When I was younger, I was a competitive swimmer and a judoka. I had the incredible honor of representing Curaçao in international competitions. There’s something magical about stepping onto a plane with your teammates, knowing you’re about to compete, not just for yourself, but for your country.

One memory stands out vividly. Our national team was in Saint Croix, ready to compete, but unlike the other teams, we didn’t have a chant. The other countries had powerful, unified cheers, while we just stood there.

So, in true Curaçao style, we came up with one on the spot: Hi-ha, hondenlul! We thought no one would understand Dutch anyway, so we chanted it with full force. It was ridiculous, spontaneous, and ours. And at that moment, we felt unstoppable.

That same spontaneous, unstoppable energy? I felt it again in 1998, at my first job at Alcatel. We were in a fierce competition to be the first company to establish a nationwide mobile network in the Netherlands. The stakes were high, but inside our company, the challenge forged an incredible sense of unity. We weren’t just employees; we were a team, pushing together toward a shared goal.

And years later, it showed up again, this time at TEDx. As one of the early TEDx speakers, I was part of a group of innovators and visionaries who met monthly to sharpen our ideas and inspire each other. That period transformed me. It didn’t just make me a speaker; it made me a better thinker, a better leader, a better doer.

And that feeling? It’s not something I lost. It’s something I always want to keep alive.

It’s like going to the gym. The people who push the hardest often have training buddies—people who challenge them, keep them accountable, and push them past their limits. Imagine if that wasn’t just for fitness, but for life itself. A lifestyle where you’re surrounded by a community that constantly challenges you to be your best, personally, professionally, and mentally. But also knows when to take a break, to breathe, to just be.

A work hard, play hard lifestyle. Where you don’t just grind alone but have a circle that supports, sharpens, and grows with you. A space where personal and professional development isn’t a chore, but something natural, something you actually enjoy.

That’s why I started /Gide-nuhs/. Not just to build a brand, but to build a movement. A space where ambitious, unconventional thinkers can come together, not just to “hustle,” but to change something real.

This isn’t for everyone. It’s for the ones who dare to challenge the status quo. The ones who don’t just complain about the world but want to make it better, more sustainable, more just, more inspiring. And let’s be real: that’s not easy. If you try to change things, you will meet resistance. As Machiavelli said:

“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.”

Because the moment you push for change, you make enemies of those who benefit from the status quo.

But what if we didn’t have to do it alone? What if we built a real community of changemakers, where we mentor each other, sharpen each other, and push each other forward?

That’s my vision. That’s what /Gide-nuhs/ is about. Not just a brand. Not just a platform. It’s a movement: for those who think differently, who want to innovate, who want to leave the world better than they found it.

Because when the right people come together, magic happens.

And I want to live in that magic. Every day.