Hyacinth Walters-Olsen, born and raised in Manchester, is the founder and Chief People Champion of YUDconsult. Recently the company got accepted into Google Norway Business Development Incubator. Helping people champion their well-being mentally and physically, and through her full-time job being Head of Department at Fotobaren AS. After 20+ years of experience working in leadership positions, most notably as the director of customer liaisons for a financial services organization with customers in 130+ countries, CEO of a cross-cultural national organization and private consultant to multiple C-suite leaders, she relishes every opportunity to invest her time and resources into the growth and upliftment.

Living in Norway for several years, Hyacinth felt left behind and alone in society. She especially noticed it when visiting her daughter with the company of her ex-husband's family. Suffering from health issues and the loss of her ex-husband, Hyacinth’s daughter eventually left her too during the loss of her father. Being unemployed and alone was difficult. Eventually, she got help from an old friend that was very supportive. The difficulties she went through made her a stronger person and more experienced in counselling people.

And a huge big thank you to Fotobaren for allowing us to use their venue.

Check out YUDconsult: www.yudconsult.com

The Oslo Desk Podcast Season 6 - Thriving or Surviving in Norway.

Interviewer: Ka Man Mak

The Oslo Desk is building a leading media house to portray racialised immigrant communities more accurately and completely. Most of our work is conducted by dedicated journalists and storytellers. If you would like this work to continue and can make a contribution, please go to https://buymeacoffee.com/oslodesk.

Leanna Lunde is an Australian who has lived in Norway and worked with arts for the last 18 years. Educated in Performing Arts, Leanna has worked in creative, technical and management positions for production companies, culture houses and festivals. Through many talents, she managed to thrive in Norway. Having audio dyslexia, vocal language has always been a challenge, so learning Norwegian is a slow process.  However, she didn’t expect that not understanding Norwegian could impact her relationship with her own children. Even though her children knew  Norwegian she received pressure from the Norwegian health services to have her children ‘socialized’, she ultimately ‘lost’ them to the  Norwegian language for several years and they stopped speaking to their mother. Eventually, her children started to speak to her more, and by bringing her children to Australia for 2 months, they understood how  English stood in the contents of the world and their family. She felt like that knowledge was the one thing of value she could help them with in the world. Then they started to know each other all over again and they could tell Leanne what they really thought and felt.    

And a huge big thank you to Rebel Oslo for allowing us to use their venue.  

The Oslo Desk Podcast Season 6 - Surviving or Thriving in Norway. 

Interviewer: Ka Man Mak

The Oslo Desk is building a leading media house to portray racialised immigrant communities more accurately and completely. Most of our work is conducted by dedicated journalists and storytellers. If you would like this work to continue and can make a contribution, please go to https://buymeacoffee.com/oslodesk.  

Lila Zotou lived and obtained her first BA in Visual Arts in Greece.  After that, she went to the Netherlands where she graduated with a  Master’s Degree in Fine Arts at Utrecht University of the Arts. There she lived for 7 years and it was an experience that shaped her professionally and developed the ideology that she desired to approach her creative thinking.   

In Oslo, she got motivated working as a freelance photographer, photo  instructor and occasional curator. Her artistic practice ranges across notions of identity, belonging and place. Lila uses all kinds of photography such as vernacular photography, peripatetic photography, and visual storytelling to explore the world around her and her role in it.  It was in Oslo that she learned more about herself and developed  creative practices as an act of self-care.  

Lila talks about her experience with the Norwegian health system. She suffered some major medical obstacles in getting reproductive health treatment and not getting the help that she needed from the hospital.  Lila got exhausted during the process of getting follow-ups whilst also overcoming grief. The waiting times in the hospitals were also too long and it seemed like they did not want to prioritize her.   

And a huge big thank you to Oslo International Hub for allowing us to use their venue.   

The Oslo Desk Podcast Season 6 - Surviving or Thriving in Norway.  

Interviewer: Ka Man Mak  

The Oslo Desk is building a leading media house to portray racialised immigrant communities more accurately and completely. Most of our work is conducted by dedicated journalists and storytellers. If you would like this work to continue and can make a contribution, please go to https://buymeacoffee.com/oslodesk.

Aiko Yamashita (PhD.) is the Principal Data Scientist at Group Risk  Management and Lead of ESG Data Task Force in the Norwegian bank, DNB.  Aiko has lived in Japan, Sweden, Costa Rica, US and Netherlands. before landing in Norway. She talks about embracing the beauty of two cultures –  Japanese and Latin American and navigating these cultures with parenting in Norway. After finishing her degree in Costa Rica, she went to the US, which was a tough break from her family who provided her with a safety net. Her depression led her into nature and connected with the tour guide who shaped her perception of life. Aiko also shared about her best friend’s passing – a friendship that was so dear to her and how she overcame these challenges in her life. Her last remarks are “To get out there. Move!”.  

Aiko Yamashita has a background in Informatics with a doctoral degree in experimental software engineering. She has +10 years of experience in data analytics within the logistics, retail and finance industries. She is currently leading the ESG Data Task Force, which has a mission to ensure top-of-class ESG analytics and timely access to ESG data for the  Corporate. She believes in the responsible use of Data, AI, and  Technology, and is a passionate advocate for data literacy in DNB. In addition to being a Data Scientist at DNB, Aiko is an Adjunct Associate  Professor at OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, where she has taught courses in Data Science and supervised students.  

A huge big thank you to Sentralen and Aqeel Shafqat Gujjar for allowing us to use their venue.     

The Oslo Desk Podcast Season 6 - Surviving or Thriving in Norway.    

Interviewer: Ka Man Mak

The Oslo Desk is building a leading media house to portray racialised immigrant communities more accurately and completely.     

Most of our work is conducted by dedicated journalists and storytellers.  If you would like this work to continue and can make a contribution, please go to https://buymeacoffee.com/oslodesk.

John Alan Resse is born and raised in Ohio, USA. He moved to Norway in  2002 with his Norwegian wife. He has two children and a daughter back home in the USA from a previous relationship. He talks about how he navigates the hardship in life when we don’t see opportunities, and how he applies his insight in powerlifting into other aspects of his life.  John has also made guest appearances on Norwegian TV broadcasting channels: TV2 and NRK where it’s important to have media representation.  He talks about his thoughts on crowdfunding for his new radio show to share more uplifting, inspiring and educational content; and makes an open call to the international community to band together so that we can support each other when we are barely surviving. Actions speak volumes to love and the social impact we want to create. The need to be seen and heard.   

John founded and hosted The Comin' Home Podcast, which is now turned into a FM radio show. John is currently a writer, singer-songwriter,  champion and record-holding powerlifter, standup comedian, podcaster,  and radio program producer, creator, and host. He was a former US Marine and US police officer who worked as a narcotics and gang detective,  crime scene technician and juvenile officer for 7 years in the U.S.A. In  Norway, he has worked as a project leader, music teacher, child services case worker, and consultant for the Norwegian Police Immigration Service, and founded 3 gyms. His podcast was inspired by his  own search for motivation and meaning after losing his son to heroin overdose in November 2019.  

A huge big thank you to Scandic Ambassadeur Drammen and George Daniels for allowing us to use their venue.     

The interview was recorded back in February 2022, and both the guest and host were recovering from surgeries at the time.  

The Comin' Home Podcast: https://johnalanpod.com/   

The Oslo Desk Podcast Season 6 - Surviving or Thriving in Norway.    

Interviewer: Ka Man Mak

The Oslo Desk is building a leading media house to portray racialised immigrant communities more accurately and completely.     

Most of our work is conducted by dedicated journalists and storytellers.  If you would like this work to continue and can make a contribution, please go to https://buymeacoffee.com/oslodesk.

Enzo Nicholás Rossi was born in Uruguay but has since lived in Paraguay, Canary Islands, Germany, United Kingdom, and now has been in Norway for the last nine years. He has a degree in International Trade and Languages, as well as a master's in Higher Education Studies. His main expertise is  Internationalisation of Education and has worked for many years  recruiting international students and helping institutions become more  international. He currently works as an Implementer for an Open Source software project, supporting Ministries of Health in African and Latin American countries. He also does presentations and workshops about cross-cultural awareness and coping with culture shock for companies and organisations.  

And a huge big thank you to Rebel Oslo for allowing us to use their venue.   

The Oslo Desk Podcast Season 6 - Surviving or Thriving in Norway.  

Interviewer: Ka Man Mak

The Oslo Desk is building a leading media house to portray racialised immigrant communities more accurately and completely.   

Most of our work is conducted by dedicated journalists and storytellers. If you would like this work to continue and can make a contribution,  please go to https://buymeacoffee.com/oslodesk.

A Mexican American and woman-in-tech, Abi Høier Hoel is an Account  Manager for local scale-up and agri-tech game-changer, Farmforce AS.  After marrying her Norwegian husband, Abi left her home in Phoenix,  Arizona and her promising career in financial advising to immigrate to  Norway in December 2019. Since then, she has faced the challenges of being an immigrant in a new country head-on and continues to use her passions for kindness, people, and technology to help others feel seen,  heard, and empowered.   

And a huge big thank you to Fotobaren for allowing us to use their venue.   

The Oslo Desk Podcast Season 6 - Surviving or Thriving in Norway.  

Interviewer: Ka Man Mak

The Oslo Desk is building a leading media house to portray racialised immigrant communities more accurately and completely.   

Most of our work is conducted by dedicated journalists and storytellers. If you would like this work to continue and can make a contribution,  please go to https://buymeacoffee.com/oslodesk.

An interview with Yvan Bayisabe, a serial entrepreneur based in Oslo with a Master's degree in law at the University of Oslo, and is currently studying part-time Computer science at Oslo Metropolitan  University. Born in Burundi and migrated to Norway in 2003.  Recently launched a tech startup called Vibrantcreator with a bold aim to provide universal access to successful entrepreneurship. The startup provides entrepreneurs with a virtual business partner that formalizes and structures ideas into businesses.  Heavily passionate about impact development and speaks five languages.  

The Oslo Desk Podcast Season 6 - Surviving or Thriving in Norway.  

Interviewer: Ka Man Mak

The Oslo Desk is building a leading media house to portray racialised immigrant communities more accurately and completely.   

Most of our work is conducted by dedicated journalists and storytellers.  If you would like this work to continue and can make a contribution,  please go to https://buymeacoffee.com/oslodesk.

A conversation with Lucas Salmon based in Oslo on fatherhood, music, BLM, immigration journey, networking, youth work,  grief, racism, school, resilience, ambitions, coronavirus pandemic and bullying.

Lucas is from London and is now living in Norway since 2010. He has worked with a wide variety of organizations in Norway such as Youth  Against Drugs, Antiracist centre, Queer Word, Red Cross and in different schools in Norway. He worked formerly as a milieu counsellor (in Norwegian: miljøarbeider) in schools with a special focus on working with at-risk youth, as well as mentoring one-on-one school dropouts and as project manager for some creative projects. He is currently working as a project manager with the responsibility for developing prevention programs at the national level aimed at at-risk youth and is a Life  Coach Mentor for young people in the community.

Season 5 - Black Parents in Norway - Their Story.

Podcast cover & production by Ka Man Mak

A teaser for a conversation with Lucas Salmon based in Oslo on fatherhood, music, BLM, immigration journey, networking, youth work, grief, racism, school, resilience, ambitions, coronavirus pandemic and bullying.

Lucas is from London and is now living in Norway since 2010. He has worked with a wide variety of organizations in Norway such as Youth Against Drugs, Antiracist centre, Queer Word, Red Cross and in different schools in Norway. He worked formerly as milieu counsellor (in Norwegian: miljøarbeider) in schools with a special focus on working with at-risk youth, as well as mentoring one-on-one school dropouts and as project manager for some creative projects. He is currently working as a project manager with the responsibility for developing prevention programs at the national level aimed at at-risk youth and is a Life Coach Mentor for young people in the community. 

Season 5 - Black Parents in Norway - Their Story.

Podcast cover & production by Ka Man Mak