Interview with Hendrika Willemse - Vreugdenhil - Baaz 4.2022 - read it digitally too!
Meet Hendrika
''If I have to describe myself in a few words, I always start with entrepreneur, speaker, high-performance coach, and former top athlete. Because I have been a three-time world champion and a two-time European champion in karate. I followed an IT education at the MBO and then started working as an entrepreneur in IT. After ten years, I sold my IT company to pursue a career in the corporate world. The first three years in a management position and then in an international role. In the last years of my business career, I worked for larger American companies. For a few years now, I have been an entrepreneur again – as a high-performance coach and speaker, I help professionals and teams deliver top performance. I am married, live in Haarlem, and am the proud mother of a four-year-old son.''
Hendrika : 'My motto is: 'why settle for an ordinary life when you can lead an extraordinary life'
How did you transition from the sports world to IT? And how did the shift to speaker and high-performance coach come about?
Karate and IT have actually always coexisted for me. I have over 20 years of experience in the IT and tech sector and have also been active in karate for 20 years. I started karate at a young age, actually because of a difficult high school experience. I was bullied and even switched schools because of it. That was also the moment I decided to stand up for myself and take karate lessons.
Karate has played a significant role in many aspects of my life. It has made me stronger and more resilient and taught me discipline and perseverance. And I learned to deal with setbacks. Because I regularly trained and guided the youth and competition team towards tournaments, my love for coaching also developed during this period.
After 20 years in IT and karate, I really wanted to contribute more with my work and decided to combine my knowledge and experience to help others. In early 2021, I started anew as an entrepreneur with high-performance coaching and speaking engagements to inspire and motivate people. Since then, I have also been committed to increasing diversity in the corporate world and female empowerment.''
What prompted you to write the book Kick-Ass?
''Many women often know that they can and want more, but still find it difficult to take the step and pursue a career. They are afraid that it will be hard to combine with a family or they let themselves be held back by the opinions of others. As a result, they do not utilize their maximum potential, and that is a shame.
Every woman deserves to stand strong and confidently in her shoes, to be successful, and to have a good life. Go for gold! That is the reason I wrote the book Kick-Ass – my book helps ambitious women get more out of life! Not only in the short term but precisely with the goal of achieving lasting change, without burning out or becoming stressed.''
Hendrika : 'Many women often know that they can and want more, but still find it difficult to take the step and pursue a career'
Do you have a specific target audience for the book?
''The book is written for ambitious women, but men read it too. The book provides practical advice to anyone who wants to build a successful career but also wants to have time left for a good private life. It is not a matter of either-or. Work and private life are increasingly overlapping; one cannot exist without the other!
The book is especially very practical and covers a wide range of topics. For anyone who wants to work on realistic goals and a concrete action plan, who wants to develop a strong, positive mindset, who wants to work smarter and no longer wants to be lived by the daily grind, and who wants to master the skills to present themselves powerfully, this book is very suitable! With the book, you also receive a significant number of templates as a bonus to help you apply the theory directly in practice!''
What would you like to convey in broad terms?
''My motto is: why settle for an ordinary life when you can lead an extraordinary life. Often people want to, but they don’t know how or find it difficult to start. Time is our most valuable asset, and it is a shame if you do not spend that time optimally. Your working life only counts for 15,000 days, so do not waste your time and consciously choose a life that truly makes you happy!''
Takeaways
''If I had to choose three things that have really helped me in my career and life, they would be these:
'If you don’t have your own plan, then you are part of someone else's plan!'
- It may sound a bit harsh, but if you do not set your own goals, establish your own priorities, and clearly understand what is truly important to you, you will sooner or later be lived by others who have their own agenda.
'How you deal with challenges determines your future'
- Life rarely goes as you hope it will. Just when you think everything is going smoothly, the next obstacle appears. Many things we cannot prevent or influence. We simply have to deal with them. How you handle these challenges ultimately determines your future. You always have a choice in how you react and what impact an event has.
'Happiness is a choice'
- You choose how you look at things. You determine whether you are grateful for the beautiful things in your life or become grumpy about the things that go wrong. You are responsible for your own sense of happiness. Edison once said, "I have not failed. I have discovered 10,000 ways that do not work." Opportunities present themselves to everyone – you decide whether to take them or not. Sometimes it works out well, sometimes not at all. Then you adjust and make a different choice next time. It’s that simple.''
Title: Kick-Ass - The ultimate handbook for ambitious women
Author: Hendrika Willemse-Vreugdenhil
Price: € 21.99
Publisher: NUBIZ
