Martha is a communications consultant with over 30 years of corporate experience in Japan, the US, and Europe. Raised in the flower-power-era San Francisco Bay Area, she was catapulted into a straight-laced girls’ high school in Osaka as a 16-year-old exchange student, and never took communication for granted again.
After many rewarding years in Japan – including a stint as the only foreigner in the 5,000-employee HQ of a major Japanese conglomerate – she received an offer she couldn’t refuse: an opportunity to serve management consulting teams and clients in Europe as an editor and ghostwriter. Based in the Benelux, but living out of suitcase much of the time in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, Martha found herself increasingly involved – and increasingly interested – in communications skill-building initiatives, mainly the design and delivery of training programs on topics as varied as exhibit design, cross-cultural communications, meeting effectiveness, team dynamics, and synthesis in verbal and written communication.
After all her travels, Martha still finds packing and unpacking a chore, but she delights in working with, and learning from, colleagues and clients around the world. She is known as a warmly caring and conscientious trainer and coach who listens well, prepares thoroughly, and goes the extra mile to ensure an enjoyable and high-impact learning experience for each participant.
In her spare time in Amsterdam, Martha can be found studying her favorite Vermeers at the Rijksmuseum, applauding performances of the Dutch National Ballet, speedwalking in the Vondelpark, or people-watching at her “regular” canalside café.