Limitless Laowai — Expat Life, Business Strategy, Personal Development & Cultural Adjustment in China | Learn Chinese
436 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 4 years ago - ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsAt Limitless, we believe that choosing China as an expatriate assignment offers unlimited opportunity and adventure – and proper preparation is the key to success! Through real-life interviews from China’s leading expats, we support you and your loved ones through the entire process from relocation to repatriation, and every step in between. Glean wisdom and pick up fantastic tips and tricks from other people like you. Stay motivated, be empowered and get connected to some pretty amazing folks by tuning in. Welcome to the Limitless Community.
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Episodes
#36 Fred Raposo – Tapping into the power of people
January 12, 2015 17:00 - 29 minutes - 13.7 MBOriginally from France, Fred's career began first in retail management and then key account management for an multinational company. He and his wife landed in Shanghai in 2006 and for a number of years, Fred worked for a Chinese company and dramatically impacted their international business development. It was through that success that he created his own consulting company, Aim Result, in 2012. Additionally, two years later, he co-founded www.shanghaicontactme.com where people can inquire th...
#35 Bhasker Jaiswal – Advertising media executive chooses China long term
January 11, 2015 17:00 - 26 minutes - 12.8 MBLong-time China executive, Bhasker Jaiswal works as Managing Partner of OMD China, a leading advertising media agency in Shanghai. His career spans over 16 years, and included 4 years in Malaysia before coming to China. He has been in China for past 8 years and worked in Guangzhou and Shanghai. He likes to play tennis and badminton and is always looking for a game. He currently lives in Shanghai with his wife and 4-year-old daughter.
#34 Breaking (and fixing!) the site, cure for insomnia, and breaking a sweat
January 08, 2015 17:00 - 10 minutes - 5.32 MBThis week Ally shares how she by chance both broke and fixed up the audio files on LimitlessLaowai.com, how she finally got some zzzzz's using a seemingly silly bag of seeds, and how she got motivated to peel herself from the office chair and get into workout clothes for the first time in, well, too long.
#33 Dagmara Sitek – A young professional blazing her own path in China's gaming industry
January 07, 2015 17:00 - 34 minutes - 16.3 MBDagmara is a young professional from Poland, where she studied the Italian Language & Culture and, later on, Journalism and Social Communications. She is currently the Senior Community Manager for First Person Shooter Games in a gaming company, Cmune, up in Beijing. Before landing in Beijing 3 years ago, she worked 4 years in the industry as Business Development Manager and Web Games Manager back home in Poland. From the start she has been very active in Beijing Gaming Networking scene where...
#32 Are you prepared for an emergency? Find peace of mind in 5 simple steps
January 06, 2015 17:00 - 16 minutes - 7.91 MBLet's be honest, no one wants to be caught in the middle of a medical emergency...well, EVER, let alone in one without a plan! Are you prepared? In this episode, International SOS Clinic Manager, Sandra Fuld, shares the five steps to developing your comprehensive medical emergency plan while abroad. Complete with a downloadable form, this podcast will empower you to better keep you and your loved ones safe while living abroad.
#31 Sandra Fuld – The five building blocks for a successful expat experience
January 05, 2015 17:00 - 23 minutes - 11.2 MBInternational SOS Clinic Manager, Sandra Fuld, was born in Belfast to an Irish mother and a Dutch father. She grew up in Germany where she also trained as a nurse. After graduation she moved to London where she worked in Infectious diseases and HIV, while simultaneously training to be an Acupuncturist. It was this interest in eastern medicine that led her the first time to Kunming, China in 2005 to learn more about this country. In the same year she moved to Saudi Arabia, met her French futu...
#30 Aaron Chang – E-commerce and web design wiz talks life and business in China
January 04, 2015 17:00 - 26 minutes - 12.4 MBAaron is Founder and General Manager of JING Digital, which designs and develops e-Commerce websites, web applications and most recently, and advanced social marketing WeChat platform. Originally from New Mexico, Aaron has been in Shanghai for 8 years and still maintains long-time client relationships in the U.S. He and his wife have been married for five amazing years.
#29 Ally Mona – Weekly wrap up – Five minutes on health and safety in China
January 01, 2015 17:00 - 7 minutes - 3.67 MBOur thoughts and prayers are with the families of the 36 victims of the New Year's Eve tragedy that took place on Shanghai’s historic Bund. Today in light of this incident, join Ally in a brief discussion on health and safety while living in China as a precursor to next week's interview with International SOS Clinic Manager, Sandra Fuld. Sandra will share with us step-by-step plans to drafting a medical emergency plan while living abroad.
#28 Jeff Tan – The silver bullet you need to conquer your fears in 2015
December 31, 2014 17:00 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MBA certified Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) trainer and Certified Hypnotherapist, Jeff holds a master's degree in Professional Counseling. He has been in China for 9 years and prior to starting his company, REV, he served 26 years with distinction as a combat helicopter pilot and flight instructor with the Singapore Air Force, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. As a trusted life coach to many of his clients, Jeff specializes in coaching, counseling and hypnosis therapy, all accompl...
#27 Sebastien Gaudin – Leaving corporate and giving a voice to the people
December 30, 2014 17:00 - 31 minutes - 14.9 MBOriginally from France, Sebastien and his wife have been in China for 4 years and have a 9-month-old baby girl. He has a background in pharmacy and business and worked in a leading pharmaceutical company for 12 years in corporate business development and marketing in various markets, including the US, France, Mexico and China. Sebastien has since left the corporate world and is the founder and CEO of The CareVoice. The CareVoice is a bit like Yelp for health care, so it's a review-based plat...
#26 Emma-Tiffany Durr – A young professional's tips & tales from the Cartier sales floor
December 29, 2014 17:00 - 30 minutes - 14.3 MBEmma was born in the UK and educated in South Africa. She came to China after receiving a bursary from winning a foreign languages competition. She currently works as a sales associate for Cartier in Shanghai. Tune in to hear Emma's take on life in China as a young professional and listen in for her tips and tricks to successfully launching your career in China.
#25 Joe Fish Clark – Tenacity, guts and the drive to succeed in China
December 28, 2014 17:00 - 34 minutes - 16.3 MBJoe, affectionately nicknamed 'Fish', has been in Shanghai for 8 years. Originally from New Zealand, and having spent 6 years in the UK, he's now in Shanghai and quite like myself, a bit of a serial entrepreneur. Over the past 8 years in China, Fish has moved from the commercial real estate industry, to media and now into corporate strategy and business development. Tune in to hear Fish discuss major challenges he's faced and why tenacity and guts top his list of must-have personal attribute...
#24 Ally Mona – Owning an attitude of gratitude
December 25, 2014 17:00 - 9 minutes - 4.99 MBNeed to put some extra gratitude in your tool kit as you begin 2015 in China? If so, tune in to this week's wrap up as your host, Ally Mona walks through 9 different ways to consider gratitude.
#23 Cherie Burton – Relishing the gift of time
December 24, 2014 17:00 - 33 minutes - 15.9 MBCherie is a wife, mother, coach, entrepreneur, teacher, pioneer, adventurer and woman of faith. Originally from California, she has spent 9 years living overseas in Thailand, Indonesia and China. Cherie has wonderful little boys age 2 and 4 and an awesome husband. They currently reside in Shenzhen, China, but also spent 1.5 years in Guangzhou. Cherie spends her days managing our home as well as an international nutrition product distribution business. Tune in to hear how Cherie used her gift...
#22 Lexie Morris – Finding your entrepreneurial sweet spot
December 23, 2014 17:00 - 31 minutes - 14.7 MBLexie hails from the UK, and studied Mandarin at the University of Cambridge, before heading into what she thought would be a dream job in the corporate world in London. The brief stint there convinced Lexie that it was not her cup of tea at all, and so she moved to Beijing in late 2009 to setup the city’s first cupcake bakery, the Lollipop Bakery. Last year, having gained a reputation for consistent fresh deliciousness, Lollipop brought its cupcakes to Shanghai as a co-partner of the Pantry...
#21 Debbie Beck – Supporting spouse with a splash of bold self-reinvention
December 22, 2014 17:00 - 32 minutes - 15.4 MBDebbie has spent over 28 years across Asia Pacific within people service companies, being an Efficiency Expert - which means taking the pain out of implementing projects on time & within budgets set by management. She thrives on making hard tasks happen and sorting out the headache of “change” management so that companies & individuals can get on with “doing what they do best”. She has been in China for 9 years as a supporting spouse and doing a bit of contract work but most recently has rec...
#20 Michael Boll – Redefining the special needs landscape
December 21, 2014 17:00 - 26 minutes - 12.4 MBMichael is an Apple Distinguished Educator, entrepreneur, podcaster, and technology coach. He recently co-founded Innovative Professional Development, an online PD platform, with the mission of facilitating outstanding professional growth opportunities for all teachers. Michael has a teenage son with profound autism and is keenly interested in the special needs community and its population of diverse learners. This interest led Michael and his wife, Lori, to open an innovative school in Shan...
#19 Ally Mona – The history behind LimitlessLaowai & this week's wrap-up
December 18, 2014 17:00 - 18 minutes - 8.66 MBAlly is a wife, a mama, a learner, an entrepreneur, and most recently, a podcast host! Tune into this week's wrap-up session to hear the brief history of the Limitless Project and insight into Ally's top lessons learned thus far. If you've not noticed yet, definitely note that each Friday will be a little different at Limitless. As suggested by the Limitless Community, you'll hear from Ally, Ron, or them both about lessons learned from the week while they work to build LimitlessLaowai Podcas...
#18 Norbert Haguma – Positioning yourself in the middle of the next big thing
December 17, 2014 17:00 - 31 minutes - 14.7 MBNorbert is a young African professional with over 10 years of experience in China. A Rwandan national, Norbert speaks 6 languages including Chinese, French and English and has 6 years’ experience in Chinese investments in Africa, working with such prestigious institutions as China Development Bank and Exim Bank. He is a co-founder of YAPS (Young African Professionals and Students) and co-founder and CEO of Kiziga.com, the biggest African platform for online Chinese university application and...
#17 Eric Baden – Modeling servant leadership from the helm
December 16, 2014 17:00 - 31 minutes - 14.8 MBOriginally from Germany, Eric studied in France at INSEAD, in the UK at Warwick University and in the US at Wharton. His corporate career took him to Asia at the age of 23 with working assignments in Taiwan, India, and Mainland China. During the last 25 years, Eric negotiated joint ventures, established a holding company, acquired and divested business, and multi-site organizations with a few thousand employees and up to a billion USD in sales, all before founding his own boutique consulting...
#16 Mike Paduada – With a resource list that'll knock your socks off
December 15, 2014 17:00 - 27 minutes - 13.2 MBMike is an app developer, having recently made the jump from an eclectic career that has included consulting, dancing, writing, and occasional gigs with startups. He and his wife have been living in Shanghai for nearly three years. Also, Mike is Canadian, and he’s pretty proud of that.
#15 Amanda McNeice – How her mamapreneur superpowers can unlock yours
December 14, 2014 17:00 - 31 minutes - 14.9 MBAmanda is passionate about helping expats, particularly trailing spouses, figure out what the heck their new identity is now that they've packed up and and jumped on a plane. Not only are you now in unfamiliar surroundings, but quite often you can find yourself in unfamiliar shoes, trying to figure out how to navigate your new life here. She knows well those blisters that come with the new expat shoes. After packing up and jumping on the plane to Shanghai in 2010, she has found that these ne...
#14 Jodie Clark – A mama's take on choosing 'great' over 'good'
December 11, 2014 17:00 - 35 minutes - 16.8 MBJodie grew up in New Zealand and came to Shanghai eight years ago via London. She and her husband, Joe (nicknamed 'Fish'), and kids left a fantastic set up as expats in London to leap into the great unknown of China and are now embracing this life with all its opportunities and challenges. Tune in to hear her insights on how and why to stay optimistic while living life in China.
#13 Lola Sanchez – Building bridges from Spain to the mainland
December 10, 2014 17:00 - 23 minutes - 11.4 MBLola studied journalism in Spain for three years and one year of marketing in Belgium. After that, she came to Beijing to do an internship in the press department of the Spanish embassy. She loved her time in Beijing so much that she wanted to stay in China and about a year and a half later, opened her own company called Chinexita Events and Communication. Now, she's in Beijing and is the acting CEO of that organization.
#12 Ron Mona – Meet the man behind LimitlessLaowai
December 09, 2014 17:00 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MBRon is Ally's incredible husband and is very much the backbone of everything she does. He has been in Shanghai over 6 years and is passionate about his faith, family, food, music and fitness. In this interview, Ron walks listeners through his journey to China.
#11 Philip Beck – Executive, angel investor on 'failing fast'
December 08, 2014 17:00 - 35 minutes - 16.8 MBPhilip is married and has one 28 year-old-daughter back home in Australia. He's worked for 37 years–26 in marketing and advertising and 5 years in recruiting all in the corporate sector. The past 6 years, he has worked as an angel investor in Chinese start ups, focusing mainly on consumer technology. He has a passion for flying helicopters and his dream is to fly the entire length of the Great Wall of China by helicopter.
#10 Alison Nantz – Midwife turned unlikely entrepreneur
December 07, 2014 17:00 - 25 minutes - 12.3 MBWhen opportunity presented itself to trained midwife, Alison Nantz, she took a leap of faith. Alison has spent almost half of her life in Asia and actually met her husband, Josh, when they were kids growing up in Taiwan. They’ve been married and living in Shanghai for four years now. Ali works as a doula and lactation counselor here and is the co-owner of Shanghai Doula, an entrepreneurial venture started in Shanghai six years ago.
#9 Lolly Thompson – China through the eyes of a newcomer
December 04, 2014 22:28 - 31 minutes - 14.8 MBLolly is from the UK she is the mother of 4 grown children. Over the past 19 years she has lived and worked in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Qatar, Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia and now China. Although her main career in the UK was that of a Hotel General Manager, Lolly has been privileged to work across a broad range of industries since traveling. She currently works for an American International School in Shekou. As a newcomer to China herself, she shares fresh insights into the early days of adjustment...
#8 Heather Rose-Chase – Creating the expat life you desire
December 03, 2014 16:33 - 31 minutes - 14.8 MBHeather is a nomad at heart, who loves adventure. From the time she was a small child she dreamt of traveling the world. What she didn't know was she'd get to see the world by living abroad. In the past 16 years she has moved 13 times between five different countries. A passionate advocate of the arts and the power of creativity, her wandering life serves to give her plenty of stories to write about.
#7 Bob Fan – Repatriating Well
December 02, 2014 12:27 - 25 minutes - 12.1 MBBob and his family moved from Minnesota to Shanghai in 2012 for their expat experience. During their time in Shanghai, Bob worked as a Marketing Director for Covidien’s Emerging Markets group, while Darcy lived the tai-tai life and kids Kiana and Eric attended Concordia International School. Their time in Shanghai was rich and rewarding, and having repatriated two months ago, they’re currently navigating their way back to life in Minnesota.
#6 Evelyn Sun – Being a good guest in a foreign home
December 01, 2014 16:40 - 25 minutes - 12.1 MBEvelyn was raised in Taiwan and spent 6 years in the US. She has been in China for 14 years with her husband Gary and two sons Andrew who is attending college in the US and Bryan who is a junior at Western Academy of Beijing. She has been a full-time mother since the birth of her first son but used to work a variety of jobs from an architectural design assistant, to a music teacher for the Yamaha Music Institute and even as a China Airlines flight attendant. Evelyn is a woman of many talents...
#5 Atiff Gill – Journey from Lacoste CEO to private equity management
December 01, 2014 16:15 - 33 minutes - 16 MBExecutive Atiff Gill is 40 years old, married with two young boys and lives in Shanghai. He has worked in the consumer and retail industry for 20 years. He started his career in the UK and relocated to Hong Kong in 1998. He first came to China in 1999 and has actually lived here for the last 8 years. Atiff is currently Managing Director of Operations in Asia for CVC Capital, one of the largest global Private Equity firms.
#4 Adrian Cahill – Life isn't a dress rehearsal
December 01, 2014 09:11 - 31 minutes - 15 MBAdrian is considered a charismatic world traveler by many definitions. He has travelled for over 8 years, entering over 70 countries and inspiring hundreds of people along the way. Adrian is also considered a successful investor, who semi-retired at 28 years old with enough passive income to see him travelling as far and frequently as he chooses to go. He now spends his time assisting small business and inspiring others to reach their potential.
#3 Gary Isse – Building an online platform to meet an educational need
November 28, 2014 08:23 - 33 minutes - 15.6 MBTune in to this LimitlessLaowai Podcast episode to be motivated, empowered and connected to one of China’s Expats! Meet Gary Isse… Gary is from Los Angeles, California and has been in China for over 7 years. He started training and consulting in 1998; primarily on how businesses can use the Internet for marketing. He received his Masters Degree in Business Administration and prior to coming to China, he worked on the development and implementation of a company-wide ERP system at a major m...
#2 Victoria Plekenpol – Blooming where you’re planted
November 28, 2014 08:12 - 31 minutes - 14.8 MBTune in to this LimitlessLaowai Podcast episode to be motivated, empowered and connected to one of China’s Expats! Meet Victoria Plekenpol… Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Victoria has been married 20 years, lived in 6 countries has 3 children and one 3-legged cat! Victoria lived in Shanghai for a number of years and just recently moved to Shenzhen with her husband's work. They've sort of done and experienced it all in China and continuing to be 'go-to' people in whichever com...
#1 D. Sriram – China may not be as different as you think
November 27, 2014 04:00 - 30 minutes - 14 MBTune in to this LimitlessLaowai Podcast episode to be motivated, empowered and connected to one of China’s Expats! Meet D. Sriram… Sriram has spent 18 years in advertising and media agencies in India, China and the Asia Pacific Region. He is no stranger to executive roles, in fact, at different points in his career, Sriram was APAC CEO for Starcom Mediavest Group and China CEO for Aegis Media Group. For the past 3 years he has been a consultant and entrepreneur advising professional se...