Judy, can you tell us a bit about who you are and your background as an expat?

I guess you could call me a professional trailing spouse. I was born and raised in the UK and unwittingly married a Third Culture Kid. Soon after, we immigrated to Canada where I built a successful career in real estate. When my son was 9 years old my husband’s job took us to Azerbaijan just after its independence from the Soviet Union, which was a huge culture shock, but also a life-changing experience (in a good way!)   more ...

Tai, can you tell us a bit about your background before producing and hosting The Expat Radio Show?

My road to ultimately creating the Expat Show was a series of wild events one can only describe as unpredictable, long, winding and nightmarish! Hope you will bear with me.

To start, I come from an entrepreneurial background. I think anyone who has that quality in their blood knows how important it is to create and be independent. My first company was Taico® Incentive Services and centered around providing incentive education, awards and tracking tools for our corporate clients in the USA. Taico® Incentive Services still operates and can be visited at: www.taico.com. The success of the company gave me the motivation to leave the hustle and busy life of NYC to experience the beauty and peace of life in the country. I purchased a small house on a small lake and received all the necessary approvals to renovate the property.   more ...

Tina, can you tell us something about your background and what prompted you to write "The Global Nomad's Guide to University Transition"?

I am a third culture kid (TCK) myself. My father was in the military and I once asked my parents how many moves I had made by the time Dad retired. It turns out that I had moved 15 times by age 13. My husband and I have raised our own TCK daughters across four cultures and continents. As a family we have made 10 moves altogether.

A good friend who happened to be a psychologist who worked with globally mobile families offered to give me a transition workshop when she heard my family was repatriating after having lived nearly 15 consecutive years abroad. She taught me that we needed to treat our home country the same way we would a foreign one as it would be foreign to us in many respects. This training was a godsend. Although we still had some hurdles to jump, it made us more aware of why things were happening and what we could do about it.   more ...

Julian, can you tell us a bit about your background before founding expat-blog.com?

Before founding Expat blog six years ago, I worked as a web developer and marketer in the UK then in Spain for a few years. I went to London right after my studies where I got my first job. I must say that I fell pretty young under the spell of living abroad.

I have always been passionate about travel, foreign cultures and web technologies: Expat blog is a perfect blend of all of these!


What prompted you to start expat-blog.com?

In 2005, I was looking for information on the Internet about living abroad and more particularly in UK and in Spain where I lived as an expatriate. I must admit that they were only a few about real life abroad. At that time, blogging was fast-growing. I started a blog and noticed that they were a lot of expatriates’ blogs: I decided to gather all those blogs on a unique platform. Then as Expat blog was developing, we added more features and we are now a community website with more than 250 000 active members.   more ...

Narin Ganesh is the Regional Finance Director responsible for international relocation operations in the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia and recently featured in the Channel 4 program 'Undercover Boss'.


Narin, can you tell us a bit about your background before you joined Crown Relocations?

Before I joined Crown Relocations I was Finance Director at Neal's Yard Remedies, a manufacturer and retailer/wholesaler of natural plant-based cosmetics & toiletries. Before that I spent four years at Alpha Airports Group in a couple of controlling roles. Elsewhere on my CV you'll see that I have worked for Sainsbury's, Pendragon (in automotive retail), as well as a lengthy spell in social housing and in private practice, so a pretty varied background.


What services does Crown Relocations offer?

Crown Relocations is one of the world’s leading relocation specialists. We are experts at moving people virtually anywhere in the world. We relocate over 100,000 people internationally every year, guiding them through the relocation process and helping them to settle in when they get to their new host country. From packing plates to delivering dogs we’ve made moving people and their possessions into an art form. Our team of professionals can pack, transport and store personal belongings, expertly handling personal goods and delivering them securely across the globe.   more ...

Gabrielle, can you tell us something about your background and what prompted you to write "Buying Property in Portugal"?

I was born in London and attended Nonsuch High School for Girls in Cheam. Being a rather free-spirited person, and finding the constraints and curriculum of an all girls grammar school a bit too much, I left at 16 to start a job in structural engineering in London. However, I later returned to academic life and studied Sports Science at university to post-graduate level. During this time I also became a top class runner, gaining an Athletics National Championship (AAA) medal in the 3000m and various vests for road and track. I also spent time as a part-time teacher and coach, and worked in a specialist running shop in Brighton.

Unfortunately, due to an Achilles tendon injury I decided to retire from athletics and with my running career behind me I travelled about for a while pursuing other interests.   more ...

RNG International has more than 20 years experience working with schools, parents and students helping find the right match for expat children’s individual educational needs.


Rebecca, can you tell us a bit about your background prior to becoming an educational consultant, Certified Educational Planner and founder of RNG International?

I have been in international education for 20 years now, and have taught in both American-international schools and American public schools. When I left the classroom in 2002, I went to work for the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC, as the education and youth officer for the American diplomatic service. There I helped families who were transitioning internationally to figure out the educational puzzle for their children. With over 11,000 children who are "going along for the ride", I saw everything, and I mean everything!   more ...

Megan Fitzgerald is an Expat Career & Personal Branding Coach and founder & CEO of Career By Choice


Megan, can you tell us a bit about your background prior to founding Career by Choice? What made you decide to start your own business and what services do you offer?

Ever since I was in high school I had a passion for exploring other countries and cultures. That passion translated into a bachelors degree in International Relations, living, studying and working in Paris, and a job designing professional and business training programs for entrepreneurs from developing and transitional countries on 4 continents. My career in international education and training continued for many years until I returned to school get my Masters Degree in Multimedia Communications. While pursuing this degree I worked for the university career center running their local and international job fairs and their recruiting and employer relations programs. This is what gave me my first taste of formal career development methodology. After my degree I continued to work for international organizations doing professional and organizational development work. Upon moving to London I continued doing professional, organizational and business development work on a consulting basis. I have been fortunate that my work before and after my Masters degree has allowed me to work with professionals, entrepreneurs and organizations in many countries in North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

It was when my husband and I decided to move to Rome that I realized I would have some real hurdles to overcome professionally. I did not speak Italian, had no network in Italy to speak of, and I was sure that securing a work visa in Italy was not going to be easy. It was then that I decided I wanted to start my own portable business.   more ...

Jeffrey Todd is the Deputy Editor for "The National", one of the UAE's most popular English newspapers.


Jeffrey, can you tell us a bit about your background before you joined "The National"?

Prior to The National I worked at the Toronto Star covering the crime and destruction beat, including fires, car crashes, murders and kidnappings. It was a challenging time because I had to get information out of people who were reluctant to give it to me - and I had to do it fast!


Tell us more about "The National" and how you ended up as a reporter (now deputy editor) on this major national newspaper.

My parents lived in the United Arab Emirates for three years from 2000 to 2003. When The National announced its launch, I was familiar with both Abu Dhabi and Dubai. And once I saw the scale of the project and all the great journalists involved, I couldn't turn down the opportunity. You don't help with the launch of the newspaper every day.   more ...

Sylke Riester is Managing Director for Europe at leading language-learning software company Rosetta Stone.


Sylke, can you tell us a bit about your background before joining Rosetta Stone?

Before joining Rosetta Stone in 2009 I worked in telecommunications – so you could say I am very enthusiastic about getting people talking. I worked for a company called Tele2, a leading Swedish telecommunications company active in 11 European countries, for six years. In my time there, I worked in different roles, including Marketing and Sales Director, based in Holland, Chief Executive, based in the UK, and Director of Sales for the Tele2 Group, based in the 30 million-customer company’s home country of Sweden.


What services does Rosetta Stone offer?

Rosetta Stone® provides interactive language-learning solutions. The company was founded on the belief that technology can replicate the way we all learnt our first language as children and we still work to that founding principle, evolving as technology allows.   more ...