At the age of eleven, I learned to live one day at a time. Two years earlier, my mother had received a terminal cancer diagnosis. The image of someone facing the end of her life with so many unfulfilled dreams has never left me. In that moment, I made myself a promise: my life would be different. I would live fully, chase every dream, and use my voice to the fullest.

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At nineteen, I travelled solo through New Zealand for several months. Not long after, I left my entire life in the Netherlands behind. In 2007, during my studies in vocal performance and music entrepreneurship at the Fontys Rock Academy, I moved to Kenya for an internship; I felt more alive there than I ever had before. There, I built Sauti Academy: a space where unheard talent could grow into (inter)national superstars, launch “impossible” professional music careers, and shine.

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Nothing made me prouder than watching the so-called “underdogs” rise. The more the outside world believed their success was impossible, the harder I worked to prove the opposite. With incredible results: a band from one of Nairobi’s poorest informal settlements performed at the AFAS Live in Amsterdam after two years of intense work, coaching, and development. Another student co-wrote Burna Boy’s Grammy-winning album.​​
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I believe that true, authentic expression should not be directed. We’re taught what we’re “allowed” to say, how we should sound, and which tone keeps us acceptable. None of that is authenticity. Your voice doesn’t need a protocol.  You’re allowed to be honest, fierce, soft, unfiltered, vulnerable, and powerful. The world doesn’t change through perfectly curated speeches. It shifts through real stories from people. When you speak your truth, something always moves: in you, in the room, and in the very structures that have benefited from your silence.

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If you knew me, you’d know that:

• I have two incredible children, aged 4 and 11, with my Kenyan partner

• We speak Swahili, Dutch, and English at home

• A stranger once insisted, three times, that my daughter couldn’t possibly have come from my belly; that moment sparked my commitment to anti-racism and equity work

• I auditioned for Idols at 18, didn’t make it past the first round, and ten years later became a judge on East Africa’s Tusker Project Fame, broadcast live across five countries

• My mind is chaotic, always racing, and I can’t sit still (unless I have a seriously good cappuccino)

• I end up in the most unexpected places: from giving workshops on death row in a Nairobi prison to accidentally spending the night on Mount Kilimanjaro; from visiting a friend in his Maasai village to organising stadium concerts for 60,000 people

• One of my vocal students from Nairobi won a Grammy for co-writing Burna Boy’s album

• I hate winter, cold, and rain — I’m a sun person through and through. I dream of a home on the white-sand beaches of Diani Beach, Kenya.