How Teamwork Made the Dream Work in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam in the early years was an adventure.
I, the primary breadwinner, leveraged my training expertise to build a training centre for my Israeli company. (Side note: a whopping 12 years with no formal contract—interesting trust exercise!) Yoni, meanwhile, hustled with workshops on the weekends while juggling his studies. Let’s just say his income barely covered the cost of renting space and marketing.
Then, 2000 arrived with a curveball: My company decided not to renew my contract. No contract for 12 years? It turns out “friendship” doesn’t always pay the bills (who knew?). We were a tiny family with a big problem—how do we survive?
Enter Yoni, ever the quick thinker. “Let’s turn this workshop thing into a real company!” he declares. Genius, right? With me bringing 10 years of training experience and Yoni rocking the marketing, sales, and graphic design skills, Open Circles Academy was born.
Our first office was in the attic. It was spacious enough for two tables but not much else. Winter brought bone-chilling cold, while summer transformed it into a furnace. Let’s just say that on particularly hot days, professional attire took on a new, more creative definition (think sweat and sheer determination!).
After a year, things were…well, surviving. It was time to ditch the attic and take this company seriously. So, we moved the operation downstairs, right into the living room. Picture this: half living room, half office—two tables facing each other, separated only by hulking desktop computers. It was cozy, to say the least!
We hustled—like, seriously hustled. For most of the year, we worked 22-hour days (including childcare for an energetic 3-year-old). It was family, work, and repeat—a recipe for disaster for some couples, but for us, it just made our bond stronger.
Years later, when articles called us an “overnight success,” we’d just chuckle. Overnight success? More like ten years of crazy hard work, late nights at Kinko’s (remember those?!), and a whole lot of sweat (both literal and metaphorical). But hey, those were the growing pains that made our company, and our family, what it is today!