Limitless Laowai — Expat Life, Business Strategy, Personal Development Cultural Adjustment in China | Learn Chinese

Debbie has spent over 28 years across Asia Pacific within people service companies, being an Efficiency Expert - which means taking the pain out of implementing projects on time & within budgets set by management. She thrives on making hard tasks happen and sorting out the headache of “change” management so that companies & individuals can get on with “doing what they do best”. She has been in China for 9 years as a supporting spouse and doing a bit of contract work but most recently has recently launched her own entrepreneurial endeavor, Asia Life Images, which is a creative photography business. Now her aim is to help her clients evoke great memories and bring a smile to their faces.

Michael is an Apple Distinguished Educator, entrepreneur, podcaster, and technology coach. He recently co-founded Innovative Professional Development, an online PD platform, with the mission of facilitating outstanding professional growth opportunities for all teachers. Michael has a teenage son with profound autism and is keenly interested in the special needs community and its population of diverse learners. This interest led Michael and his wife, Lori, to open an innovative school in Shanghai for their son, called ShineAcademy.asia.

Ally is a wife, a mama, a learner, an entrepreneur, and most recently, a podcast host! Tune into this week's wrap-up session to hear the brief history of the Limitless Project and insight into Ally's top lessons learned thus far. If you've not noticed yet, definitely note that each Friday will be a little different at Limitless. As suggested by the Limitless Community, you'll hear from Ally, Ron, or them both about lessons learned from the week while they work to build LimitlessLaowai Podcasts.

Norbert is a young African professional with over 10 years of experience in China. A Rwandan national, Norbert speaks 6 languages including Chinese, French and English and has 6 years’ experience in Chinese investments in Africa, working with such prestigious institutions as China Development Bank and Exim Bank. He is a co-founder of YAPS (Young African Professionals and Students) and co-founder and CEO of Kiziga.com, the biggest African platform for online Chinese university application and China-related Human resources and internship opportunities, and that project won him the Harambe-Intel Entrepreneur Award. Today, Kiziga represents 186 Chinese universities on the African continent. Norbert is also the representative of African Leadership Network in China, and a columnist at China investment magazine.

Originally from Germany, Eric studied in France at INSEAD, in the UK at Warwick University and in the US at Wharton. His corporate career took him to Asia at the age of 23 with working assignments in Taiwan, India, and Mainland China. During the last 25 years, Eric negotiated joint ventures, established a holding company, acquired and divested business, and multi-site organizations with a few thousand employees and up to a billion USD in sales, all before founding his own boutique consulting company. He now advises small and large enterprises on strategies and organizational optimization.

Amanda is passionate about helping expats, particularly trailing spouses, figure out what the heck their new identity is now that they've packed up and and jumped on a plane. Not only are you now in unfamiliar surroundings, but quite often you can find yourself in unfamiliar shoes, trying to figure out how to navigate your new life here. She knows well those blisters that come with the new expat shoes. After packing up and jumping on the plane to Shanghai in 2010, she has found that these new expat shoes suit her and there is no going back!

Jodie grew up in New Zealand and came to Shanghai eight years ago via London. She and her husband, Joe (nicknamed 'Fish'), and kids left a fantastic set up as expats in London to leap into the great unknown of China and are now embracing this life with all its opportunities and challenges. Tune in to hear her insights on how and why to stay optimistic while living life in China.

Lola studied journalism in Spain for three years and one year of marketing in Belgium. After that, she came to Beijing to do an internship in the press department of the Spanish embassy. She loved her time in Beijing so much that she wanted to stay in China and about a year and a half later, opened her own company called Chinexita Events and Communication. Now, she's in Beijing and is the acting CEO of that organization.

Ron is Ally's incredible husband and is very much the backbone of everything she does. He has been in Shanghai over 6 years and is passionate about his faith, family, food, music and fitness. In this interview, Ron walks listeners through his journey to China.