I was born in 1951 in the Netherlands, lived in Germany for one and a halve year, finished my high school in 1972, and studied Dutch literature and grammar at the University of Amsterdam, subsidiaries political science and social administration. I got my doctoral degree in 1983. I interrupted my study for two years in which I was employed in an advertising agency and learned a lot about marketing and advertising.
For about 10 years I was employed at a travel agency. From 1993 till 1998 I worked as head of a facility management department and in 1998 I started my own business “Tekstschrijverij Hofman”.