Joan Voortman Verdugo

Childhood

I was born in the east of the Netherlands, in a city called Rijssen; not too far from the German border. Rijssen received it's city rights in 1243. Right now Rijssen has population of approximately 30.000 citizens. I had a carefree childhood. I'm the oldest of 4 children. I have a brother and sister who are twins and a younger sister. I've always loved horses and I was lucky enough to have my own pony which was stable at my grandpa's farm. I would go every weekend to visit my grandparents and ride my pony. When I was in my teens I was fascinated with traveling and living in a warmer climate. I loved the U.S., especially San Francisco and decided I'd make it there. When I was 18 I left The Netherlands and went to work as an Au Pair in Florida and California for a year.

First Work Experience

After returning from the U.S. I started working for the Amsterdam Hilton in The Netherlands. Hilton is really a great company to work for. After working there for four years I was ready for another adventure and decided it was time to leave The Netherlands again. This time I could do it by getting a transfer to another Hilton hotels. I didn't want to go to a country nearby The Netherlands, so I listed myself as ready for transfer 'anywhere but Europe'. This landed me with a new job in the United Arab Emirates. A country where I had never even heard of at the time...

Arabian Experience

I ended up working 3 years for the Al Ain Hilton. Al Ain is a city in the middle of the desert.(So I got my wish for wanting something completely different than The Netherlands). After that I worked another 3 years for the Abu Dhabi Hilton. My 'Arabian Adventure' was very enjoyable. I worked, lived and ate in the hotel. All I had to do was work, but I never had to cook,c clean my room or pay any bills besides my long distance phone calls home. Besides, I got to enjoy my favorite hobby almost daily: horse iding. I also got into running in the UAE. In the Abu Dhabi Hilton we used to do a monthly 5K run that I really enjoyed!

Marriage and kids

After six years in the Middle East working for Hilton, I moved companies and started working for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, based in Abu Dhabi. Shortly after joining I was sent to a seminar. The seminar leader is now my husband.After 6 months of dating I decided to join him in The Netherlands and moved back to Amsterdam. We married in 2003. In 2005 our son Vincent was born, followed by our daughter Nina in 2009. My husband eventually left the airline and started his own seminar and coaching business.

New Chapter

A new chapter in my life just started: going back to school at the Lone Star College! My goal is to be able to join my husband in his business and help out with web design and internet marketing.

If you have any question you can contact me via:

joan@entertrainingmail.com

If you would like to go over my experience in the Middle East again, click here.