Are you ready for whatever’s next?
Who I am
Hi, I’m Tineke.
I was you: In my forties/fifties. Feeling stuck. Feeling restless. Wanting something different. Not knowing what that was. Looking for meaning, for purpose. Not finding it, returning to what I knew - disillusioned.
Until I decided that life was too short to be miserable. Which is when I decided to change, now for good.
I started researching, and reading (obviously - I LOVE books!) and came up with this:
Yep. THAT’s what I had. After MONTHS of soul-searching, reading TONS of books, writing a journal even (I never used to write in journals - a story for another day).
Disappointed? Confused? Overwhelmed? Yes. But in a weird way also relieved.
Because this made sense. What I was doing right up to then was NOT what that picture was telling me.
I set up as a coach, in first instance focusing on helping women change their careers.
But as my coaching business evolved I realised two things:
Career change is not the ONLY result you’re after. In fact, it’s NOT always what you want.
What you WANT is freedom. Freedom to be yourself. Freedom to do something that is meaningful to you. Feeling that what you do matters. Feeling alive. That expresses itself in different ways. Yes, some clients change their careers (see what one recent awesome client told me below).
But sometimes it’s bigger than that. It’s not just your career but your LIFE. It’s not about changing your career, but about making that next step up into leadership. It’s not about any of that but about being happier where you are.
Creativity was VITAL to my career freedom journey. For you to know what you want you NEED your creative brain: to reconnect with your dreams, to create a vision, to have new ideas. Which is why I trained as a Creativity Coach, and annually run The Artist’s Way Group - dedicated to a book that was PIVOTAL to my midlife career change.
So that I can help YOU access YOUR creative brain, or even - as lots of my clients do - pursue those (sometimes long term) dreams of (writing a book/starting their art business/start a side hustle/fill in YOUR creative dream here: … ).
Besides being a coach, I’m also a Coach Mentor on a Senior Leadership programme (working with AMAZING senior leaders) - AND I’m a bit of a creative practitioner, which is why I set up my own ART website and will entertain and inform you with my Illustrated Book Reviews and my cartoons.
Want to know more about me? You can find out on my website.
Why subscribe?
This newsletter was previously called The Career Freedom Newsletter. After my career change coaching programme. I decided to change that.
Why? Because the new name - the Freedom Sketchbook - aligns better with what comes next: a wider focus. Not just changing your career, but navigating your way through change in midlife towards a next chapter that reflects who you are. A next chapter that represents FREEDOM.
I’ll use drawings, creative exercises and story-telling. Every week I talk about ONE topic to help YOU move forward and share with you what (ELSE) you can do to get unstuck. Topics I discuss are - for now - broadly categorised under these topics:
Career and career change
Creativity
Business & Leadership
Women & Work
Mind & body (how the brain works)
But may be expanded in the future.
I’d LOVE for you to join us by hitting the great big Subscribe now button below. Want to show your support?
PAID subscriptions
Some of you kindly said things like:
With the transition to the Freedom Sketchbook in early 2026 I’ve paused paid subscriptions, for now. But if you - too - would like to support my writing then I’d invite you pledge your support and maybe I’ll welcome you as a paid subscriber when the time is right!
Come and say Hi!
I’m thinking of Substack a bit as a second home, but you can also find me here:
LinkedIn (it’s where I used to live - I still have a presence there but will increasingly be found here)
My website (think of it as my showroom, where I tell you ALL about what I do)
My art website (where I get to play and mess around with paint)
Come and find me and say hi (Hi!)
