Tandem Nomads - From Expat Partners To Global Entrepreneurs! Build A Successful Business And Thrive In Your Global Nomadic

One of the most simple and common questions I get at my speaking engagements and Tandem Nomad conferences is: What is a portable business? And the followup question is usually: How do I make it profitable? In this episode, I do deep into answering these questions for you.I believe that portable business is the best solution for expat partners who want to continue their careers while I’m moving from one country to another with their partners. That is why I’ve created the podcast and built the Tandem Nomads community. But you might be wondering what makes a portable business? There are many aspects to consider when creating a portable business and to truly make it portable. One of the unique challenges is to continue with that business, grow it, scale it and make it profitable while in the usual transitions of expat life.  Let’s get back to the basics and understand where to start, what you need and how to take action to build your portable career.What

We all at some point might ask ourselves these questions: what is my legacy? What is my purpose and what am I set to achieve in my life? What is my vision for this world and how can I contribute to it? The Shell Ladies Project In this episode, I share an inspiring story that represents the magic of starting small and dreaming big! It also illustrates what I have been often sharing since I first launched Tandem Nomads.  I strongly believe that globalization would have never happened without the contribution of the families and expat spouses who made it possible for companies to expand globally for decades!     This is the story of a group of expat spouses, often called “the Shell wives”, for whom the mission of preserving and sharing global nomads’ stories and memories mattered at the highest level.  They wanted to recognize the contributions and worth of expatriate families.  Certain issues that come with a lifetime on the move were common to many expatriates, such as leaving friends and family

Inspiration, knowledge, and creativity are the fuel to have a fulfilling life and a successful business.  At the beginning of the year, you feel motivated and ready to make it a great one. But life is hectic and sometimes you can’t find the time to be creative.  As busy entrepreneurs and moms, juggling between kids, homework, international moves, settling in a new country and running your own business, how do you stay inspired in business and life throughout the year?  How do you avoid ending up like a hamster in the wheel as the days pass by? In this episode, you will discover the 3 pillars and the action plan to implement even when you feel overwhelmed.  Stay inspired, build a competitive business, live a fulfilling life and avoid getting caught in the daily tasks that tend to make you lose your creativity, motivation and confidence. Three pillars to stay inspired in business and life In this episode, you will learn: The 3 pillars to implement in your life and business to stay on top of your game. Th

This is a replay of an episode that first aired May 2016.  As we start the new year, now is a perfect time to create a career plan with the advice and inspiration from our guest, Kirsten de Greling-Visman.     Kirsten is Dutch Canadian raised as an expat child across the Netherlands, Canada, the Dutch Antilles, the US, France and Spain. Kirsten then settled and built her career in the Netherlands as a program manager and career advisor in universities.  In 2007, although she was offered three major positions by various universities, she took the decision to leave her promising career to join her French-Finish fiancé who was sent to Albania for his job.  Since then, they have had two boys and have been moving across Africa to Cameroon, Burkina Faso and now they live in Zambia. “Have the persistence to execute your own plan” While moving from a country to another, Kirsten has been able to take few job assignments but also trained to become a certified coach.  Today she is a career coach, helping exp

This is a replay of an episode that first aired in January 2016.  However, as we approach the holidays and the start of the new year, the advice and information about practicing mindfulness are still important and relevant today. Jodi Harris is American, grew up in Texas Austin, since then she has been living in Madagascar, Washington DC and today she lives in Japan with her husband and three kids. After graduating with a Masters in Social Work, she started her career as a clinical social worker, providing counseling and psychotherapy to immigrants in the US. When her husband got his first job abroad, she was pretty sure that she would easily be able to convert her skills to the countries where they would be moving to. It turned out to not be that easy, but Jodi took the time to define her strengths and reflect on herself. By the end of her first year in Madagascar, she started her coaching business, called World Tree Coaching LLC, that she has been since taking with everywhere she went.  Jodi is also the aut

One year after joining the Tandem Nomads team, Lillian Small tells us about her reinvention journey from chemical engineer to expat partner and now, a digital marketer. In pure authenticity, she generously shares how she is experiencing this journey while still on it and the obstacles she sometimes faces as she is in the early stages of launching her portable business. “It’s when time flew by quickly while working at it that I knew this is what I really want to do with my business.” This is a great conversation where we discuss how to deal with the fear of failure and some advice from my experience as I started my own business and had to deal with similar challenges. “I felt like an imposter at the beginning until I realized that I was good at it and enjoyed it.” Lillian was born in Toronto Canada to Portuguese parents. After finishing her studies in Chemical Engineering program, she started working at a refinery near her home while in a long-distance relationship with her future husba

If you’re growing a portable business and practicing it around the world, you will no doubt come across intercultural misunderstandings and situations where the local culture has an impact on you and your business. “Cultural communication is about how to align expectations” Sundae Schneider-Bean an intercultural specialist and a solution-oriented coach, and host of the podcast show Expat Happy hour.  Sundae is a mother two 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 60 countries go through transitions and change.  Sundae also works with multinational companies and NGOs to support their employees as well as train multi-cultural and international groups around the world.  Sundae really understands the challenges of achieving your business goals when working across cultures. “Ask yourself if the context is focused on the task or on building rel

What a special honor it is to be able to celebrate the second anniversary of Tandem Nomads with you!I am so grateful to all of you who have been here since the start and those who have just joined our community.  In this episode, I share my journey of the past two years in the most transparent and authentic way I can.It’s also important to me that I also bring you as many insights as possible so that I can help you in growing your own portable business.Highlights from this episode:Why and how I started Tandem NomadsHow Tandem Nomads evolved throughout the past two yearsThe highlights of these two years and what made them happenThe challenges I experienced and what I’ve learned from some of the failures and difficult momentsWhat the next steps are for Tandem Nomads and how will you benefit from itLessons Learned in this episode and how to apply them to your business:How to define if there is a market for your business and get your first clientsHow to build relationships and a community around yo

Have you ever heard of a virtual PR agency?  With the right tools and technology, you can almost any career with you.  Our guest today explains exactly how she did it. “Make sure to understand your needs, express them to your partner and find the right compromise” Melissa Mathews is American and currently lives with her family in Saudi Arabia.  After a career in journalism and working for the NASA as a spokesperson, Melissa became a mom, gave up her career and hopped on her nomadic journey with her husband.  They lived in Guatemala, Washington and twice in Saudi Arabia. While living in Guatemala, Mellissa started freelancing before launching her full-scale portable business.  Melissa is the founder of The Mathews Group, a strategic communications and public relations agency that helps business-minded engineers, technologists and scientists tell their stories to audiences that matter. “We tend to forget that what we are doing is hard and we should give ourselves credit for that” Highlig

Part of our Tandem Nomad community includes military spouses who share the same challenges and ambitious as all other expat partners.  Today we hear about one particular military spouse, Erica McMannes, who shares how she started her portable startup and began generating revenue in under a year. “Give up perfectionism, when you start a business you cannot know everything.” Erica McMannes started out her career path in 2003 working for the American Army in various director and leadership positions. Erica is also a military spouse and after 10 years, 6 moves within the US and abroad, 2 kids, and limited traditional job opportunities, she had to get creative! She found a way to find fulfillment and income that meshed well with the unpredictable military lifestyle. Her entrepreneurial spirit started when she joined a veteran-owned start-up as a consultant and managed to find the flexibility she was looking for.  The sparked her interest in entrepreneurism and in 2016, Erica co-founded her own startup,

Many expats start blogs to share their global experience with friends and family back home.  But our guest today started her blog with the goal of growing an audience and being paid for her writing.  Mariam Navaid Ottimofiore is from Karachi, Pakistan. As an expat child, she grew up in Bahrain, New York City and Pakistan. After her studies in the US and the UK, she launched her career as an economist and spent 8 years in investment banking before joining her husband abroad.  She has been an expat for the past 15 years and has lived in the United States (Massachusetts and Texas), the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Singapore and is currently living in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates with her husband and two children. “It was now or never, I just had to get started” While moving from a country to another, Mariam gave up her corporate career and started writing.  She was the content editor and travel writer for a local lifestyle magazine in Singapore for two years; she then expanded her services to

Do you have an idea for a product and service and don’t know what to do next?  Listen to this episode where you’ll hear tips and inspiration on how to build a product, get it to the market and grow your portable business. Ebere Akadiri comes from Nigeria where she founded two businesses, a retail clothing shop and two restaurants with large catering operations employing over 56 employees.  She holds a Bachelor in food science and technology. When she had to move to the Netherlands with her family, she decided to continue her entrepreneurial journey. “What helped grow my business was my passion to put West-African food on the map.” She founded Ataro Global Food Services BV, a food packaging and consulting company where she packages her signature spice blends. Ebere offers cooking workshops and videos to help her customers discover the culinary heritage of the West African region. Passionate about entrepreneurship, she also mentors other entrepreneurs to help them achieve business growth

As seen in past episodes with our guests Claudia Landini (#77) and Sonia Balcazar (#79), running a charity or an NGO can be a great way to complement or build a portable career. But not only that, it can be a source of fulfillment and purpose that a lot of expat partners look for.In this episode, you will find great advice on how to run a non-profit in a professional and sustainable way. Derry Deringer will share with you his tips to get what nonprofits need most, money! Listen in to his advice on how to raise funds and build relationships with your donors.Derry Deringer is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE). He built most of his career working for NGOs such as the United Nations World Food Program. In 2012, he founded his company, Deringer Consulting, to help small and medium-sized nonprofits improve their fundraising, performance, and leadership.“I realized starting my own business was the path for me when I could answer three main questions: Is there a need for the servi

One of the many ways of creating a business is to start consulting. In this episode, our guest Sonia Balcazar Meza-Cuadra shares her story and advice of starting and growing her portable consulting business.“If you know you will be back home, build your expertise abroad for it”Sonia comes from Peru and met her husband when she was studying economy. After they got married, they started traveling for his job. Their first assignment was to Paris, where Sonia got her first Master’s degree in Development at La Sorbonne. Together they lived in France, Guatemala, Peru, the UK, and the US. While moving from a country to another and raising their family of two kids, Sonia accomplished a lot! She volunteered, obtained 3 Master’s degrees and worked as an Economy professor and researcher. During this time, she built an expertise in the mining industry and became a manager for a major multinational mining company.“To do it all, be organized and also enjoy every moment”Today Sonia is a Co

How can you go from being an ex-government employee and expat partner to become a serial entrepreneur and founding 3 start-ups? Listen to the inspiring interview with Andrea Martins that we wanted to bring back to you.  This episode was recorded at the very start of Tandem Nomads podcast show but is still so valuable and worth listening to again! Andrea is a self-professed ‘start-up addict’ and founded and c0-founded 3 startups: ExpatWomen.com, Story Résumés, and now GreenSocks. Coming from Australia, Andrea gave up her head-office government career to follow her husband abroad.  Over the span of 10 years, she lived in Indonesia, Mexico, and Malaysia. Today she is back to Australia. Throughout her international relocations, she started a fascinating serial entrepreneurial journey.  Andrea’s first venture,  expatwomen.com serves expat women around the world.  It grew to such incredible success that she sold it in a 6-figure deal with an investor.  After this achievement, it was a surprise tha

Building a powerful community and tribe around your cause or business can be a great way to grow rapidly, find people to support you, generate revenue while serving the needs of the community. This episode will be a true inspiration if you are looking to build or grow your own community! Naomi Hattaway, a great tribe leader who shares with us all her secrets. Naomi Hattaway is the founder of the I Am A Triangle (IAAT) community that counts over 15,000 members (at the time we publish this episode) and a high engagement level of over 60%.  She shares with us her journey and tips to build a community.  Listen to her advice on how to be a tribe leader that serves the community and how to take it to the next level. Come and join us! Get a private invitation and access to the IAAT community before the official launch: Click here to join the IAAT community! Naomi Hattaway was one of the first guests on the Tandem Nomads podcast show.  B

One of the toughest question for expat spouses to answer: "What do you do?" However, whether you have a job, a business or are still looking for your way, this is a crucial question to learn how to answer. In order to bring you some excellent advice, I brought you one of the best marketer and networker I know, Stephanie Ward! I recorded this interview with her when I had just started the podcast show. It is really fun and interesting to see how things evolved since for me and Tandem Nomads! However, Stephanie's advice and this topic are timeless! This is why I want to make sure to bring it to you again. Stephanie Ward, from Firefly Coaching is a Business and Marketing Mentor and passionate about igniting small businesses success. She shares with you some great applicable tips to answer the question "what do you do?" in a comprehensive and memorable way that fits to your personal or professional situation. Highlights from this episode How to answer the question in an interesting an

This episode will provide you inspiration on how to turn your purpose into a portable non-profit that serves your community.  And it can be done while moving from one country to another while growing your portable career. “No matter what there must always be a meaning to your mobile life” Claudia Landini comes from Italy where she was an interpreter and developed her career in humanitarian missions for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and for the Danish organization DanChurchAid. She then quit her career to move abroad with her husband and two sons and they have been traveling together since 1989. They lived in Sudan, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Congo, Honduras, Peru and Jerusalem. Today Claudia and her husband are empty nesters and live in Jakarta, Indonesia. While moving from one country to another, Claudia developed her career as a coach and intercultural trainer. In 2004, she also founded an amazing platform for all expat women around the world called Expatclic.

A challenge that all women face whether they are expats or not and whether they have a business or work for a company, is balancing their career and motherhood. Dana Bachar comes from Israel where she started her formal mediation career. She facilitated and resolved disputes across a wide range of corporate, civil and domestic court cases. When Dana needed to relocate to Singapore with her family for her husband’s job, she launched her own mediation company called MeD8 where she continues with her partners to cover a wide range of cases.  Dana also helps parents and teachers acquire mediation skills in international schools. “I wanted to be a mom, I wanted to build a business, I am happy I could do both.” Highlights from the episode Building your network and community while moving to a new country and having children How to start a business while pregnant Advice on how to prepare your clients before taking your maternity leave Building the right support system in your life and your business Ens

Thinking of starting a portable business while living abroad and want to know more about the legal implications?  Don’t even know what kind of questions to ask?  Listen now to understand what you need to consider and research when launching your portable career as an expat spouse. Our guest today is Rosiane Houngbo-Monteverde, a French corporate Lawyer who built her career working for major companies before leaving France to join her husband in Bahrain.  There she managed to work for another major regional company. However, at the same time, she started realizing a real need for legal support for expats who build businesses away from their home base. This is what led her to launch her own company, named Legal Nomads, a law firm for French expats abroad and foreign expats living in France. Business regulations can be very different from a country to another and even though Rosiane specializes in French law, she has worked in many international circumstances and companies.  She shares her experience and i