I come from the south of South Africa, from the beautiful wine region in the Boland, where I grew up on a fruit farm and vineyard. Life there had a big impact on me then and now - and mainly because of that, I developed a certain down-to-earth attitude. I finished school in South Africa and obtained a Bachelor of Arts. At the age of 23, I came to further my studies in Hannover, Germany: music, pedagogy and psychology. Even as a young person, these three subjects fascinated me. That hasn't changed to this day.

 

After finishing my studies, I started working in corporate sales for an international education company - as a complete newbie to the profession. I enjoyed the dynamic interaction with people and so I continued on this career path with great enthusiasm. However, I realised that as a career changer, I had a lot of catching up to do and had to work much harder than my colleagues – also because German was not my native language. The hard work paid off though and, in the end, provided me with many opportunities: I worked all over Germany, was able to gain management experience with international teams and, as Sales Manager for Germany, gained international experience in sales and negotiations. However, the challenges were not long in coming: difficult negotiations, unpleasant management tasks or finding my way around various new cultural environments – the list goes on!

 

As a coach and trainer, I now work with people from different countries, cultures, industries and functions. The challenges from my previous jobs are particularly helpful to me today, because they enable me to better understand my clients and seminar participants. I find tremendous joy in helping people overcome similar challenges that I faced!

 

This passion for working with people led me to found GROENDAL in 2013. As it happened, I found my way back to the "down-to-earth" values, I was taught on the farm I grew up - Groenendal - and therefore symbolically, I chose this name as the foundation of the GROENDAL values.