Limitless Laowai Expat Life, Business Strategy, Personal Development & Cultural Adjustment In China | Learn Chinese

Erik Paulson has been teaching for almost 20 years, all of it internationally. The constant at every school whether in Mexico, Egypt, Ghana, Panama or the last seven years at Concordia International School Shanghai, has been a course on International Relations, and an involvement in Model UN as a natural extension of that class. Whether you are looking to establish a Model United Nations program at your school or you would simply like some tips to make your existing program even better, this podcast with 20-year MUN veteran Erik Paulson will provide you with some unlikely tips to make that happen. [This podcast is one of ten in the HowTo@ConcordiaShanghai series. For information on how to contract the Limitless platform to benefit your organization, connect with Ally today.]

Michael Boll is a technology enthusiast. And a teacher. The mix of these two passions has led him down some exciting paths in education over his career. He currently serves as a Technology Coach at Concordia International School Shanghai. Brenda Petersen is a High School Assistant principal at the same school and is a former history teacher who is excited about helping kids discover their passions and coaching them on how to accomplish them. In this podcast, the "Tech" guy and the "Coach" employ humor and practical tips to share the ins and outs of hosting your own TEDx event at your school. [This podcast is one of ten in the HowTo@ConcordiaShanghai series. For information on how to contract the Limitless platform to benefit your organization, connect with Ally.]

Erin Kent is a lifelong learner who is passionate about literacy. She has been an educator for close to 15 years and has taught students from second to tenth grade in the U.S., Chile and China. Erin spent her first four years at Concordia as a classroom teacher and the past five years as Elementary School Instructional Coach, focusing on literacy from preschool to grade four. She works closely with students and teachers using techniques developed by Columbia University's Teachers College Reading and Writing Workshop. For the 2015-16 school year Erin will move to the post of P-12 Curriculum Director. At Concordia, Erin has continued to learn and further cultivate her passion for literacy and Reading and Writing Workshop, which she shares with us in this episode. [This podcast is one of ten in the HowTo@ConcordiaShanghai series. For information on how to contract the Limitless platform to benefit your organization, contact Ally today.]

Educator Debbie Burns has taught PreK through Grade 6 for over 30 years. For the past six years she has leveraged her passion for service by advocating the importance of service learning in educating active global citizens by seeking to instill a servant heart within her students. She agrees wholeheartedly with Aristotle that ”educating the mind without educating the heart, is no education at all.” In this podcast Debbie will share how that she and her colleagues teamed up with administration and parents to transform a grade 3 and 4 economics unit from "me" to "we" using the One Hen Project to teach the academic principles of financial literacy while also teaching to the heart. This podcast is one of ten in the HowTo@ConcordiaShanghai series. For information on how to contract the Limitless platform to benefit your organization, contact Ally today.]

Michael Lambert has been helping students find their passions for over 30 years, teaching subjects from humanities to media literacy to driver’s education. He has lived and taught in the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and now Mainland China. Michael often uses film and other visual media in his classes as part of everyday instruction, whether he is teaching students how to improve their writing or developing their presentation skill. This love of film and filmmaking was the inspiration for his developing the Shanghai Student Film Festival, and in this episode he explains how you too can start your own film festival. [This podcast is one of ten in the HowTo@ConcordiaShanghai series. For information on how to contract the Limitless platform to benefit your organization connect with Ally.]

Anne Love is a high school science teacher who has taught biology, IB biology, environmental science (IB and AP), chemistry, earth science, physics, forensic science and ecology for over 15 years. She has taught at public schools in the United States and international schools in Bulgaria, the Philippines and now at Concordia International School in China. She is passionate about traveling, education, learning new things, and most recently, coffee; thanks in part to a social entrepreneur class she and her husband Patrick have developed at Concordia. In this podcast, Anne will share with us the steps she has taken to create and propel this new founded passion for coffee. [This podcast is one of ten in the HowTo@ConcordiaShanghai series. For information on how to contract the Limitless platform to benefit your organization connect with Ally.]

As an award-winning educator, Terry Umphenour has poured his life experience in the military, as a writer, and as an avid outdoors man into his students for over 30 years; one-third of that at Concordia International School Shanghai. The result is transformational, especially for those students who are able to participate in his somewhat unconventional leadership programs. In this podcast, Terry will share about leadership programs for students–the benefits he has seen in his 25 years of implementing programs for middle and high school students, the right ingredients required for success and how you, too, can bring this incredible opportunity to your school. [This podcast is one of ten in the HowTo@ConcordiaShanghai series. For information on how to contract the Limitless platform to benefit your organization, connect with Ally today.]

Mark Johnson has been teaching high school History and English for the past 15 years, eight of which have been at Concordia. Before that, he taught in Seattle and Boston. His passion is to come up with approaches to teaching history that empower students as historians, that allow students to explore their own passions through rigorous historical research, and that make the process of “doing history” real and relevant to students. The most tangible way he sees to achieve this is through the National History Day program. In today’s program, Mark will talk about the National History Day program and give us some insight on how to get this program started at your school. [This podcast is one of ten in the HowTo@ConcordiaShanghai series. For information on how to contract the Limitless platform to benefit your organization, connect with Ally today.]

It's TOP Week where we're revisiting our top podcasts across the categories. Did you hear Alison's story the first time around? If not, make sure you tune in! Here's more on Alison: When opportunity presented itself to this trained midwife, 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 and is the co-owner of Shanghai Doula, an entrepreneurial venture started in Shanghai six years ago.

Tell me you didn't miss Tom's interview?! Even if your own repatriation isn't on the immediate horizon, Tom's wisdom and outlook on the process is worth listening to now! (Like, right now!) Here's more on Tom: He is currently the Vice President, Emerging Channels, for Owens & Minor, a Fortune 300 multinational company specializing in healthcare logistics. The company is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, USA. He and his wife Jamie have been married for more than 20 years, and have two teenage boys, Jackson and Buck. They were in Shanghai for almost three years and repatriated in June of 2014, which was about 6 months ago at the time of this recording. In this episode, Tom shares with us his experience closing out his expatriate assignment and how he and his family are adjusting back home in the US.

It's TOP week where we're revisiting our top poscast in each category! Did you miss D. Sriram the first time around? If you did, definitely tune in and hear our #1 ranked executive talk life and work in China. D. 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 service companies on market entry to China. And in the process, one of those companies asked him to step up and lead their China operations. So now he is currently the China CEO of IMD. Besides work he enjoys an active lifestyle, absolutely loves music and occasionally performs in Shanghai bars.

If you ever find yourself caught up in putting forth only the most polished side of yourself, this episode is for you. In this weekly wrap up I'm sharing with our entrepreneur crowd a bit of wisdom and a tip to help you stay real and true to yourself while building your business. If you don’t consider yourself an entrepreneur, no worries. I believe anyone who moves abroad embodies some elements of entrepreneurship – a lower degree of risk aversion and an adventuresome spirit to name a few – and I know there’s something for you too – if you’re open to hearing!

Abbie has been in Shanghai four and a half years. She is from the US and married her highschool sweetheart, who's Spanish and Puerto Rican. She is a freelance writer, stay at home mom and volunteer. A southern girl with a sense of adventure, she loves cooking, getting together with friends, reading and traveling with her family to new and exciting places.

An authority on international education, Jason is currently the Managing Director for ELS Educational Services (ELS), a subsidiary of Berlitz Corporation and Benesse Corporation, one of the world’s largest education holding companies. ELS prepares thousands of students each year for university success in partnership with over 650 universities and 83 campus locations world-wide. Jason is responsible for all aspects of ELS’s operations in Mainland China and Taiwan and brings with him over 15 years of global education leadership experience. Today Jason is going to share with us the wisdom and perspective he has gathered while living in and working with China for the past 24 years.

Eva has lived in Shanghai for a year and a half with her family. They moved to Shanghai for her husband's job and she has continued in her role as president of a medical communications company based in the US. Their clients are biotech companies and the focus of the company is research and education in oncology and hematology. Today Eva is going to share with us what it's like to manage a virtual company from overseas while holding down the fort at home in Shanghai.

To date, I’ve interviewed over 60 expat leaders all over China for the Limitless Project. With each interview, I sit on my end of the mic ­– expectant – actively soaking up unparalleled wisdom, perspective and insights from combined decades of life and work experience. It’s the best job… ever. It’s time to gather my thoughts together, though, and share some of the golden nuggets I’ve been blessed to obtain from hours upon hours of engaging interviews. I chose this as the first topic because it hits home – hard! I’ve personally made every one of these mistakes, each time necessarily picking up the pieces of broken relationships, shattered business opportunity, and let’s just say it, shards of splintered face.

Born in a refugee camp at the Thai frontier, a week after her parents finally escaped the civil war which killed one fourth of the Cambodian population, Christine grew up in France in a difficult environment, with the dream of becoming a writer. In 2005 after she graduated, Christine left Paris for Shanghai and has been based in China ever since. Her China journey has taken various twists and turns that have shaped Christine into the accomplished public speaker, captivating storyteller, martial arts instructor and writing coach that she is today. Now Christine shares her experience and life lessons to inspire and motivate others to choose courage and go for their own dreams.

Winston, known better as "SerpentZA" has been making YouTube videos about China for years, and was in fact the first person to start vlogging from within mainland China. Sharing insight, adventures and practical knowledge of how to adapt and survive in China as a foreigner, he enjoys helping others and showing people what China is really like while breaking old stereotypes.

Scott is a father of four kids and a software developer from the United States. He and his family have been in Shanghai for almost 2 years. His wife, Sarah, works as a Human Resources manager for Ford Motor Company and their children attend both Shanghai American School and Dulwich College. In this episode, Scott talks about adjusting to life in Shanghai as a supporting spouse, including making the best school choices for your children, and how he has learned how what he thought was going to be a sacrifice has actually turned into a fantastic opportunity.

Derek has lived all over world. Born in Bogota Colombia, he has lived in 9 countries, 4 continents, and moved 34 times in his life. He has moved with his present company, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, twice around the world and Shanghai is his second stint working in China. In this episode, Derek covers respect, getting things done in China, and simple tips to keep work and family in balance.