Hi, I'm Dana-Maria

When I was 18 years I started sailing around the world on traditional sailing ships, first as a deckhand and later as a captain. Not long after I started teaching others to sail, working with both individuals and teams. This stimulated my love for coaching and teambuilding. In 2010 I began working as a communications coach/trainer for Greenpeace, and some years later, in 2013, I began my own coaching practice helping people develop skills to cope with anxiety patterns and various other symptoms. Several training modes and courses have provided me with critical knowledge and experience which contributed to my success in the field of personal coaching. My mission in life is to make people the Captains of their own lives.

In February of 2015, I experienced a life-changing moment. On Dutch television I came across a piece in the show 'De Wereld Draait Door', in which host Mathijs van Nieuwkerk experiences Virtual Reality.

An instant vision came to my mind. I saw how Virtual Reality could be implemented to help people break limiting patterns and believes. I ordered the Oculus Rift and started experimenting with Virtual Reality Coaching.

A winning idea

Both my own experiments and scientific research have shown that Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) is highly effective in breaking phobias, negative thoughts and behavioral patterns. This encouraged me to develop the idea "Fear or Love", in which Virtual Reality Coaching eliminates fear and allows for people's dreams, goals and love to flourish.

On May 26th 2016, this idea won the Samsung VR Challenge, during the Startup Fest Europe, in the Netherlands. Samsung named my idea The Best Virtual Reality Idea of the Netherlands!

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