Meet Miche Van Essen | Management Consultant

We had the good fortune of connecting with Miche Van Essen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Miche, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My journey into entrepreneurship was born out of necessity and opportunity. After moving from the Netherlands to the US in 2012 I face some interesting challenges: my teaching credentials didn’t transfer, and visa restrictions limited my employment options. But I would find out later that this was just a catalyst for my business venture.

During this transition period, I found myself volunteering to help people with their computer issues and online presence. A friend pointed out the potential in this and suggested, ‘You should probably just start a business. There’s a lot of money in there.’ That advice, coupled with the ease of starting a business in the US, was all the push I needed.

A $100 later, I had an LLC and began offering tech support and digital presence services. This experience really highlights what I love about America – the low barriers to entry for entrepreneurs. Looking back, my thought process was quite pragmatic. After facing my limitations I identified a need in the market, leveraged my skills, and took the plunge.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We are the Resonance – a full service management consulting service. Currently we have six partners and among them I specialize in leadership and organizational development.

Our biggest differentiator is that we focus on Resonant Leadership as the basis of our approach. Resonant Leadership believes that leadership is contextual and that there is no single leadership style that trumps them all. So, instead of focussing on one leadership style, we teach our clients that there are six leadership styles: commanding, visionary, pacesetting, affiliative, democratic, and coaching leadership styles. Where commanding and pacesetting are the dissonant leadership styles that only should be used in an emergency situation.

Getting here today was not easy at all as we had three iterations of our firm. We started out as UX Designers but over the course of the years we realized that we were focussing more on the journey a business owner had with their own brand than the journey customers had with a business. So about five years ago we pivoted towards pure management consulting but noticed that we didn’t have any name recognition and had start from scratch. If I could’ve done it again, I would’ve just added management consulting as a service to our first iteration. Two years ago we made another pivot and that’s when we started to focus more on leadership and organizational development.

I would like the world to know that there is a lot of data out there that supports a 38 hour work week. Research has repeatedly shown that working longer than 38 hours doesn’t increase productivity and that it actually decreases productivity. The same goes for other concepts like flexible PTO, unlimited sick leave, and generous vacation (4 weeks+). All of these will make employees feel seen and invested in and in return they will invest in your company. Retention is not hard ya’ll.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My entrepreneurial journey has been shaped by several key figures, but three stand out in particular.
First, my father-in-law was an early champion of my venture. The day I received my LLC papers, he immediately placed an order for business cards. Even though it was a small gesture, it was immensely validating – a tangible sign that people trusted me for business.

Later, after navigating through various iterations and setbacks, a pivotal moment came when a main business partner challenged me to reassess my value proposition. My strength lies in quickly analyzing businesses and identifying actionable strategies for growth. I often found myself in situations where clients were hesitant to implement advice or insisted on their own approaches. Add that to me offering unreasonable discounted rates to business because I thought they couldn’t afford full price, I was definitely undervaluing my expertise.

My partner’s words stuck with me, which lead to some important conversations with my wife. The realization hit: I was making COO-level decisions and generating significant revenue for companies by optimizing their systems and operations. This skillset deserved appropriate compensation.

Transitioning from a firm that frequently discounted services to one that confidently declined business opportunities was challenging. It required a complete mindset shift. But today, I’m proud to say we know our craft and our worth. We’ve secured contracts that are making a real impact, and I’m incredibly proud of what our team has accomplished.

Website: https://www.jointheresonance.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/michevanessen/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michevanessen/

Other: http://likequiche.substack.com

Image Credits
my own photos