In our last bonus episode for Season 1, we share four key takeaways from the first season of Lucky to Be Here. Whether you are an immigrant, want to become one, or have no desire to ever move countries, these takeaways speak to our lives and experiences beyond borders and nationalities. 

Because we can all learn from our stories. 

Keywords

immigrant stories, personal growth, community building, life transitions, resilience, cultural adaptation

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the season’s reflections

01:55 The journey of immigrant stories and shared insights

03:50 The importance of community and support networks

07:04 The internal transformation and feeling like a stranger

10:06 The in-between space of identity and culture

13:13 The significance of inner work and self-awareness

15:05 Community building as a universal process

16:57 The impact of our choices on others

18:49 Recap of key takeaways and closing thoughts

Lucky to Be Here is a podcast that showcases those who took the leap to build lives and careers across countries. They share their stories, their lessons, and their advice to show us what it means, and what it takes, to build a life and career abroad. 

Lucky to Be Here is hosted by Dr. Analía Gómez Vidal, C.P.C. and produced by AGV Services LLC.

Visit our website https://www.agvservicesllc.com/luckytobehere to join our newsletter to receive our episodes in your inbox with career development reflections and resources and to connect in between episodes. Join our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/LuckyToBeHere to get access to behind-the-scenes updates and live chats with Analía. 

Sponsored by Creative Colony Spaces.

© 2026 AGV Services LLC. All rights reserved.

Mutiara is a certified coach and global educator who equips students and professionals to become visionary leaders through immersive global experiences and transformative coaching. Her methodology blends practical leadership training with deep cultural intelligence, translating potential into purposeful impact.

During our initial conversation, we discussed her experience as an international student, the ins and outs of traveling around the world from Indonesia, her time as an international student in the United States, and her homecoming journey and more recent initiatives, including the Berani Penasaran program (courageously curious). In this episode, we dive deeper into these themes, discussing what it feels like to navigate uncertainty while also ushering others through their own homecoming. 

You can find Mutiara on Instagram at @coachmuti. You can also learn more about her work at https://www.andselfcare.com/c-club and https://www.beranipenasaran.com

Keywords

personal growth, change, self-discovery, transformation, immigration, grief, intentionality, homecoming

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Mutiara's journey of self-discovery

06:50 The nonlinear, spiral nature of change

07:56 Experiencing loneliness and internal transition

11:10 The importance of reflection and taking pauses

13:58 Coming back home and integrating past and present

16:57 The challenge of matching with current self in relationships

20:01 Creating spaces for deep, meaningful conversations

22:05 Grief and loss as part of change

23:06 Final thoughts on embracing change and self-growth

Lucky to Be Here is a podcast that showcases those who took the leap to build lives and careers across countries. They share their stories, their lessons, and their advice to show us what it means, and what it takes, to build a life and career abroad. 

Lucky to Be Here is hosted by Dr. Analía Gómez Vidal, C.P.C. and produced by AGV Services LLC.

Visit our website https://www.agvservicesllc.com/luckytobehere to join our newsletter to receive our episodes in your inbox with career development reflections and resources and to connect in between episodes. Join our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/LuckyToBeHere to get access to behind-the-scenes updates and live chats with Analía. 

Sponsored by Creative Colony Spaces.

© 2026 AGV Services LLC. All rights reserved. 

Lucky to Be Here is a podcast that showcases those who took the leap to build lives and careers across countries. They share their stories, their lessons, and their advice to show us what it means, and what it takes, to build a life and career abroad.

In this bonus episode of Lucky to Be Here, we delve into the importance of our support systems for professional and personal milestones, and the emotional realities of building a life abroad across the board, with our guest Gisela de la Villa. 

Gisela de la Villa’s journey from Argentina to establishing herself in Wellington, New Zealand with her partner was featured in our first season. But today, we talk more about what it means to build a community in her Kiwi home and how that directly impacts her professional life. We discuss this sense of proximity and how it shapes our career paths (including a career built entirely on referrals and endorsements). 

But we also dive into the other side of the coin, the distance and the grief that shapes our experiences living abroad, and the essential part that communication plays in this process. From painful news and miscommunications to learning to integrate your loved ones in your daily lives even from afar, we cover the interpersonal and emotional parts that we rarely share but quietly carry with us. 

Lucky to Be Here is hosted by Dr. Analía Gómez Vidal, C.P.C. and produced by AGV Services LLC.

Join our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/LuckyToBeHere for free to receive our episodes in your inbox with career development reflections and resources and to connect in between episodes. Subscribers also get access to behind-the-scenes updates and live chats with Analía. 

Sponsored by Creative Colony Spaces.

© 2026 AGV Services LLC. All rights reserved. 

Lucky to Be Here is a podcast that showcases those who took the leap to build lives and careers across countries. They share their stories, their lessons, and their advice to show us what it means, and what it takes, to build a life and career abroad.

This is the second part of our discussion with Dr. Sebastian Vallejo Vera, where we reconnect after his original episode in Season 1 on his experience pursuing an academic career across the United States, Mexico, and Canada. 

In this episode, we cover advice for anyone interested in pursuing graduate school. We discuss the possible motivations behind taking this step, the main questions you should ask when deciding what universities and programs to apply for, and what going through graduate school (and beyond) has meant for both Dr. Sebastian and for Dr. Analía. 

Lucky to Be Here is hosted by Dr. Analía Gómez Vidal, C.P.C. and produced by AGV Services LLC.

Join our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/LuckyToBeHere for free to receive our episodes in your inbox with career development reflections and resources and to connect in between episodes. Subscribers also get access to behind-the-scenes updates and live chats with Analía. 

Sponsored by Creative Colony Spaces.

© 2026 AGV Services LLC. All rights reserved. 

Lucky to Be Here is a podcast that showcases those who took the leap to build lives and careers across countries. They share their stories, their lessons, and their advice to show us what it means, and what it takes, to build a life and career abroad.

In this bonus episode, Dr. Sebastian Vallejo Vera and I reconnect to continue a discussion that started in his episode of our first season. The guiding question is a complicated one, but very necessary: 

What are the power dynamics shaping academia?

During our discussion, we cover these power dynamics geographically across countries, and we also discuss what happens within universities. Who is responsible for addressing the shortcomings we see play out in higher education and beyond? What should more people know about the decisions that happen outside of the classroom?

This is the first part of our discussion. If you have ever been curious about faculty’s perspective on career development and the decisions made (or not) about it, I encourage you to listen to Dr. Vallejo Vera’s perspective in this episode, and our opinions on who and what can be done. This is a particularly interesting episode if you are planning on going into graduate school, pursuing an academic career, or are already in this environment and want to think about how we can do better to support our colleagues. 

Are you interested in applying for graduate school, or in your early years of a program? Subscribe to get our next episode, where we share plenty of advice for you!

***
Lucky to Be Here is hosted by Dr. Analía Gómez Vidal, C.P.C. and produced by AGV Services LLC.

Join our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/LuckyToBeHere for free to receive our episodes in your inbox with career development reflections and resources and to connect in between episodes. Subscribers also get access to behind-the-scenes updates and live chats with Analía. 

Sponsored by Creative Colony Spaces.

© 2026 AGV Services LLC. All rights reserved. 

Lucky to Be Here is a podcast that showcases those who took the leap to build lives and careers across countries. They share their stories, their lessons, and their advice to show us what it means, and what it takes, to build a life and career abroad.

Our first bonus episode reconnects us with Veronica Bianchini, our very first guest in Lucky to Be Here! 

Since our first episode, Veronica has now completed her first year in her Master’s of Cognitive Science and AI at Birbeck College. We discuss the steps she has taken since our episode recording, in part sparked by our discussion, to align her professional steps with her long-term vision for her life and career. 

In this episode, we also discuss her perspectives on AI, informed by her observations and learning as part of her program, and what she highlights as the not-so-knew discussions we continue to have about technology and how we position ourselves within its rapid change. In her opinion, it is not only about the pace of technological change, but how we also perceive it and behave as a result. 

You can find Veronica and follow her journey and writing on Medium at https://medium.com/@VerBianchini or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronicabianchini/

***

Join our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/LuckyToBeHere for free to receive our episodes in your inbox and our newsletter with career development reflections and resources, including career events. Subscribers also get access to live chats with Analía and behind-the-scenes updates. 

Lucky to Be Here is hosted by Dr. Analía Gómez Vidal, C.P.C. and produced by AGV Services LLC.

Sponsored by Creative Colony Spaces.

© 2026 AGV Services LLC. All rights reserved. 

Lucky to Be Here is a podcast that showcases those who took the leap to build lives and careers across countries. They share their stories, their lessons, and their advice to show us what it means, and what it takes, to build a life and career abroad.

Season 1 is officially done... but we are not, and we want to hear from you!

This summer/winter, we will continue sharing bonus episodes before launching Season 2 of our podcast. In these episodes, we reconnect with some of our guests from our first season to explore what has changed (or not) since our initial conversation, what they have learned, and what insights and topics they want to share more about with us.

We are also working on a special episode with key insights from our first season, and I would love to hear from you. Can I count on you? All you need to do is share with us a takeaway (or many) that stood out to you from the episodes you have listened to. Share your comments on our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/LuckytoBeHere or emailing us at [email protected] before the end of June 2026 so you can feature you as part of our episode.

Thank you for being a part of Lucky to Be Here. I cannot wait to hear from you, and stay tuned for our bonus episodes before officially launching Season 2 later this year.

***

Lucky to Be Here is hosted by Dr. Analía Gómez Vidal, C.P.C. and produced by AGV Services LLC.

Join our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/LuckyToBeHere for free to receive our episodes in your inbox with career development reflections and resources and to connect in between episodes. Subscribers also get access to behind-the-scenes updates and live chats with Analía. 

Sponsored by Creative Colony Spaces.

© 2026 AGV Services LLC. All rights reserved. 

Lucky to Be Here is a podcast that showcases those who took the leap to build lives and careers across countries. They share their stories, their lessons, and their advice to show us what it means, and what it takes, to build a life and career abroad.

Veronica Sepehr has developed a career that truly embraced pivots across industries and countries, having covered from academia to corporate research to UX to product operations to now Canadian immigration, and I am very excited to discuss with her her own story, as well as her perspective as Registered Canadian immigration consultant (RCIC) on navigating lives and careers across countries. If there is one throughline in her story, she shares it clearly: “We don’t quit.”

Veronica shares her journey moving from Ecuador to rural Canada first, coming back to her home country and deciding to pursue a Ph.D. back in Canada later on. From there, and ever since, she has experienced first hand what is to navigate immigration, career pivots, and building a life abroad across countries. Now, she is a registered Canadian immigration professional, supporting others who, like her, want to build a life and career in Canada. 

Listen to our episode to find out more about Veronica’s experience, including her advice on what helps ground her throughout the ups and downs, and build each step in her life along with her husband and family. You can find Veronica on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronicasepehr/ and work with her through her company, Westdale Immigration by visiting its website https://westdaleimmigration.com/ and booking a consultation at https://tidycal.com/westdale 

Keywords

immigration, career pivots, Canada, Ecuador, United States, international students, resilience, cultural adaptation, professional growth, global perspective, family, immigration law, bureaucracy

Chapters

00:00 Veronica's Background and Education Journey

06:35 Initial Motivations for Moving Abroad

10:03 Adjusting to Life in Rural Canada

11:53 Experiences with Racism and Cultural Preconceptions

15:26 Balancing Personal and Professional Life

18:54 Returning to Ecuador and Cultural Reverse Shock

21:30 Building Independence and Financial Stability

24:21 Finding Home and Family Support

28:02 Reflections on the Immigration Journey

33:07 Leveraging PhD Skills in the Workforce

37:23 Parallel Between PhD and Immigration Challenges

43:47 Future Aspirations and Career Pivots

47:31 Advice for Future Immigrants and International Students

Lucky to Be Here is hosted by Dr. Analía Gómez Vidal, C.P.C. and produced by AGV Services LLC.

Join our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/LuckyToBeHere for free to receive our episodes in your inbox with career development reflections and resources and to connect in between episodes. Subscribers also get access to behind-the-scenes updates and live chats with Analía. 

Sponsored by Creative Colony Spaces.

© 2026 AGV Services LLC. All rights reserved. 

Lucky to Be Here is a podcast that showcases those who took the leap to build lives and careers across countries. They share their stories, their lessons, and their advice to show us what it means, and what it takes, to build a life and career abroad.

What started as hopping on a bus in Cochabamba became a life and career focused on international public service. Erick Gonzales Roach is a development economist with a Ph.D. from Kobe University and experience in international organizations; he resides in Geneva, Switzerland, where he works as an Economics Affair Officer. 

Erick shares his inspiring journey looking for new opportunities and horizons that led him to become an international student, and eventually a professor, in Japan, until his most recent move to Geneva, Switzerland. He highlights the importance of perseverance, cultural adaptation, and strategic planning throughout his experience in international education and career development. He also shares practical insights on scholarship applications, cultural integration, and building a global career in public service. He is also a firm believer of the importance of sharing and opening spaces for more professionals from the Global South in development and leadership. 

Keywords

international education, scholarships, Bolivia, Japan, Europe, public service, cultural adaptation, perseverance, career development, global south, boy scouts

Structure

00:02 – Welcome and Erick’s background intro

01:17 – Early influences and service-oriented motivation

02:23 – The Japanese scholarship as a life-changing opportunity

03:43 – Navigating the application process and cultural adaptation in Japan

04:51 – Thoughts on choosing Japan and language priorities

07:19 – The drive to generate real impact through education and development

08:45 – Asian growth models versus Latin American development

10:43 – The structured process of studying in Japan as an international student

13:05 – Cultural shocks and how he bridged Latin American, Japanese, and European perspectives

16:26 – Moving to Japan and initial impressions

18:23 – Facing challenges with a goal-oriented mindset

20:50 – Lessons learned from setbacks, stress, and acceptance

22:20 – Comparing education systems and resilience training

27:09 – The role of identity, competition, and self-acceptance

33:48 – The decision to leave Japan for Europe and new opportunities

35:05 – Embracing life balance and cultural enrichment in Switzerland

37:15 – Living in Europe and cultural integration

41:23 – Surprising elements of his international public service career

44:21 – Persistence and perseverance as vital qualities

47:44 – Advice to his younger self and future international students

Lucky to Be Here is hosted by Dr. Analía Gómez Vidal, C.P.C. and produced by AGV Services LLC.

Join our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/LuckyToBeHere for free to receive our episodes in your inbox with career development reflections and resources and to connect in between episodes. Subscribers also get access to behind-the-scenes updates and live chats with Analía. 

Sponsored by Creative Colony Spaces.

© 2026 AGV Services LLC. All rights reserved. 

Lucky to Be Here is a podcast that showcases those who took the leap to build lives and careers across countries. They share their stories, their lessons, and their advice to show us what it means, and what it takes, to build a life and career abroad.

What may start as a short adventure to try something different might become the journey of a lifetime, or at least over a decade. That is what happened to our guest in today’s episode, Florencia Colella after she accepted a Fulbright scholarship.

Florencia is a financial facilitator in agri-food systems. She fosters conversations around economic issues among farmers, academics and other public and private organizations. She was also a Fulbright recipient to pursue graduate studies in the US, where she has since lived on and off for over a decade. 

Florencia shares her journey from Argentina to the United States starting as a Fulbright grantee for a two-year program, and navigating cultural differences, immigration challenges, and building a life abroad along the way. Throughout the conversation, we touch on several practical insights for international students and immigrants, including the financial system and the importance of building a credit score, and the role that having built a local community played when sorting out moving back and forth. 

Keywords

international students, immigration, cultural adaptation, US visa process, life abroad, Fulbright scholarship, cultural differences, community support, visa challenges, personal growth, bicultural relationships

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Florencia Colella

02:28 Journey to the US: The Fulbright Experience

04:18 Cultural Adaptation and Belonging

10:58 Navigating Relationships Across Cultures

13:22 The Reality of Migration and Job Offers

17:23 Settling in the US: Challenges and Community Support

26:36 Life in Fremont: Family and Stability

38:01 Reflections and Advice for Future Migrants

Lucky to Be Here is hosted by Dr. Analía Gómez Vidal, C.P.C. and produced by AGV Services LLC.

Join our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/LuckyToBeHere for free to receive our episodes in your inbox with career development reflections and resources and to connect in between episodes. Subscribers also get access to behind-the-scenes updates and live chats with Analía. 

Sponsored by Creative Colony Spaces.

© 2026 AGV Services LLC. All rights reserved.