Melissa Hahn is an intercultural professional who helps people collaborate, adapt and thrive across cultures. She earned a master's degree in intercultural relations from the University of the Pacific in California, has lived abroad in Poland, and has an extensive professional background that spans international relations, teaching English to speakers of other languages, and global mobility/corporate relocation.

She works independently as a trainer, coach and consultant; teaches intercultural communication at American University; and is on the leadership team of the Global Dexterity Certification.

She believes that intercultural skills are for everyone, because we all come from cultures and need to figure out how to live, work, and connect with people who have different backgrounds and life experiences from us. Through her children's book "Luminarias Light the Way" and her upcoming book "Forging Bonds in a Global Workforce" (McGraw Hill), she aims to show how practical, do-able, and even fun this process can be for people of all ages.

Episode notes

Lesson 1: Cultural competence isn't memorizing details about another culture. It's building relationships with                                   individuals from those cultures. 09:21