Sometimes your business doesn't need more ideas. It needs someone who can see what you can't.

LET’S REACH MOUNTAIN TOPS TOGETHER

WHO I GUIDE

WHO I GUIDE

Maartje Wammes, zakelijk strateeg en business architect, staat lachend op het strand in een terracotta jurk met zeepbellen om haar heen — zelfverzekerd, grounded en aanwezig

WHO WE SERVE

WHO WE SERVE

WHO WE SERVE

WHO WE SERVE

I work with founders and leaders who already know where they want to go but can't see how to get there. I find the blind spot. I map the next move. And I stay until it's clear.

THE moment WE MEET

By the time most people find me, they're not starting from scratch. They've already built something. They have clients, ideas, experience and ambition. From the outside, everything looks like it's moving. On the inside, it often feels different.

There are too many ideas. Too many opportunities. Too many directions. Marketing feels harder than it should. Growth creates complexity instead of freedom. The business no longer feels as coherent as it once did.

That's usually the moment we meet.

A woman with curly hair smiling and touching her face while sitting outdoors at a wooden table with sunglasses on it. The background includes green trees and natural scenery.

WHAT I naturally DO

I don't see myself as a traditional coach. And although strategy is a big part of my work, it's not the whole story.

What I naturally do is zoom out. I look beyond the obvious problem and search for the pattern underneath it. Sometimes the challenge isn't marketing. It's positioning. Sometimes it isn't pricing. It's confidence. Sometimes it isn't growth. It's that every part of the business has evolved separately and no longer works together.

My work starts by understanding the whole before trying to improve the parts. Because once everything starts making sense together, better decisions become surprisingly obvious.

WHERE THAT
comes FROM

Over the last fifteen years I've built businesses, communities and collaborations across very different industries. From logistics and technology to entrepreneurship, from building one of the largest retreat communities in the Netherlands and Belgium (3,500+ professionals) to advising founders through Profit Mode, guiding retreat venues from Spain to Bali, and developing international retreat concepts.

On paper those experiences look unrelated. To me they've always been the same work. Understanding complex systems. Connecting the right people. Seeing opportunities before they become obvious. Helping businesses become more intentional.

And yes, there's a failed startup in there too. Two years of giving everything taught me the most expensive lesson of my life: you cannot out-hustle a broken foundation. It's why I slow people down for a living now.

Read the full story. Insights


TODAY

Today I work as a strategic thinking partner for entrepreneurs, founders and retreat professionals who know they're capable of more, but don't want to grow by simply doing more.

Together we step back before moving forward. We ask better questions. We challenge assumptions. We create structure where there's complexity. Sometimes that leads to a new positioning. Sometimes to a completely different business model. Sometimes to one small decision that changes everything

I do this from wherever I am: the Netherlands, Spain or Bali. You could say I don't have a home base, or you could say my life is one long workcation. It depends on how you look at it, and that perspective shift is basically my job description.

A woman with curly hair using a laptop outdoors on a wooden table, with greenery and a stone wall in the background.

A FEW THINGS YOU SHOULD probably KNOW

I once cooked an entire retreat (gluten-free, vegan) with a broken elbow, and wrote the cookbook while I was at it. After cooking three retreats I learned that retreat-cheffing is a job of its own, so I took my retreat-chef pension. People still cook my recipes at home and at their retreats.

I got my Bali project by making a vision board on a rainy Sunday and emailing it to the owner. The worst thing that can happen is a no. I'll probably offer you cacao or tea. I don't drink coffee, so you'll have to bring your own. My famous bliss balls, though: those I'll share.

Focus time in the morning, people time in the afternoon. That's when both are actually good. Human Design nerds: hello, 2/4 Projector. I need my alone time and I'm a natural networker. Sounds like a contradiction. It's where my strengths live.

My favourite way to start the day: sunrise on the beach or in nature, cacao in hand. My favourite sentence: "you two should meet." I say Hola Señor(ita) and mix Dutch and English mid-sentence. It comes with the life. I take your business seriously. Myself, a little less.

WHAT I believe

DEPTH OVER VOLUME

One right client over ten wrong ones. One real insight over ten polished slides. I work with a small number of people at a time by design, not by accident. Proximity is the product.

FREEDOM BY DESIGN

This practice is built around a life, not the other way around. Location-independent. Intentionally structured. The business serves the life, never the reverse. And I help my clients build the same.

CLARITY OVER COMFORT

I say the thing. The real thing. Not the version that's easier to hear, the one that actually moves something. You don't pay me to feel good. You pay me to finally see clearly.

I believe positioning comes before marketing. I believe relationships create more opportunities than algorithms. And I believe the strongest businesses aren't built by following someone else's formula. They're built by understanding what already makes you different and designing everything else around it. No one-size-fits-all. Every person and every business is different; some things work more often than not, but always tailored to you.

The work is specific. The results are real. Here's where I create the most powerful transformations.

WHO I work WITH

THE invitation


If you're looking for someone to tell you exactly what to do, I'm probably not the right fit. If you're looking for someone who can help you see your business more clearly, ask better questions and build something that actually fits who you are, I'd love to have that conversation.

A smiling woman with curly dark hair sitting outdoors among green plants and flowers, wearing an orange sleeveless top and orange pants.

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