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Biography Anita de Waaijer

Anita is born in 1968 in Brummen in The Netherlands, the eldest of two children, in an entrepreneurial family. During her time in school she has a number of jobs and she is an avid athlete. Her family travels a lot and Anita is soon exposed to and interested in different cultures. Later, this is one of the reasons why she decides to enrol in an Export Management course at a Higher Vocational Education Institute.

After completing her studies, she starts working at a machine manufacturer, which, among others, manufactures machinery worldwide for Stork. She works together with both administrative and production departments and learns that, even within a single company, different cultures may exist. After a short while, she decides to move to a subsidiary under development that is involved in the development of operational software for machines. The business is growing rapidly and invests a lot in foreign trade fairs and sales trips, giving Anita the opportunity to learn the practical ins and outs of international sales.

After a number of years, Anita feels a need to develop herself further and decides to work for the Arnhem Chamber of Commerce at the export promotion department, where she is involved in building a network of service providers and regional companies. In addition, on behalf of a number of companies, she takes part in trade missions to places like England and Danmark.
When the Chamber decides to increase its focus on business education and training, Anita is an excellent candidate. Her decisiveness and instinct for what is going on in the market - even before commercial companies have realized it - allow her to organize extremely successful meetings. Pretty soon, the participant numbers turnover of the Arnhem Chamber of Commerce are number one in the country. In addition, Anita sets up a number of very successful training courses that are later taken over by the business community.

However, Anita continues to feel the lure of marketing and sales. She decides to take a number of marketing courses at the prestigious NIMA institute. Shortly after completing her studies, she moves to the marketing and communication department, where once again she initiates developments that are later taken over on a national scale. A good example is the so-called 'starters day', which she first organized and which 15 years later continues to be a national phenomenon that attracts thousands of people each year.

When the Chamber of Commerce decides to map its business processes in order to acquire an ISO certificate, Anita's responsibilities extend to include quality management. She studies the most important quality management models and is in charge of setting up and improving business processes. In addition, she is responsible for the Chamber's complaints handling department. She trains and inspires the audit team, which results in efficient and effective audits. Her efforts are rewarded with the ISO 9001:2000 certificate. Later, the bar is raised even further when a decision is made to implement the INK Management model, which is implemented successfully under Anita's supervision. The changes are completed with the introduction of the Balanced Score Card as a tool to create an excellent organisation.

In 2005, Anita is asked to be in charge of the day-to-day management of Kleinsman and Kleinsman, a German medical company. The family business has experienced enormous growth and is looking for a manager who is able to connect the various departments and improve the company's management. Once more, the combination of management, marketing and sales, internal processes and Anita's international experience prove successful. In just a few years, Anita is able to professionalize the company in a large number of areas. In 2008, she decides to use her knowledge and experience to set up and develop the Business Consulting business unit at A New Link. In addition to her management activities, Anita also works as a Business Consultant in the field.