Bridging

Starting off as a car mechanic, he became an entrepreneur in the growth industry. Val Streicher, a French-American emotional fitness coach and I are having a conversation about money. Even though most people agree that money alone won’t bring happiness, why do we still pursue to have more money? We openly explore our beliefs around money, question if everyone can make a lot of money and if everyone should want to make a lot of money.

[Music: Abba]

Host Özlem Özkan

✧ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozkanozlem/

✧Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozlemozkan/

Özlem is an Amsterdam-based multilingual and multicultural teacher, presenter, and author. Her lifelong passion for self-development, spirituality, and personal growth led her to gain a Master in Behavioural Sciences and Bachelor in Education in Amsterdam. While working and living in multiple countries she became more and more aware that wisdom was doing the work. She started attending retreats, courses, and workshops all over the world to do true self-inquiry and connect to deeper layers of herself and constantly expand her mindset. Her vision is to help people to expand their awareness, learn, practice and transform in all areas of life.

Watch on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@ozlemozkanbridging

Maria Sanchez Gonzalez, born in Madrid has played basketball on a high level in Spain, USA and UK. She works nowadays as a manager at ‘Nike’ in Paris and is co-founder of ‘We are KIIN’, a startup in Paris who promotes movement. Özlem played different sports and games on the streets and always wanted to win and be the best. Competing is a constant state for these women in any dimension of their life, as they both strive to be the best version of themselves. These two highly competitive women talk very openly about why they became competitive at a very young age and kept pushing any boundaries on their way. Basketball, Maria’s fundament in sports taught her about achievement, teamwork and friendship. Özlem’s strong will made her find herself in different situations where she expressed her competing side. As the sky is the limit for these women, their drive and physical appearance make them also visit time by time their insecurities and fear to be judged.

Host Özlem Özkan

✧ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozkanozlem/

✧Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozlemozkan/

Özlem is an Amsterdam-based multilingual and multicultural teacher, presenter, and author. Her lifelong passion for self-development, spirituality, and personal growth led her to gain a Master in Behavioural Sciences and Bachelor in Education in Amsterdam. While working and living in multiple countries she became more and more aware that wisdom was doing the work. She started attending retreats, courses, and workshops all over the world to do true self-inquiry and connect to deeper layers of herself and constantly expand her mindset. Her vision is to help people to expand their awareness, learn, practice and transform in all areas of life.

Watch on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@ozlemozkanbridging

Aviléne Arrindell was born and raised in Curacao, a Caribbean Island with only 160.000 inhabitants. Growing up with three languages shaped the Polyglot in her. She is fluent in seven languages and believes that a language breaks the barriers between cultures. Leadership was one of the most important skills that she was taught by her mother. She lives a life where she takes responsibility for her own actions, isn’t afraid of trying new things and sees challenges as great learning moments. 

Host Özlem Özkan

✧ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozkanozlem/

✧Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozlemozkan/

Özlem is an Amsterdam-based multilingual and multicultural teacher, presenter, and author. Her lifelong passion for self-development, spirituality, and personal growth led her to gain a Master in Behavioural Sciences and Bachelor in Education in Amsterdam. While working and living in multiple countries she became more and more aware that wisdom was doing the work. She started attending retreats, courses, and workshops all over the world to do true self-inquiry and connect to deeper layers of herself and constantly expand her mindset. Her vision is to help people to expand their awareness, learn, practice and transform in all areas of life.

Watch on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@ozlemozkanbridging

Nakena Cromartie is an African American woman with a level of faith, courage and bravery. Together with Nakena we go down to the art of self in an age of #blacklivesmatter. While she believes that she is not defined by the perceptions of others and her skin color, she strongly believes that a contribution to the world starts with getting down to the art of self and getting in alignment with your true intentions. Nakena visits often a place of stillness to become much more centered in life. In her words: “Double down of the knowing what you do know how to do and just get about the business of doing that. Because there is nobody that knows how to do what you know how to do better than you knowing how to do what you know how to do.”

Host Özlem Özkan

✧ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozkanozlem/

✧Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozlemozkan/

Özlem is an Amsterdam-based multilingual and multicultural teacher, presenter, and author. Her lifelong passion for self-development, spirituality, and personal growth led her to gain a Master in Behavioural Sciences and Bachelor in Education in Amsterdam. While working and living in multiple countries she became more and more aware that wisdom was doing the work. She started attending retreats, courses, and workshops all over the world to do true self-inquiry and connect to deeper layers of herself and constantly expand her mindset. Her vision is to help people to expand their awareness, learn, practice and transform in all areas of life.

Watch on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@ozlemozkanbridging

Eva Cristina Pérez Ramos was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. She grew up with big appreciation for some basic needs which are often taken for granted in the West, such as life security, food and water. Her appreciation for these basic needs and freedom in her life started expanding even more when she moved to Denmark, China and Spain. Living nowadays in Spain, facing the global pandemic, she still has great appreciation for the food that she can buy in the grocery store, even though she needs to stand in the line. While the public transport was partly shut down in Spain, she was grateful that she could walk to work without any insecurity or fear that something would happen to her. Here is a very special viewpoint of a strong woman who believes that perfection doesn’t exist for a reason. It’s up to us to appreciate life, accept things we cannot change, be courageous to change the things we can and contribute to the world. 

Host Özlem Özkan

✧ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozkanozlem/

✧Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozlemozkan/

Özlem is an Amsterdam-based multilingual and multicultural teacher, presenter, and author. Her lifelong passion for self-development, spirituality, and personal growth led her to gain a Master in Behavioural Sciences and Bachelor in Education in Amsterdam. While working and living in multiple countries she became more and more aware that wisdom was doing the work. She started attending retreats, courses, and workshops all over the world to do true self-inquiry and connect to deeper layers of herself and constantly expand her mindset. Her vision is to help people to expand their awareness, learn, practice and transform in all areas of life.

Watch on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@ozlemozkanbridging

Malika Ouacha was born and raised in the Netherlands by Moroccan parents. In her words the death of her mother first crashed everything inside of her and then became the fundament of the anthropologist she is today. She is doing her PHD in cultural and social anthropology at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and serves at different organizations. Yet, she is much more than her studies and positions she is holding. Experiencing not having an example to follow in her life and feeling perceived as non equal to men, she just had to figure it out for herself and learn to stretch her muscles. This woman with fire in her soul tells us open heartedly what first broke her, the identity crisis she found herself in and the woman she eventually became. 

Host Özlem Özkan

✧ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozkanozlem/

✧Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozlemozkan/

Özlem is an Amsterdam-based multilingual and multicultural teacher, presenter, and author. Her lifelong passion for self-development, spirituality, and personal growth led her to gain a Master in Behavioural Sciences and Bachelor in Education in Amsterdam. While working and living in multiple countries she became more and more aware that wisdom was doing the work. She started attending retreats, courses, and workshops all over the world to do true self-inquiry and connect to deeper layers of herself and constantly expand her mindset. Her vision is to help people to expand their awareness, learn, practice and transform in all areas of life.

Watch on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@ozlemozkanbridging

Maria Garcia Rojo was born and raised in Spain. From the age of nine, she spent her summers at a boarding school in Ireland, which created her foundation of living a curious life. Born in the 60’s during the dictatorship in Spain, she craved for freedom and her curiosity made her move to Germany, Egypt and later on Turkey. She says that curiosity is like a door, once you open it you cannot close it. It’s bringing you from one place to the next one.

Learn more about what it takes to be in integrity with yourself and follow your own path, regardless of what anyone else thinks.

Host Özlem Özkan

✧ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozkanozlem/

✧Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozlemozkan/

Özlem is an Amsterdam-based multilingual and multicultural teacher, presenter, and author. Her lifelong passion for self-development, spirituality, and personal growth led her to gain a Master in Behavioural Sciences and Bachelor in Education in Amsterdam. While working and living in multiple countries she became more and more aware that wisdom was doing the work. She started attending retreats, courses, and workshops all over the world to do true self-inquiry and connect to deeper layers of herself and constantly expand her mindset. Her vision is to help people to expand their awareness, learn, practice and transform in all areas of life.

Watch on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@ozlemozkanbridging

In this episode we go to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where I am based (at least for now!). This episode is an introduction to me. I openly tell about why I started this Podcast, how I was born into cultural diversity and entrepreneurship which started way back in 1968 when my grandfather moved to The Netherlands. I tell you more about my personal development journey and how my striving mentality served me and got in my way as well. I was perceived as this fearless girl but actually I wasn't fearless. I am fearful too, but I’ve learned from a young age to do things regardless of my fear and be comfortably uncomfortable.

Host Özlem Özkan

✧ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozkanozlem/

✧Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozlemozkan/

Özlem is an Amsterdam-based multilingual and multicultural teacher, presenter, and author. Her lifelong passion for self-development, spirituality, and personal growth led her to gain a Master in Behavioural Sciences and Bachelor in Education in Amsterdam. While working and living in multiple countries she became more and more aware that wisdom was doing the work. She started attending retreats, courses, and workshops all over the world to do true self-inquiry and connect to deeper layers of herself and constantly expand her mindset. Her vision is to help people to expand their awareness, learn, practice and transform in all areas of life.

Watch on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@ozlemozkanbridging

A bridge is a symbol for communication and connection. It’s necessary to provide passage over something and take you somewhere else. When you cross a bridge you take yourself somewhere else, sometimes somewhere familiar and sometimes somewhere new.

Each episode takes you inside the minds and hearts of life experts with a story to share. Stories of entrepreneurship, cultural diversity, self-empowerment, personal growth and other topics that shape our universe.

This is Bridging. Let’s cross together!

You can find out more about Özlem by following her on 

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/ozkanozlem/

Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozlemozkan/

Website:  https://www.ozkanozlem.com/ 

Her book "The Student":  https://www.amazon.com/Student-Reflections-heart-mind-ebook/dp/B08GQCS59W