At CAES, we celebrate women who lead with intention — in how they think, create, and live. Women We Admire is a series exploring where these women's personal and professional worlds meet, through conversation and imagery.

We kick off the series with Nikki de la Rambelje, partner & creative director at brand growth agency The Gardeners in Amsterdam. Nikki works at the intersection of creative strategy and leadership, guided by intuition, clarity, and depth. Her perspective reminds us that real impact isn’t about speed — but about meaning.

What first drew you to the world of creative strategy — and what continues to inspire you?

What initially drew me to the creative world was the tension between thinking and making. The place where ideas don’t just need to be smart, but need to be felt. Creating, for me, is a search for meaning: why we do what we do, and what it can set in motion.
It remains inspiring because a strong idea can genuinely shift something. When a concept is right — both rationally and emotionally — it can move people, change behaviour, sometimes even influence culture slightly.

How do you find balance between commercial goals and the desire to create something truly meaningful?

That balance comes from not seeing them as two separate things. Commercial goals are stronger when they grow from something real. Brands that dare to commit to a story with substance don’t just build visibility, they build trust. This sometimes requires courage: saying "no" to projects that don’t feel right, or investing in something that goes deeper than reach or numbers. Impact without integrity is rarely sustainable.

Has motherhood changed how you look at leadership or work culture?

Absolutely. I’ve become softer, but also more attuned to what truly matters. I believe in a work culture where there is space for humanity, recovery, and honesty about what works and what doesn’t.
When my children see me work, I hope they see that work isn’t separate from who you are — that it can be a place where you shape your values. A place where you’re allowed to search, fail, and grow. For me, leadership isn’t about striving for perfection, but about choosing authenticity.

What do you hope your children take away from seeing you work?

That work isn’t just something you do, but something through which you can contribute. That you’re allowed to choose what feels right, even if it’s not the easiest path. And that curiosity matters more than certainty. You don’t have to have all the answers, as long as you keep listening and learning.

What role does intuition play in your professional decisions?

A significant one. Intuition isn’t a vague feeling — it’s a compass I’ve learned to trust. Often you know whether something is right long before you can explain why. It guides me in choosing collaborators, recognizing which ideas are true, and sensing when something needs more time — or is ready to be shared. Intuition is what keeps strategy human.

What does “living consciously” mean to you — at work, at home, in the choices you make?

Living consciously means not moving through life on autopilot. It’s about making choices with intent — in work, in relationships, in what you allow into your space.
It’s not a pursuit of perfection, but an ongoing practice of awareness. Pausing to ask: does this still feel right? Does it add something?
Conscious living isn’t slow living — it’s living in the present.

Is there something you’ve recently seen, read or listened to that stayed with you?

Yes. I read a piece about how our relationship with the world outside us — nature, others — often begins with the relationship we have with ourselves. I found that both confronting and comforting.
Confronting, because it shows how easily we disconnect from what’s close. Comforting, because it suggests repair is possible. When we learn to listen to ourselves more carefully, we naturally treat the world around us with greater care. Creativity comes from that same place: attention, self-reflection, connection. What we make mirrors how we relate to the world — and to ourselves.

If you could collaborate with anyone, living or deceased, who would it be — and why?

Perhaps Tupac. Not only because of his musical influence, but because of how effortlessly he intertwined the personal and the political. He combined vulnerability with strength — something that still feels radical. His work was raw, poetic, and unflinchingly honest about tension and injustice.
That balance between beauty and struggle resonates with me. Creativity that doesn’t just entertain, but reveals something — that’s the kind of impact I believe in.

What change would you like to see in the creative industry over the next ten years?

I hope the creative industry truly shifts from speed to depth. Less urgency, more focus. Not by abandoning attention, but by reconnecting it to meaning.
Attention is the entry point — you need it for something to land — but creativity is what makes it stay. It turns curiosity into feeling, and feeling into memory.
If we allow ourselves to slow down, space opens up to listen, to explore, to create with intention. Success would no longer be measured by how many people see something, but by what it sets in motion. The future of our industry doesn’t lie in speaking louder, but in reaching deeper.