Sophie van het Erve, ACC, CPC, ELI-MP, Cor.e dynamic specialist - founder of The Reset, transition and leadership coach.
Prior to founding the Reset, Sophie spent ten years in the corporate world working for sales teams at Oracle and Google. After finishing her Master's degree in International Business at the University of Maastricht, she located to Dublin, Ireland, after which she packed up once again to settle in San Francisco, U.S.A. . Currently, she calls Lisbon, Portugal her home.
Sophie's coaching is infused with her Dutch no-nonsense attitude, her business-solution focus, and explorations into mindfulness practices through meditation, massage, and yoga.
Sophie's interests are wide-ranging and ever-changing, but travel, horseback riding, yoga, reading, and cooking/baking have solidified themselves as permanent.
Globally Local
Born and raised in a rural part of the Netherlands, the itch to go explore, learn, experience new things has always been a part of me. While young, that meant reading books, getting lost in stories, and dreaming. Then, I stopped dreaming and started doing: the college I chose was as far as I could go within the limits of the Netherlands. When I got the chance to study abroad, South Africa provided everything I could (and did) dream off: a far-away land, with exotic animals, landscapes and new cultures to explore and people to meet.
After finishing my masters in International Business (Maastricht University), the most logical step to me was to go abroad, continuing to explore new lands and cultures. So I joined the sales team at Oracle, in Dublin. While still in Dublin, I made the switch to Google, and after 5 years I transferred to Google San Francisco. Traveling, exploring, embracing adventures: it's become part of my DNA. Kayaking in Alaska, hiking in Patagonia, watching eagles in Mongolia or meeting gorillas in Uganda: nothing excites me more. And now, after a decade of corporate life / digital media, a new adventure is knocking: the launch of the Reset. And with a new adventure, comes a new relocation: to Lisbon, Portugal.
Curiously Challenging
In 2018 I took a 200h yoga teacher training. Not to become a teacher myself, but to learn, to explore. During those months, I learned a lot about myself - not only what I could take on physically, but more so what I value in life and what I want to get out of it. I gained clarity in what I truly enjoy, what drives me forward, and what gives me energy.
In an exercise that we now also use to help clients create this clarity, I defined one of my main energy drivers as 'to help other people find their joy'. I didn't have a coach at the time, so it took me a while before that realization landed me with iPEC (Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching) to become a certified coach. Learning about their approach and the Energy Leadership Index assessment they created, it was a no-brainer and I signed up without a second thought.
I tend to be a somewhat skeptical human being. I like clear lines from problem to solution. The journey to get certified as a coach threw me for a loop, in the most positive way. I'm still very much me, but coaching has helped me with making the steps I take in life more purposeful and powerful. So that's the approach I'll bring to my coaching: no nonsense, down-to-earth (I'm Dutch after all) and curiously challenging.
Small changes can have a huge impact. If you want to throw your life around completely, I'm all for it. But I think that often that's not needed to bring change around: one step at a time, we can change our end-destination, with purpose, passion and energy. And before you can take those steps, a pause - a reset if you will - is needed.
When Jomar told me she had a 'crazy' idea, it turned out to be exactly what I needed: a first step in re-adjusting my course, forever altering my end-destination. I cannot wait for what's to come.