After the start of our new school (Supreme College) in 2020, we experienced a steep growth curve. We needed to sharpen our mission and think of strategies to achieve our future vision. We wanted a clear picture for all our students, teachers, and stakeholders that aligns with our daily operations.

The reason we hired Barbara was because we noticed restlessness among our colleagues. Not everybody shares the same principles and views on this type of education, which is unique in Holland. We felt committed and urged to realign our core with our team and students, so everyone ‘felt at home’ at the Supreme.

What stood out in working with Barbara is that she is extremely well-prepared. She knows what she is talking about, and guided us to approach our big dream for our school from a more ‘business perspective’. 

We created a new and crisp vision aligned with an inspired, tangible, and effective organizational steering wheel containing of goals, strategies, measures, and action plans. 

We not only know our future path, but we also can manage our daily business since all are aligned. 

Barbara’s sessions were something to look forward to. After every session, we returned to school with a lot of energy and full of ideas back, ready to upcycle. It was always very enlightening and valuable. Though Barbara had never worked in the education branch before, she quickly got to the bottom of things.

We recommend Barbara, without a doubt.

When our paths converged, I faced the dynamic challenges of leading my business, managing a cohesive team, maintaining a healthy work/life balance, and navigating complexities within my marriage. The intersection of these challenges required a nuanced approach, blending strategic decision-making in business with effective team management and a constant effort to balance professional and personal commitments.

The urgency to act arose from concern for my mental health, triggered by overwhelming feelings and persistent insomnia. Recognizing the detrimental impact on my personal well-being and overall effectiveness, immediate changes were necessary. This led to a deliberate shift towards strategies fostering stress reduction and a healthier balance between professional and personal aspects of life.

Barbara has an innate ability to get to the core of an issue, quickly and effectively. Barbara’s personal touch is what I value about her the most, you really feel completely supported throughout the entire journey.

The co-creation process yielded both tangible and intangible results that significantly impacted various areas of my life. Tangibly, I emerged from the experience with heightened confidence, a testament to the positive shifts in my self-perception and capabilities. In terms of personal relationships, the co-creation journey fostered improvements, leading to more meaningful and fulfilling connections. 

Intangibly, I developed greater patience, implemented effective personal boundaries, witnessed an enhancement in my intuition, experienced heightened self-awareness, and found myself making decisions with increased clarity and confidence, collectively contributing to a transformative and enriching outcome.

I also felt multiple experiences throughout both body & mind. I feel much more confident in listening to and following my inner compass now when key decisions need to be made.

I would absolutely recommend working with Barbara

Barbara found me at a time when we just had a car accident in my company Novulis that led to a severe injury for one of my teammates. The event was challenging both from an emotional and legal standpoint. Working on the frontier of global health access in Ecuador is never easy. Having a teammate confront a lifelong injury only made our work heavier. 

I was going through a very deep burnout, one that was defining the majority of my personal and professional life and experience at that point. Together with Barbara I had several one on one sessions. She was able to give back what I deeply needed and poked me towards the right direction. She also helped me understand and truly appreciate how my family bloodline is pulsing through all my veins, all the way back through my grandmother Violet, the most beautiful and radiant woman I have known. 

By deeply listening and connecting the dots in my journey she gave me the support that I needed at that particular moment. I still don’t know how she found me, but she did and it couldn’t have come at a better time. I’d like to think the universe was at play here : )

Later on she invited me to her circle of Visionary founders which is a safe space for fellow founders to come together to share our vision for a better, more just world. The circle strengthens our resolve and brings us together globally, to connect around our purpose. We support each other through sessions guided by our charitable and dynamic facilitator, Barbara, who deepens our connection to source and to ourselves.

She is a powerful facilitator who understands deeply how to navigate masculine energies. She is deft at leading discussions that have a clear purpose with underlying themes. I have realized more deeply how I can cultivate my own voice. 

I have also come to realize that it is not (only) about me, it’s about how we provide and support each other as a community of global citizens. I’m very grateful to have met Barbara and it is such an honor to be in the circle with such amazing founders. 

I highly recommend working with Barbara. She’s a consistent and steady force for good in my life, always finding ways to facilitate greater growth.

Years ago I hired a business coach, who helped me unlock my potential by taking a look at what I was holding onto; baggage of beliefs that did not serve. 

Working with Barbara has taken that journey to new levels.  Equipped with not just understanding, but with tools, every day I experience life evolving and rewarding in marvelous ways! 

I am very happy I also have joined her monthly Circle for Visionary Founders. 

The Circle, for me, is an ability to be a witness to the journey of each of the members giving an unprecedented opportunity to reflect and develop an understanding.

It is a way to reflect on my past, and what I thought of as a solitary journey is actually one shared. This circle has allowed me to let go of doubt, guilt, of past failures and embrace and respect the process much more.

I’ve even felt body-mind experiences in and after the session in my lungs, as if they were inhaling crisp electrified air!

I look forward to this rare opportunity for our common sense and language to align even more, to build something or impact the world synchronized with each other. We are building something more than individual understanding, but something that we’ve created a brother sisterhood. 

I am absolutely grateful for this circle with these wonderful founders that Barbara brought together.

When our paths crossed with Barbara we had faced a number of setbacks as a social enterprise for people that are physically or mentally challenged in the market place . We were managing our business in the ‘hustle and bustle’ of the day, getting more and more charged by the negative energy flow. At that point we really wanted to turn things around.

Barbara offered her services to look at our true founder’s story, our business process and the opportunities that lay ahead of us to become energized and in control again. We have been working for about 6 months (in total 20 hours).

In our journey we were confronted with ourselves as leaders; we learned about letting go and how to install effective ownership while taking accountability for the future and daily operation of our wonderful business. 

It was not always easy, but we did the work! We regained an overview of the business and developed an inspiring, tangible and manageable business operation that truly represents who we are as founders deep down. 

We feel confident in rebuilding a strong ecosystem fueled by a system of cross pollination that integrates the value of our people, our soil and products/ services for our customers in the way we have envisioned it from the beginning.

We now know exactly where we stand, what we are striving for and all are aligned with measurable goals and effective strategies leading to control of our workforce on a daily basis. But most importantly, we feel energized again and curious to find out how our team will go with this new flow. We now feel so much more confidence in our team and the way we will lead our business into the future. 

We greatly appreciated Barbara’s knowledge, support and patience and would certainly recommend her if you are not afraid of the real deal. 

We look forward to 2024 positively!!

The work with Barbara has been so profound in giving me a foundation to see my business very differently. 

When I got to know Barbara through her work with the Critical Alignment foundation, I knew instantly that this was someone I could work with.

I am a self-employed yoga teacher, and as my business grew, I noticed my concept was too scattered, and with it my energy. I realized I needed someone to be able to accurately reflect back to me my strengths and weaknesses, and how to restructure my offer so I could go beyond my own limitations.

Her deep listening ability combined with gathering all the information and reflecting it back to me so I could clearly see what had to be changed, was very impressive for me.

What stood out strongly for me is her fantastic combination of thoroughly knowing her topic, as well as being deeply connected to intuition. I loved the one-on-one sessions, and always felt so full and nourished from our meetings.

What was more challenging for me was working in the google docs workbook. I am not sure if this can be improved, since it is also a very efficient way to work together. Occasionally I printed out sections to work on alone and directly on paper. I feel more creative working like that. 

The terminology was also challenging sometimes, since I am not coming from a background in business training. Barbara was wonderful in reminding me to take my time and work in shorter time slots, allowing the information to slowly settle.

My tangible result is that now I can see my vision, and when I see it, I feel excited rather than overwhelmed. In challenging times, I can more easily recall what my concrete goals are, and then more quickly re-focus. The structure is starting to bring me more ease in my workflow. I can see it’s started to impact others around me as well.

We booked Barbara for a day session to ‘‘shine the light’ on our team and connect with our core DNA. The aim of this session was to fully focus and nourish our team in this early stage of our business journey.

To invest in ourselves was paramount, since we had come to realize that we had underestimated this essential part in building our previous businesses. Aligning our DNA and foundation is absolutely key before we ambitiously ‘go ashore’. In order to ‘sail to our destination’, we felt the need to see each other and to know we have each other’s backs. We are not just colleagues; our team feels like a family. 

Among others, we used the Hero’s Journey and film clips to create awareness about our strengths and polarities. This day gave us the opportunity to really talk and listen to each other, like families do. We took a giant leap that wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t sat down together, and with Barbara. 

Barbara played a significant part in clarifying what we really want and perpetuating our team commitment. It felt like “the fog had lifted” at the end of the day. 

She brings her skills and theories as a true guide, which saves us a lot of time figuring it out ourselves. Besides, sometimes you need an outsider to look inside. 

The day resulted in some great business decisions and a first draft of our 3-5 year business vision. 

At the end of the day, one member, who was pretty skeptical upfront said “we don’t need an outsider”. That same person ended the session by stating: “It might be a very good idea to see Barbara again soon.” 

I met Barbara through a session she did for the Lions Pride (A Badass Network for successful veteran entrepreneurs). We worked together, taking the journey within. The focus was on how to translate and align my unique ability and craft it into my personal and business leadership. I deeply wanted to free myself from the social norms I was charged with in life and to honor and live up to my own happiness points. I’m driven to operate in freedom, and to leaving behind a legacy as a father, partner, and leader who is unconditionally accepted. 

In the six months we worked together, nobody heard me talking as much as she did. 

I did bone-digging on many different levels, because I long for forward movement in life. Connecting with my defense mechanisms, repressed emotions, and scripts opened up a whole new level that stretched me in many different ways. 

I have learned to experience a lot of freedom in the tiniest moments. I have became aware of how accepting and dealing with certain (emotional) experiences are deeply related to uplifting myself and others, instead of avoiding my own accountability.

In short: Barbara did so well with me! I wouldn’t have figured this out on my own or have made such big decisions for my business if I hadn’t done these sessions.

Once I finished the first track I decided to invest in all three tracks Vision Aligns has to offer. 

The first track: How are you charged as a person and founder, taught me a lot about my own core, my deep resistance, and eventually about my infinite source of strength.

I learned how not to react primarily from my reptilian brain, but was able to dive towards what is happening beneath the surface. I made the journey inside to come out as a better person and leader. I am now able to make sure I can take care of myself while shining the the light on the experts I’m working with. Because of this track I finally could leave my ego at the door, and start creating in freedom.

The second and third tracks (building a visionary business plan & business operation) helped me sharpen my thoughts, but even more importantly I became much more aware of my own accountability as a person and founder. 

Consciously building my latest start up, ROW, within a visionary framework definitely comes from investing in Barbara’s tracks. I could never have imagined this way of managing and controlling my business, fully charged from my heart.

All compliments to Barbara.

She is a very sharp guide in her perception. Her feedback can be confrontational, but is often completely true. She knows exactly how to put her finger on the sore spot. Her goal is to leave a legacy built to last, personally as well as business-wise.

For sure, I intend to continue working with Barbara. For me it’s a constant process of sharpening, improving, and maintaining myself and my businesses. 

As the CA board, we contracted Barbara in 2021/2022 since we needed a clear idea on:

1. how to unite the CA community
2. how to grow to the next level of the organization
3. how to define the most important areas of focus and activity

We felt that without a mission, vision, strategy, and plan that is shared by the CA community, we wouldn’t be able to make the next step in organizational growth.

We choose Grip by Vision for this extensive project because of the good references, personal impression, and sharp project scope that was delivered.

We were so happy to discover that Barbara works very carefully and, I would say, passionately with all the interviewees, from Toronto to Guadua Lumpur. Indeed, Oep adds: “she did a very good and valuable job.”

Barbara designed the project to make people feel seen and heard, and to help them experience how important their value and contributions are to CA. The goal was to honor and ignite their ownership to the next level. Many people experienced true appreciation for their role within the CA community because of the way she interacted with them.

I admire the work so much, and I am very happy to see the feedback from the international teachers community. Also she was able to translate her dense management report into a clear synopsis for the worldwide community.

Based on this beautiful work, some members directly committed to contributing more intensively to the CA movement in the future.

We would absolutely recommend Barbara! She has a very professional and personal human approach! We hope to work with her in the next growth stage. 

Great how she understands entrepreneurs!

I have searched for a long time to find out what my deeper motivations are and how I should move on.

I really discovered that in a good, eight-hour conversation with Barbara. I now not only have more peace of mind and a clear vision of my business dream as an entrepreneur, but also as a person!

Barbara is not only a very good listener, she also asks the right questions. She makes room for emotions, without unnecessarily lingering or digging deeper. Barbara helps you quickly structure your thoughts and emotions and knows how to take action based on who you are.

She works, among other things, with film fragments. It is very surprising what a film fragment you have chosen deeply tells you about yourself! It is a very tangible method; like a coat=rack that you can always depend on.

The structure of the sessions was very good: in the morning you get to the core of who you are, the afternoon is all about the business approach. You quickly see your bigger picture, your obstacles, and which business approach suits you best.

I now have more insight into how I operate as a person and entrepreneur. I understand how I oppose or suppress myself and what really needs attention.

Barbara gave me the tools to map out a clear vision for the future and I feel very excited about it. Because of the clear roadmap she provided,  I went home at the end of the day with concrete practical solutions that I could put to use immediately.

The combination of psychology and practical business application is very strong. The price-quality ratio is also very good. I can heartily recommend Barbara to any entrepreneur who wants to spar quickly and in-depth at a high-end level.

Nice to be able to rely on her as a guide again in the future with the lessons learned in this eighty-hour conversation. I notice that things have started to manifest on a deeper level. Recommended!

Vision Aligns has had a major influence on the choices I make from now on to manage my business, keep it on course, and let it grow. 

The method we have chosen suited me very well. This is the way I want to manage my business from now on. Discovering ‘how you are charged’ as a unique person and entrepreneur has been paramount for the whole change process. 

We originally took a broad approach and thoroughly translated my core mission into an inspiring vision of the near future. The vision led to crafting achievable goals, strategies, and measurable daily actions. I truly felt a grip again. 

As a result, a lot has changed within the business. Goals are super clear, but more importantly: everyone is pursuing the same goals. We now all speak the same language! In addition, thanks to this change process, we have also managed to attract a fantastic, almost completely new team. 

I have all the ingredients I need to implement the well-oiled business operations that I envisioned. The big win is that I believe in my company’s foundation again; there is ‘music’ in it (especially during corona). Barbara as a guide is deeply involved in the process of personal and business change. She is very trustworthy, accurate and punctual. She does what she promises and is very willing to be flexible.

She often personally challenged me; we regularly had a “nice collision” which only resulted in more improvement. I would recommend Vision Aligns if you really want to tackle your change issues, both on a personal and business level. 

I am always willing to have a cup of coffee with anyone who wants to hear more about her working method and how we approached this trajectory at Deining over the past year!

I vividly remember our first meeting with Barbara; it was a happy coincidence which immediately resulted in a long-term collaboration. She helped us in the process of becoming aware of the company’s journey and how to move forward. 

Looking back, it was a therapeutic journey in which we reflected on our origins and subsequently formulated our raison d’être and its consequences, company-wide, for the next three years. 

The term ‘charging’ in particular has acquired a deeper meaning for us. We have concluded the process with a sustainable business plan. We are now taking more targeted action. We were also able to respond in a more business-like way to the call from our partner Porticus (Foundation of the Brenninkmeijer Family) to scale our business and reach a wider audience.

Barbara is a patient, tenacious, compassionate, business psychologist. I think she perceives and assesses people and situations in an incredibly sharp and clear way. Besides coaching, I think she is also very good at guiding group processes. 

What stood out was her thoroughness, care, and quality of attention. We are therefore more aware of our strengths and weaknesses and now have a clear focus and sense of urgency. By steering our vision, our dream (the mission of Double Healix) has become manageable. We have more control over focusing our resources and energy. 

Barbara asks exactly the sharp questions that make you start thinking about your role as founders and a couple. These questions raised significant issues and consequently gave us a clearer picture of what we want in the future for our start up business: The Place To Be.

Barbara was touched by our concept of breathing new life into ritual. The conversations have ensured that we are now even better in touch with our motivations and vision of how to build it from the ground up. We talked a lot about how we are charged as individuals, as a couple, and as entrepreneurs.

This process confronted us and allowed us to see more clearly what we want to achieve with our company in the near future, as well as how we communicate and operate as co-founders.

Barbara is an enthusiastic and driven mentor who clearly finds satisfaction in guiding and helping entrepreneurs on their way. We would recommend her to others who are building their business to last and who are not yet able to clearly articulate a clear vision and how they can translate it into their business operations.

In our work with Barbara it became clear what drives us, what we stand for, and how we want to impact others. Thanks to Barbara’s coaching, we have come to a mission, vision, and approach our new partners can also agree with. We can also speak to customers in a more appealing way. Our story now comes straight from our hearts.

Barbara is sharp, intelligent, tenacious, patient, interested, and confrontational. We also laughed a lot during our sessions, that was very important.

She starts from everyone’s life story, motivations, talents, transactions, and characteristics. She blends all the information into an inspiring mission, vision, and operational approach. In this way, we eventually reached a more authentic positioning, which makes us really happy as co-founders. This is how we would like to relate to each other and enter the market. We now have a stronger foundation to build on as co-founders.

We certainly recommend Barbara and her business Vision Aligns. Her work makes it possible to distinguish your company in the market with a unique, appealing, genuine story about who you are and what your company is.

Thanks to Barbara’s coaching, we have aligned our values as co-founders and partners and we wish that for others as well. We are built to last.

I felt the strong need to have more insights into my subconscious motivations, obstacles, and field of forces. I wanted to deeply understand how to use these sources in a more targeted way to get more energy, as a person and as a business HR director.

Barbara is professional and personal at the same time. Her integrity her personal, genuine interest, her drive, and the fact that she’s not satisfied with half-answers characterize her way of coaching. Her contribution has on the one hand increased my insights and on the other hand brought my subconscious motivations to light in a totally different way.

As a result, I also got to know other energy sources which I can now effectively tap into and use where necessary. Thanks to Barbara’s coaching, I’m experiencing a deepening expansion of my leadership style and I can use my energy and motivations in a very inspirational manner. I was able to link them to an overarching long-term plan that I am very passionate about: Health & Wellbeing for the staff at Teva.

I have translated my vision into this plan; Barbara has given me the tools, focus, and grip to execute it. I would recommend Barbara to anyone who is open to insight, development, and a personal approach, and who dares to start a conversation that you don’t fully control! If you dare to be surprised by Barbara and yourself, the next step in your personal and leadership development has been taken!

Barbara taught me to look at my energy sources and made the link to the foundation of my company. Her coaching and organizational advice takes you from self-knowledge to self-actualization. Her style is a combination of deep interest and intelligent sharpness. I wish everyone a mentor who can deliver. I personally only know one that can deliver that.

Barbara contributed to my personal and professional leadership. Her clear explanations of models and theories during the OGSM sessions and giving concrete examples to understand the theory even better stood out to me in her approach. Partly because of the OGSM sessions, I developed more strategic insight and learned to structure my tasks and responsibilities better.

Because of her reflection in personal coaching sessions, I am stronger as a manager and have more insight into the consequences of my behavior. Barbara was able to clearly mirror my behavior. As a result, I have learned a better and clearer way of communicating for the future, both to myself and others. My vision is now loaded with a clear self-image about where I stand and what goals are important to me in life and work.

Barbara radiates calmness, listens attentively, she takes her time for you and she gives concrete feedback. She is a truly professional and reliable business psychologist/mentor on a personal and professional level. I would definitely recommend Barbara to others. She excels at providing personal coaching sessions and I would therefore like to book more sessions with her in the future.

Period May 2019 – May 2020

Barbara clarified what was not clearly-formed within the company, and revealed what was needed to arrive at a potentially successful business plan. It was nice to work with her in a positively critical atmosphere. Barbara is personal where she can be, and businesslike where she has to be. She knows how to quickly establish a professional and personal atmosphere that ensures you can work with her openly and without judgment to do the best for your company/yourself. Even if for us, in this case, that meant – treading water. Through her guidance, I was able to resign myself to taking a pass – quite a challenge in my case. Novice entrepreneurs who are serious about getting started with a solid plan and could use help from an experienced and positively critical business coach. I would definitely recommend Barbara.

Barbara made us think more sharply about what makes us unique and made us write it down using a structured approach. The whole team feels ownership of this and is more driven to work hard for it. As a consultant, she is critical, accurate, and keeps looking for what is unique until she finds it. She challenges the team and does not settle for the first answer.

In the end, she gets all noses in the same direction! Barbara provides structure at the right level of detail and helps entrepreneurs capture their uniqueness.

Barbara is a highly experienced professional and is known by many for her authentic, and sometimes confrontational approach. She is very inspiring, enthusiastic, analytical, and results-oriented. She puts all these fine qualities to use to help you with your issue. She does this from the heart with inspiration, passion, and integrity. She successfully helped me form a basic mission and vision. When I think back on this session, I get goosebumps, confidence, energy, and inspiration all over again!

My start-up partner and I got in touch with Barbara as we wanted to start a collaboration, but really had no idea how to go about it. Barbara then gave us tools to get started. We were given assignments that gave us insight into how to make our ideas concrete. There was always the test of whether it was feasible and whether it was going to deliver something at the bottom line. Lots of critical questions and fun and creative exercises, which allowed us to get to know each other better as business partners. Slowly but surely, a business model formed. Barbara really pulls you through the difficult phases. When we had actually lost our heads (read: were overwhelmed with all the ideas), we sat down with Barbara and came out brimming with energy and good spirits. Without Barbara, we would never have come this far, and I would recommend her to anyone as an advisor and coach. She also made me think about what I stand for, who I am, and how I come across to others. I therefore definitely hope to work with her again on my dreams in the near future!

I experienced the Skydive as an unforgettable day. Finally someone I really had to open myself up to. Despite feeling resistance, I actually did so. I discussed many issues that I don’t often express. Barbara drew an overall picture of me. Through probing and asking, I became more aware of what I had gone through, what role I had in it, and where I want to go. She is very persistent in this.

Barbara is very personal, authentic, and honest. She mirrors in a way that allowed me to talk about my challenges without any difficulty. She can be completely there for the other person because she is a very good listener and does not interpret. She makes you think and feel until you get to the core. I still come to Barbara, her sessions are very structured and result-oriented and she works using clear methods. Barbara gives explanations where they are needed and keeps the questions that have been brought in as a guide. She uses very extensive and thorough professional knowledge. As a result, there is always a result.  

Because of the Skydive, things have definitely changed. I have perspective and a grip on the future. I already notice that I am more confident. I now know what I want. That means I have gained a lot of energy. What I really wanted to achieve has succeeded. I have great confidence in our further cooperation! 

The photo on your website radiates energy, strength and warmth. That is exactly how I experienced you.

Barbara has been very valuable to me. I initially had some questions about my future, which weren’t quite tangible. She was really an inspiration to me and she gave me many beautiful new insights. Because of her, my energy has started to flow again and I am taking the next step on my “personal journey” full of enthusiasm and drive. This feels so incredibly good!

Barbara is very authentic and pure as a person and she puts a lot of inspiration in her work. Her great strength is that she can sincerely listen and question, without forming a judgment. She is very involved. This enables her to get to the heart of the matter in a very short time and to name it in a positive way. Barbara also radiates a very nice and calming energy. You immediately feel at ease. She is a natural leader!

Barbara’s working method really appealed to me because she really goes back to basics and gets to the core very quickly from here. From the core, she makes a nice bridge to your issue and makes it practical together with you. 

I also did the follow-up programme (Breaking the Waves). I find this programme very valuable and it helps me move in the right direction. I would definitely recommend Barbara to people who would like to make a personal change or who are searching for their future at work and can’t make this sufficiently tangible for themselves.

Through the sessions with Barbara, a lot has changed. This ‘flight’ has brought me a lot of positivity and also some exciting issues. I started working on my assignments with much more self-confidence and drive!

Together with Barbara, I looked at where I was at with my entrepreneurship. The discussions gave me insight into my performance as an entrepreneur and allowed me to work on assignments and insights gained in between. Barbara frames her time tightly, so you know where you stand. She is a pleasant interlocutor and quickly gets to the heart of the growth/stagnation of the business and of you as a person. It did not matter to her during the process that we know each other in another way as well. Her professionalism and results remain paramount to her.