Through my work and interests, I consider myself a community contributor to the beautiful Caribbean island of Aruba. My interests span behavioral change, social influence, health promotion, health interventions, nature conservation, personal development, marketing, and branding. These interests have been shaped by my academic journey, observations, readings, interactions, and experiences. 

My academic journey began with a Bachelor of Business and Management in Marketing at Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen (University of Applied Sciences), the Netherlands, following my secondary education in Aruba. I furthered my education with a Master of Science in Business Administration, specializing in Marketing, from Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

I have been contributing to the education of future marketing and business professionals since 2008 as a Marketing lecturer at the Faculty for Accounting, Finance, and Marketing at the University of Aruba. My ongoing responsibilities include teaching, contributing to curriculum development, and engaging in academic-related committees.

Contributing to the Aruban community through research has always been valuable to me. I developed a passionate interest in health-related behavior, sparked by my personal observations, literature review, and community engagement in the area of health in Aruba. This curiosity led me to meet Prof. dr. Moniek Buijzen and dr. Crystal R. Smit, and a collaboration was initiated.

Under their guidance and with the support of the University of Aruba, I embarked on my journey as an external PhD candidate at the Behavioural Science Institute of Radboud University in 2015. Dr. Rebecca N. H. de Leeuw joined the team later on. In 2020, following the employment transition of Moniek and Crystal, I joined the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences at Erasmus University Rotterdam, where I expect to complete my research at the end of 2025.