Jelle Hermus
Bestselling author on freedom, happiness, and meaning
Jelle Hermus has been investigating one question for over twenty years: how do you make life more enjoyable with minimal effort? Not with vague theories or strict programs, but with small steps anyone can take today. What began in 2004 as a weblog grew into soChicken, one of the Netherlands' largest personal development platforms. His three books have sold over 150,000 copies and all three ranked in the top 2 of The Bestseller 60. His newsletter has more than 170,000 members. On stage, he combines craftsmanship with lightness: professionally structured and precisely timed, yet it feels like a good conversation. Through personal stories, humor, and interaction, the audience doesn't just listen—they participate.
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Biography
From weblog to platform
Jelle Hermus (1986) started a weblog in 2004 that grew into soChicken: practical articles, books, courses, videos, podcasts and lectures throughout the country. Hundreds of thousands of people use the platform as a reminder of the life they want to live — a life centered on freedom, joy and meaning.
Award-winning and widely read
His three books all entered the top 2 of The Bestseller 60 and together sold more than 150,000 copies. His debut Steeds leuker won the award for Best Spiritual Book. Additionally, tens of thousands of participants followed his programs and his free app was installed over 200,000 times.
Referred by professionals
GPs, psychologists and therapists refer their patients to soChicken. Not because Jelle is a therapist himself, but because he keeps it practical and light-hearted: exactly what people need when they want to make a change but have no appetite for heaviness.
A mission, simply put
Behind everything lies one conviction: the more people grow toward compassion, inner peace, gratitude, and fulfillment, the greater positive impact we create together on the world. Happy people have more to offer the world. "Your happiness is our happiness" – and on soChicken, Jelle shows how a good life and a more beautiful world go hand in hand effortlessly.
Expertise
Start Small as a Method
Jelle's central insight is that change fails on the scale of the first step. Most programs demand discipline that people don't have, after which they conclude it's their own fault. He turns that around: ridiculously small steps that you take today and that stick precisely because of that. Twenty years of experimentation gave him a repertoire of what works and what only sounds good.
Attention and distraction in daily life
We want calm and start the day with news apps. We want energy and say yes to everything. Jelle makes these contradictions visible without attaching moral judgment to them, and shows which structural interventions yield the most. Not throwing away your phone, but understanding why you reach for it.
The Broodnest Method
His own method of moving from insight to action. In the room, the audience takes the first concrete steps with it, creating something that is rare in this type of session: people leave not with an intention but with something already set in motion.
Large-scale transfer
Books, courses, videos, podcasts, an app, and a newsletter with 170,000 members. Few people know as well as Jelle how to package a message about personal growth in a way that actually gets people to take action on it. Precisely the skill that makes or breaks a keynote.
Themes
Freedom, joy and meaning
The three pillars on which Jelles' work is built, and how you move towards them with surprisingly small steps instead of turning your life upside down.
Less distraction, more peace
We want peace, but we start the day with news apps and an overflowing inbox. About the habits underneath and how to break them.
Changing Habits Without Discipline
Why we often do the exact opposite of what's good for us, and how ridiculously small steps prove to actually work.
Boundaries and Energy
We want energy, but we say yes to everything. About the price of always being available and what changes when you break that pattern.
Always "on"
From the work floor to the kitchen table: how constant availability works and what it costs. Practical rather than alarming.
Personal growth without heaviness
Growing without a strict program or big promises. For people who do want to change something but drop out at the word self-development.
Why Jelle
Twenty years of experience
Since 2004, Jelle has been working on one question. What he shares is not the result of a single insight, but of two decades of experimentation, writing and refinement.
Proven track record
Three times in the top 2 of The Bestseller 60, 150,000 books sold, 170,000 newsletter subscribers and 200,000 app installations. A large part of your audience probably already knows him.
Recognized by professionals
General practitioners, psychologists and therapists refer clients to his work. That's a different kind of credibility than a sales figure.
Light where the subject can become heavy
Personal growth triggers resistance in part of every audience. Jelle keeps it humorous and practical, which ensures even the skeptics keep listening.
The audience participates
His sessions are not front-facing. With unexpected moments of interaction, he gets the audience on their feet, ensuring insights stick around rather than evaporate over coffee.
People leave with concrete actions
No inspiration without follow-up. Participants take their first steps right there in the room and receive an email series that starts the next morning.
Talks
"More and more fun"
45 to 60 minutesWhy We Do the Opposite
Jelle shows why we often act against what's good for us, and how you can move in the right direction with surprisingly small steps. Along three pillars: freedom, joy, and meaning.
Everyone is "on"
We want peace but we open our mailbox, we want energy but we say yes to everything everywhere. From the work floor to the kitchen table. Jelle shows you how it can be different, without anyone having to turn their life upside down.
The first steps in the hall
With the Broodnet Method, the audience takes concrete steps on the spot. They go home with a structural step toward less distraction, one habit that makes every workday lighter, a ridiculously small first step, and an email series that starts the next morning.
Reviews
“Jelle demonstrates that living a good life and making the world a little more beautiful are not two separate paths, but one and the same journey.”
“Jelle teaches us to connect with ourselves. The most valuable thing there is, if you ask me.”
“Met Jelle’s boek boek heb je een inspirerende handleiding te pakken. En alles is direct toepasbaar door de praktische tips.”
“Jelle's presentation was fantastic, both interactive and funny. Both my colleagues and I were very enthusiastic - I secretly stayed for both sessions because I enjoyed it so much!”
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