Introduction

Exactly one year ago I received my last paycheck from my former employer. Dismissed, fired, laid off, for the first time in my life. After two months and about 25 application letters without getting even close to finding a new job I was asked if I had a KvK number. In the Netherlands you need that (a proof of your registration with the Chamber of Commerce) as the first requirement to start a business. It seemed that getting a temporary job was easier than finding a permanent one again.

So even before my contract officially ended end of February last year, I got a consulting job for a customer in the Netherlands. For nine weeks in a row I was part of a development team building a whole new application. Every now and then I could teach the team members a few things, but learned a lot from them too! Putting into practise what you have always taught is not that easy every now and then.

After a quiet month the first request for training came in again. That is where my heart is: stand in front of a group of people and teach. While I was in Melbourne teaching this class, I got in another request for an overview training in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Then a class in the Netherlands, Denmark.... the agenda was filling up again: I was back in business!