Dr Michélle Booysen started her career in the legal profession and insolvency cases motivated her to segue into economics as an engine for businesses to succeed. She lives by the dictum that by creating abundance through successful enterprises, we reduce poverty, improve education and create opportunities for equity, care, sustainability and diversity.

“Enterprise is a tool for growth, on a global scale. A successful enterprise provides services, products, employment & shareholder value. In turn, they build micro-economies where families have income, there is food, children learn, there is connectivity and transport, animals are cared for and life is good. Successful, ethical, socially and environmentally aware enterprises bring progress. And conversely, when enterprises fail, are unethical, and not aware, progress regresses”.
That is why she continues to do what she has spent her 35 plus years’ career on: helping enterprises attain clarity on what to do to succeed and grow through innovation, process optimisation and successful change.

She obtained her PhD in Economics at an early age and has won numerous local and international awards recognising her Entrepreneurial, Leadership and Innovation achievements respectively.
She has extensive experience in business process analysis and improvement, performance management, how to leverage smart tech, project delivery and enterprise management.

Her ability to assess situations and facts, eliminating the ‘noise’ through visualisation of situations in drawings and storyboards, remains her unique talent for quick and effective solutioning.

Michélle is based in The Hague, Netherlands where she heads up the European office of Pétanque NXT, established in 2002, as co-Founder and co-CEO. She spends some of her time in Cape Town and South Africa with her dogs, family and friends when the European winters get too cold. She enjoys gardening, interior decorating, jogging, learning and Netflix. Cycling remains a joy for her, and although she no longer rides competitively, she is glad that she learnt how to handle a bicycle in MTB and road races in South Africa, as riding in the Netherlands require all those skills minus the mountains!

She is in the process of learning to sail boats, which is slightly different from the wind surfing she used to do, yes, and is progressing well in mastering the Dutch language.
She lives her day-to-day life by the Forrest Gump quote: “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get.”