ABOUT JCK

Hi, I am Jessica, adult Third Culture Kid, born in Indonesia, Bolivian, Dutch, creative adventurer, globetrotter, expat, entrepreneur, International Public Management & Policy MSc, licensed TIFF© Provider, certified all-round NLP Master Coach, inquisitive explorer, outgoing people person, music, sports, stories, yoga, and life lover. I am a native Dutch and Spanish speaker and am also fluent in English and Papiamentu.

My personal story starts in Semarang, Indonesia, where I was born in 1982. At the age of 8 I moved (back) to the Netherlands with my family after having lived in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia again, Bolivia and Kenya. My father is Dutch and my mother Bolivian and I have an older sister. I am what they call an adult 'Third Culture Kid' (TCK).

I grew up with two cultures at home and several cultures that were introduced through my family, relatives, friends, lots of travel, study and work-related activities and assignments abroad (Peru, Bangladesh, U.S.A., Colombia, and Kenya again).

I have been living in Curaçao since 2017. We initially moved here for the job of my husband as expats. But in the meantime, I have also set up my own company. 'JCK Coaching & Consultancy', JCK for short, was founded on 12 February 2020.

After finally admitting to myself that I was not doing so ok, and that it turned out to be more of a "thirty-something dip", I had to take a long-needed break from work. Acknowledging that I was basically burnt out was a difficult step. However, from then on, me luckily still being me, I faced it head on. That is how I first came in touch with coaching.

I went through an intense trajectory wherein I started to rediscover me. I dove into all kinds of reading materials, especially on the workings of the mind and got intrigued by human behavior, the roles we play and interpersonal communication. Also, I found my way back to things I love like making music and also discovered a new love for sports.

My mother had always said that our brain is a "arma de doble filo", a double-edged sword, but I never really grasped the full meaning of what she had been saying. Going through this thirty-something dip finally made me see and truly understand that you shouldn’t let your thoughts rule you, but you should rule your thoughts or at least consciously guide them in the right direction. Otherwise, in a worst case scenario, they can end up taking a hold of you.

It took some time before I finally set myself free and allowed myself to quit my job. I am happy that I did reintegrate at work first because this gave me the reassurance that I could. It was just not what I wanted anymore. I took a 6-month sabbatical and fulfilled one of my lifelong dreams and travelled the world. Read some of my travel stories here.

One of the countries I visited during my sabbatical was Curaçao. I had met a new love, my now husband, and he had the opportunity for a posting there. So, we explored the island together and agreed that it would be a great place for a new joint adventure!

In short, my thirty-something dip brought me back to me. I reconnected with myself and with my surroundings as I finally dared to really be me. I believe anyone can (re)discover their personal keys to success and fulfillment and make the connection @JustConnecttheKeys

" El objetivo no es alcanzar la cima, sino nunca parar de subir " Jessica C. Keetelaar inspired by Walt Disney