Expat Expert Robin Pascoe Releases New Online Lecture Series on Successful Living Abroad

Author Robin Pascoe, who created ExpatExpert.com in 1998 to support globally, mobile families, recently posted a new online video lecture series (free) which addresses many of the major challenges of adjusting to life abroad which she writes about in her books in support of the mobile, expat family.

While the lecture is offered in bite-sized segments of three-to-five minutes, the entire program runs one hour and is based on her lecture “Successful Living Abroad” which she has delivered to expat communities around the world.

Topics covered include the subject of her four books for the expat spouse and family:

• Loss of Identity
• Loss of a traditional career
• Raising global nomads and parenting abroad
• Family cultural shock
• Moveable Marriages
• Repatriation

Whether you realize it or not, each one of these issues is important to your professional life. If someone is struggling with parenting or making the move to a new country, it will to some degree affect their career. So part of nurturing your professional life is making sure that you have the resources and support to address all the other unique challenges faced while living abroad. 

Robin has kindly given of her time to answer a few questions about some of the issues brought up in her video series: 

• Robin, in one of your lectures you recommend redefining what a career means. Can you give us some examples for those struggling to do just that? 

My entire writing and publishing career for expats actually began with the word ‘career’. Well over 20 years ago, I was asked by the Canadian government’s Department of Foreign Affairs to give the first workshop ever offered to spouses on how to have a mobile career. I hardly knew where to begin! So I decided to start with the word ‘career’ itself. 

I felt, and still do, and indeed wrote about this idea later in “A Broad Abroad” that the word “career” was a loaded one because the way it was being used didn’t necessarily apply to everyone, and especially not to women in particular who had to ‘give theirs up’ to accompany their spouses abroad. The word implied too much structure, a linear path to promotions and pay raises, and the availability of mentors. That wasn’t going to happen (at least not easily) in the life of an expat spouse, responsible for organizing a family’s move and stymied so often by a lack of work permits or financial support for entrepreneurship. 

So I decided to re-define ‘career’, for myself at first and later for others, as a ‘path through life’. In that way,  I could incorporate all aspects of my life, including raising my children, moving and/or traveling to fantastic places with my spouse, volunteering for schools, clubs or causes near and dear to me, even having the space in my life to return home when needed by my extended family. I feel that every individual has their own path in life, so if one merges the personal and professional and can see both aspects as moving down this path at the same time, how much easier it can be to build a new exciting life!

I also incorporated into my thinking a different measure of what constitutes a successful career. Money was not going to be the only goal of working (not that there’s anything wrong with money!) but I measure my success by whether or not I have made a difference in someone’s life, including my own. I’m happy that I have tried my best to live a creative life (something so many expats choose to do) by writing books and trying out all the latest forms of communication; I was available to my children during our relocations; and I could volunteer for anything without thinking. Hence, I’m a success in my own eyes, the only ones that matter to me. Just don’t check my bank balance!

 

• A common challenge women face when moving abroad is the loss of professional identity. Can you share some ways that you've seen that have been effective at overcoming that loss?

Women identify themselves in so many different ways. First we are a daughter, maybe a sister, a student, a graduate, a young professional, a wife, possibly a mother, a best friend…You get my idea that the list can go on and on, but I mention all of these ‘tags’ because it demonstrates we are more than just a professional. We are more than what we work at for remuneration! It was very important to me to first understand and embrace that bigger picture so that the loss of one piece wouldn’t destroy my own self-esteem and sense of identity…and later, I could share this with others in my books and lectures.

One of my greatest pleasures has been watching women struggle with the loss of that piece of their identity, only to rise again with a brand new one they have fashioned themselves out of a loss. Never underestimate the power of grief or failure to strengthen character, resolve and motivation to do something new and often, more satisfying because it has been self-directed.

I couldn’t possibly list all the success stories I have seen in more than twenty years of meeting expat women, (and so many have been showcased by you Megan, and others like Andrea Martins at ExpatWomen.com or my good friend Jo Parfitt writing and blogging about the great ideas women have hatched!) but I am certain that a high percentage of those successes came after a few false starts. Setbacks are critical for success (and parents should be teaching their children that too instead of trying to do everything but write exams for their kids…but I digress….)

So my advice to women has always been that old adage: “It can’t hurt to try.” It’s important to never give up, at any age. If I had done that, no one would have been reading any of my books. “Raising Global Nomads” for example had three false starts before I got it right. People certainly wouldn’t be able to watch my new video lectures if I had given up (which I wanted to do the first time I saw my face on camera). It almost killed me to produce the series because the technology gave me such a headache. The content was the easy part!

But, as I used to say to women in my lectures, you moved didn’t you? So many women figured they couldn’t do that, so what’s a professional transformation compared to moving a family of five to Russia? It’s a cliché I know, but what doesn’t kill you does indeed make you stronger. So loss, believe it or not, can be a good thing in the long run. It's also part of life.

 

• In your experience, which challenges faced by women abroad have the greatest impact on their professional life? And how have women worked to overcome them?

Children are a huge distraction and especially as children need a parent more after an international relocation. Women living abroad with children are no different than those living at home raising a family. Maybe, depending on where one is posted, there is more household help, but women can feel guilty in no time flat. Children are also, conveniently, an easy out! “Oh, the children stopped me from pursuing something….” That’s just an excuse (I know, because I’ve used it many times over the years!) Children can and should be seen as an advantage actually as so many women I have met have gained a great skill set organizing events for their schools or clubs.

Often, the marriage/relationship that brought a woman abroad can be a barrier to success. I go to great pains in my books, lectures and now on video, to say that I could never have accomplished anything without my very supportive husband who has always been my biggest cheerleader. The most loving words my husband ever said to me (after one of his marathon business trips which left me breathless with resentment) was: “I couldn’t do this job without you.” So how the marriage moves—and how one partner helps the other—is very important but must be worked at too.

Of course, some of the challenges, like work permits, have moved ahead light years since I started out thanks to organizations like the Permits Foundation and other trailblazers in mobile careers. And some organizations (not all sadly) see the value of assisting accompanying spouses with career counseling and funds for professional or academic development. I’m waiting for the day when spousal benefits are not an ‘add-on’ to convince the working partner to accept a job, but are part and parcel of the package.

The bottom line is that to overcome any or all of these obstacles, a woman has to be self-aware; to speak up for her own needs; and be willing to be flexible on some points! I’m not sure you ever noticed, Megan, but I sign off my e-mail with: “I can do anything, I just can’t do everything.” Words I’ve lived and worked by.

 

• You mention the internet as being a boon for women living and working abroad.  What are some specific suggestions on how a woman can get started leveraging the internet to support their professional life overseas?

Women have to see the Internet as not only a personal tool to keep in touch with family and friends, but as their new BFF for marketing purposes whatever they want to do: write, sell, consult, coach, and so on….It can all be done now so easily because of the Internet. But that means understanding how social media and its networking opportunities work in all their headache and glory (headache for me!) Learn about it, even if you don’t plan to tweet!

Spend as much time as your eyes and head can stand looking around on the Internet to see what’s been done or, more importantly, what’s missing. I’m not suggesting stealing ideas from others, but it’s like reading about anything: the brain starts to tick over and suddenly, an ‘aha’ moment happens.

Write to people. “Cold-calling” has never been easier since the invention of e-mail. What’s the worst that can happen? Someone won’t answer. Likewise, if a connection is made, use Skype to connect by voice. Guest posts on other people’s blogs are also the rage lately….Establishing a  Google ranking for the same reason we want to establish a good credit rating…and this can be done by contributing to someone else’s work or connecting others. I’ve always felt that throwing good karma out into the universe is the secret to success and it’s never been easier to do with help of the Internet.

 

• In making this series, were you able to use any skill sets you might have previously acquired?

I’m really glad you raised this question Megan. So often, women feel after a move and give up one line of work for another, that somehow all those skills previously acquired will just disappear. Not so! I definitely learned that in making my video lecture series. In a former life, I was a television reporter and documentary writer/producer. Among other things, the skill set I still had lurking in my brain helped me ‘speak’ straight to a camera (like a ‘stand-up’ on tv news), to come up with the template for the segments so I could direct and edit, and of course, to go back to my old employer, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to find a very talented freelance cinematographer/editor. Old skills amazingly find new ways to be of use (as long as we remember them!)

EXPAT SUCCESS TIP: If you are an expat professional or entrepreneur, make a list of all of the challenges you are currently struggling with related to living and working abroad. Then carve out an hour of your time to watch these videos to access Robin's wisdom and insight into how you might deal some of those challenges.