My parents, a criminal investigator and an executive secretary, taught me at a very early age, the value of hard work and the need for a healthy amount of perseverance. So, I learned early on that if you do things right from the start you don't need three other people to help you do it later. 🤫 In those early years, I gained my first experience of IT by experimenting with programming in Assembler on the Commodore VC20 and 64. After the 10th grade, I switched from grammar school to a technical secondary school in order to get my university entrance qualifications a year earlier. This was because I wanted to enter the job market sooner. My subsequent military service was a great challenge, but one I mastered successfully and gladly – albeit with some necessary creativity. As a teenager I had, and still have, two passions: tennis coaching and tutoring. Working as a fully-trained tennis coach and trainer, I was able to finance my university studies in industrial engineering and business administration, even though I was simultaneously working at HP the last 1,5 years of my studies. My favorite jobs have been in the areas of sales, consulting and people transformation. My work has been varied, and has included acting as an interim CEO for a company employing people from the autistic spectrum in the IT industry. In the process, I discovered my penchant for coaching people and promoting their superpowers. Because of my level of expertise and responsibility, and having led organizations of up to 450 employees, I have been able to focus on key levers and influencers. Leading-from-the-front suits me more than leading from-the-desk. Both in my professional and private life, quality is important to me: in my free time, I enjoy taking holidays with my favorite people and not being disturbed. Nevertheless, I love being pulled out of my comfort zone to learn new things. One example of this is cooking: I like to smoke everything from meat to Nutella sandwiches on the grill or smoker. I also like taking part in indoor cycling marathons, which can last up to 10 hours.