ABOUT VERDA
Verda Sisman
Verda has worked with or trained people from more than 60 different countries/cultures, ages ranging from 20-75 years old with various levels within the organisation (people working in the factory as well as CEO’s of multinational organisations). She believes that it is each of us that holds us back from living our full potential.
Verda’s mission is to support individuals and organisations to identify what is in the way and help them discover and live their true potential.
Verda’s key values are Integrity, Courage, Authenticity, Making a Difference, Well-being, and Growth.
She loves music, hiking (especially in mountains), scuba diving, and playing the piano. She is enamored with talking, and being with her daughter Emma, she says that Emma is her biggest source of inspiration, love, and creativity.
Besides running her company @ Oaktreeme, she is currently an Adjunct Professor at TIAS Business school for leadership development. She gives inspirational talks about self-confidence and leadership and continues her education with a post-academic study at Radboud University on Mindfulness.
Previously Verda has graduated as an electronics engineer in Istanbul, and continued her education in marketing and management in several business schools globally. Verda worked for Philips for more than 20 years in diverse positions like Country Manager, Global Marketing Director, Commercial Director, and Global Change Management Lead.
In 2008, while she was a global marketing director at Philips, she decided to get out of her comfort zone and do something which could bring her different perspectives. She left Philips, moved to New York City, and studied acting & movie-making at the New York Film Academy. About a year later, she joined back with Philips as a commercial director for a new business group with a new mindset.
In 2013 she completed her coach training at MMS Worldwide institute (ICF - international Coach Federation accredited ) which gave her another piece of her life journey. She became an executive coach at Philips and she joined the leadership development program at Global Philips as a facilitator in addition to keeping her commercial director position. The impact she could make on individuals and organizations through leadership development programs and coaching fascinated her. She left Philips and started her own company OakTreeMe in 2017.
She lived in Istanbul, New York, London, and is currently living in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.