Your coach/therapist
Stella Pennekamp MA | Senior Expat Career Coach
Founder of Orange Expats, an Amsterdam based private practice in career coaching for Expats living or working in The Netherlands.
As a Senior Expat Career Coach with over 17yrs’ of experience I've successfully helped hundreds of highly-skilled professionals from over 80 + countries master their challenges and accelerate their international career. As a Dutch academic native, I fully understand Dutch culture and habits, how to approach the Dutch labour market effectively, and how to deal with the dynamics at the Dutch/international workplace.
I love helping you feel at home and cope with cultural differences you might face while staying in The Netherlands.
I hold a Master's degree in Cultural Policy and Management at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Post Graduate qualifications in:
- Confidential Advising
- Personal & Career Coaching
- Stress management (CSR® - methodology)
- Burnout prevention, diagnose and treatment
- Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT)
- Mindfulness & Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
- Focusing (G. Gendlin)
- Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
- Polyvagal-informed Therapy (S. Porges)
- Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP)
- Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Biofeedback
Mission
To help professionals master their challenges and accelerate their international career.
Integrative approach to career coaching and therapy
"To me, there is no single approach that can help each client in all situations. With my client-based, integrative approach to career coaching and therapy, I’ll bring together different elements of theories, methodologies and interventions to help you master your challenges. Through blending of these relevant elements, an approach is formed to effectively suit your needs. Combined with highly effective job marketing and career-related insights, it results in a tailored approach for successfully achieving your goals."
Clients
Her clients are Netherlands-based highly skilled employees: expatriates, (short- & long stay) migrants, their accompanying partners, Dutch natives and (inter)national companies employing them. Stella’s recent clients include IUCN, the University of Amsterdam (UvA), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU), Seenons, the Dutch Whiplash Foundation (WSN), law firms and companies working in the creative, cultural, fmgc and retail sectors. Her clients work in marketing, finance, e-commerce, sales, I(C)T, HR, legal, consultancy, journalism, as a teacher, among others.
Membership & Think-tank
She associates with the "Landelijk Centrum Stressmanagement" - the National Centre Stressmanagement - an occupational health company, providing activities to activate selfregulation, selfregulation by heartcoherence, selfregulation of emotions and selfmanagement of stress.
She is a certified confidential advisor and associated with the LVV - the " Landelijke vereniging voor Vertrouwenspersonen" .
Testimonials
“Stella is an amazing coach. She guides and directs with such efficiency and grace to find solutions to concerns or areas of improvement. Great in building personal Brand & character as well. The coaching sessions were very insightful and helpful.”
Read other testimonialsAmazing coach, efficient, very insightful
“A few years ago, I was coached by Stella; I wasn’t sure if I should go on freelancing or get a steady job again. Stella helped me by asking the right questions and doing some good listening. She looks at situations in a positive way, without losing sight of reality. She is a perfectionist, is patient and takes her time to solve things. But almost most important of all: she has a great sense of humor. Because of this you will always leave a coaching session with a bright smile.”
Top qualities: Great Results , High Integrity , Creative
R. Lankester
Asking the right questions, good listener, patient, great sense of humour
“Stella was a breath of fresh air for somebody (me) who tends to be very sceptical about the benefits of coaching. She made an enormous difference to me professionally and personally and I cannot praise her highly enough. She’s warm and enthusiastic and achieves great results in a surprisingly short time. If you’re at a career crossroads – contact her immediately. You won’t regret it.”
Top qualities: Great Results , Good Value , High Integrity
C. Walsh
Warm, enthusiastic, great results
“When I approached Stella it was for me the first time to seek career coach advice and I did not really know what to expect. I must admit I was also a bit pessimistic – had this idea in my mind that career coaching would be all some bla bla that you can reason yourself. Well on one side – it is true – you do find the reasons and path yourself but it is the “push” you need to get into the right direction, which does the trick. Stella is at first a great, very welcoming and easy to deal with person. It is just very easy to open up with her and share. She has excellent sense of humor and creates a relaxed atmosphere. She uses good methods to make you think and create a direction in your feelings and thoughts and by means of actually easy exercises and general open questions she manages creating the basis for the process. I was very happy to have used Stella’s help and even though for myself it turned that I am actually quite happy with where I am, she definitely helped me overcome my doubts. I recommend her to anyone who is on a crossroad of his/her career or faces this “identity crisis” we sometimes go through at a certain age.”
B. Kirchev
Read other testimonialsNo bla bla, relaxed atmosphere, good methods
Stella has been a great source of support in my move from London to Amsterdam, both as career and expat coach.
Stella is very good at making you stop, think and review your strengths together with your career goals with the ultimate objective to align these. She then offers practical advice and continued support to achieve these goals.
I would highly recommend Stella to anyone looking for help in managing their career, a new job and dealing with cultural changes especially if you are new to the Netherlands or Dutch job market.
She is a great sounding board, full of good ideas and importantly very easy to get on with.
Top Qualities: Personable, High Integrity, Creative
B. Hetem
Read other testimonialsGreat support to enter the Dutch job market