The Foreign Mum Podcast

In this episode, you are going to meet Nalini, a luxury children’s party planner from India. Nalini, who grew up in Mumbai, explains beautifully some of the cultural differences from Indians to English people, such as why Indians prefer to remain within Indian communities whilst living in the UK. Nalini also explains how shocked she was as a new parent in this country when she received a prejudiced comment whilst with her baby at a cinema! Nalini revels that the most of the Indian food we eat here are all fake!

This mother-of-two has always been a career woman. She worked in advertising but with motherhood, she decided to step back for the sake of her boys. That’s when she decide to embrace her new passion, children’s party planning. Nalini launched her business literally overnight and has since managed to even make mothers cry! In a good way, of course! Unfortunately with coronavirus, her industry has been affected, so press play to learn about what Nalini has achieved and her hopes for the coming years.

Show notes

https://party-genie.com/ 

@partygenieuk

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In this episode I spoke to the lovely Paola from Bogota who moved to London 11 years ago. She started working in London as a waitress but she worked her way up and now works as credit controller for the luxury fashion brand Joseph (which I realised why I wasn't familiar with it as it is totally out of my league ££££). After maternity, Paola managed to get back in shape six months after giving birth to her boy! With her friends commenting on her great shape, she decided to set up an Instagram account where Paola shares fitness tips in Spanish to encourage fellow mamas to look after themselves and stay fit. 

Paola also mentioned how she met her Scottish partner and the differences she finds in both cultures. Luckily one of her favourite British dishes comes from Scotland too! To find out which one, just press play and happy listening ;-). 

Show notes

Instagram - @pazatips

For great Colombian coffee, Paola suggested - www.mrtinto.co.uk/shop

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Episode 28 is here for everyone but particularly for those interested in veganism. I spoke to Belinda, a mum from Ghana. She moved to London when she was three with her family. They kept the culture in their household which involved lots of chicken stew. Growing up in London, she was always interested in the environment and tried to cut down her meat consumption from a young age, but it was hard when there weren’t many alternatives available.

We start the podcast learning about Belinda background. Unfortunately it involves losing both parents to cancer, which made her wonder if what they consumed was responsible for their diseases. She then told me about her career path, which started in fashion working for famous labels. As a buyer, she saw enough on the production of garments and jeans that didn’t agree with her ethics. In 2016 she decided to become fully vegan. Last but not least, we spoke about her desire to be her own boss and to make something for the world. That’s when she created her Marli’s kitchen, a 100% plant based cuisine which reproduces fried chicken KFC style. She started off at food markets – where she even disclaims how much she need to start the business – but due to lockdown restrictions, she had to adapt and now she works from an industrial kitchen where she prepares food kits to ship all over the UK!

Belinda’s story is a true example of wanting to change not just herself but also make the world a better place. So even if you are not vegan, I am sure you will be fascinated about this lovely lady.

Show notes

https://www.marliskitchen.co.uk/ 

https://www.instagram.com/marliskitchen/ 

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In this episode you are going to meet Sergei, a father of two from Latvia who moved to the UK with his wife. After he became a dad, he started doing activities with his children at home and decided to post them on social media. When one of his videos went viral, his luck changed over night and he instantly became an internet sensation! He tells us how he went from 0 followers to the millions he has today.

In this chat you are also going to learn what goes on behind the scenes. Sergei opens up about his childhood, life before he became a father, where he gets all his ideas from, what are the children really like when they are filming and one thing I learned which is probably going to be a surprise to everyone: he doesn’t own a TV! Head to the 49th minute of our chat to understand his decision not to. He also explained to me a fantastic way of doing treasure hunt and get the kids excited to leave the house.

As two good Russian speakers, Sergei and his wife are making sure that the children will only speak in Russian to them and even take them to Russian school. All the English they learnt was at school or from previous baby classes. Alex, Sergei’s first son, even says he prefers to speak in English to Russian, even though he spent the first eight years of his life speaking the latter! To learn more about this and everything else, just stick around until the end, I promise it won’t disappoint.

Show notes

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https://www.youtube.com/c/thedadlab

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In this episode, you  are going to learn about Shikha, a lovely Nepalese lady who is currently on maternity leave from her job in technology. Instead of using this time to just look after her baby, Shikha decided to use it to also open two new businesses: a baby boutique and an ethnic wear design.

This Nepalese is one of the luckiest foreigners I have met through this podcast. She moved to London when she was 14 with her mum, dad and sister and eventually her uncle and her best friend when their families moved. This helped her to be able to continue having all her loved ones nearby. Although it was her first time in the country, the cultural shock wasn’t too great because she was already used to having English teachers staying at her house in Kathmandu or exchanging letters with English people. She decided to go to Uni where she studied business development but ended up working in technology. She met her also Nepali husband on Facebook 11 years ago. Together they travelled the world and are now parents to one of the most gorgeous babies ever.

So press play to listen about the story of this hard working woman who is also a doting mum, businesswoman and an Instagram influencer.

Show notes

@fourhappyfeet

www.cocoandco.uk

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Hello every one! 25 episodes in and I finally found an Italian to interview! I’ve always bonded with Italians so couldn’t wait to have my first! Over Zoom one afternoon, I met the fabulous Giorgia Ceccone, from Rome. We started talking about her first impressions of London and the stereotypes that both cities have.

We then spoke about how she started working in real state. She realized that the long hours were okay when she was still single and child-free. She actually quit working in the industry after becoming a mum but decided to return once she was offered a flexible part-time job.

She was working the long hours in her early years in London when she met an English man, got pregnant but then decided to break up with him (you will have to listen to the podcast to understand why she was right to do so). Giorgia shares how strong she had to be as a woman by deciding to look after her son by herself . Nevertheless, her Italian family made a big drama out of it, but she managed to overcome it all, look after and support her child independently. She was even super kind to the father of her son, as she allowed him to be there by her side when she gave birth and to let him continue seeing her son regularly. She is the best proof of love for her son. Giorgia is a great role model to any women who is doing it solo, as she shows that everything is possible and that love, kindness and compassion is the best thing a woman can give to a man who hurt her.

Last but not least, we also spoke about Giorgia becoming an entrepreneur and how the idea of developing a gluten free food delivery business came about. Surprisingly she says once you have the food and hygiene certificate, it is much more straight forward to opening up a business here in comparison with Italy. She was lucky to have her mum as her business partner and the business is now fast growing! So press play to learn how this incredible woman managed to succeed solo. 

Show notes

Follow @1990glutenfree.homemade on Instagram and Facebook 

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In this week’s episode, you are going to listen to the story of Naila from Baku. When she was 10, Naila wrote in a piece of paper that she wanted to become an artist because she loved drawing and painting. She went to university and graduated with honours in Arts and was told by one of her most admired professors she had incredible talent and that she was going to be successful. Life was good in her country as she had a job, got married and had two children. Unfortunately, a tragedy changed everything when she lost her husband in a car accident. That’s when Naila decided to move to London and try a new life in 2010. Although she had to work first as a babysitter and a nursery worker, in 2017 Naila finally managed to land a job as an arts teacher and to start selling her art. Press play to learn how a single mum managed to pursue her dream in a different country.

Show Notes

Instagram @nailazell

www.nailahazell.com

Naila mentions https://kitestudios.org/ on the show

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Welcome to the first episode of the year!! I am so happy you are here! Thanks for keeping coming back for more! This week I have a wonderful guest from Argentina! My guest this week is a fellow South American and a sweet heart. She told me about the New Year traditions that Argentinians have such as the celebration of the Three Wise Men on the 6th of January..

For any foreigner considering a career change, this is a great episode. Jaquelina is an English-Spanish Chartered Translator. She told me how she developed her career and she also gave some pretty precious tips to anyone interested in becoming a translator or interpreter.

We also spoke about the Argentinian tea (mate), steaks, wine (one of  which unfortunately doesn’t agree with me) and a lovely message from Jaqui to all mums who have young children and are feeling a bit lost in motherhood and their career journey. Jaquelina was certainly the right person to interview and start the year on the high! Press play to hear that apart from football, a Brazilian and an Argentinian can be friends in everything else.

Show notes

www.translatorinlondon.com
www.traductorenlondres.com

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Show Notes:

Where to learn to buy the book: https://phillyandfriends.com/ 

Instagram: @phillynfriends 

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In this episode you are going to meet Alina, who was born in Russia. Alina moved to Israel with her family then again to London when she was eight and actually feels more English than Russian! She has a beautiful British accent which means you can't tell she is a foreigner!  Nevertheless, growing up in a bilingual environment made Alina realise the importance of it. Alina has a eight-month-old baby and is now making sure she only speaks in Russian to him. I also told her all the strategies I used with my children in order to get them to successfully talk back to me in Portuguese. 

Alina also recalled episode number 15 with Joanna Fortune in which she mentioned the true reality of being the kid of foreign parents and the determination you have to be more successful than the usual English child born and raised here. Alina was told by a teacher she was never going to write well but managed to do English literature at university to prove her teacher wrong. She now works with SEO, has a podcast and also a You Tube channel. 

Alina also described what is Christmas like in her family. Different and celebrated twice! Press play to find out why ;-)

Show Notes:

Alina's website https://aghost.co.uk/

Alina's youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6jS5yMO77RlCdLVaT2tmEQ 

Alina's podcast SEO with Mrs Ghost 

Alina mentioned episode 15 Better ways for foreign parents to help their children to grow up in a different culture with Joanna Fortune

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