The unique synergy
The effectiveness of Relationship Design results from the synergy between two methodologies: MEDIATION and VISUAL THINKING, combined with one or more EXPERT AREAS. This combination allows us to converge towards a tangible and practical outcome for building and maintaining a resilient and trust-based relationship.
Read below about the people behind RelationshipDesignStudio and how our experiences and expertise enable us to deliver a unique service.
Founders
RelationshipDesignStudio (RDStudio) is a collaboration between Annelies van Herwijnen and Marta Marszal. They share a vision of a business world where purpose-driven companies are the norm. RDStudio contributes to this mission by bringing back trust and humanity into business relationships.
Annelies van Herwijnen
Business mediator and consultant
Annelies loves to travel, in the physical world and in the world of ideas and concepts. She loves making connections between people and concepts and searching for the bigger picture. She is a business administration major and professionally raised in corporate finance. She grew frustrated with a one-sided, monetary view on business and ventured out into sustainable business development and investment management. As an independent consultant, she enjoys working with purpose-driven organisations on their business development. In her mediation training while experiencing the effect of mediation in conflict situations, she was drawn to the idea of using the mediation process with business partners at the start of a collaboration, for clarity and alignment to occur on day 1 instead of at the time of a negotiated exit agreement. She supports organisations and individuals as a business mediator, both in conflict and in preventive mediation.
Marta Marszal
Strategic designer and facilitator
Marta has lived and worked in many different places around the world. Born in Poland, educated in Switzerland, careered in Istanbul, and entreprenerd in Bangkok and Amsterdam, she has an ultimate openness to cultures. Marta thrives on new experiences, and on not knowing what to do next. Educated in architecture and city planning she is very analytical, creative and essentially visual. When she grew frustrated with an industry that prioritises square meters over human needs she moved into visual communication, human-centred design and process facilitation. Marta’s Strategic Design company, Remember to Play, facilitates organisations through multi-stakeholder innovation and change processes.
Personal experiences with challenging business relationships drew her attention towards Non-violent Communication as a tool to support empathetic listening, clear expression of needs and conflict management.
“ I have seen so many entrepreneurs who step into collaborations with a lot of energy only to find out sooner or later that expectations were not aligned. Only lawyers like reading and discussing contracts, so putting these in place is for most entrepreneurs a gruelling and tedious experience. Then it appears quite often that things that were agreed are not in the contract, and clauses that are in the contract are unclear and ambiguous. For me, RD is a way to design the business relationship that serves the partners and the company and do it in a manner that brings energy and fun into an otherwise heavy process.”
- Annelies van Herwijnen
“As an entrepreneur, I usually can’t wait to “get my hands dirty”. Therefore, I understand the need to leave long conversations and the boring legal stuff behind. Unfortunately, I’ve experienced first hand how business relationships can go sour as needs and ambitions change. Partners turn into enemies, each with an expensive lawyer on their side. These experiences have taught me to slow down and take time for deeper conversations at the beginning. The alignment and confidence you get enables action and “speed of trust”. RDStudio is my way to share these learnings with others.”
- Marta Marszal
Subject matter experts
During the RD process, it happens that concrete (business) questions arise. For example, it might be necessary to consult a tax advisor to make the most beneficial financial decisions. Or it might be of value to speak to an investment advisor, to understand the risk associated with taking 3rd party money. RDStudio works with a comprehensive network of subject matter experts so that these questions can be answered quickly and the best possible decisions can be made.
Legal experts
RDStudio collaborates with a number of legal experts, who bring the necessary knowledge to compose solid legal documents. Our network includes lawyers specialised in:
Corporate law
Family law
Legal design
Conscious contracts
Curious to learn more?
Get in touch.
Become a customer.
If our approach resonates with you and you’d like find out how Relationship Design can be of value to you. Get in touch to schedule an introduction call. We’ll get to know your specific situation and propose a custom approach to address your needs.
Become an expert.
More and more professionals have the desire to contribute to purpose-driven and conscious business practices. Are you one of them? Send us an email with a short introduction and explanation why you’d like to collaborate with us. We’ll get back to you swiftly.