Hendrika Willemse-Vreugdenhil helps women to advance in the ‘male world’ of IT

Ambitious women who excel in the ‘male world’ of IT, that’s the focus of ‘She in IT’. Initiator Hendrika Willemse-Vreugdenhil wanted to do what she enjoyed the most after a career with Detron, VMware, and Nutanix: “Women sometimes have problems profiling themselves. I want to help them, especially now that more and more technological companies recognize the importance of diversity.”

A world of men
Anders Contrary to many other women Hendrika Willemse-Vreugdenhil already knew from a young age that she wanted to work in IT. “I did a level 4 Associate’s Degree in IT (MBO-IT) and continued with a parttime BA in Commercial Economics,” she says. “My brother (18 years older than me) worked in IT and it really interested me. But while studying I was one of only three girls there. After my studies I started working for my brother’s company: eXpertise-IT. Together we turned it into a million dollar company. After my brother passed away I led eXpertise-IT on my own for a few more years, until I sold it to George Banken who, in turn, incorporated it into Kender Thijssen. I came along as part of the deal and, as a 27-year-old, I landed a management job within the leading IT and telecom company, being the only woman on the team. I headed a team of 60 people with full responsibility.” Willemse-Vreugdenhil learned a lot with Detron, like she did with VMware, where she headed large international transformation projects for ING and RBS. “But something kept bothering me, like an itch. I wanted to be an entrepreneur again, like with eXpertise-IT. I didn’t fit into the system. I was stubborn, wanted to do things differently, better.”

Discipline
In addition to that, Willemse-Vreugdenhil, who’s also a triple karate world champion, loves to coach. “I’ve trained my own karate team, which gives you loads of experience with so-called ‘high performance coaching’.” Not that Willemse-Vreugdenhil wants to send every woman with IT aspirations on karate training, but her story is inspiring. “I completely failed my Cito exam*, no college prep program wanted to accept me. After that I got bullied at MAVO (high school level between college prep programs and general educational development programs) I started doing karate. The sport changed my view of life. Karate taught me to focus, be disciplined, and have perseverance, exactly what
you need to make a difference in the male dominated world of IT.