Not for coffee, but for my knowledge

Jessie's story is one of transformation: from marketer in Eindhoven to strategic changemaker at Amvest. With more than two decades in real estate, she's proof that shaping cities starts with understanding people.

We met with Jessie at Amvest’s headquarters, a striking building overlooking the water in Amsterdam's eastern docklands. Once an industrial area where wine was bottled, the area has been transformed. A change in EU law meant that Italian wines could only be called Italian if they were bottled in Italy. The bottling plant closed and Amvest saw an opportunity. Today, the area is a thriving neighbourhood of homes, restaurants and open space, much of it planned and developed by Amvest itself. The final buildings are still rising, but the vision is almost complete.

Jessie joined Amvest almost three years ago as Director of Customer Success. Prior to that, she spent 14 years at BPD, first as a regional marketer, then as Director Sales and Area Marketing and member of the Management Team NL. She knows the customer journey inside out.

Having built a pioneering digital sales operation at BPD, Jessie new it was time for someone else to take over. She left the comfort of a high-performing team to join Amvest, not just to lead, but to reinvent. "I wanted to work on something that felt closer to people," she says. "Beyond transactions, towards communities."

At Amvest, Jessie is leading the charge to reimagine the customer journey for 23,000 households across the Netherlands. From redefining digital touchpoints to understanding the social impact of community management, her team is turning buildings into neighbourhoods.

"When I joined, I spent three months just listening," she says. Panels with buyers and renters revealed pain points, and moments that really mattered. "For example, the handover is a make-or-break moment. Yet it's where things often go wrong. We needed to own that moment."

Under her leadership, a new team was formed that spanned the entire customer lifecycle, from sales managers to community strategists. And digital tools? Not cold, but connecting. "People say digital is impersonal, but I see it differently. It allows us to get the basics right for all of our customers and focus our time on the questions that really matter."

Jessie's drive isn't just professional  it's personal. "I trained as an urban planner. I believe in the power of space to connect people". Today, that means designing environments that reduce loneliness, bridge divides and turn strangers into neighbours.

As a woman in the industry for 21 years, she's seen real change. "When I first started, I was asked to take notes in meetings. People assumed I wasn't the expert. I even offered to pour the coffee - until my manager told me to stop. You're here for your knowledge, not the coffee, he explained. That stuck with me."

Her advice? Own your voice. Get close to the content. "And never forget: every house you sell, every neighbourhood you shape, it's someone's life you're building".