ANTHONIE WURTH, FOUNDER OF MINDMARKER

Anthonie Wurth founded Mindmarker, a world leader in reinforcement training, in Holland in 2006. In addition to being a learning and reinforcement expert, Anthonie is a former Olympic athlete in Judo. He represented the Dutch Judo team for more than 10 years and was European champion in 1991.

After competing in the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, he started a career with a large European training company. During his time there, he found that the lack of reinforcement held learners back from achieving results. To solve this problem for organizations around the world, Anthonie used his Olympic background and extensive training experience to build his unique methodology, “The 7 Principles of Reinforcement.”

Anthonie grew up in a family where lasting results were top of mind. His brother, Kees, was also an international Judo champion and represented the Dutch Judo team for many years. Their grandfather and parents owned successful companies in Holland. In 1993, Anthonie married the daughter of his Judo coach. He enjoyed all the conversations about peak performance and lasting results.

His first book, Locked in Shanghai, is about the freedom of thinking needed for performance. Fascinated by the power of the brain and how people apply what they have learned, he created “The 7 Principles of Reinforcement.” His writing has been featured in many blog posts and articles.

Anthonie is a frequent presenter at international learning conferences and an expert in training reinforcement science. As Anthonie likes to say, “You don’t win medals because you know. You win medals because you apply.”

KEES WURTH, CEO OF MINDMARKER

The importance of training was established at a young age for Mindmarker CEO Kees Wurth. As a child, he trained long hours with top Judo instructors in The Netherlands with the goal of becoming a national champion, which he later accomplished.

Kees emigrated to the United States in 1993 to pursue the American dream. He is an entrepreneur who has successfully started and sold a number of companies. His drive to “get better every day” is contagious and creates extraordinary people and teams that collectively create success and happiness.

Kees believes: “Learning never stops. In order to perform at your best, you constantly have to evaluate what you do and use the feedback others provide you.”