Expat Business Hero: Inspiring Interviews with Expat Entrepreneurs & Business Experts

A brain-storming session at a BBQ with friends inspired Barbara Lax to quit her successful engineering career and create a winning child care concept for modern families and companies in Switzerland. Undaunted by attempts to sabotage her business and the inevitable family struggles, Barbara eventually won Veuve Clicquot's Swiss Business Woman of the Year 2017 and is today ranked among the Financial Times 1000 fastest growing companies in Europe. 

Notes: https://www.alexcongdon.com/29

James Moffat is a Scottish born entrepreneur living in Switzerland. After 20 years in the corporate world and thinking, ‘Is this it?’ he found himself on the outside, looking for a new adventure. On his journey to gain his own clarity and purpose, he built a business helping entrepreneurs better align to their own purpose whilst boosting their visibility.

Episode notes : https://www.alexcongdon.com/28

Yuri van der Sluis is a Dutch sales expert, speaker and author living in the Valencia region of Spain. His passion is helping B2B sales organisations to lead with trust because without trust in the sales process you’ll never create value. Full of inspiration and enthusiasm, Yuri speaks to Alex about his struggles and difficulties in setting up the business and the things he has learnt along the way, and what he hopes to achieve in the future.

Episode Notes: www.alexcongdon.com/27

One of the hardest things a business owner faces is setting the price for their products, especially if you are the product! Janene Liston moved from California to Switzerland and has taken her career expertise and created a business advising small & medium sized businesses on their pricing and how to charge what you are worth. And that's why she calls herself The Pricing Lady!

Full Episode notes : www.alexcongdon.com/26

Johan Franzen, a Swede living in Switzerland, is proving there is entrepreneurial life after a long and successful corporate career. He's created what he calls a “virtual swiss army knife for your entrepreneurial journey”,  a platform for entrepreneurs that want to connect and be part of a trusted community of like minded business owners and specialists, exchanging resources, tips and tools. He’s given it a novel name too, www.entnest.com

Episode Highlights

01:33 - What prompted the start of your community ?05:01 - The connection of trusted people for entrepreneurs07:08 - The bigger and global vision to help entrepreneurs08:15 - How has your corporate background helped ?15:54 - The transition from employee to entrepreneur26:32 - Key learning points when starting a business32:16 - Future plans and goals

Full Show Notes & Transcript https://www.alexcongdon.com/25

Yann Ilunga is a Swiss-Italian entrepreneur based in Helsinki. His passion is podcasting and as well as producing his own successful shows, he coaches those interested in starting and growing a podcast very often to support their business. He also has a successful Facebook community group with over 2,400 member from all over the world and has been featured in Inc.com, Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazine.

Full Show Notes: http://www.alexcongdon.com/24

02:14 -   How and why did the business get started?06:49 -   Is podcasting an ideal business when split between locations?09:57 - What is a mastermind group and how does it help your business?14:04 - When setting up a business why is a podcast a good idea?17:38 - How can podcasting be integrated into an established business?24:50 - Things to think about when starting a podcast28:03 - Does the business and podcast topic need to be exactly aligned?31:10 - How to get listeners to your podcast show38:54 - Is there a place to migrate from audio to video?42:07 - Structuring a location independent business46:17 - Learnings and success stories from working with clients50:07 - Future plans and goals

Guy White is the founder of Catalyx, a successful and very innovative agency based in Geneva helping brands connect with their ideal consumers. Originally from the UK, Guy quit the safety of corporate life to start his 1st business before he turned 30. In this episode Guy we discuss his view of risk, entrepreneurship and leading a start-up organisation.

Full Episode notes https://www.alexcongdon.com/23

00:57 -  Who does Catalyx help and how?05:36 -  A different approach from other market research agencies13:27 -  Challenges and difficulties of setting up the business19:22 -  Practical support and inspiration from others23:50 -  Business and clients achievements22:06 -  What are the future goals for the business?23:50 - Who would you like to mentor ?

Sarah SantaCroce is a Switzerland born and bred LinkedIn expert who spent time living abroad in California where she mastered the art of social media networks. Now living back in Switzerland, Sarah was able to build on her experience to build her business and the LinkedIn expertise that she has today. Sarah works with introverted entrepreneurs, coaches and consultants, to help them establish systems, make worthwhile connections, generate leads and for them to create their own businesses using LinkedIn.

For the full transcript and resources, please visit:

https://www.alexcongdon.com/22

Carl Wahlers, former rugby player and corporate manager wants men with mental health issues to get things off their chest. He's set up Blokes And Black Dogs, a support group in Switzerland for men who want to enjoy life once again. 

http://www.alexcongdon.com/21

Melitta Campbell, has a formula for helping women start a business on their own terms. Originally from Wales, she's now in Montreux, Switzerland and has overcome her own out of balance lifestyle to become a successful business coach for women.

The full episode page is available here: https://www.alexcongdon.com/20