Light Up Your Talent
Equipping People to Thrive and Develop in Ways that Matter
With 25+ years across the corporate sector, government and education, I help organisations develop their people by building on their strengths and potential, through L&D and talent management advisory, leadership and team development, and training. I also coach individuals through career and life transitions.
Working with me
For Organisations
L&D Advisory, Programmes & Training
I help you build the capabilities your organisation needs in a changing world of work, starting from what your people already bring.
- Interim L&D & Talent Management: End-to-end L&D advisory, interim or project-based, from modernising your learning architecture with AI to skills-based talent management that builds on people’s natural strengths, so learning pays off and good people stay.
- Leadership & team development: Tailored, strengths-based development journeys for leaders and teams, so leaders lead with confidence and authenticity through constant change, and teams work together at their best.
- Freelance trainer: Training courses in digital tools, AI and personal effectiveness, so people put new skills into practice in their daily work.
For Individuals
Career and Life Coaching
I coach you through career choices, challenges at work and major life changes, so you can move forward with new energy and make choices that fit who you are.
- Career coaching: Clarity on your next step at a career crossroads, or renewed energy and impact in your current role, by building on your core strengths and potential, so you move forward with confidence.
- Life coaching: Multifaceted coaching for when the past weighs on you, life changes, or you’re ready to pursue what matters to you, so you move forward with clarity, momentum and purpose.
For organisations
What is your organisation navigating right now?
L&D and talent management work waiting for capacity
Whether L&D sits with a busy HR business partner or a stretched L&D team, needs go unmapped and it’s hard to show what training delivers. Your learning architecture has become a patchwork, or serves compliance more than daily learning. And because talent management doesn’t yet build on people’s natural strengths, you recruit externally while the right people are already in-house, and good people leave.
Leading through constant change, with teams under strain
Leaders are expected to give direction, drive performance and support growth and wellbeing, while roles and priorities keep shifting. Within teams, roles are unclear, trust is wearing thin, or working together across functions, cultures, generations and locations takes more energy than it should. It shows in results, atmosphere, rising absenteeism and good people leaving.
Skills that lag behind new ways of working
Use of AI and digital tools varies widely, and much of the benefit stays untapped. People are unsure when the tools really help and when their own judgement should lead. At the same time, workload and ongoing change ask more of people’s personal effectiveness. Training often stays at knowledge level and rarely carries over into daily work, performance or client satisfaction. Or you’re a training provider looking for an experienced trainer to deliver it.
Recognise one of these? Let’s talk it through.
Talk through your challengeFor individuals
What are you navigating right now?
At a career crossroads
Perhaps a reorganisation means you have to move on. Or you’re still in your role, but it no longer feels right, and with daily work taking most of your energy, your own career planning keeps moving to the bottom of the list. Either way, you need to decide on your next step, and it’s hard to see which direction really fits you.
The right role, but not at your best
Collaboration with colleagues feels strained, your performance is under pressure, or your strengths aren’t fully recognised and used. You put in more effort than necessary, and your energy and motivation drop, even though your workplace and role still suit you.
Carrying weight from the past
Old experiences, self-doubt or emotions you’ve carried for years weigh on you. You want to let go of what holds you back, see your own worth again and find inner peace, so you can face each day with confidence and joy.
A major change in your life
Your life has changed: you’ve become a parent, moved to another country, or a relationship with your partner or family has changed or come under strain. What used to work no longer fits, and finding the right next step on your own is hard. You want to regain direction and momentum.
Sessions are mostly online, in English or Dutch, so you can join from anywhere.
Recognise yourself in one of these? Let’s explore your next step together.
Plan a free introductory call
Why I do this work
Throughout my career, one belief has remained constant: everyone has more talent than they realise. Like the petals of a flower, some talents already shine as strengths, while others are still potential, waiting for the right awareness, the right environment or the right moment in life.
I have seen what happens when people discover them. Clients tell me they learned to see their true value, to be proud of who they are and to understand what gives them energy. When people use more of their talent, their energy changes.
When that happens, people grow in confidence and contribute in ways that matter to them and their environment, teams work together more easily and with more trust, and organisations make better use of the potential they already hold, including in how they invest in learning.
I do this work to help people discover and activate their talents, because talents come so naturally that we often take them for granted. Yet they are exactly what makes each of us unique, in our own lives and in what we bring to the world.
I work as a senior L&D and talent management advisor, learning designer, trainer and coach.
More about me →Selected clients include
Netflix · Deloitte · Prologis · EY · ING · Arbo Unie · Social Blue · JCI · SVOK · the City of Amsterdam · several Dutch ministries
“Esther has helped design an awesome group dynamic session which helped the leadership team to establish more trust and understand each other better.”
“She helped us to see and honor more facets of our personalities and at the same time to learn how we can leverage from our strengths as a team.”
“She actively listens to you and is able to visualize your personal energy drivers and drainers with the right tools and techniques.”
Latest insight
The Three Faces of “Welcome” in the Workplace
September 2026
Tolerated, conditional or co-creative: three ways people are welcomed at work, and what each one does to their energy.
Read the article →Where would you like to grow next?
Whether you’re developing your leaders and teams, looking for a trainer or an interim L&D advisor, or standing at a turning point yourself, let’s start with a free 30-minute conversation.
I’ll get back to you within two working days.