‘There's no such thing as a 'fallen' woman’

The title of this theme song of John Leerdam’s musical ‘De Koningin van Paramaribo’ inspires me day in day out, as the Account Director and Manager of the Stradius Aruba office. My relationship with Stradius goes a long way back, when I met Charles Grootens many years ago. As a ‘HEAO Communicatie’ graduate of Eindhoven, I started my career at Dovale Advertising, Curaçao’s first and at the time largest advertising agency. After living in Curaçao for 11 years, I made a detour in 2002, leaving the company and Curaçao, as my heart called for my native Aruba. Simply thought it was time to go back home! I continued my career in Aruba at the Horacio E. Oduber Hospital, where I accepted the challenge of setting up a Public Relations department in an organization that yet had to experience the influence of good public relations as a management tool. Little could I have known that it would not take long, before I could reestablish my relationship with my old colleagues and challenging team! As consultancy in communication remained in my blood, I could not resist the challenge and gladly accepted Stradius’ offer to set up the Aruba office. My greatest challenge is to convince Aruban clients of the power and need for high quality branding. Aruba is ready for it and it’s very rewarding to see, that we are starting to make a difference!