What did you do before you joined WesselinkVanZijst?

I've always had a passion for personal contact with people. After high school, I further developed that passion at hotel school. First in the Netherlands, then in the United Kingdom. There I learned how to make people feel truly welcome — a skill I still use in my work every day.

Later, at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, I obtained my Master's in Business Administration, with a focus on change management, business strategy, and organizational management. Here I learned to view environmental issues through the lens of business administration. In my opinion, that perspective often adds a great deal and enables me to bridge the gap between administrative, societal, and commercial parties in a process.

In the following ten years, I gained experience in international business. I was intensively involved with strategy, stakeholder management, and external affairs, often in environments where interests were large and diverse. It was an educational time with many different roles, levels, and management responsibilities.

Op een gegeven moment voelde het als een gemis dat ik mijn kennis en kunde exclusief inzette voor één werkgever. Ik trok daarom de stoute schoenen aan en werkte vijf jaar als zelfstandig ondernemer. In die periode kreeg ik diverse opdrachten voor uiteenlopende opdrachtgevers. In één daarvan trof ik Hans van Zijst and Jeroen Medema. Het was een complex, multidisciplinair traject. We maakten daar samen een interessante tijd door en aan het einde van de klus was de stap naar WesselinkVanZijst een logische. Ik werk hier nu alweer een aantal jaar met veel plezier en combineer het persoonlijke contact, mijn ondernemerschap en de strategische blik in tal van opdrachten.

What do you mainly focus on at WesselinkVanZijst?

It's nice to be able to fulfill different roles within our company. That was also one of the reasons for starting to work here. I could divide this into: consultant, trainer, knowledge developer. But we can also speak of commercial, relational, and creative roles. Or as an independent, team player, and bridge-builder. But when we peel everything back, at my core, I am first and foremost a consultant: I enjoy making sharp analyses of complex issues, developing a clear strategy together with stakeholders, translating that into actionable perspectives, and then preferably also guiding the process through to execution. I connect advising and assisting—thinking and doing.

Daarbij werk ik voor verschillende opdrachtgevers, wat het werk nooit saai maakt. Waterschappen, energiebedrijven, Rijkswaterstaat, Central Government Real Estate Company en Defensie: het is een greep uit de organisaties die de afgelopen jaren aan bod kwamen. Ik werk graag aan strategische en gevoelige opgaven met veel stakeholders. Vanuit oprechte aandacht voor ieders belangen zoek ik dan naar oplossingen die waarde creëren voor alle betrokkenen. Mijn bedrijfskundige achtergrond en internationale ervaring combineer ik met een sterke omgevingssensitiviteit. Het resultaat: heldere kwalitatieve én kwantitatieve analyses, een praktische aanpak en concreet resultaat.

Besides being a consultant, I am now also an experienced trainer in various training programs, such as SSE Professional, SSE Basic Training, inspiration sessions, and in-company programs. I design, deliver, and facilitate learning pathways that focus on knowledge transfer, collaboration, and learning from each other. It's precisely this mix of content, interaction, and direct applicability that energizes me.

Furthermore, I am the spiritual father and co-host of the podcast Test on the SOM. Together with Jeroen I speak with peers about the challenges of strategic stakeholder engagement. It is a platform for knowledge sharing and a way to advance the profession.

Finally, I have various smaller roles within the company. I contribute ideas to different teams and, for example, act as the account manager for Dialog, the stakeholder management system we've been working with since late 2024. After developing and managing our own system for years, we transitioned to an external application through careful consultation. I shape such a process: from selection and contracting to governance, implementation, and team onboarding. With the new system, we ensure continuity, quality, and scalability for our projects.

What drives you in your work?

Our society requires that we truly live together. Too often, initiatives, projects, and programs get stuck because interests are left undiscussed or not carefully weighed, or because the process is not organized properly. I feel a certain responsibility to contribute to doing this better on the truly important issues. I help organizations get to the heart of the problem and set up processes that are transparent and traceable. It is important here to let stakeholders arrive at solutions so that everyone can return to their own constituents with a good story. It is certainly not always possible to give everyone 100%% equal footing. But pursuing an outcome a bit more often where everyone sees that it is better than the alternative, and where there is support for the process, would make the world a much better place.

People and organizations encounter each other again and again. In our profession, we then say, “there's always a next round, after all,” and wouldn't you prefer to enter that round together, stronger?

What do you like to do most when you're not at work?

First and foremost, I enjoy spending time with my family in and around the house, but I certainly have no shortage of hobbies. I train for triathlons: the variety of swimming, cycling, and running keeps me sharp and is never monotonous. I also enjoy gardening. After a full day sitting at the laptop, it's wonderful to be outdoors, working with your hands, and making something flourish. I experience the same feeling when my wife and I cook elaborate meals. The preparation, the zen moment in the kitchen, and eating with friends or family are very valuable to me. Ultimately, for me, it’s usually not the place or the activity that makes it special, but the people I do it with. Those people again!