18/05/2026
🎓Lecturer Spotlight: Brenda de Zwaan🎓
Meet Brenda de Zwaan, our senior lecturer in Hospitality management and Hostmanship originally from Delft in the Netherlands. 🇳🇱Brenda studied at the Academy for Expression and Communication for one year. Then she continued with a work and study education in hospitality where she worked in luxury and Michelin restaurants. Later on, she did her bachelor’s in Hospitality Management and she pursued her master’s in Service Management. She is part of the HMSL since 1991. Firstly, her role was a practical facilitator for 9 years, later on she was focused on wine teaching for 22 years.
Brenda loves working in her garden and exploring new F&B venues. One of her best experiences in a restaurant happened just recently in Nieuwe Winkel in Nijmegen. “The hosts were very genuine and themselves during their shift. You see that they love their job!” she says. Besides that, she wrote a children’s book about Hostmanship called “The Welcoming World of Sam”.
One of her role models was her father. He was a maitre in luxurious restaurants and a master in humanity. “He was able to read people and really see people and to welcome the queen but also a homeless person.” Furthermore, her employer, Fons van Groeningen, owner of Kaatje bij de Sluis in Blokzijl (2 Michelin stars), was also someone she learned a lot from. She says: “He was a visionair of the hospitality industry in Holland. He taught me that the guests really feel if you are sincere and truly welcoming them. If you play a role, or pretend, they do not believe your hospitable behaviour.” Both of her “ fathers” died in 2020.
Lastly, Brenda has a piece of advice for her students: “For one student: more relaxation is good. For another: get your s**t together and focus more on what really matters and ignore the distractions. In general, follow your heart and trust your gut feeling, when it comes to making your own choices. When it comes to study, deep dive into the topic more and find more reliable sources to get you inspired and to find the reason for getting out of bed - find your Ikigai!”
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