My name is Tineke Rensen. I have been a business owner for 28 years (2018). Before I became a business mentor/accelerator I had my own outdoor & survival, travel agency. We were specialized in outdoor activities, such as rafting, climbing, kayaking and more. It operated in various European countries. I sold it because I wanted to develop myself in a totally new arena. I am a former sports athlete and have been doing sports as long as I can remember. This resulted in achieving to the title of the national champion in whitewater kayaking in The Netherlands. I also joined the national Ski-team. As an entrepreneur, I have a lot of international experience. I now have international clients and speak internationally. With my former business, we worked in 4 different countries at the same time, during peak season and with a team of 25 persons.
I speak fluent English and German, and reasonable French and Italian. I transformed myself from a woman doing business like most men do to a business owner using her female strengths and qualities in harmony with the male way of doing business It has always been my passion to help and grow people in any kind or form and help them to go beyond their limitations. (Before we di this through the sports we taught, and now with business mentoring and bringing business-women together).
What is the reason that I want to start these clubs?
When I was a young business owner, I joined mixed business clubs, because there were no women’s clubs. In these clubs, I met mostly men. Years later when I was elected as the best female business owner of my county I was invited to a women’s business club who had chapters in many parts of my country. Finally, I thought, “now I will meet like-mined business women”. I liked it a lot, but I often got disappointed. Because we talked and had fun, but did not do much business together. Their businesses were too small to be my clients. So, I left this club.
Many female business clubs invited me as a speaker. My aim was to find a good club where I would find likeminded women. I could not find one that matched my needs and desires. Often, I was the one with a lot of experience, ambition, and knowledge. I was sharing my knowledge and helping other women, as women naturally do. But it was a one-way direction for me. I gained nothing of it, except having fun. That’s why I decided to start with a totally new concept for business women’s clubs where we facilitate knowledge and doing business together. The members are highly qualified business owners. Most often they have the ambition to do business internationally or do so already
