About Suzanne
Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.
After more than 20 years in the corporate world, Suzanne Mau-Asam has seen it all: the good, the bad, and the ‘we’re not sure what’s happening here.’ But here’s the thing: she doesn’t stop at quick fixes or standard solutions. As a sociologist, certified somatic coach, learning and development specialist and embodied leadership expert, Suzanne brings a level of depth that most programs don’t even touch.
Her approach? It’s all about connections
Connections between your cognitive skills, your emotions, and your body. Between your past, present and future. And between people. While most learning and development, leadership, DEI or wellbeing strategies stick to cognitive intelligence, Suzanne knows that real, lasting change happens when you combine brainpower with emotional insight and bodily awareness. That’s how you go beyond knowing what needs to change and start living it.
A personal mission
Suzanne’s story is deeply personal. Growing up in two cultures taught her early on how powerful diversity can be. It also showed her what happens when people feel excluded. That experience shaped her ambition for creating workplaces where everyone feels like they belong, where they don’t feel like they have to wear a mask, and where they can do their best work.
I had the pleasure of working with Doors Open for the senior management of Nationale Nederlanden. Together we were responsible for delivering leadership workshops for the managers of all the business units in Europe and Japan. Part of this included coaching the senior leaders.
Suzanne is an expert in the field of leadership development and a competent workshop supervisor for small and large groups. She is an experienced coach with unique skills as a somatic coach, which she has gained at the world famous Strozzi Institute of Embodied Leadership.
Boudewijn Bertsch
SPI Management LLC
The power of Doors Open
As the founder of Doors Open, Suzanne and her team partner with leaders and teams who want to move beyond surface-level strategies and make real progress.
She also started The Female Hub in The Hague, a community where women grow their leadership skills, find support, and thrive together.
Whether she’s guiding a leader through a pivotal moment, helping a team or organization align on what truly matters, or sharing insights on stage, Suzanne’s work is practical, deeply human, and built to stick.
Ready to explore what’s possible for your team or organization?
Suzanne is here to help. Let’s start the conversation.
Trusted by
As seen in:
Den Haag FM “De Ochtendshow”
interview on 24 juni 2026
During the interview, Suzanne shared not only the vision behind her book but also practical tips and insights for immediately putting Embodied Leadership into practice. According to Suzanne, effective leadership doesn’t start with what you do, but with how you show up. In the conversation, she gave listeners concrete tools to develop greater self-awareness, better cope with challenges, and lead more powerfully based on their own values.
Watch the whole interview here.
Psychologie Magazine
interview in the March 2026 edition
A comprehensive article on embodiment and Embodied Leadership in which Suzanne explains how we often live from and in our heads and overlook the signals our bodies send us. Drawing on her own story and insights from sociology, neuroscience and the polyvagal theory, she shows how readers how they can learn to use their body as a compass rather than an obstacle. The artcile includes practical exercises, such as centring, so readers can get started straight away.
Psychologie Magazine
november, 2025
“‘Embodied’ means that here you learn by gaining new experiences through your body, rather than through your mind by thinking about them. And although the word ‘leadership’ immediately makes me think of managers and CEOs (which I’m not), the two-day retreat is suitable for everyone, as Mau-Asam emphasises: the retreat is more about personal leadership. It’s about how you can guide yourself through difficult situations at work and beyond.”
– Saskia Decorte
March 2026
An inspiring TEDx talk about how our experiences unconsciously shape the ‘masks’ we wear, and how, through Embodied Leadership, you can learn to listen to your body again, break old patterns and become more visible with greater authenticity, presence and impact.
Watch the full TEDx talk video!
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