Mindful Expat Episode 33: Challenges & Opportunities for Expat Partners: Meaningful Work, Sense of Purpose, & Professional Identity (With Guest: Claudia Landini)

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Today’s Mindful Expat Guest is Claudia Landini!

Claudia is an intercultural trainer and mobile careers coach. Originally from Italy, Claudia has been living abroad for the past 27 years, since 1989! She has lived in four African countries (Sudan, Angola, Congo Brazzaville and Guinea Bissau), two Latin American countries (Honduras and Peru), in Jerusalem, and she now lives in Jakarta, Indonesia. She also speaks quite an impressive number of languages – Italian, English, French, Spanish, and German – and as if that weren’t already enough, she also knows a little bit of Portuguese, Bahasa Indonesia, and Arabic.

Claudia is the founder of the non-profit organization ExpatClic, which is an online platform and community supporting expat women in a number of different ways through their transitions abroad – both personally and professionally.

She is also an intercultural trainer and cross-cultural transitions coach with a focus on helping expat women develop and maintain their careers as they move abroad.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• Some of the challenges that expat partners may face in their careers when they move abroad and how this can impact their sense of professional (and personal) identity.
• The importance of finding meaningful, satisfying activities that allow us to continue to learn and grow — whether or not we have an official job that pays the bills.
• How our professional paths can evolve and shift when we move abroad in ways that we might not have envisioned but that can be incredibly enriching and satisfying.
• How moving abroad and navigating some of these challenges can actually teach us important things about ourselves and foster not only profession but also personal development. Read More

Mindful Expat Episode 29: From Surviving to Thriving Abroad! (With Guest: Louise Wiles)

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Today’s Mindful Expat Guest is Louise Wiles!

Louise is an expat coach who works with international assignees, expat partners, and international organizations to help expats and their families not only survive but thrive in their lives abroad!

Louise is originally from the UK, but she has spent much of the last 18 years living in Spain and Portugal. Three years ago, she repatriated back to England with her husband and 2 daughters.

When Louise first moved abroad for her husband’s career, she left behind a corporate career of her own, so she is intimately familiar with the challenges that dual career couples face when deciding to move abroad and navigating their expat experience. Along with her (former) business partner, Evelyn Simpson, both trained coaches, she began a business called Thriving Abroad, to help expat partners and expat assignees navigate these challenges and create a life they love.

Louise also has her own podcast, also called Thriving Abroad, where she interviews guests and covers topics related to helping expats face personal and professional challenges in their lives abroad, and I highly encourage you to check it out.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• About Louise’s experience of navigating multiple overseas moves and her professional journey of creating her coaching business, supporting expats and expat partners.
• The importance of our expectations and really thinking through our decision to move abroad ahead of time.
• Some tips for people already living abroad who feel like they’re in survival mode to help make the shift from just surviving to actually thriving in their lives overseas!  Read More