Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated with what makes us tick and how we can feel free to bring our deepest being to life. How we can follow our destiny, so to say.
Before writing books, I founded and ran a communications agency. We wrote texts and produced videos for large corporations, until one day sat behind my desk my consciousness opened and I began to ask questions about sustainability. I sold one company to our best employees and the other to my business partner, obtained a BSc in Brennan healing science in the US, was asked to join the boards of Social Venture Network (Europe), the Findhorn Foundation (Scotland) and the Center for Human Emergence (NL). I ran a private practice in which I coached people towards bringing their whole self to life, until I started writing about topics close to my heart.
In a decade, I wrote five books, three of which have been published in English by Inner Traditions. The Eldest Daughter Effect I co-authored with one of my best friends, Wies Enthoven, also a firstborn. As our research showed,. our friendship is not accidental. Firstborn women tend to resemble one another. The Childhood Conclusions Fix is my rendition of the character defence structures as identified by early psychiatrist William Reich, which I studied for my BSc. Wishing I had learned about these inner patterns as a teenager, I made them accessible to a wide audience. The title of my book on the non-parent path, Childhood Living, is deceptive as this book contains my exploration into the seasons of life of the increasing number of us who have no children. You can order these books directly from my publisher Inner Traditions. An earlier book, Alight, in which I describe three simple and highly effective methods of unmasking inner limitations that I applied almost daily in my private practice, is out of print and now only available through resellers. The working title of my next book is The Inner Life of Money and after over three years of research, I am almost at the point of writing.
Aware of the steering power of money, I actively invest in companies that aim to be a force for good for the future of our continued existence on this planet. Thus, I helped start Impact Hub Amsterdam and was among the first investors in the online Ubiquity University as well as in the steward owned Sumthing platform. I also invest through funds like Goodwell, Burning Issues Impact Fund BIIF and the impact investment cooperative Pymwymic of which I currently serve as chair. In the cultural field, I have invested in Symphonic Cinema and serve as chair of the Boijmans Basis Fonds, an endowment fund for the renowned Boijmans van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam.
I hold an MA from Leiden University in the Netherlands where I studied the Classics, and later obtained a BSc in Brennan Healing Science in the United States.
I am delighted to live in Amsterdam with my partner, painter Jos van Merendonk.