a privilege to work with others who, like me, want to develop themselves to become they best person they can be
A career in first education then in the fire brigade has shown me how important it has been to keep developing myself personally. It has helped me hugely both in my work and at home. And what is finer than to pass on that experience and support others? This has become a way of life for me.
I hope to enable others to create the space for themselves and others to grow whatever their organization or position.
The How Company approach is very effective at getting people to stand firmly on their own feet. We do what is necessary for each participant to become aware of how they are holding themselves back, and they get practical tools to go for what they really want both at home and at work.
What we do at How is about supporting people – including a large number of teachers - to get the best out of themselves. These teachers then pass on what they learned to their students - by talking about it, but above all by BEING it. I believe firmly that if everyone strives to get the best out of themselves, that we’re on our way to a healthier society. My aim is to play a role in this process.
In my own life I noticed at one point that my way of managing and working with others didn’t always work. It was around this time that I came into contact with Edwin Vreedeveld, who was setting up a personal development program for the business world. The program taught me a great deal about myself, and it was great to see how others were just as inspired as me to start approaching things in their life in a different way. My decision to switch careers was the start of a long and fruitful collaboration in which I have specialized in the programs for education.
I am convinced that once people really start getting the best out of themselves, that it is not only good for themselves and their environment, but that it creates enjoyment, fulfillment and growth. This conviction is what makes me do what I do, and love doing it.
The greatest reward is to see people starting to believe in themselves and start making a difference in their own lives. I joined How Company in 2007 and focus on leadership, team culture and personal growth. What I find so special about How is that, besides supporting individuals and companies to grow, that we absolutely practice what we preach. We’ve been there. We know from experience what we are talking about.
Together with my husband we live in Amstelveen. I like to dance the salsa and the tango, love good food and I enjoy my cousins and nieces. I like my work and I this pleases me."