Femme Lead S04 E15 Kathy Borys Siddiqui on Building a Life Abroad and Cultural Adjustment in the Nordics.
Cultural Adjustment | Living Abroad | Culture Shock | Consultant | Integration | Well-Being Specialist | Intercultural Awareness | Founder | Role Model | Trainer |
Our guest is Kathy Borys Siddiqui the founder of Active Action, an organization supporting International companies as well as internationals and their families in the intercultural transition when moving abroad.
Active Action focuses on raising awareness and bringing solutions to challenges that internationals, their families, and employers are faced with, in order to create thriving and positive environments.
Kathy lived in 4 countries and on 2 continents and holds MA’s in Cultural Studies and in American Studies. A firm believer that "if you are lacking something - create it." She has been able to combine her passion and profession as an Intercultural Trainer, and owner of Active Action, with public speaking and branding initiatives, and describes herself as a well-being specialist.
We discuss cultural adjustment and the notion of identity when moving abroad and we deep dive into the stages of cultural adjustment to a new country, culture, and environment.
Follow Kathy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathybsiddiqui/
Episode Timeline:
01:58 Kathy, can you share more about the focus of your work?
05:50 What does it mean to help companies with intercultural awareness?
12:00 The definition of subtext.
13:25 What are the phases of cultural adjustment?
22:10 What are the Nordic cultural adjustments differences you’ve noticed compared to other places?
30:35 What does it mean to feel at home once you move abroad? What about your career prospects?
38:30 What are the 3 important lessons you learned in your career?
43:30 Final 5 Fire Questions.