Patrick has two decades of professional experience – almost half of which at management level – across a wide range of fields, including IT, translation and proofreading, politics and journalism, television commentary, music, education and youth support work. His passion in all of these areas has always been to develop the capacities of others – and in so doing, he has acted as a mentor for most of his working life. The Dutch word for this is ‘ontplooien’, which literally means ‘to unfold’. Throughout all of these careers, he has learned that compassion is not the opposite of resilience; that to work is to serve not only ourselves, but others too; and that finding our own way into work is the greatest dignity of all. Patrick can help you develop your own skillset, starting from the very basics and ranging through all the nitty-gritty details of applying for jobs and setting up your career in practice. You pick the path – and he will always be there to guide you through it, wherever it leads you. There will always be a ‘wall of nos’ as you start out, but he understands that, eventually, there will be a ‘yes’ – and that will be yours to own, as indeed you should. His personal philosophy can be summed up thus: “Give them wings. Then watch them soar.”
