This time, we look into the events that led Erik de Roos from his birthplace Zwolle – to Adelaide today – where he is responsible for marketing the beautiful state of South Australia to the world.

It all started during his studies at the Breda University of Applied Sciences – where Erik studies Tourism Management and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 2003. His studies took him to the US state of Vermont, which is best known as the home of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and maple syrup.
 
In Vermont, Erik completed an internship at the Ascutney Mountain (Ski) Resort. At the same time, Erik’s now wife, Gloria, was there on a working holiday. As it happens, Gloria was from Adelaide and she moved with Erik to the Netherlands where they lived together for some years. The couple then decided to move to South Australia for lifestyle and family reasons and in December 2004, Gloria and Erik arrived in Adelaide. They since got married and today they are blessed with 3 young boys.
 
When he moved to Adelaide, Erik had hoped to secure a job in the South Australian Tourism industry. Unfortunately, there were limited opportunities and Erik found work in the advertising industry instead. Erik called advertising home for about a decade, working from the bottom up. As Head of Account Management at Clemenger BBDO, Erik served iconic South Australian clients, like Jacob’s Creek, San Remo, and the Motor Accident Commission, where Erik helped produce some of the most recognised and award-winning advertising campaigns in the state.
 
When Clemenger BBDO merged with KWP in 2015 after closing its Adelaide offices, Erik decided to take a different path and join a challenger advertising agency: cummins&partners. However, an offer he could not refuse ended this path after 18 months, as San Remo asked Erik to become their Chief Marketing Officer. In this capacity, Erik was responsible for setting the strategic marketing direction for some of Australia’s most recognised FMCG brands, including San Remo, Fantastic Snacks and Balfours Bakery.

For 5 years Erik was at the helm of San Remo’s marketing, but he had never forgotten about his first passion and ambition when coming to Australia, to share the well-kept secret of Adelaide and South Australia with the whole world. Telling about a place, not only recognised as one of the top 3 best places to live, but a destination that is not naturally exposed to mass tourism, with vast beauty and diversity of landscapes and experiences on offer!
 
In July 2021 Erik came full circle when he landed the position of Executive Director Marketing for the South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC). He now leads the State's Destination Marketing department and set its strategic marketing plans. Erik can focus all the expertise he gained on his journey through tourism, advertising and marketing on generating demand for South Australia as a premium, boutique tourism desitination and in turn, help grow the South Australian visitor economy!
 
Without a doubt, accepting this new job in the midst of a global pandemic was not without its challenges. The South Australian tourism industry, which pre-Covid contributed in excess of $8bn and 40,000 jobs to the South Australian economy, was severely impacted by border closures, lockdowns and trading restrictions. However, supporting the industry through these challenging times has only strengthened Erik’s resolve to hep drive the recovery of the State's visitor economy.
 
Erik is optimistic about the future of South Australia's tourism industry and is excited about playing a part in promoting our beatiful State to Australians – and he rest of the world!

Yvette van Eenennaam is the General Manager of Adelaide BioMed City, the $4.2 billion Health and Biomedical Innovation District in the heart of Adelaide with impressive infrastructure including the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, the SA Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), and facilities for all three of the state’s universities. This innovation hub co-locates institutions from research, education, clinical care and industry to drive collaboration, innovation, translation and commercialisation.
Yvette is also the chair of the state-wide genomics centre, the SAGC. She co-led the development of the business plan for the SAGC, secured federal funding, and achieved that all the relevant key institutes in SA to commit to a Partnership. Its establishment was supported by an investment of over $7 million. 
​In Europe, Yvette has enjoyed leadership roles at Deloitte, Nike Inc and ABN ABMRO Bank, with a focus on strategy, organisational development, change management and innovation.

​Born and raised in the south of the Netherlands, Jeroen Hendriks studied Nursing and Health Sciences at Maastricht University in the beautiful city of Maastricht. During his PhD he developed a specialised outpatient service for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), the most prevalent cardiac arrhythmia, at the Maastricht University Medical Centre. In a randomised controlled trial, he demonstrated effectiveness of this approach compared to usual care, in terms of reductions in hospitalisation and mortality in this population. In 2012 Jeroen was invited to deliver a keynote and present these results at the annual conference of the Australian Cardiovascular Health and Rehabilitation Association (ACRA) in Brisbane. Here he met a cardiologist with an interest in AF management, who invited him to do collaborative research in Adelaide. 
 

Move to Adelaide
After starting remote collaboration with the Adelaide research team, Jeroen moved to Adelaide in 2015 to join the team at the Centre for Heart Rhythm Disorders at the University of Adelaide. His research focusses on the development of innovative models of care delivery for patients with cardiovascular conditions, in particular AF. Based on the concept of integrated care, these models include a patient-centred approach, multidisciplinary teams, comprehensive treatment, and the use of technology to support the integrated approach. The team has demonstrated the importance of risk factor management and lifestyle modification as part of comprehensive treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, demonstrating improved clinical outcomes in patients. 
 
Professor of Cardiovascular Nursing
Early 2020 Jeroen had the opportunity to move to Flinders University to take up the Inaugural Leo J Mahar Cardiovascular Nursing Chair. This Professorial role is a clinical-academic joint appointment between the Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University and the Department of Heart and Lung at the Central Adelaide Local Health Network. In this role he aims to generate multidisciplinary research in the clinical setting which guides the development of a collaborative of academic and clinical excellence. Besides his work in Adelaide, Jeroen has ongoing collaborations with the Department of Cardiology at the Maastricht University Medical Centre and is actively involved within the European Society of Cardiology and the Heart Rhythm Society in the United States. 
 
Please connect with Jeroen through LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeroenhendriksausse or Twitter: @J_Hendriks1 

Mark de Raad was born in ’t Gooi in Laren, The Netherlands and emigrated to Australia with his immediate family in the mid 80s as an emerging teenager - first to Victoria, and then later to Adelaide. From a background of jewellery and watch making, Mark’s father was most keen that he focus on an alternate career choice. After quite a few twists and turns that included significant studies as a musician, music teacher, and a physiotherapist, he eventually settled on a career in ICT. In a long term committed relationship for over 24 years, Mark is proud to call Adelaide and Australia home whilst still valuing his Netherlandish roots - retaining strong ties to language, culture and family in Europe.

Founding a company in 1996, I-Nex, he has been headquartered in South Australia ever since providing software solutions across Australia, into Asia and Europe. Focussed on product and custom solutions in change management, automotive and manufacturing, safety systems in oil and gas projects and specialist tools for association and not-for-profits, the company also has a strong focus on social projects, particularly education and health services. Initially started as a network and systems support group, software soon became a passion when it managed to combine artistic skills, creative problem solving with critical thinking. Having spanned a career starting with mainframes, to decentralised desktop computing, to now cloud and SaaS services, it has certainly been quite the journey of continued application and learning!

More recently, Mark has been asked to chair and sit on several government and non-government boards - particularly focussed on Arts organisations - including the State Opera South Australia, Coriole Music Festival, Recitals Australia, Chamber Music Adelaide, Cabaret Fringe Festival - and has consulted for most of South Australia’s significant arts companies. In a way, bringing life full circle with his arts beginnings and now bringing over 25 years of management and business experience to those organisations.

Mark is always looking for a challenge (“a project with real problems to solve”) and would be delighted to network further with the local community. You can connect with him at www.deraad.com 

Meike Wise was born and raised in ‘het gezellige’ Brabant, The Netherlands. As soon as she turned 18, she went backpacking around the world to chase her dreams and adventures. In Australia though, she fell in love. Not only with the country itself, but also with an Englishman she met on a cattle farm in the middle of the QLD outback. After her travels and finishing her degree at the Hotelschool The Hague, she moved to England, married this Englishman, and applied for an Australian visa. After 7 years of living in the UK, they moved to South Australia with their then-2 year old son; a new adventure had begun. After 8 years in Adelaide, they have truly settled in and even extended their family with a dog named Max.

But Meike hasn’t stopped chasing dreams and is still looking for new adventures. Throughout her career, she’s had the privilege to work for, and work with, a wide variety of different organisations, all over the world. For the past 20 years, Meike has worked towards specialising in business operations, customer & employee experience, and change & transformation programs. She is now on a mission to ‘give back’ and contribute to a kinder, more authentic world, and is using her experiences and insights to help organisations create business environments that provide their people with an exceptional human-focused, genuine experience. Meike would love to get in touch with like-minded people and organisations.
 
Connect with Meike on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/meikewise, or visit her business on https://changeandways.com.au/

Born and raised in the Netherlands on a dairy farm near Arnhem, Lianne Tiemens studied “Commercial Design” at The Hogeschool van Arnhem & Nijmegen and completed the Propaedeutic Certificate “Communication Science” at the University of Amsterdam. Lianne worked in various Marketing-Communication and office positions for small ICT businesses as well as Shell, Gemini Consulting and Politie Utrecht.
In 2006 Lianne and her partner, now husband, Martijn moved to Australia. Following an introductory road trip through Australia Martijn and Lianne decided to settle in Sydney. After the birth of their eldest son in 2010 Lianne traded her corporate career at J.P. Morgan for a career in fitness, reigniting her passion for group fitness. Lianne feels strongly about group fitness. Her motto: “fitness is for everybody and every body, the go-hard-go-home method isn’t”. Instead, she strives to work towards everyday greatness with real people and real fitness options. Driven by a desire to connect people through fitness. Inspired by the everyday heroes in her classes.

Group Fitness Instructor
Lianne has been a Group Fitness Instructor since 2001, instructing a large range of formats which include Old Skool Aerobics & Step, Aqua Fitness, Les Mills Body Pump, Basic Training and Active Adults. For the past 9 years Lianne worked for Fitness First Australia. As her fitness career evolved, she presented at FILEX (the leading and most long-standing annual fitness convention in Asia Pacific) in 2019 and was due to present at FILEX 2020. She is an awardee for the 2020 NSW AUSTSWIM WETS Aqua Instructor and received the 2019 Q3 National Group Fitness Instructor of the Quarter Award by Fitness First Australia.

Facebook Live Workouts
During the lockdown in NSW earlier in 2020 Lianne was selected by Fitness First Australia to be part of the Virtual Trainer’s Team to develop and deliver Facebook Live workouts. These workouts plus many others have been recorded and are available on Facebook free for everyone to use. Go to www.facebook.com/FitnessFirstAustralia and search "Lianne" to access these workouts.

Adelaide
In July 2020 Martijn, Lianne and their two sons moved to Adelaide. In Adelaide Lianne continued her work as an in-demand instructor. She was recently appointed as the Group Fitness Coordinator at The Gym Glenelg, whilst she continues to deliver virtual HIIT workouts, runs circuit training sessions from her backyard gym.

Mature Age Fitness Article
​As an advocate for Aqua Fitness, Lianne joined international Aqua Fitness trailblazers in social media campaign H2Ignite. In an effort to promote and encourage fitness at any age, she teamed up with Sydney based Exercise Physiologist Leigh Sherry to write a two-part article about mature age fitness published by the Australian Fitness Network in their quarterly magazine. Contact Lianne, if you want a free copy of the two-part article about Mature Age Fitness.

Contact
​To connect with Lianne - and get free workout inspiration – go to the socials:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lianne_tiemens_group_fitness/ 
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liannetiemensgroupfitness 
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/liannetiemens 

Lianne can also be contacted by email: ljatiemens@hotmail.com

​Gerard Berndsen (born in Nijmegen, the Netherlands) and Seshnie Taylor (born in Durban, South Africa, grew up in Ipswich, United Kingdom) arrived in Adelaide in October 2020. Before coming to Australia, they both lived in China for six years.
Their reason to come to Adelaide was thanks to well-considered lifestyle design. Both have enjoyed the hustle and bustle of big cities such as Amsterdam, Hong Kong, London, Ningbo and Shanghai but were happy to settle down. Adelaide is the perfect city for them.
 
Gerard's background
Gerard moved to Shanghai in 2014 to study for a Master Degree in Economics. As a board member of the Dutch Association Shanghai, he coordinated events for up to 450 Dutchies. The events included Sinterklaas and comedy-nights (flying in Guido Weijers and Howard Komproe). As a board member, he also met His Royal Highness King Willem-Alexander in 2016. And he co-organised the political trade mission to China in 2018 with four ministers and 165 organisations. Before he left China, he was the Business Development Manager at the British   DS Smith Packaging. He managed the sales team and various Automotive and Electronics clients.
 
Seshnie's background
Seshnie studied languages (French and Chinese) and obtained a Masters degree in International Relations. Seshnie worked for a global charity in London, after which she decided she wanted more adventure and speak her languages daily. She started her own language tutoring company in Shanghai, providing curriculum and private teachers for hundreds of Chinese students from 3 to 65 years old.
 
Moving to Australia
Seshnie and Gerard left China at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. After two weeks of self-quarantining in the Netherlands, they arrived in Australia at the end of February. But they got stuck in Mildura due to the lockdown. This lockdown turned out to be an excellent opportunity to gain new skills and create lifelong family friends.

After the restrictions lifted, they went on a brief road trip in NSW and enjoyed Sydney and other unique places. During this road trip, they confirmed that it was time to settle down in a quieter area with a better lifestyle. They choose Adelaide because the city allows for personal and professional development, while the cost of living and the amount of green is unmatched. And they are still relatively close to their family-friends in Mildura, by Australian standards.
 
Careers
Gerard works for XMPLIFY Technology Services since December 2020 as a Project and Business Manager. XMPLIFY helps organisations integrate and automate Data, Applications, and the Cloud.
 
Seshnie started in February 2021 at Young Change Agents. This not-for-profit promotes social entrepreneurship for 10-to 18-year-olds to help Australian youth see problems as opportunities. The organisation provides youth with the tools to think creatively, build communication skills, and empower them to believe that they are good enough to be entrepreneurs, leaders, and world-changers.

Both Seshnie and Gerard would love to get in touch with you to learn more about like-minded people in Adelaide.
You can contact Gerard and Seshnie via LinkedIn or meet them at the DutchSA Drinks.
linkedin.com/in/gberndsen
linkedin.com/in/seshnie

Lilian was born and raised in the Netherlands and studied hospitality and facility management at the School for Hotel Management in the Burgundian town of Maastricht. After starting her career in the hospitality and tourism industry, she had management positions in Human Resources Management and Recruitment (Manpower) and within the TAFE sector. Before moving to Australia in 2008, Lilian lived and worked as a global citizen across Europe, the USA and Hong Kong. 
 
Adelaide has been home since November 2020, after having lived in Canberra for the last 12 years. 
 
Lilian is no stranger to DutchSA. During her 10-year tenure as Senior Advisor Trade and Economic Affairs at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Canberra, she was a regular visitor to South Australia. She organised many networking and business development events for various industries and businesses on behalf of the Dutch Department of Foreign Affairs and in close collaboration with DutchSA. She is most proud of the results that were achieved when she designed and coordinated the trade mission for Agriculture during the visit of His Royal Highness King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands to Australia in 2016, for which she received a Royal Commendation.

For the last two years Lilian worked for the Canberra Business Chamber - a member-based organisation, representing a broad range of businesses as well as many of the ACT's key industry and community organisations. She leveraged her broad experience in Business Development and Trade Facilitation, Stakeholder engagement and Relationship Management as well as Event, Project and Office Management. 

The move to Adelaide is the start of a new chapter for the Mellink family in Australia, and they are looking forward to exploring Adelaide, and have started to immerse themselves in all that South Australia and its people have to offer.  
 
Lilian has recently joined the Board of DutchSA and is keen to make a valuable contribution by liaising between, and supporting, Dutch and Australian professionals and businesses. She would love to get in touch with you to learn more about opportunities in Adelaide.

Lilian can be contacted on +61 420 335 840, by email lilian.mellink@gmail.com or LinkedIn.