The Time Is Now

The Time Is Now

By Amel DerraguiBusinessEntrepreneurshipEducationSelf-ImprovementMarketing
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The Time Is Now episodes

  • TN69: How to self-publish and crowdfund your book with Lisa Ferland

    Lisa Ferland is American living in Sweden where she moved with her husband and started her family.  She is a public health consultant but along her journey in Sweden she developed her expertise in writing and publishing books.  She is the co-author and publisher of her first book Knocked Up Abroad, an anthology about the experiences of global moms and dads with birth and parenting across the world.  The success of her first book has led her to launch her second one, Knocked Up Aboard Again.  This time she had the creative idea to finance the publishing of the book through a crowdfunding campaign, using the platform, Kickstarter.  Lisa also regularly shares her stories and journey as a global mom on her blog www.Knockedupabroad.eu.

    Since this episode was recorded, Lisa has launched her consulting business designed to help authors self-publish their books and crowdfund them. Check out her website here: www.lisaferland.com

         

    Glimpse into Lisa's insights in this episode:
    • What are the different phases of publishing a book

      • It is very important that your book looks and feels professional

      • How to evaluate the costs and the price of a book

        • Build social proof of your book before you sell

        •  How to market and sell a book

          • Bring your book to the bookstore with some top critical reviews

          •  What is crowdfunding

            • When launching a book you never know in advance who you will be competing with for attention.

            • How to prepare a crowdfunding campaign

              • Plan every day of your book campaign in advance

              Lisa's Resources:
              • Click on the link above to download the list of resources on how to self-publish and crowdfund your book

                • Lisa’s recommended book:
                • Nice Dragons Finish Last (Heartstrikers #1)

                  • Find Lisa online:
                  • www.KnockedUpAbroad.eu
                  • Facebook/KnockedUpAbroadBook/
                  • LinkedIn - Lisa Ferland
                  • YouTube - Knocked Up Abroad

                    • 47 min
                  • TN68: 3 steps to career and life reinvention with Sundae Bean
                    Sundae Schneider-Bean is on a mission to help you make the most of your life abroad. She has so much experience and advice to share that we invited her back on the podcast for another episode. In this episode, she shares her three steps to career and life reinvention.
                    Sundae is an intercultural specialist and a solution-oriented coach. She’s a mother to third-culture kids and has lived overseas since 1998. She comes from the US and has lived in Switzerland, Burkina Faso and today lives in South Africa. She has helped individuals from over 40 countries go through transitions and change. Sundae also works with multinational companies and NGOs to support their employees. And of course, she has had to reinvent herself and has been through the journey a lot of expat partners are facing.
                    Glimpse on Sundae’s tips in this episode:
                    • Some of the major challenges with reinvention that expat partners have

                      • “Expat partners feel something inside that says I want something more, but they can’t say it out loud as they feel guilty about feeling this way”
                      • How to define what you really want to do

                        • “Knowing what you want is in your guts, it is in your body; not is your brain”.
                        • How to design an action plan

                          • “When it feels almost too far to reach, but you want it so bad, that is when you know that you hit it”
                          •  How to build resilience and the support system you need

                            • “Reinvention is not comfortable; you need to really want it to go through with it.”
                            Sundae’s book recommendation:
                            Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live by Martha Beck
                            More from Sundae
                            • Check out her new podcast: Expat Happy Hour with Sundae Bean
                            • You can find our last interview with Sunday here: TN28 Dealing with High Risk Security Risks and Uncertainty

                              • Find her online: 
                              • Web: http://sundaebean.com/
                              • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SundaeSchneiderBeanLLC

                                •  
                                34 min
                              • TN67: From ex-banker and expat spouse to serial entrepreneur – Carol Rattray
                                Carol Rattray is originally from Japan but was raised in New York.  She studied and launched her career as an investment banker in the US before she and her husband started traveling in Asia for his job.  They lived in Tokyo where she continued to work in the finance industry.  Then, when they moved to Hong Kong, Carol decided to take a short break to spend more time with her two young children.  However, what she calls a sabbatical, as you will discover in this interview, turned out to be an exciting journey that led her to become a fascinating and successful serial entrepreneur.
                                Carol is a private investor, investing in starts-ups in the US and China.  She is also a philanthropist, among many projects, she co-founded the Rattray Kimura Foundation with her husband mainly focused on education and conservation.  Lastly, Carol also founded her own start-up company called Zoomdojo.  Zoomdojo is a career resource designed to support students and recent graduates around the world with their entry into the employment market.
                                To hear more from Carol, she was a guest speaker at Tandem Nomads’ first conference in New York.
                                Glimpse on Carol’s insights in this episode:
                                • Dealing with a move abroad that she initially did not want to go through

                                  •  “Be curious, listen and apply what you know to help someone else.”
                                  • Balancing career and family

                                    •  “Accept to be flexible and open minded to create a new career that fits your lifestyle.”
                                    •  Transforming her career from a banker to a serial entrepreneur

                                      •  “Figure out what fires you up and will keep you going through the ups and downs of a business.”
                                      •  Launching a startup that is based on digital solutions with no technical background

                                        • “Embrace technology as it gets a lot easier nowadays.”
                                        • Tips to build a successful startup and become an entrepreneur

                                          • “If our business closes because we solved the problem, it will be fantastic!”
                                          • Her major lessons learned from her experience

                                            • “Be patience and be fully committed to your business’s growth.”
                                            Carol’s book recommendation:

                                            • Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D Kristof

                                            • A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity by Nicholas Kristof

                                            • America Needs Talent: Attracting, Educating & Deploying the 21st-Century Workforce by Jamie Merisotis


                                              Carol’s online resources:
                                              • Google docs: for storing and sharing documents
                                              • Slack: for collaborating virtually with a team
                                              • Mamp: for creating and managing a server for websites
                                              • Drupal: for managing websites’ content
                                              • SquareSpace: for creating a simple and easy to manage website or blog

                                                •  Find Carol Rattray:
                                                • Web: Zoomdojo
                                                • Email: click here

                                                  • 45 min
                                                • TN66: Dealing with loss and grief far from home with Melissa Dalton-Bradford
                                                  This is the second part of Melissa Dalton-Bradford’s interview.
                                                  In the first episode, she tells us about her journey as a global mom and how she build a strong identity and portable career while moving 20 times from one continent to another.
                                                  In this second part, Melissa gives us the precious gift of sharing one of the most intimate and sacred events of her and her family’s life: the sad loss of her son Parker in a water accident.  In this episode, she shares with us some insights to help each other deal with loss and mourning, especially when living so far away from “home.”
                                                  In fact, over the years she turned this tragedy and transformative event of her life into an admirable source of strength to help other people around the world who have to deal with the heavy experience of loss.  She wrote the book “On Loss and Living Onward”, where she compiled the best resources and stories that helped her through the process of grief.
                                                  With such humility, she also came to the belief that there are people who have gone through even more tragedy in their lives.  The terrible feeling of loss does not only relate to death, but also for example the loss of identity, security and the feeling of “home” that global nomads, displaced people and refugees can experience.
                                                  This is how, on top of her busy career and business as a soprano soloist, speaker, and author, she dedicates a considerable amount of her time helping refugees, providing them with German lessons to help them embrace the city where she currently lives, in Frankfurt, Germany.
                                                  Melissa is also the author of “Global Mom: A Memoire” where she tells the story of her family moving around the world and her reinvention journey.
                                                  I am very humbled to have Melissa share her story so generously and with such positive energies. I would also like to dedicate this episode to Parker Bradford, “may his soul rest in peace”.
                                                  In honor of Parker Bradford
                                                   
                                                   
                                                   
                                                   
                                                  Glimpse on Melissa’s insights in this episode:
                                                  • The three pillars that helped her and her family deal with the pain of their tragic loss, and go through the mourning process.

                                                   “We will never be the same people after a great loss but every loss also gives us a great opportunity to change.”
                                                  • How to help someone we care about who has lost a beloved one.

                                                  “The best thing you can do to help is show up and shut up. You can also use your gift to do something meaningful.”
                                                  • When being in mourning, how to give the right signals and indications of what we need, and how the family and community can help.

                                                  “Grief and forgiveness are inseparable to give each other the space to be human and do mistakes.”
                                                  • How Melissa and her family managed to cope with this loss while arriving in a new country and talk about it/or not with people they just met.

                                                  “Loss is what life is about, you can’t stretch your arms without touching some iteration of loss.”
                                                  Check out Melissa’s books!
                                                  • Global Mom, a Memoire
                                                  • On Loss and Living Onward

                                                  She also recommends:
                                                  • A year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion

                                                   Find Melissa Dalton Bradford:
                                                  • Web:Melissa Writes of Passage

                                                  Check out this wonderful video with various stories and testimonials to help those in grief:

                                                  Did you find this episode useful?  Please share it! 

                                                  1 hr 1 min
                                                • TN65: Turning doubts into confidence to grow a career in global transition – Melissa Dalton-Bradford
                                                  In this episode, Melissa shares her inspiring story of how she turned her doubts into confidence to grow a career in global transition and reinvent herself while moving across the world twenty times with her husband and kids!
                                                  Melissa Dalton-Bradford was raised in Utah before becoming a true global citizen and a mother of 4 children.  She is a writer, holds a Bachelor in German and a Master in Literature.  Melissa has taught writing, humanities and language to university students.  She speaks, reads and writes fluent German, French, Norwegian and can also convert in Mandarin.  Melissa has performed professionally as a soprano soloist and actress in the US, Scandinavia, Central Europe and South East Asia.  She and her husband have raised their family in Vienna, Hong Kong, New York, Oslo, Paris, Munich, Singapore, Geneva and Frankfurt.
                                                  “To be successful, you need to believe in yourself”
                                                  Melissa is the author of the book “Global Mom, A Memoire” where she tells her journey living and raising 4 kids across the world.  Her second book is called “On Loss and Living Onward” where after experiencing the sad loss of her first-born son, she compiled the best resources that will guide the living through the process of grief.  Melissa also regularly counts her inspiring current journey on her blog Melissa Writes of Passage.
                                                  Melissa’s insights on how to grow a career in global transition
                                                  • How to deal with having to start all over again in each country

                                                    •  “When you move around the world, everything becomes disposable, except your relationships.”
                                                    •  What has helped her be respected as a professional and build confidence

                                                      •  “You define and portray yourself differently if you can say, here is my invoice.”
                                                      • What helps her stay centered and grounded despite the stress of transitions and tough times

                                                        •  “Define your family routines, values and stabilizing axes”.
                                                        •  How to deal with being publicly vulnerable.

                                                          • “Human beings connect on their broken edges, not on their shiny polished surfaces.”
                                                          Check out Melissa’s books!
                                                          • Global Mom, a Memoire
                                                          • On Loss and Living Onward

                                                            •  
                                                            Find Melissa Dalton-Bradford:
                                                            • Web: Melissa Writes of Passage

                                                              •  

                                                              Did you find this episode useful?  Please share it! 

                                                              31 min
                                                            • TN64: Supporting special needs children when moving abroad – Tracey Ellis
                                                              Tracey Ellis is the co-founder and CEO of International Diagnostic Solutions (IDS), she is also an occupational therapist and disability analyst. Tracey has provided evaluation and treatment to children for over 20 years, and serves in several boards such as the Washington DC Health Professional Licensing Board. Her company International Diagnostic Solutions provides to global families educational and therapeutic solutions worldwide through online consultation, service, and program development.  In this episode she shares her tips and advice for supporting special needs children when moving from one country to another.
                                                              The sooner you identify the child’s special needs the better – Tracey Ellis
                                                              What you will hear in this episode:
                                                              • How to define “children with special needs”
                                                              • How to detect if a child has special needs
                                                              • Identify the challenges when moving abroad and how to deal with them
                                                              • How to find the right experts for a child’s special needs
                                                              • How to prepare before moving abroad when having a child with special needs
                                                              • Things to consider when choosing the right experts and schools for children with special needs
                                                              • How to communicate a child’s special needs to new teachers and schools
                                                              • How to know if an assignment abroad can be accepted or when to go back home because of a special needs child

                                                                • Do not dismiss the feedback of those who spend time with your children and pay attention to potential signals of special needs – Tracey Ellis
                                                                Some advice shared in this episode:
                                                                1. Do not ignore the issue
                                                                2. Keep medical records handy where ever you move
                                                                3. Make sure your child’s school has an “inclusion program and build a partnership with the school to provide special support for your child
                                                                4. Do not hesitate to ask additional support from your employer

                                                                  5. Reach out for help and ask questions early enough – Tracey Ellis
                                                                  Some recommended resources:
                                                                  To find some developmental milestones from age 0 to 5:
                                                                  • cdc.gov
                                                                  • pathways.org
                                                                  • childmind.org

                                                                    • Other resources:
                                                                    • ADHD World Federation
                                                                    • http://www.additudemag.com
                                                                    • www.Dropbox.com to keep medical records available

                                                                      • Find Tracey Ellis:
                                                                      • Web: http://www.idsalliance.com

                                                                        • Did you find this episode useful?  Please share it! 
                                                                        47 min
                                                                      • TN63: Balancing family and career – Maryam Afnan Ahmad

                                                                        Maryam Afnan Ahmad shares her insights and lessons learned on balancing family and career.

                                                                        She is originally from Pakistan and holds an MBA from Pakistan's Lahore University of Management Sciences.  She was living in Pakistan, she teaching at NUST Business School in Islamabad when she and her husband started their nomadic journey to China. Maryam conducted corporate and personal development programs in Pakistan and China and served in a variety of volunteer roles in the expat community.

                                                                        Today she teaches full time at the Edlin School in Reston, Virginia, USA.  She has served on the board of the FIGT organization (Families in Global Transition) for nearly 3 years.  On top of that, Maryam is also a writer. She co-wrote the book Slurping Soup and Other Confusions, a story and activity book for children between 3 and 12 years old.

                                                                        "Motherhood is a great opportunity to know yourself and grow."

                                                                        Some of Maryam’s insights in this episode:
                                                                        • How to compromise career and motherhood.
                                                                        • How to express your needs to your partner.
                                                                        • How to involve your family in your career development.

                                                                          • Resources shared to learn how to communicate with your family in an effective way:
                                                                          • Gordon Training.
                                                                          • 7 Habits of Happy Kids.
                                                                          • SCHUITMA method by Etsko Schuitema for Care and Growth. 

                                                                            • "Involve your family in your career reinvention journey."

                                                                            Find Maryam Afnan Ahmed and her book:
                                                                            • Slurping Soup and Other Confusions.
                                                                            • LinkedIn.
                                                                            • Facebook.

                                                                              • What did you think of this episode? Leave your comment below!
                                                                              46 min
                                                                            • TN62: Breaking news! Updates on Tandem Nomads

                                                                              Tandem Nomads is going through major events. Amel Derragui, the host, tells you about some important changes with the show, some milestones and learned lessons on the past year that you will need to know yourself if you want to start a portable business.  She shares her feeling behind organizing the first live Tandem Nomads event, reflects on the past year of Tandem Nomads, her motivations and lessons she’s learned.

                                                                              Don’t wait for the perfect moment.  Start and perfect later.

                                                                              Some highlights from this episode:
                                                                              • Details on the upcoming panel discussion in New York: Expat Spouses, Careers and Entrepreneurship
                                                                              • Lessons from one year of Tandem Nomads
                                                                              • Advice on how to overcome the need for perfection
                                                                              • Celebrating milestones no matter how big or small
                                                                              • Podcast episodes will now be launched every other Tuesday
                                                                              • And there’s a big project coming for 2017

                                                                                • The focus of Tandem Nomads is still about creating our portable career and business but will continue to share helpful resources, provide inspiration and support in all topics related to being a Tandem Nomad.  Don’t miss out and Sign up for the newsletter.
                                                                                And don’t forget, the most important part of your journey may be sharing your experience, frustrations and desires.  Find the community that will support and help you along the way.  And the best way to do that is to:
                                                                                • Join the Facebook Group 
                                                                                • Like the Facebook Page 

                                                                                  •  
                                                                                  21 min
                                                                                • TN61: How to start and grow a freelance business – Emily McGee

                                                                                  Freelancing is one of the best ways for expat partners to earn income, find flexibility and build a portable career.  I interview in this episode an expert in the field, Emily McGee to bring you some great tips and advice on how to start and grow a freelance business.  She shares her story on building sustainable business while moving from one country to another as an expat spouse.

                                                                                  “I found freelancing such a great way to keep taking care of my family, find flexibility and build my own identity beyond my husband.”

                                                                                  Emily started her career as a teacher. She met her husband when they were both Peace Corps volunteers in the South Pacific. She quit her first teaching job to follow her husband to various states of the US and then to Nairobi, Kenya. By the time Emily arrived in Nairobi, she realized one big fact we all can relate to:  she couldn’t keep looking for a new job and then quit every time they moved to a new place.  She needed a job that was portable and flexible.  So, she started doing freelance writing and found success. As she gained experience and knowledge about freelancing, she found her niche and focused on just writing standardized educational test questions.

                                                                                  Say yes! If they are going to take a chance on you. Take a chance on yourself.

                                                                                  Since her successful experience in Nairobi, she went back to the US where she took her freelancing business with her. Today, Emily lives in Maputo, Mozambique and continues to freelance.  She is also now helping other freelancers who want to build, as she calls it, an Adaptable Career.  She provides them with the guidance and knowledge they need to grow their business while keeping a sane quality of life.

                                                                                  Don’t miss the one thing Emily thinks is the key to success in a building a successful freelance business!

                                                                                  Some of Emily’s tips in this episode:
                                                                                  • Start with signing up on freelancing platforms to find clients (like Upwork).
                                                                                  • Define your niche and where you can bring value (Visit the Tandem Nomads blog for more tips).
                                                                                  • Pitch to clients and show them you understand their unique problem and know how to fix it.
                                                                                  • Learn from feedback and remain confident despite rejections.
                                                                                  • It is a trial and error process, it takes times, be patient.

                                                                                    • Online recommended resources:
                                                                                    • Upwork
                                                                                    • Fiverr
                                                                                    • Google Docs

                                                                                      • Other questions discussed in this episode:
                                                                                      • How to find the kind of services you can freelance.
                                                                                      • How to create a freelance profile online.
                                                                                      • How to find and approach clients.
                                                                                      • How to define the right price.
                                                                                      • How to grow a freelance business.
                                                                                      • How to be efficient, productive and build a work life balance.

                                                                                        • Find Emily McGee online and learn more about how to start and grow a freelance business:
                                                                                        • Website:  My Adaptable Career
                                                                                        • Facebook Page: My Adaptable Career

                                                                                          • 43 min
                                                                                        • TN60: What you need to start and grow your own portable business – Best of Series
                                                                                          What do you need to start and grow a portable business as an expat partner?

                                                                                          This week is entrepreneurship week! At this occasion you will find in this episode great inspiration, insights and tips to start and grow your own portable business as an expat partner.

                                                                                          For those of you who know me well, you know that entrepreneurship is for me not just a sense of business and a way to make money, but a real passion and mindset that I believe every expat partner could benefit from.

                                                                                          In fact, even if there are some jobs that can be portable for expat partners, these jobs are usually very limited. I really believe that one of the main solutions for expat partners is to start their own small portable business. That is why I try to bring you as many examples, inspiration and practical tips to help you take that leap and build your own successful portable business.

                                                                                          You will be able to hear some extracts from four expat partners who  are also great entrepreneurs! Their extracts summarize some of the great insights and advice that were shared on many of Tandem Nomads past podcast episodes.

                                                                                          Andrea Martins is a serial entrepreneur who founded three companies. She started when she joined her husband abroad, quit her successful job and launched the famous website Expatwomen.com that got so much success that she managed to sell it for a substantial six digits number. After that she founded two other startups, Story Résumés to help job seekers create attractive resumes through story telling. Then, she founded Green Socks, which is the Uber for lawn mowing. If you want to know more about how Andrea created each of her companies, check out the full version of this episode on www.tandemnomads.com/37.

                                                                                           

                                                                                          Erin Long is a speech pathologist who managed to transform her therapeutic skills into a great portable business, with her company Worldwide Speech, she helps her clients all over the world via online therapy sessions. While moving with her husband and kids from a country to another she managed to grow her company and expand her services. Erin shares so many more tips on how to grow a company starting from zero on www.tandemnomads.com/46.

                                                                                          Jo Parfitt is a serial expat entrepreneur. She developed multiple ventures around one of her main skills, writing and publishing books for herself and for other authors. She teaches how to write and is the co-author of Career in your Suitcase, a great book for expat partners who want to build a portable career. She shares here some of her tips that helped her create and grow her companies. In the full version of the episode, Jo shares with us her fascinating journey and how she started her portable business before even laptops were so common, check this out on www.tandemnomads.com/36.

                                                                                          Bérengère Ferrier is the person thanks to whom I started my advertising career in France. She since became a great friend and few years ago she quit her successful career to join her partner in the US. She launched her own consulting agency, Creavilia. I reached out to her to ask her how she managed to grow her business so quickly not knowing anything about the country and not even being totally fluent in English when she arrived. She shared some powerful tips in this little extract. And you can find even more insights from her experience on www.tandemnomads.com/49

                                                                                          Here are some of the great take aways and important points that these inspiring expat entrepreneurs share with you in this episode:

                                                                                          • What are the right questions to ask and research to do when starting a business.
                                                                                          • How technology and internet are a great opportunity that expat partners should embrace.
                                                                                          • What are the imperatives to know when growing your company and your team.
                                                                                          • How to connect and build a network that supports your business locally and internationnaly .
                                                                                          • How important it is to build resilience and patience in the process.

                                                                                            • Also, two great books were recommended in this episode that I highly recommend you to check out:

                                                                                            • The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki.
                                                                                            • The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber.

                                                                                              • Was this episode enlightening to you?? Please comment and share below! 

                                                                                              In the next episode (the first episode of Tandem Nomads second season!), your will find some great resources to become a freelance. Freelancing is indeed a great way for a lot of expat partners to start their small portable business!

                                                                                              Stay tuned to turn your challenges into great opportunities! 

                                                                                              19 min

                                                                                            About The Time Is Now

                                                                                            From the publisher's feed

                                                                                            The Time Is Now to go from invisible to in-demand. A podcast for mission-driven solopreneurs ready to grow with clarity, freedom, and impact.