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

Jodie 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.

Lola 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.

Ron 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.

Philip 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.

When 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.

Lolly 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 and gives fantastic advice for integrating into the local community–for your own good!

Heather 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.

Bob 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.

Evelyn 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! I first met Evelyn 6 years ago when we moved to Shanghai and she is truly one of the kindest, most selfless people I know. If you’re in Beijing and you’re looking for community, please connect with Evelyn after today’s show. She’ll be just the dose of positivity you need!

Executive 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.  

Adrian 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.  

  Tune 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 multinational company. Now he's in China using his background in training and information management systems in his latest two ventures SkillNuggets and ShekouDaily.    

  Tune 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 community they are settled. You'll enjoy hearing a couple of Victoria's stories and hear her insights on international education, special needs education, adoption, the power within you to make change and so much more.    

    Tune 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 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.