SwissCast Shows: Where Swiss Life Meets English Voices

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Born on a tiny river boat in Colombia during a tropical storm, Valentina grows up across continents and later lands in Switzerland working in maternal health and gender equity. Then pregnancy hits and theory becomes real. Hyperemesis gravidarum leaves her sick for months, and she learns how quickly a system can turn “protocol” into pressure when a mother is exhausted and vulnerable.

We talk through what informed consent actually sounds like when your waters break, time starts ticking, and someone pushes oxytocin or an early induction at Triemli Stadtspital Zurich. Valentina shares how she asks for the least invasive option, gets second and third opinions, and holds her ground even when it makes the room uncomfortable. She also opens up about postpartum anxiety and that disorienting early feeling of “is this my baby?” plus the relief of finally getting clear mental health guidance instead of vague reassurance.

Then the breastfeeding story deepens. Persistent pain gets brushed off again and again until she finds La Leche League support and starts connecting the dots to oral restrictions, including posterior tongue tie and lip tie. From there, we follow her through breastfeeding after breast implant complications and surgery, a second pregnancy with better care, a planned home birth that transfers to hospital, and the surprisingly complex beauty of tandem feeding and child-led weaning.

If you care about birth stories in Switzerland, doula support, breastfeeding help, tongue tie assessment, and maternal rights, this conversation will stay with you.

• Aline Schneckenburger who was also Valentina's therapist (perinatal psychologist) for all these years
• Ximena Silva who is also known as the birth fairy for the Spanish speaking mamas. Her company is called Nacer -
• midwife for the home birth Christine Faessler
• Postpartum Hebammes and former colleagues Haerzklopfä Hebamme
• Surgeon who performed the implant explant and removed Valentina's implants during her first lactation journey: Dr. med. Alessia Lardi
• VSV Perinatal Health & Equity Consulting - services as a gender and health policy analyst and as an IBCLC
• Barbells & Plates | perinatal strength training for pregnancy and postnatal recovery -
• LinkedIn
• IG: valsvelandia

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The SwissCast Podcast Network is here to amplify the diverse voices and unique stories of Switzerland—all in English. Whether you're a Swiss local fluent in English, an expat, or simply curious about Swiss culture, SwissCast offers engaging content that speaks directly to you.

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Thought more metrics would make things clearer, but you feel even more stuck? In this episode, Linda breaks down why tracking everything leads to overwhelm and inaction, and how to choose the handful of numbers that actually change your results.

What You'll Learn:

The Hook: More dashboards do not mean more clarity when you do not know what to do next.

Reality Check: Tracking everything can paralyze you, but tracking nothing leaves you blind until it is too late.

The Shift: Lead indicators predict results and are the only numbers you can directly influence.

The Move: The Lead vs. Lag Test to simplify what you track:

• Know the difference: lag indicators (results) vs lead indicators (actions).
• Choose your lead indicators by asking what consistent actions create the outcome you want.
• Pick 2 lead indicators for the month, then check them weekly: did you do the thing, yes or no?

The Wrap: You cannot control outcomes directly, but you can control actions and actions create results.

Key Takeaway: Stop measuring everything and start measuring what moves by tracking the actions that drive your results.

Ready to make it easier? Visit https://www.lindavanegmond.com/ and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

The SwissCast Podcast Network is here to amplify the diverse voices and unique stories of Switzerland—all in English. Whether you're a Swiss local fluent in English, an expat, or simply curious about Swiss culture, SwissCast offers engaging content that speaks directly to you.

Our mission is simple: to create a space where Swiss life and English voices connect, bringing you meaningful conversations, expert insights, and compelling stories from all over the country.

Our podcast shows are made by, for, or in Switzerland and range from Health, Business, Career, Travel, and more.

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Click to start your Business Reality Check

If you’re becoming a health coach (or you’re early in your coaching career), you’ve probably felt the pressure to “have it all together” while the world feels… like a lot. In this episode, mindfulness practitioner and certified coach Gretchen Larsen shares practical ways to stay grounded, reduce stress spirals, and prevent burnout—without pretending you’re fine.

We talk about why overwhelm can shrink your sense of control, how to work with your feelings instead of bypassing them, and the power of choosing small, doable actions that restore agency—especially when everything feels too big.

• The “circle of control” and how to come back to what you can influence
• Why small actions (even cooking dinner) can interrupt a stress spiral
• How negative self-talk shows up for coaches (“I should know better”)
• Feeling your feelings vs. replaying the world’s events (and getting stuck)
• “Do it in connection”: why support systems matter for resilience
• Creating a safe container for emotions (alone and with trusted people)
• The only thing we always control: choosing our response

Gretchen Larsen is a leadership and empowerment coach who supports teams, female professionals and activists doing important work in the world. For over 25 years, her work has spanned across start-ups, nonprofits and Fortune 500 companies, helping teams and aspiring leaders navigate change and transformation with a people-first approach.

Especially in times of uncertainty, Gretchen encourages mindfulness and somatic awareness to help people take care of themselves, reconnect to what’s in their control, and take grounded, purposeful action. She believes that now more than ever, we need strong female leaders to help guide our planet, our organizations and the change we all so desire.

Website

LinkedIn

Listen to Gretchen's Meditation on So Frickin' Healthy

Welcoming the Unwelcome by Pema Chödrön

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

00:00 Mind Body Connection

01:02 Doomscrolling And Boundaries

02:49 Gretchen Spiral And Control

06:10 Small Actions To Cope

14:41 Hit Bottom Find Support

21:11 Make Space Choose Response

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Becoming a Health Coach is a proud member and production of the SwissCast Network

The SwissCast Podcast Network is here to amplify the diverse voices and unique stories of Switzerland—all in English. Whether you're a Swiss local fluent in English, an expat, or simply curious about Swiss culture, SwissCast offers engaging content that speaks directly to you.

Check out more great podcasts on the SwissCast Network

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Controversial but… What if the goal isn’t to fit your business into motherhood, but to build your business around the life you really want?

Maryia Ramanava helps women simplify their marketing and build visibility in a way that fits their reality, and in this episode we talk about flexible business models, consistency without pressure, and what it looks like to grow a business around motherhood instead of against it.

What Maryia shares:

• How she stopped forcing one fixed business model and built one that could move with motherhood instead
• Why building with little kids has to feel like self-expression and sanity-saving support, not just another job
• How she stays visible through flexible offers, reusable ideas, and a business foundation strong enough to hold up even when life gets messy

This stuck with me:

When Maryia says that perfect is just another word for fear. That is such a sharp reminder for mompreneurs because so much procrastination hides behind “I’m still working on it.” Sometimes the most powerful move is to set the timer, publish the imperfect thing, and let the market tell you what needs tweaking.

More from Maryia Ramanava:

IG @nomakeupmarketing

www.ramanava.com

💡Dive deeper here: www.HeyBossMama.com/027

🍓CONNECT WITH MANOUCHKA

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LinkedIn

The Mompreneur Space Facebook Group

Website

👋 WHO AM I?

Hey, I'm Manouchka Elefant, a business coach for mompreneurs with 15+ years in marketing and a specialization in positive psychology. After becoming a mom, I quickly realized that building a business with kids in the mix takes more than ambition. It takes clear strategy, honest support, and the kind of accountability that helps you actually follow through.

That's what led me to create Hey Boss Mama, a space where we talk honestly about business, motherhood, mindset, and what it really takes to stop doubting and start executing. If you're into real talk, smarter marketing, and support that helps you keep moving forward, hit follow for the latest Hey Boss Mama episodes.

I'm based in Switzerland, coaching mompreneurs everywhere English is spoken.

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Work with Maryia

Join me inside Maryia’s No Makeup Marketing Club. It’s a valuable space for fresh ideas, smart feedback, and sustainable marketing support. As a special offer for the Hey Boss Mama community, you can get €100 off when you join through my link.

In this So Frickin’ Mini, Megan and Danna keep it simple: a quick, honest chat about why meditation can feel impossible (especially if you think you’re “supposed to think about nothing”), followed by a 10-minute guided practice from Gretchen Larsen. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s training your body back into rest and digest, one breath at a time.

Gretchen’s Breath and Heartful Awareness meditation invites you to settle into a comfortable position, use your breath as an anchor, and gently bring attention to the heart. Whatever shows up—thoughts, feelings, sensations—you won’t be asked to fix it, judge it, or push it away. You’ll simply notice, breathe with it, and (when you’re ready) let it go. You’ll leave with an option for what comes next: a small journal note, and one gentle action to tend to whatever arose.

What You'll Learn:

• How to meditate without “clearing your mind”—by noticing thoughts and letting them pass, lovingly
• A simple way to meet emotions in the body (especially in the heart) without struggling, solving, or spiritual bypassing

Real Talk Moments: If you’ve never meditated before, 10 minutes can feel like an eternity—and that doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong. Just listening, breathing, and staying for what you can is enough.

Speaker's Parting Wisdom: After the meditation, take a moment to write down what came up, and choose one gentle action—comfort yourself if it was painful, or reach out to a trusted person if it felt like a question you don’t want to carry alone.

Connect with Speaker: Gretchen Larsen

Listen to our full interview with Gretchen on Becoming a Health Coach

Check out the So Frickin' Healthy Website

Leave us a Voicemail

Join the So Frickin' Healthy Community

Watch us on YouTube

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00:00 Danna & Megan Introduction to Meditation

03:12 Gretchen Larsen's Breath and Heartful Awareness Meditation

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So Frickin' Healthy is a proud member of and produced by the SwissCast Network

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What does it really take to build a life in France as an American expat?

In this episode of Passport to Wealth™, we explore the practical and personal side of moving abroad, from navigating French visa requirements to finding meaningful work, building a career, and creating a sustainable long-term lifestyle in Europe.

Our guests share their journey from the U.S. to France, including the realities of adapting to a new culture, launching a consulting business abroad, and finding professional purpose while living internationally. We also discuss the growing trend of younger Americans and aspiring expats looking beyond traditional career paths and exploring entrepreneurship as a way to create more flexibility, freedom, and stability overseas.

Whether you’re dreaming of moving to France, already living abroad, or wondering how to turn a love of travel into a real life and career, this conversation offers practical insight, encouragement, and a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to make expat life work.

Resources

Find a vetted cross-border financial advisor or tax professional at the Passport To Wealth Directory

Are you a qualified professional serving US expats in France or Europe? Join the Passport To Wealth community here.

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Find your cross-border expert on the Passport To Wealth® directory

Order "The Expat Money Playbook"

Passport to Wealth is a proud member of the SwissCast Network

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Preventing scope creep isn’t about controlling your clients—it starts with how you structure your work. Most scope creep is created long before a client ever says yes, and if left unchecked, it quietly erodes your pricing power.

In this episode, I break down the three moments where scope creep actually begins: your offer design, your contract, and how you respond when boundaries are tested. Because the real fix isn’t raising your prices—it’s tightening the structure around how you work.

What Ancient Chinese Medicine Knows About Your Hormones (That Your Doctor Doesn't)

Danna's been seeing Alex for years—and now we finally got him on the show. Alex Bechinger is a fully licensed TCM practitioner with 30 years of experience, a nursing background, training in craniosacral therapy and functional medicine, and a family legacy of healers. Today we're digging into what Traditional Chinese Medicine actually is (spoiler: it's way more than needles and cupping), why Western medicine keeps missing the mark on women's health, and what ancient China understood about your cycle that modern doctors still haven't figured out.

This conversation went places we didn't expect. We talked about why healing only happens in the present moment, why your symptoms might be a sign you're "homesick" from your own body, and how something as simple as keeping your feet warm can impact your hormones. Alex explains how pulse diagnosis works—connecting not just to your organs, but to your spirit—and why the extra two minutes a doctor won't give you might be exactly what's keeping you sick. If you've ever felt dismissed, over-medicated, or like nobody's actually listening, this one's for you.

What You'll Learn:

1. What TCM actually is—and why it's more than acupuncture and cupping
2. How meridians and chi work (explained for skeptics)
3. Why stress is the root cause of most symptoms—and how emotions live in the body
4. What Alex sees when women come in struggling with fertility, painful periods, or perimenopause
5. How pulse diagnosis connects to your spirit, not just your organs
6. Why cold salads and cold feet could be messing with your hormones
7. The lifestyle shifts TCM has known about for thousands of years that modern medicine is just catching up to

Real Talk Moments:

Danna shares how many times she's gone to the doctor for one thing and been handed medication for something else entirely—without anyone even asking about her life. Alex admits that even he struggles with impatience. And we all agree: the expectation of a magic pill is keeping people stuck.

Alex's Parting Wisdom:

"What women in ancient China understood is that everything has an impact. Keep yourself warm. Eat well. Stop eating cold salads. Keep your feet warm—that's where the kidney meridian starts. Hot foot baths. Stable glucose means stable hormones. And self-love? That's medicine. Eating well is an act of self-love. Love heals."

Get to know Alex:

https://bit.ly/alexbechinger

Check out the So Frickin' Healthy Website

Leave us a Voicemail

Join the So Frickin' Healthy Community

Watch us on YouTube

Connect with us on Substack

00:00 Introduction and Guest Background

02:22 What is TCM?

07:21 TCM and Women's Health

10:34 Holistic Approach to Health

16:56 Combining Western and Eastern Medicine

32:33 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Mentioned in this episode:

Big ideas start with small conversations

Grab a slot, let's talk, no pressure — just good vibes.

Organilicious - Danna, Functional Medicine Health Coach

Come See Our Faces - Live Every Wednesday

That's right! Danna and Megan are LIVE and unfiltered every Wednesday morning, 10:00 CET.

So Frickin' Healthy is a proud member of and produced by the SwissCast Network

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If you’ve ever felt like you had to keep it together at work no matter what, this conversation will hit home. Eric Kreitz shares what it looked like to lead at a high level while quietly burning out, why “coping” can morph into something dangerous, and why work is often the last place people let the truth in.

We also dig into what happens after time off. Returning after burnout, addiction treatment, or a mental health leave is rarely as simple as picking up where you left off. Eric breaks down the ARrIVE Reintegration Framework, a practical, supervisor-centered playbook for making reintegration safer, clearer, and more sustainable for everyone involved.

• Recognize early burnout red flags, especially when old coping strategies stop working
• Understand why “work is the last to know” and how identity and stigma keep people silent
• See reintegration as a shared process, not a script, and why expectations often misalign
• Use the ARrIVE framework to support a returning employee while balancing people and mission
• Set practical “vigilance” markers (red flags and milestones) to reduce relapse into old patterns

Eric Kreitz is a leadership and reintegration coach and the founder of Renovium Leadership. He helps supervisors and organizations support employees returning after mental health or addiction treatment and builds practical reintegration plans that balance wellbeing and operational reality.

• LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/4s7sdVE

Where have you built a “work wall” in your own life, and what would a small, low-risk step toward support and clarity look like this week?

Back After Burnout is produced by the SwissCast Network, the only podcast network with podcasts produced in, for, or about English-speaking Switzerland.

Back After Burnout is for education and inspiration only and does not constitute medical, mental-health, legal, or employment advice. Every burnout journey is unique—always consult qualified healthcare and workplace professionals before acting on anything you hear. Resources shared are tools Karina has personally found helpful; they may not suit every listener. Use what serves you and leave the rest.

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Back After Burnout is a proud member and a production of the SwissCast Network

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Thinking about moving to Germany? In this episode of Passport to Wealth™, Arielle Tucker, CFP®, EA, sits down with fellow cross-border financial planner Jordan Vlastuin, CFP®, to unpack what Americans really need to know before relocating.

From choosing the right visa to understanding German tax treaties, federal pensions, and the realities of setting up life abroad, this conversation is packed with insights for expats and future movers alike. Arielle and Jordan discuss the nuances of tax residency, planning before you move, currency risk, and how local advisors can make, or break, your financial plan overseas.

Whether you’re living in Germany or just dreaming about it, you’ll walk away with actionable steps to make your transition smoother and your finances stronger.

Passport to Wealth™ connects Americans living abroad with trusted cross-border financial experts. Visit passporttowealth.com to find vetted advisors, expat resources, and expert interviews.

Mentioned in this episode:

Order "The Expat Money Playbook"

Passport to Wealth is a proud member of the SwissCast Network

Discover more podcasts for English-speaking Switzerland

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Passport to Wealth is a proud member of the SwissCast Network

Discover more podcasts for English-speaking Switzerland

SwissCast Network