Thoughts from Limbo

We’re joined by the wonderful Pin Cher, who is on a mission to help millennial professionals who are feeling lost and stuck in their career, by empowering them to create a meaningful career that’s more aligned to their purpose and values.

She shares her own story about how, for years she pursued a corporate career and her ambition to climb up the corporate ladder – until one particular event made her question whether she was on the right track.

True to brand, in this episode we dive into the messiness of careers and discuss why we’re sometimes so afraid to consider alternative options that deviate from what we’ve been taught is “the right thing to do”, either by our parents or society and how these things shape the expectations we impose on ourselves over the years.

Enjoy!

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Article: How to become more patient by definition - https://thoughtsfromlimbo.com/how-to-become-more-patient-by-definition/

In today’s episode, we speak to investing reporter for Business Insider, Laila Maidan. She tells us how it was her career in foreign policy and international relations, during which time she worked for the United Nations, that she became motivated to share global developments with the general public, and hence switched to a career in journalism.

Laila is now a reporter in Business Insider’s markets division and her coverage predominantly focuses on cryptocurrencies, the stock market, and trading strategies. She is particularly passionate about sharing the stories of people who have overcome struggles and attained ‘financial freedom’ by growing their personal wealth. It is actually through one of these stories that we came across Laila; we discuss this and others during the episode, as well as recent trends in the world of blockchain.

You can find links to the articles we mention below, as well Laila’s profile.

Please note, this episode is not financial advice.

Laila Maidan’s Profile | 

Laila Maidan - Insider

Laila Maidan’s Twitter | 

lailamaidan

Kiana Danial Article | 

2 investing lessons that helped a 37-year-old multimillionaire build her fortune

Sharon Tseung Article | 

A 30 year old with a $1 million net worth explains the 4 steps that got her there

Mari Adam, Josephine Lee, and Lakisha Simmons Article | 

3 women who never built wealth until after divorce share the mistakes that held them back

 In this week’s episode we speak with Dr. Nicole Tschierske from Germany! She helps women in STEM build expert credibility, progress in their career and find fulfilment in their work – which, we learned, doesn’t always mean career advancement in the traditional sense. 
 
 Nicole spoke to us about the value in horizontal career progression and the importance of defining our personal values and priorities before we take the “next step”. Because quitting your job and simply switching companies, isn’t your only option. 

 We cover topics like self-promotion, the gender imbalance in STEM, and the world of work. So, if you’ve ever felt like you’re in a bit of a rut in your career, or you’re considering switching jobs – this one’s for you. 

In today’s episode, we speak with Claire Stapley, freelance writer from London who candidly shares what it’s really like to be a freelance writer – we talk about the highs, the lows, and everything in between. Claire talks to us about everything from managing clients, to pricing, to building your personal brand, and social media. 

She began to freelance before it became cool – at a young age of just 15, Claire began to contribute to an online publication as a fashion journalist, before pursuing a BA Hons in Journalism at university. She then landed a marketing role and gained experience in recruitment, before deciding to become her own boss and pursue her love of writing. 

To find out what she’s up to, visit her website, at: https://clairestapley.com/  

In this week's episode, we were honored to be joined by the truly inspirational - Emilie Bellet. She is the founder of Vestpod, a company with a massively important mission: to financially empower women by changing the conversation about money, through its hugely popular weekly newsletter, personal finance workshops and networking events, and their excellent podcast “The Wallet”, which has received over 64k downloads. Emilie has also been featured in The Financial Times, Forbes, and Stylist Magazine.

She is the author of “You’re not broke, you’re pre-rich," a book that is densely packed with useful resources, and interesting insights; a description similarly fitting for Emilie herself: packed with useful resources and interesting insights.

Emilie's passion for empowering women to be financially secure truly shows. She’s a great role model, we could have listened to her all night.

Why don't you find out for yourself?!

Please note, this is for educational purposes only – it is not financial advice!

In addition, here are a few useful links that will take you straight to some of Emilie’s super helpful resources, including a link where you can sign up to her investing workshop on the 28th of July! You do not want to miss it!

Enjoy!

Website | Vestpod: 

Vestpod - Women & Money

Podcast | The Wallet: 

Podcast — Vestpod - Women & Money

Book | You’re Not Broke, You’re Pre-rich: 

Book You're Not Broke You're Pre-Rich — Vestpod - Women & Money

Workshops & Events | 

Events — Vestpod - Women & Money

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/vestpod/

This week we were joined by two very courageous startup founders – Mikaela Larsell Ayesa from Sweden, and Lisa Gautier from France – who have taken on the second most polluting industry in the world that is the clothing industry with their startup ‘Hack Your Closet’, launched in 2019.

Customers can subscribe via the app to gain access to over 30,000 items of second-hand clothing available to rent. Like a dating app, but for clothes, customers simply swipe left or right on each item to allow the algorithm to become familiar with their taste and size – et voila! They’ll receive a personalized box containing four items of clothing that have been hand picked by the company’s own stylists.

The pair have been so successful that in just two years they’ve grown their team from 2 to over 30 employees, and they recently raised 20 million Swedish Krona to ease their recent expansion to France. It was a super interesting talk, we hope you enjoy it – let us know what you think!

Website | Hack Your Closet: 

Hackyourcloset.com - Discover a greener way to update your closet.

Blog | 

The News Closet - Hack your closet

In this week’s episode we spoke to Nataya Walker, the Founder and Executive Director of Seeds of Fortune – a non-profit that began with Nitiya’s own quest to finish school without any student loan debt. In addition to her day-day job Nitiya helps high school women of color in the US navigate the college scholarship and application process and learn financial literacy. 

She made it on Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2020 and she has helped college applicants earn over $8 million dollars towards scholarships and grants since she started Seeds of Fortune during her senior year at Babson College in 2014. Her team of 15 recruits a cohort of 30 students every year and serves nearly 500 teens free resources online.

We talk about higher education system in the US, the lack of financial literacy and we question whether greater transparency when it comes to disclosing our salaries is welcome. This episode is all things money. 

In this week’s episode Nerea and I sat down with Amardeep Parmar, who I’ve become acquainted with over the past few months on an online writing platform called Medium. In around a year and a half, Amar has grown his following to over 34,000 people, his articles have received over 1 million views and he has become an editor of one of Medium’s largest publications – Entrepreneur’s Handbook.

After seven years working as a Tech Consultant in London, Amar recently decided to hand in his notice and branch off on his own, to pursue his online ventures. In this episode we talk not only about his experience with blogging and the success he’s seen, but we dig a little deeper into a range of issues including “the pressure of living up to expectations”, “the fear of failure”, “financial freedom”, “life goals”, and even “family”. We hope you enjoy, Amardeep Parmar! 

Learn more about Amar: 

On his website: https://www.amardeepsparmar.com/

Follow him on Medium: https://amardeep.medium.com/ 

Follow him on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amardeep.s.parmar/ 

Or, to learn from Amar himself, you can sign up to his course, here: 

https://mindfuldriven.teachable.com/p/intentional-medium-virality 

In today’s episode we spoke with the wonderful Yasmin Gagne! Yasmin is an Associate Editor at Fast Company in NY, and the co-host of the magazine’s own “Start the Ground Running” Podcast, all about how to navigate the unwritten rules of work and life. Her work focuses on Fast Company’s print magazine, although Yasmin has also written some great articles online, including an excellent piece about how “Sephora committed to devoting 15% of its shelf space to Black-owned brands.” You can find more articles from Yasmin by following the link below.

During our talk we bonded over our shared love for Brussels and our experiences as kids who grew up living across different countries. Yasmin told us the story about how she first got into writing and gave us a glimpse into the world of journalism and what it’s like working for one of the world’s top magazines. We also spoke about the impostor syndrome, the importance of cultivating a collaborative and collegiate atmosphere at work, and generally just enjoyed a really interesting chat that we hope you’ll all enjoy.

Pieces by Yasmin: https://www.fastcompany.com/user/yazgagne

Yasmin’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/yasmingagne?lang=en

Sephora Article: https://www.fastcompany.com/90584133/how-sephora-is-working-to-showcase-more-bipoc-owned-brands

Mark Herschberg received multiple degrees from MIT, before moving on to track criminals and terrorists on the internet, and develop numerous new ventures  at startups and Fortune 500s. He’s also done work for Harvard Business School, he started MIT’s very own “career success accelerator” program, and he’s the author of “The Career Toolkit, Essential Skills for Success That No One Taught You.”

Mark explained why when it comes to developing and strengthening your soft skills, it really is a case of sooner rather than later. We talk about robots “taking over our jobs”, harnessing teamwork in an increasingly competitive world, the future of working from home, career planning, networking, and the wide range of soft skills we all need to focus on to build our desired careers. 

About Mark: https://www.thecareertoolkitbook.com/author 

The Career Toolkit Book: https://www.thecareertoolkitbook.com/ 

The Career Toolkit App: https://www.thecareertoolkitbook.com/app 

More than anything, this talk was a real boost of endorphins! Batouly Camara is a real force of nature. She made it on Forbes 30 under 30 list for her inspirational work as the founder of W.A.K.E, a nonprofit built to educate, equip and empower young girls through sport, education and social entrepreneurship that is now working to launch one of the first all-girls elite boarding schools in West Africa!

Batouly made three Final Four appearances with the University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team and now plays professional basketball in Spain!  We spoke about how sports has shaped the go-getting entrepreneur that she is today, and how she manages her numerous projects, which span from speaking engagements, to writing her very own children’s book, alongside her business and the rigorous training schedule that comes with being a professional basketball player.

For more about how you can support Batouly, check her out below:   

W.A.K.E.: https://wake-academy.org/ 

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Basketball-Game-Wake-Street/dp/B08C7N7XXZ 

Instagram: @toolyyy 

TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzgnEqV8yzA

We speak to the lovely Violet Manners about what it’s like to live in heritage in modern-day Britain, her creative endeavours and developing an entrepreneurial streak. Violet is the oldest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Rutland, and has lived a truly extraordinary life, growing up at Belvoir Castle - a multi-towered palace boasting over 356 majestically decorated rooms hosting artworks from some of the best artists in history, on a beautiful 16,000-acre estate in Leicestershire.

With eight years experience working in Luxury and digital, she has now co-founded her very own London-based creative agency, Akana collective, and a fascinating podcast hosted by her lovely mother, called “Duchess”, in which they interview a number of inspiring women who lead some of the most historic manors, palaces and castles of Great Britain. 

For more about Violet, head over to Akana Collective: https://akanacollective.com/portfolio-item/violet-manners/ 

And check out her engrossing new podcast, “Duchess.”

In today’s episode, I speak to the wonderful Kelly Hoey!  

She was named “1 of the 10 Most Well-Connected People in New York City’s Startup Scene”, according to Inc., “1 of the 100 Most Influential Tech Women On Twitter”, according to Business Insider, and “1 of 5 Women Changing the World of VC/Entrepreneurship”, according to Forbes. 

Formerly an attorney in a top law firm, Kelly has gone on to co-found a startup accelerator, is a LP investor in several emerging tech funds, a keynote speaker, and the published author of “Build Your Dream Network: Forging Powerful Relationships In a Hyper-Connected World.” A book in which she shares her expertise on the ever so powerful, and often underrated skill of networking. 

We spoke about why networking is so important and discussed some of the common pitfalls people make when building connections online. Kelly put to rest the idea that networking is a skin-deep, momentary activity we engage in, and explained why it’s an ever-evolving game of give and take. We also discussed some of the important differences between women and men when it comes to networking and spoke about her latest survey which seeks to explore these gender differences in detail – I encourage everyone listening to sign up, and for all of those who are keen to do so, you can find the link below: 

Kelly’s Survey: https://jkellyhoey.co/successful-women-dont-network-the-way-guys-do/

Kelly’s Website: https://jkellyhoey.co/

Books: https://jkellyhoey.co/books/   

Katie Briefel is an Account Supervisor at a leading advertising agency, where she’s worked  in London and New York with brands like PepsiCo, Samsung, and collaborated on the infamous John Lewis Christmas Campaign. She’s also the host of the Start Fail Repeat podcast, where she interviews some truly inspiring people who are killing it in what they do, and finds out how they’ve overcome the setbacks that we all encounter, in some form or another, through our careers and in life. 

We talk about building resilience and recovering from setbacks, and discuss our experience with the imposter syndrome. Katie shares the pivotal experience that motivated her to change the course of her career, and we also delve into the need to reframe failure, and the increasing popularity of side hustles. 

Vishakha Sodha defies the old adage “jack of all trades, master of none” - she seems to have done it all! From acting, to modelling, to fashion design - her savvy managing skills were noticed by fashion designer Jatin Varma, who hired her as a General Manager at the young age of 19, and there’s been no stopping her since. 

She is now a full-time freelance blogger, content creator, and owns her own marketing agency in Canada. We talk about what it’s like to live a day in the life of an online content creator, and she gives us a glimpse into the world behind the Instagram feed. It’s a candid conversation in which we discuss the beauty of non-linear career paths, the future of online content development, and the exciting and upcoming world of freelancing. 

You can find out more about Vishakha, through her website at: https://vishakhasodha.com/ 

Or check her out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vishakha_sodha/ 

Aude Asklöv is a speech therapist born and raised in France, who moved to Sweden at 25 in search of fulfilment. At 43, she's now a commercial model represented by agencies in Sweden, Paris and Milan; she's also a yoga instructor, a perfume creator, and a mother of three.  

She tells us all about her journey and how she continues to consistently reinvent herself in a quest to uncover her creative passions. We discuss the empowerment that comes from being a 40+ model, the importance of yoga, exercise, strengthening your mind-body connection, and she reminds us that we should view our careers as evolving works of art as opposed to linear ladders. 

You can follow Aude on Instagram @asklovmodel

And find out more about her modelling and perfumery at www.asklov.com/

Amy Cuddy, Mind-body connection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWZluriQUzE 

In this special episode, we’re joined by Shilpa Raj, a young girl from a poor, rural village in Southern India, who has shattered every social expectation and risen out of poverty through education. Shilpa was raised in Shanti Bhavan (‘Safe Haven’), a school founded by Dr. Abraham George in 1995, with the mission to alleviate poverty through the transformative power of education for the underprivileged and socially discriminated.

Shilpa shares her engrossing story, giving us a glimpse of what life in a poor Indian village looks like, and her heartwarming experience at the school. We first came across Shilpa in the Netflix Documentary series, Daughters of Destiny, and have since read her unmissable book, The Elephant Chaser’s Daughter. 

We hope you love this episode as much as we did. We encourage everyone to visit the Shanti Bhavan website for more information about how you can help, and to support Shilpa by adding her amazing book to the top of your reading list!  

Shanti Bhavan Website: https://www.shantibhavanchildren.org/ 

Donate: https://www.shantibhavanchildren.org/donate/ 

Book - The Elephant Chaser’s Daughter by Shilpa Raj: https://www.amazon.com/Elephant-Chasers-Daughter-Shilpa-Raj-ebook/dp/B075T5TWL7 

Daughters of Destiny Documentary: https://www.shantibhavanchildren.org/netflix/ 

Heather Stupi is one of the three female co-founders behind Reposite; a start-up born at the outbreak of covid-19, for which the trio have managed to secure over $2.7 million from investors as well as their rightful place on Forbes’ 30 under 30 list. 

We talk about her experience as a young entrepreneur, how her athletic background influences her drive, and how she seemingly effortlessly manages to overcome the sunk-cost fallacy to make rational decisions. She shares some valuable career and business advice that we hope you’ll find helpful and enjoy! 

Besides an absolute BABE and a half, Anna Demetriou is an award winning, London-based actor, best known for her starring role as Princess Helle of Volsung in the film, Viking Destiny (available on Netflix). She has also voiced over 7 characters in 5 video games, she is a singer, songwriter, an avid gamer, and my favorite person to follow on Instagram. Anna is hilarious. 

She tells us about her journey in pursuit of an unconventional career path, how she handles the highs and lows of being an actor, and we talk about the popularity of side-jobs and the stigma that often comes with these roles. 

To see Anna in action, search for ‘Viking Destiny’ on Netflix. 

If you’re looking for a reliable daily pick-me-up, guaranteed to make you smile, follow her on Instagram at: @annardemetriou (don’t forget the ‘R’ in the middle). 

Hersh Patel is a young entrepreneur from New York City, who made it on Forbes’ 30 under 30 list in 2020 for his work as co-founder of advertising tech company, Hindsight. We talk about his brave decision to leave a stable job as an investor at Goldman Sachs, to found his own startup. He shares his perspective on redefining success, the value of learning on-the-job, and we find similarities between our parents’ journeys as entrepreneurs. He also shares three key pieces of advice for any aspiring entrepreneurs, and he gave us a very candid take on his experience, which we really enjoyed. We hope you will too!

To find out more about Hindsight, you can visit the website, at: https://hindsightsolutions.net/ 

For more about Hersh: https://www.forbes.com/profile/hersh-patel/?sh=47feb5266d31