The first few days in a new setting, and experiencing a new country, its culture and people, are always amazing to me. Being confronted with new languages, people, behaviours, climates, music, flavours... I will never get used to this unique feeling of immersion into something new - a brand new world opening up full of opportunities and challenges.
Staff Spotlight: Bram-Kees Trouwborst
Title:
Professor Business and MarketingPhotos
After having worked 15 years in retail companies, leaders in their sector, Bram-Kees started teaching, passionate about sharing his experiences with students all over the globe. He has studied and worked in a total of 5 countries and therefore has accumulated a large experience on issues as international business, culture and diversity, but also on how to deal with challenges that you face while living abroad.
What is your favorite travel memory?
How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?
Being a professor and consultant in different environments made me a more complete person. Being able to share experiences is so incredibly rich, because you become part of and add value to the growth and learning process of others. It is not totally new to me, though, seen the fact that before I was managing teams, which also requires empathising with your people and making them perform and grow.
What is the best story you've heard from a return student?
Being able to see others grow is the most beautiful thing. To see students become enthusiastic and inspired about the subjects you teach is fantastic. I am feeling privileged when I say that in multiple occasions I have heard back from students telling me they started their own project or company, being inspired in my classes.
If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?
A change of setting and having the opportunity to learn new things is always a reason to subscribe for any program, I would say. For example, this year I subscribed for a Marketing and Communication Postgraduate study on Gastronomy and Oenology, a beautiful sector that got me intrigued from the first minute of the course.
What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?
Being part of an organisation that has a clear mission and values and knows how to satisfy the needs of its stakeholders is great. When I work for Abbey Road, I definitely see that they achieve the objective of offering fun programs with huge social and intelectual learnings. Receiving positive feedback from the participants, though, is the most valuable part...
What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?
A company should focus on offering a service or product they love while making clients happy with it. Listening to your customer and analysing its environment is key for achieving success with your offerings. If you sell what you love and are able to transmit that, the magic with your client is more likely to happen.