In this episode we meet Hang Zhao, chemist, turned accountant turned Leadership Coach.

Hang Zhao is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) by International Coaching Federation (ICF). She works with senior leaders and high-performance emerging leaders all over the world. She excels in helping clients with strategic thinking, enhancing decision-making capabilities, overcoming communication challenges, and fostering a collaborative team culture. With a unique combination of coaching expertise, corporate and entrepreneurial acumen, and cultural sensitivity, Hang empowers her clients to transform insightful "aha" moments into concrete actions that amplify their overall impact.

Hang holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and a Master of Science in Accounting. She worked in the accounting and consulting fields in North America for over a decade before transitioning to coaching. 

Outside of work, she is an enthusiastic runner, a passionate content creator, and a world traveler.

Hang shares her story that takes her from China to the US, where she met her husband, and then onto Canada. There have been big decisions, adventures and even some digital nomading along the way.

Hang shares the Chinese saying, 'Bravery sometimes comes from ignorance' and how this has been shown through some of their expat moves. Of course there is courage, and perhaps a little ignorance helps us along - particular the first time round - but I also heard a lot of thoughtful research had been undertaken so that the fluidity of their expat moves was based upon well research options. A desire to explore, a desire for change, different life and professional experiences, cultural expectations - they all contributed to the expat path - and what a path it has been!

You can find out more about and contact Hang here:

Website: https://www.hzhaocoaching.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hangzhao/

In this episode I was delighted to talk to Charles Crowl about his experience of becoming one part of an international career couple and about how he and his husband navigated challenging circumstances to pursue their relationships and their careers. It is an inspiring story and Charles is able to share many tips and techniques about being an ICC.

Charles is a passionate people developer and seasoned business leader with extensive experience in managing teams, stakeholders, and supply chains across Europe, the USA, and the Asia Pacific region during his 13-year tenure at the L'Oréal Group. In 2022, amidst the rapid evolution of workplace culture and leadership demands, Charles began leveraging his wealth of experience to assist organizations in retaining and nurturing their top talent. His signature program is the FMCG Career Accelerator, where he partners with top FMCG talent to navigate their unique career journey.

On the personal side, Charles is Australian and met his husband, Gregory from Mauritius, seven years ago on a dance floor in Shanghai. Since then, in no particular order, they have navigated several international relocations, political protests, a pandemic, two redundancies, multiple career pivots, launching a business, buying a house, getting married, and adopting a cat!

You can find out more about Charles from the following links:

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-crowl-thrivex-coaching-consulting/

Website: www.thrivex-coaching.com

Email: [email protected]

Podcast host, Kate Galloway is joined by her husband to talk about their personal and professional experiences as expats.

In this episode we discuss our second move, which was from Scotland to Dubai, UAE.

We share that the move happened due to industry uncertainty and the need for job security. We talk about how our networks have been important for our international moves. We talk about uncertainty that surrounded us and uncertainty that we created.

In this episode your host Kate speaks with Edita Petojevic about the foundations of a relationship and how they are so important to the success of expat life. Edita introduces her unique approach to "the Basketball Court' and how this can be a useful aide and visual for couples to understand each other's needs.

Edita and Kate discuss the foundation, taking individual responsibility, getting your voice heard and how to make space for your partner. Edita shares tips for expat couples and explains how prevention is key. Listening to this episode you will also hear about how people decide that seeking professional support is right for them and what they might experience on that journey.

About our guest:

Psychologist & Psychotherapist with 15 years of clinical experience. Edita guides individuals, couples & groups through the process of psychotherapy by identifying the cause of the problem, by resolving and accepting difficult thoughts and feelings. The main goal is to guide individuals back to their authentic self and to support them in regaining a sense of meaning & authenticity in their close relationships.

Edita strongly believes that; 

1: All healthy and longlasting relationships are based on congruence and empathy. 

2: All human beings have an inner potential to self-actualize. 

Edita has lived in seven countries and has had the chance to meet and work with various people from all over the world. These experiences and interactions with different cultures have broadened her views and helps her to open up for a better and deeper understanding of life. She offers a therapeutic path in three different languages, from an empathic and greater cultural understanding, which gives her the opportunity to reach a vast amount of people. 

Edita is trained and experienced in treatment of most concerns including but not limited to anxiety disorders, depression and other mood disorders, low self-esteem, relationship concerns, emotional and physical abuse, trauma and alcohol and drug addictions. 

Edita sees the person as a whole (mind, body & spirit) and uses this integrative approach to help one connect with oneself and begin to heal. Having been trained in three different therapeutic methods, Person Centred Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), allows Edita to meet and help clients based on each individual circumstance and each individual need. She is further trained in the methods of CFT, ACT and trauma treatment.

In part 1 of a short series, my husband Iain and I talk about first transition abroad.

Notwithstanding that we could not recall how long we had been married, this was a nice conversation to have. We spoke about the elements we did not know about and did not know in that first transition. Whilst we supported each other, we did not challenge each other in our thinking or our knowledge and we did not advocate for ourselves. The learnings:

• Challenge each others thinking
• Ask more questions
• Have career conversations at work and at home
• Advocate for yourself in the couple and at work

Enjoy the show!

Christian and Verena are from Austria, living and working in Montreal since 2022. It's their second time being an ICC in Canada. Both times they made the move because of a once in a lifetime opportunity for Christian to represent Austria and the Abis group at ICAO (International civil aviation organization), an UN specialized agency for aviation. Verena's and Christian's professional background are in the field of air and space and they worked in Paris, Brussels, Vienna, Vorarlberg. Not always in the same place they had a commuting flexpat life for 8 years, before they decided to make Montreal their joint home once again.

Key Takeaways:

• Your expat dual careers can take you to new locations and different locations in flexible ways you could not have anticipated.
• Address your situation with your organisations at significant times and as early as possible.
• Organisations needs to manage dual careers and care for the management of their employee's personal situation in a professional way.
• Have a plan, communicate very early, have a plan for what is to happen after the assignment (repatriation is hard), be in constant contact with your organisation, be prepared to serve yourself.
• Individuals, organisations and labour markets can benefit if the topic of dual careers is better managed and sustainable HR policies are implemented.

A little more about our guests:

Verena studied law at the University of Innsbruck and has been working in the public sector since 2003. Initially in aviation, she moved to the Technology and Innovation Section in 2017, where she worked in the area of Space affairs as a senior policy officer. In 2019 Verena moved to Brussels to work at the Permanent Representation of Austria to the EU as Attachée for Space, Technology and Innovation and since October 2022 she lives and works in Montreal, Canada, working remotely for the BMK in the area of Aviation and Space Technologies.

Due to these career transitions Verena experienced the different facets of expat life, starting her first time living and working abroad in 2009 following her partner to Canada, after which she repatriated for 5 years to Austria before expatriating once again towards Brussels for 3 years, having a "flexpat"-dual career setup commuting between Vienna as the homebase, Brussels and Paris, where her husband worked. In 2022 they decided to make a joint move once again back to Montreal where Verena and her husband currently live and work. 

Her focus lies in networking and advocating for new HR-policies in order to untap the full potential of dual car(e)ers. It is her passion to support expats during their transition phases (outgoing or incoming) and she has already successfully set up non-profit organizations for expats in Canada and Austria (MTL and VIE LESA, XIPAT).

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/verena-heingaertner/

Website: www.xipat.at 

Christian Schleifer-Heingärtner started his aviation career over 33 years ago as Avionics Maintenance Engineer. And since 2022 he is the Austrian Representative on the Council of ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization), a specialised United Nations organisation based in Montreal,Quebec. He has already been on an assignment to ICAO from 2009 to 2013, which was the first time ever to take on an assignment abroad serving as an Air navigation commissioner (ANC) and later on president of the ANC, where he was responsible for developing Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) in the fieldof Air Navigation and Safety. Before relocating to Canada, Christian was an expat in Paris/France from 2014 to 2022, where he acted as the Director General and CEO of EUROCAE, a leading international Standard Developing Organisation (SDO), specialised in high quality and safety critical aviation standards. 

Prior to his posting at ICAO in 2009, Christian was in charge of Aircraft and Equipment Certification,Airworthiness and Operational Requirements at the Austrian Civil Aviation Authority (Austro Control).

After his return from ICAO 2013, he was involved in the strategic development of the Air Traffic Management (ATM) part of Austro Control, contributing to the European and Global Air Navigation modernisation programmes, but he left Austria after this short repatriation period and joined EUROCAE in Paris.

In support of the Next Generation of Aviation Professionals (NGAP), Christian initiated the establishment of a department for Aviation Electronics (Avionic) at Vienna´s Donaustadt-Akademie. He is also an academic lecturer for Aviation at the Joanneum, University of Applied Science in Graz/Austria.

Christian has a background in Electronic Engineering and holds a Commercial Pilot License (CPL),actively flying single and multi-engine aircrafts. Beside his technical and operational aviationbackground, he holds a Global Executive MBA in Economics from the University of Minnesota andthe Vienna University. He complemented his education with several management trainings at MIT,Mc Gill and other Universities.

www.linkedin.com/in/schleiferchristian

Gertraud is able to talk about the key success factors of your first months on assignment: Building trust, connection and commitment. She explains why self-care should be high on your to-do list, why to treat your assignment with some permanence so that you can truly be present and invest in your new location and the people around you and why it is important to create balance at home by ensuring everyone's needs and purpose is understood.

Gertraud speaks from an individual, couple and family perspective. She also has some good advice for organisations and advises that we start to view this more often as a holistic business case to make sure everyone is included in an enjoyable experience.

As you listen you will become more aware of 3 traps that we often fall into when starting a new role abroad: overcommitment, forgetting to understand the legacy you are building upon and rushing your own agenda.

About our fabulous guest, Gertraud Eregger:

Global Career Coach & Founder of create your move. Lived and worked in HR leadership roles in Ethiopia and Jamaica. Loves to coach global talent and extraordinary human beings on their journey to re-discover joy for work and life. Works in Graz with organizations as Caritas to shape their leadership culture, and works with CINT building a true welcoming culture here in Graz for anyone coming from abroad who is trying to find home here. As Margret shared with me once: I’m connecting treasures with the world and with their world again.

Proud mum of two wild & adventurous girls. Feeling free and full of ease when riding or walking steep hills, with one intention for 2023: to be in nature, in the woods.

She studied leadership across cultures, worked with executives in NGOs creating global programs for the most challenged among us, and immigrants recently moving to Austria.

She helps leaders to find answers to 2 major questions, she saw many of us - especiallygloballyworkingwomenleaders-strugglingtofindanswersto: Howcan I create more magic in my life and find ease while working nonstop? And how can I handle all messy parts of being a leader and making life so much more complex? Gertraud's core work is focused on women leadership, global career and life transitions - and she finds herself as a living experiment mastering her own transitions - now her recent transition into motherhood again.

Links to connect:

www.gertrauderegger.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gertraud-eregger-85a76046/

Upcoming Uptreat: Like a hummingbird – 2 day retreat from October 6-7 at:

• the Innviertler Versailles, Aurolmünster, Austria

In this episode the authors of 'The International Career Couple Handbook', Jannie Lasted Skov-Hansen and Dr. Paul Vanderbroeck, introduce the Handbook and we have an open conversation about the need to adapt and innovate the conversations around international careers.

Key words in this episode are Enjoyable, Fun and Meaningful. Jannie and Paul share their thoughts based on their personal and professional knowledge and experiences. They are at the forefront of these conversations with individuals, couples and within organisations.

As always, they share advice for International Career Couples and also provide guidance on the different type of conversations we need to be having within organisations.

There is a lot to digest within this episode so you will also find a helpful blog outlining some of the key concepts. I'm so excited to be part of this conversation and can only feel that what Paul and Jannie are bringing to light is a key part of the shift needed around people (partners and couples) involved with international careers.

Most importantly, if you have not done so already, go and buy the Handbook! You can do so by visiting the Here We Are Global website (https://www.hereweareglobal.com/hwagbook), where you can also find other interesting resources. The Handbook is also available on Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/HERE-WE-ARE-International-Handbook/dp/1838174605)

In this episode Adrian Cartwright shares his knowledge and experience of working with expats to manage their finances. As a Wealth Consultant with a global client based Adrian uses his down to earth approach to talk about some of the simple yet difficult steps expats should be taking to manage their finances.

He has a clear message - don't keep up with the Jones, budget and remember that as an expat, the onus is on you to manage your own finances.

Adrian can be contacted via his website and LinkedIn. His website has a lot of information available for expats and I encourage you to take a look.

Wealth Consultant Dubai - An Independant Consultant Based In The UAE (adrian-cartwright.com) 

linkedin.com/in/adrian-cartwright-acsi-513b335b

Abigail Viljoen is an EY Partner with over 25 years' experience in Financial Services, primarily focused on Regulation & Risk Management. She’s currently based in London, having returned from two back to back mobility assignments in mid-2022. She initially spent 3 years in Johannesburg, setting up and running the Africa Financial Services Risk Management practice, and that was followed by a further 3 years in the Sydney practice, focusing on Regulatory Compliance, Conduct & Culture and Sustainable Finance.

Abigail and Kate discuss these two mobility assignments and address some of the challenges Abigail and her husband have been able to navigate.

Abigail shares her top tips on being pragmatic, being realistic in expectations, working to be a cohesive unit, knowing the pros and cons of a move, being motivated by more than just career and having an adventure together. All of this should start with early conversations and not rushing your decisions.

Abigail and Kate consider how to plan for the worst case scenario by mentally preparing for the challenges you cannot envisage.

From economic policy to becoming an England supporter rather than a Springbok supporter from facing a 'pandemic' assignment to working out how to 'be' when one person is prevented from working - this episode covers it all.