Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jitske Kramer, Founder of Human Dimensions, located in Utrecht, Netherlands.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I am a corporate anthropologist and travel all over the world to learn from traditional healers, leaders, surprising innovators, and random passers-by. And I bring this worldly knowledge and my travel experiences back to the world of organizing, cooperation and leadership through challenging keynotes, masterclasses, and books. I founded the training organization Human Dimensions, and together with my team, we try to improve the strength and results of individuals and groups (and to make the world a more beautiful place). Our customers range from corporates to governmental organizations to NGOs. From C-level to primary school teachers. What each and everyone has in common is the wish to make teams and organizations more inclusive and to reach the best decisions by including all perspectives.

Tell us about yourself

I have the ambition to activate organizations to be wildly attractive to everyone and everything. Preferably in a pleasantly simple way. In my stories, what is familiar gradually becomes strange. And what is strange becomes familiar. I used to do a lot of consultancy and training work. At the moment, I focus on traveling, researching, and writing. And on giving keynote talks on large stages... a great way to reach many people with my knowledge and views.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I have found a way to translate and apply the vital knowledge and skills of the academic field of social anthropology to the pragmatic world of organizations, leaders, and strategies into the world of Corporate Tribes. Together with my team, we give keynotes and training courses in deep democracy, holding space, and anthropological organizational change and facilitate conflict resolution processes. My greatest accomplishment is, besides writing a few bestseller books (!), to collect a team of passionate people with whom we work very closely, yet very independently.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

We believe that strong tribes, and strong organizations, connect where possible, fight when necessary, recover where possible and say goodbye if there is no other way. And we truly want to practice what we preach. This means that I need to be very honest all the time to myself, my team, and my customers. To have brave conversations, to invite opposing views. And that when we make mistakes, we own them, we fix them, and we learn from them. In this, it is challenging not to start making all kinds of rules and procedures but to keep it simple and to stay in connection, also when things are tough.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Only start a business in something new when you truly believe in it.
  2. Make sure you create and sell a product or service that you would like to have yourself and that you would recommend to all your friends and family.
  3. Only start something that adds value to the world. We do not need more bullshit services or products that exploit the earth.

Let's make life more beautiful for all living creatures today and tomorrow. I know this is idealistic, but I believe businesses should include an idealistic view in their business models. Together we shape cultures, and these cultures shape us. It matters what you do, think and say. As a person, but definitely also as a business.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://jitskekramer.nl/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jitske.kramer/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jitskekramer
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jitskekramer/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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