TESTIMONIALS
What My Clients Say
Senior Technical Writer
Hasmin | Philippines
“Last week, I wrapped up my final career coaching journey with Stella Pennekamp… and I’m not sure if I’m more proud, relieved, or just sad I won’t have an excuse to hang out in Amsterdam Zuid anymore 😅.
I used to be skeptical about career coaches, but Stella made it easy to open up and explore my career and myself ✨. She helped me identify my strengths, what I enjoy, and how to align that with my career. She also guided me in navigating cultural expectations, building confidence 💪, and becoming more assertive.
She even lent me a book (The Culture Map by Erin Meyer) that I absolutely loved. It took me a while to return it… and apparently, she didn’t want it back anyway 😄. I highly recommend it if you work in a multicultural environment, especially as a manager.
Our sessions never felt formal; it was like talking with a friend while still actively growing. The most valuable lesson I learned throughout the journey is that a coach can guide you, but the hard work is all yours. Think of the sessions as your training plan—the real world is the gym. And yes, I’m leaving with sore “career muscles” in the best way. 🏋️♂️
Thanks to Stella, I now approach my career with clarity 🎯, confidence, and a roadmap I can actually follow.
If you’re considering coaching to navigate your career, I highly recommend working with Stella!”
I used to be skeptical about career coaches, but Stella made it easy to open up and explore my career and myself ✨. She helped me identify my strengths, what I enjoy, and how to align that with my career. She also guided me in navigating cultural expectations, building confidence 💪, and becoming more assertive.
She even lent me a book (The Culture Map by Erin Meyer) that I absolutely loved. It took me a while to return it… and apparently, she didn’t want it back anyway 😄. I highly recommend it if you work in a multicultural environment, especially as a manager.
Our sessions never felt formal; it was like talking with a friend while still actively growing. The most valuable lesson I learned throughout the journey is that a coach can guide you, but the hard work is all yours. Think of the sessions as your training plan—the real world is the gym. And yes, I’m leaving with sore “career muscles” in the best way. 🏋️♂️
Thanks to Stella, I now approach my career with clarity 🎯, confidence, and a roadmap I can actually follow.
If you’re considering coaching to navigate your career, I highly recommend working with Stella!”
CFO
Ahcene | France
” Stella really helped me a lot when I was going through an important questioning phase in my career. I was already working in a scale-up environment where I felt sometimes that I didn’t have time to breathe as everything is going so fast. I needed to give more purpose to my professional life, but also slow down and have more positive impact on my surrounding. Stella really guided me and showed me how to think about my next step through a clear structured method, but also through a very human and empathetic approach. And this helped me design my thinking around the choices I can make and focus on the things I have control on. I feel I’m giving more importance to the right things today, and prioritize better which is a much more balanced way to tackle every day challenges.”
Director Product & Design
Angelica | Austria
“I have worked with Stella on a career coaching trajectory. She combines professionalism with approachability.
Stella encourages reflexion, offers a wealth of helpful tools for identifying and reviewing impediments and working towards a solution and next steps. She is a warm, pleasant person, a good listener and demonstrates real empathy.
Stellas unique asset is that she is helping to build bridges between an international outlook and the Dutch work market.”
Stella encourages reflexion, offers a wealth of helpful tools for identifying and reviewing impediments and working towards a solution and next steps. She is a warm, pleasant person, a good listener and demonstrates real empathy.
Stellas unique asset is that she is helping to build bridges between an international outlook and the Dutch work market.”
Business Analyst
Bram | The Netherlands
” Stella’s coaching helped me a lot. She quickly made me realize how my behavior fed into the challenges I was facing.
In a very warm and empathic way, she guided me toward changing my behavior. She did this with genuine conversations and practical assignments, that I could apply in my daily life. We also laughed a lot. The whole experience felt like an insightful adventure along the boundaries of my behavior.
The trajectory was confronting and transformative in a nice way!”
In a very warm and empathic way, she guided me toward changing my behavior. She did this with genuine conversations and practical assignments, that I could apply in my daily life. We also laughed a lot. The whole experience felt like an insightful adventure along the boundaries of my behavior.
The trajectory was confronting and transformative in a nice way!”
Academic
Sol | Ecuador
” I contacted Stella looking for help to adapt in the Netherlands, and throughout this process, I have gained a significant boost in my confidence. One of the areas where I have seen remarkable improvement is in my ability to ask for and receive feedback, something I previously found very difficult. Learning about the differences in communication styles and cultural expectations has helped me integrate better at work, allowing me to take things less personally and use feedback as a tool for growth.
She made my transition to living and working in a new country much easier by offering insights that match my personality and situation. Her empathetic and empowering approach has worked incredibly well for me.“
UX Design & Research
Elif | Turkey
“I have been mentored by Stella through approximately 10 sessions over the course of a year. She demonstrated active and attentive listening and exhibited emotional intelligence. I felt completely comfortable being honest and open about the challenges I faced in both my professional and personal life. We used a variety of techniques and methods throughout our sessions. Stella creates an open, trustworthy, and warm environment for discussion. Occasionally, I was assigned homework, which further helped with my growth. After each session, I would leave feeling relaxed, happy, empowered, and understood. Her deep understanding of psychology also facilitated valuable self-reflection for me.”
Automation Specialist
Filipa | Portugal
” I met Stella in the decisive moment that I wanted to switch my international professional career to a different industry. She expertly guided me through the process of making me a stronger candidate within a recruitment process with actionable assignments that I could implement.
Our sessions were driven by her full-passion of helping others to flourish, finding their confident and worthy. Stella is a great listener and genuinely cares, which make her unique in what she does.
‘Dankjewel, Stella!’ “
Our sessions were driven by her full-passion of helping others to flourish, finding their confident and worthy. Stella is a great listener and genuinely cares, which make her unique in what she does.
‘Dankjewel, Stella!’ “
Customer Operations Manager
Todd | USA
” I contacted Stella to help me with the challenge of changing careers abroad and it was the best decision I could have made. When I met Stella for the first time, I was impressed by her genuine keenness to help. She served as a fantastic sparring partner and posed the tough, thought-provoking questions that encourage you break with your habitual ways of thinking. Her methods and material are helpful, as is her network!
I would highly recommend Stella!”
I would highly recommend Stella!”