Available Worldwide

When Jodi's family decided to enter the Foreign Service, she was confident that her background as a licensed clinical social worker would translate well to a life abroad. Instead, Jodi learned to adapt her work to her new surroundings by building World Tree Coaching. Now, as she looks forward to moving back to the US, things are likely to change again.

Join us as we delve into the realities of returning stateside after having built a successful portable business abroad.

BIO
Jodi Harris, MSW is a mindfulness teacher and ICF certified coach. She has worked with individuals facing the challenges of cross-cultural adaptation for nearly 20 years in fields ranging from non-profit, clinical social work, government, and education.

In 2013, while living in Madagascar, Jodi founded World Tree Coaching, LLC to provide mindfulness-based coaching and training for the globally mobile. She also serves on the Executive Committee of Families in Global Transition and as the Managing Director of the Brussels Sports Association, a Belgian non-profit providing youth sports programming to international youth in Brussels.

She is originally from Austin, Texas and has lived in 7 countries. She and her spouse, a Foreign Service Officer, have 3 children. Learn more about Jodi's work at https://www.worldtreecoaching.com/

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In this episode, Maryanna Koehring talks about the frustrations many Foreign Service partners feel at not being able to work in the professional fields in which they've trained and have experience. Maryanna shares her challenges and successes — both external and internal — and talks about how being a "tough cookie" is the best way to break through.

BIO
Maryanna Phillips Koehring grew up in Franklin, Virginia, a small town near the border of North Carolina. An undergraduate of Mount Holyoke College and graduate of The School for International Training/ World Learning in Brattleboro, Vermont, she has a passion for teaching non-native speakers of English. After teaching in the public schools of Virginia for several years, she found herself married to a Foreign Service Officer, hopping around the world and raising a family. She describes herself as a bit of a disgruntled EFM since finding employment has been anything but easy, but she has made lemonade from lemons by developing and launching her own business.
Maryanna’s business focuses on English language instruction to Foreign Service Nationals. Her main clients are US Embassies and USAID offices worldwide. Visit her website at https://www.englishforthejob.com/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit availableworldwide.substack.com

In this episode you'll meet Patricia Linderman, an EFM who's "done everything." She and I talk about how New Year's Resolutions mirror the way that diplomatic partners recreate themselves every time they reach a new post, and how to create the kind of environment that will nurture the healthiest, happiest you. What goals did you set for yourself in 2022?


While posted in seven countries with her FSO spouse and two sons, Patricia Linderman worked as a writer, editor, translator, language teacher, mom, and volunteer. After all those stressful moves and too much time hunched over the computer, she realized that her health was going downhill, so in 2014 she made some lifestyle changes and lost 43 pounds – and discovered a passion for helping others move forward on their own health journeys. Now, with her health coaching practice “Fierce After 45,” she supports individual clients (including a 98-year-old retired CIA officer); leads workouts on Zoom for Foreign Service employees, EFMs and retirees from Washington State to Baghdad; offers free “Laughter Wellness” and mindfulness groups on Zoom; and writes a fiercely independent blog at www.fierceafter45.com where she shares exciting things she has learned about finding fun, joy and empowerment (not boredom or deprivation!) as we bring out our healthiest selves.



Find Patricia on the web at www.fierceafter45.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FierceAfter45
Instagram: @fierceafter45

Schedule a free "Midlife Tuneup" coaching session with Patricia: https://calendly.com/fierceafter45/60min
Sign up for the monthly Laughter group mentioned in this episode: https://calendly.com/fierceafter45/lunchtime-laughter-wellness

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit availableworldwide.substack.com

As we say goodbye to 2021, we reflect on what we've accomplished in the first year of our podcast.

Join Lauren Steed and Stephanie Anderson, your co-hosts, as we chat about what we've learned from starting a podcast, how we met our goals, and why we blew up Trailing Houses (the Foreign Service Facebook group) with a simple question.

Thank you so much for your loyal support of Available Worldwide this year! We really appreciate the glowing reviews, kind words, and generous donations to support our work of inspiring and encouraging the accompanying partners of the American Foreign Service.

Listen to our end-of-year wrap-up episode now!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit availableworldwide.substack.com

At her first post abroad, Rona looked around at the accompanying partners she knew, saw their talent and experience, and became dismayed at the career stagnation facing many "trailing spouses." So, she decided to do something about it. Instead of continuing as an independent consultant, Rona launched a business that hires Foreign Service and military spouses and helps solopreneurs and small businesses to "level up."

LVL-Up Strategies is a minority- and woman-owned small business that provides growth advisory, operational strategy, and targeted implementation services to entrepreneurs, start-ups, and small businesses. www.lvlupstrategies.com

In this episode, you'll hear how LVL-Up Strategies provides a unique and supportive work environment for Foreign Service and military spouses. And, Rona walks us through step-by-step how LVL-Up Strategies can provide full-service support to help your business move to the next level.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit availableworldwide.substack.com

One of the reasons that diplomatic partners start businesses or take on telecommuting work is that they are looking for career satisfaction. Erin's work as a financial advisor has changed over the last 10 years, and is now exactly where she wants it to be: portable, satisfying and high-caliber. In this episode, she talks about how she became portable, but also provides important advice for diplomatic partners considering their own small business: options for planning for retirement and for reducing your current tax burden.

Download IRS resources related to the Solo 401 and SEP-IRA discussed in this show by searching the following terms:

Publication 4484 (rev. 04-2021) (irs.gov)
Publication 3998 (Rev. 11-2020) (irs.gov)

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit availableworldwide.substack.com

Leslie Mansour, of Rooted Moon Collective, believes that practicing the art of rooting down and creating rituals can help us feel settled and safe while creating sacred space that supports our lifestyles and helps us embrace the next version of ourselves in our lives abroad. We talk about how transition is never easy, but how it can be reimagined and done with intention.

Learn more about how Rooted Moon Collective can help you with everything from interior re-design to art curation to pack out. Visit https://www.rootedmooncollective.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit availableworldwide.substack.com

In this week's episode, you'll meet a visual artist who has found a way to make her career both portable and local, by diversifying her work and learning how to move beyond art as a hobby or self-sacrifice and into a real business. She'll also talk about how local influences have changed her craft at each post and how her foreign service life has provided unique opportunities that a creative life domestically could not have.


Over the last 10 years Melissa Finkenbiner has had nearly 20 art exhibitions, including the Zimbabwe National Gallery and 8 solo exhibitions. Her art is in private and permanent collections in 11 countries including the private collections of two ambassadors. The U.S. State Department’s Art in Embassies purchased three pieces of art for U.S. Embassy Harare. Melissa hand fabricated and sold 500 pieces of jewelry including bespoke jewelry pieces for a bride’s wedding party and for an ambassador’s wife. In the last year she expanded into surface pattern for lifestyle products. She creates for those who appreciate eco-conscious works of art and those who seek a connection to global cultures and landscapes. Her husband joined the State Department in 2011. They moved from Myanmar to Armenia, Zimbabwe, and now Japan. Her art has been a way of exploring and connecting with these places.

See Melissa's work at:

Website and online shop: https://www.melissafinkenbiner.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissafinkenbiner/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelissaFinkenbinerArt

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit availableworldwide.substack.com

In this episode, Mary encourages accompanying partners who want meaningful careers to start with their strengths, pursue what they love, and consider buying a business rather than building one from the ground up. She also shares the struggles she's faced while starting a travel business in a global pandemic, and the personal lessons she's learned along the way.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit availableworldwide.substack.com

If you've been a long time listener, you know that having a portable career as a diplomatic partner has its ups and downs. Amber Silva had experience as a photographer before becoming part of the diplomatic community, but is now learning how to start a business as an EFM, and how that differs from owning a photography business in the US. You'll hear about what additional things EFM business owners at post should consider, but also her excitement and conviction that sticking through this initial period will be worth it in the end.


Amber Silva is a travel wedding and lifestyle photographer based out of Nairobi, Kenya capturing authentic memories for joy filled couples and families.


Learn more about Amber's photography services in East Africa at https://ambersilvaphoto.com/ and @ambersilvaphoto on Facebook or Instagram.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit availableworldwide.substack.com