Power
'Top entrepreneurs have a top sports mindset'
On a sporting level, they both set the bar high, higher, highest. They are also working hard as entrepreneurs. Naomy van Beem (Amsterdam, 1988) with her company NVB | Hustle Hard, Rico Verhoeven (Bergen op Zoom, 1989) with various companies, ranging from real estate and automotive to tech and hospitality. He also invests in his film career: Hollywood! And they have been a couple for two years now with a household of four children. Love in times of entrepreneurship! “Balance is key.”
Styling Pascalle Koldenhof
Make-up Shiona Franke
Thanks to Hotel Twenty Seven
Rico and Naomy chose Hotel TwentySeven on the capital's Dam Square for the location of the interview. “Rico had booked the Imperial Terrace Suite for Valentine's Day,” Naomy explains their preference. “That was such a nice surprise. We came in here… What a hotel, wow! The ambiance, the vibe, the design of the suites. We immediately knew: we will come back here more often. Hence!” In a suite specially reserved for MASTERS, we take a seat behind a vitamin-rich shake. Rico has just finished training. Since the operation on his knee last January, he has been working hard on his return. “Yesterday I visited the doctor again and things are going great: the recovery is going faster than expected.”
Due to that injury you will not be able to defend your world title this summer. How do you deal with such setbacks?
Rico: “A setback always hits home hard. The moment I helped my knee to the powder, I was terribly disappointed. And for the first ten days you could sweep me off my feet. Why now, in the twilight of my career? Why couldn't it wait a little longer? However, after a certain time I turn the switch: everything happens for a reason. I believe in that one hundred percent.”
Couldn't you have just as well thought: it had to happen to make me realize that it was the end of the story?
Rico: “No, I'm too positive for that. Moreover, it is an injury that can be resolved: meniscus, cruciate ligament. I'll be out for a while, but not forever.”
When will be the moment for you to stop?
Rico: “There are those who say 'I am going to ride until the wheels fall off'. But I prefer to keep those wheels on. It wouldn't be worth it for me to go over the edge, because I've already gotten everything out of kickboxing. I have been world champion in the heavyweight class for almost ten years without interruption and have set levels and records that future generations can measure themselves against. What goal would I still like to achieve? Becoming a better version of myself, as a kickboxer and as a person. Every day I try to improve myself. In a competition things go well and not so well. I look at that, I analyze that. I always see things that I can improve on.”
You have been knocked out twice in your career. What is more difficult for you: getting back on your feet after a loss or coming back from an injury?
Rico: “Coming back from an injury, because it takes longer. Losing is very simple: after the match I look at myself in the mirror and ask 'where did I go wrong?'. Setbacks are something to learn from, that only makes me better. In my career I have failed as many times as I have been successful. But those times when you are successful, you are in the spotlight. There is often nothing you can do about an injury. It happens and then you depend on how the body recovers. I am aiming for the autumn and hope to be able to compete for the world title in November against the interim world champion that Glory Collision 5 will produce on June 17 in Ahoy (the Croatian Antonio Plazibat Red or the Nigerian Tariq 'Cookie' Osaro, ed.).”
Naomy, can you watch Rico get battered in the boxing ring?
Naomy: “Actually, that's going quite well for me. Rico has a good team around him and works hard, day in and day out. So I have full confidence in him and his performance. I thought the match against Jamal Ben Saddik was really intense (Rico suffered a serious eye injury, ed.). That just hurts and is hard to watch. Then I shed a few tears. But even in those moments I have every confidence in his abilities. And he did it again.”
It is said that getting to the top is easier than staying there. What is your experience, Rico?
Rico: “Absolutely. Getting to the top is a goal, a dream that you chase. If you're there, you made it. And then? It is much more difficult to maintain that. Because when you have achieved success, it can creep in that you become 'comfortable', less driven. That is dangerous, because when you are at the top, you are hunted.”
Rico's life story has been recorded in a biography, the documentary Rico: Dream Big can be seen on Prime Video... But what is your story, Naomy?
Naomy: “I was born in 1988 in the heart of Amsterdam on Derde Helmerstraat and was always a cheerful and satisfied girl. My mother raised me alone, my father was not in my life. When I was two, we moved to Slotermeer, where we ended up on the fourth floor in a small apartment in a not very good neighborhood. My mother always provided us with everything, even though she really had to make ends meet. But we didn't actually notice that. Only as you get older do you realize how she had to do her best to keep her head above water. I have four sisters and one brother, several of whom are in-laws: my mother was getting married and her husband also had children. A large blended family, which was very nice, but obviously no longer fit in our small apartment. We eventually moved to a larger house so that we all had our own room.”
Did you find it difficult that your biological father was not in your life?
Naomy: “I always thought: if he doesn't miss me in his life, why should I have to look for him? My mother was everything in one: love, positivity, support and strength. I have never actually missed a father figure. But when I had a child myself at the age of twenty-two, it started to bother me. And I went to see him. He lives in Miami and has been in my life for almost thirteen years now. I now have a good relationship with my father and recognize a lot of myself in him. He is a real entrepreneur and knows well what he does and does not want, so I now know where these character traits of mine come from. I regularly fly back and forth to Miami. My son Isaiah loves his grandpa. Nice to see how close they are, they love each other! And recently Rico also came along. He really wanted to meet my father. They have a good connection and are both very enterprising. They make everything they want in life come true.”
Because in addition to a sports career, you are working hard as an entrepreneur, Rico. For example, you started a new street food formula together with top chef Eveline Wu, which has resulted in the first three Mood Streetfood branches in Eindhoven, Leidschendam and most recently Rotterdam. Why the choice of restaurants?
Rico: “Nutrition is an important part of my work, it is the fuel for what I do. Once when I was in one of Eveline's restaurants, I started talking to her. I let her know that I wanted to make tasty and reasonably healthy food accessible and affordable. That's how we came up with the idea of Mood Streetfood. You can hardly get something healthy for twelve or thirteen euros anywhere. With us, for that amount you get, for example, the Chicken Rico: a large bowl with rice, chicken, egg, broccoli, cashew nuts and teriyaki sauce. That's what I need when preparing for competitions. Only I eat it very boringly - I mainly care about the nutrients - and at Mood Streetfood you get the tasty version. The Chicken Rico runs like crazy. Many police officers, city guards and boas walk in during their shifts to quickly get something healthy.”
What are the biggest similarities between top sport and entrepreneurship for you?
Rico: “Many companies want to be the best, the fastest, excel in service and value for money. As an athlete I also want to be constantly ahead of the rest. Top entrepreneurs have a top sports mindset. They are also fully focused on what they want to achieve and take that extra step to get there.”
How do you spend your free time?
Naomy: “We often like to be at home and do nothing at all. But we also love eating out. I am really a food lover. Many people cannot stop eating because they find everything so tasty. I have that too, but of course I know when enough is enough.”
Rico: “Indeed: chilling at home, watching a movie, playing games with friends, going out for dinner, having a drink, doing fun things with the kids, and of course also as a couple. It is important to find a balance there too.”
Speaking of balance: how do you manage to combine kickboxing, entrepreneurship and acting?
Rico: “Time management. I have a fantastic team around me that helps me with that.”
You are a world champion, you have your own companies, the door to Hollywood is open... To what extent is achieving goals a condition for your happiness?
Rico: “It is not a condition for happiness, I always have to be able to work towards something. I have never arrived, always want to move on. When I'm eighty and look back, I don't want to think: why did I stop there and not add the next page to my life story? And most importantly, I want to be the one holding the pen in his hand. You are responsible for your own story. As long as you have time to write, let's keep writing. I don't want to think 'I wish I had this' or 'I wish I had that'. I don't like 'if only'. I just want to, boom, accelerate, do fun things, enjoy.”
What other ideals do you still fight for outside the ring?
Rico: “I want to stay healthy and happy, that is the most important thing. And live to eighty. If that doesn't work out, I want to experience every moment to the fullest. Now during the interview, later in the gym. In recent years I have learned to enjoy the things I experience more. Everything goes so fast. I meet the biggest stars, inspiring entrepreneurs, do one exciting project after another... It goes on and on. But I do think about that: let's take it in, enjoy every moment. Wow, what have we done again!”
What dreams do you share?
Naomy: “We have the dream of buying a house together on the water. In that case, my house would be removed and we would keep Halsteren as an extra for his children, who are still at school there.”
And a gym at home?
Naomy: “Of course!”
MASTERS MAGAZINE #54
Want to read the entire interview of Rico Verhoeven and Naomy van Beem? The summer edition is a fresh cocktail of entrepreneurship and sport. In this edition, several entrepreneurs from the Champions League of business are reviewed. Including Freddy Heineken and hospitality tycoon Richard Caring, whose expanding empire has been called the 'restaurant equivalent of LVMH'. Doing business is top sport, but top sport is also doing business. Take Formula 1: the sport is increasingly developing into an octopus with arms that touch all aspects of our society. Jaap de Groot investigated how millions are converted into billions. Also interviews with gymnast Sanne Wevers, two-star chef Guido Braeken, hotelier Robert-Jan Woltering, designer Maarten Baas and Rico, together with his Naomy. The 'King of Kickboxing' also turns out to be an octopus (with very strong arms): as an entrepreneur he is active in various industries. “When I look back later, I don't want to think 'I wish I had this or that'. I just want to, boom, accelerate, do fun things, enjoy.” Boom, the new MASTERS: enjoy!
