“Whatever you have here”—she gestures to her heart, to her history—“It doesn’t disappear when you change countries. You bring your suitcase with you. Always.”

This episode of WanderWomen shook me.

Because Oksana Prokhorova doesn’t tell a polished story. She tells the real one.The one with a burnout so deep that brushing her teeth felt like a triumph.The one where a white-glove immigration experience still couldn’t cushion the cultural rupture.

The one where reinvention only began after everything safe and certain came undone.

We often romanticize immigration as a new beginning. But Oksana reminds us:

✨ You don’t arrive empty-handed.

You bring your fears, your family stories, your survival patterns—and sometimes, your pain.

In this episode, we talk about:

* 💬 Learning to speak the local language and finally choosing to use it

* 🔥 Leaving toxic work cultures (even when they’re prestigious)

* 🧠 Therapy, trauma, and the invisible “suitcase” many immigrants carry

* 💸 Why financial literacy is the quiet superpower every woman needs

One of my favorite moments?

When Oksana says: “You can’t out-therapy a toxic workplace. You just have to leave.”That level of clarity and courage can change lives.

Toolkit:

3 Anchors from Oksana’s Story

* Learn the local language even if it scares you. Belonging starts with choosing to belong.

* Financial independence is freedom. Learn to manage your money before life forces you to.

* Do the inner work. Therapy won’t solve everything, but it can stop you from bringing the same pain into every new chapter.

WanderWomen: How High-Skilled Immigrant Women Thrive is now available for order

If Oksana’s story moved you, the book is filled with dozens more like hers—raw, real, and revolutionary.

👉 Order here: shivangiwalke.com/wanderwomen

Watch the full episode

Let this be your reminder:Reinvention doesn’t start with readiness.It starts with refusal, refusal to keep carrying pain you didn’t choose.

With love,Shivangi

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