Time to present myself (LinkedIn profile).
Meeting Thorwald Westmaas, the driving force behind Hugarró Hotels
In short:
By education I’m an engineer but my skills and nature are much wider than any one specialty. With my imagination and vision I think beyond technical boundaries. As a systems thinker and with ample experience in business development, adult learning and social/community projects, I look to bring people, disciplines and ideas together. When encountering problems I look for the root cause and approach challenges in a creative and non-conformist yet always practical way.
Because, in the end I want to not just talk and dream but create meaningful results that bring good things to people and our planet.
Life is not about more but about better. With each other, not against each other; shaping a sustainable way of life where there is balance between people, resources and economic feasibility.
The longer story:
So I’m a marine engineer by education. Operating and maintaining a wide variety of technical equipment on a sea-going vessel laid the foundation for a flexible and hands-on approach to solving challenges of any kind.
When I joined a Spanish language immersion program in 1987 and sort of rolled into helping set up a new Spanish language school in Costa Rica at age 24, I thought, why not? Americans call it an accidental startup. In hindsight, I found my calling.
Yes, there was a war going on in Nicaragua (Ronald Reagan and his contras) and a little later George (H.!) Bush picked a fight with General Noriega in Panama but we found our niche market in the high-end and professional/governmental sector and prospered. Later on (2005) we also opened up shop in Panama. That proved to be more of challenge. A pivot-or-persevere moment came along and I decided to sell the school and start a B&B. That 10-room business ended up being one of my most successful and enjoyable startups.
In between I was also involved in the conversion of a 132 ft. former Dutch fishing trawler into a diving live-aboard and expedition yacht which I sailed over from the Netherlands. All went well until Lehmann Brothers collapsed and funding evaporated.
In the meantime my marriage was in its final stages so in 2011 we decided to return to the Netherlands.
During the last 11 years I’ve worked in different organizations, large and small in a variety of maintenance and asset management related positions. In between I followed courses on system thinking, Lean 6Sigma, sustainable building (LEED) and asset management.
But having been my own boss for 24 years it wasn’t always easy to fit in 😉. My entrepeneurial spirit makes me a driven personality. Result-oriented. Stubborn at times. But capable of looking into the mirror regularly for the necessary self-reflection. And having lived abroad for over 24 years, I certainly have developed my cross-cultural sensitivity.
A job coach recently explained to me that I’m a ‘creative generalist’. I do have an unending thirst for knowledge. I don’t have to know everything about all things but do want to know enough about everything to be able to make the right calls and know when to seek additional expertise from the right people. Above all, I am able to connect the dots between seemingly unrelated matters and see and develop opportunities.
I concluded that as a strategic thinker and creative generalist my drive and talents blossom best when I can take on broad, strategic challenges and get enough freedom to chart my own course.
With my 3 kids now all settling in their own career paths (the oldest graduated from the Hotelschool The Hague 2 years ago and got her first job in Madrid; one in her 3rd year of Russian Studies at Leiden University and one is working at the local waterboard), the moment has come to return to my calling as an entrepreneur.
Business philosophy
I think the key to success of any business – besides working hard and smart – is a clear vision on knowing where you want to go and above all: why? What gives one energy to keep going in the often windy and steep path of entrepeneurship? Personally I enjoy carrying out the art of hospitality. In my 25 years of being an entrepeneur I got the greatest joy of seeing my clients expectations being exceeded and giving them rewarding, even life-altering experiences. In the case of Hugarró Hotels / Naturally Iceland, I know from personal experience, in the stunning landscape of Iceland, the therapeutic effects of being in nature can hardly be exaggerated. Scientific research confirms the stress-reducing effects of exposure to nature and if there is one thing we have too much of in this world today, it is stress. I would love to put my talents and knowledge to work to share this experience with other people.
After having a clear vision on what we want to achieve and what drives us, I think it’s paramount to make a very deliberate choice about who you want as your customer. You have to make choices about who you want to serve, figure out what they want and then execute flawlessly and consistently.
The last most important factor to success is to realize (and act accordingly) that your employees are your most important asset. Particularly in a service industry, these people are the face of your company. They make or break the customer’s experience. Invest in them, nurture them. Listen to them. They are worth gold. And you reap what you sow. The same applies to strategic partners that have an important influence on the customer’s experience.
This project is fun in many ways. I bring together my knowledge and experience in the service industry, business development and marketing, (sustainable and) smart construction methods and getting things done from scratch. My cross-cultural skills enable me to build a great and lasting team. And it’s the team that brings the results. It’s more than the sum of its parts.
I look forward to meeting you in person to share my excitement about this project and get you on board for a a wonderful and groundbreaking journey that is both good for your wallet and the planet.
Thorwald Westmaas
Wassenaar March 2024
+31-6-2717-6969