ExpatWomen:Jo, can you please tell our Expat Women a little about your background and your expat experience?
Jo: The fact that I had chosen to study French at university should have warned me that I had a bit of wanderlust, but in fact it was not until I had lived abroad for 8 years and returned to the UK that I realized that abroad was where I belonged. I first moved to Dubai in 1987, the day after I got married to Ian, who was working there in the oil industry. Since there we moved to Oman and then Norway, in the UK 1997-2004 and then here in Holland since then.
Before going to Dubai I had established myself as a writer and author with many books published. I ran my own computer training and writing business and specialized in teaching and writing about word processing. What happened to the French? Long story? It was what I was best at and what I chose to do when my school careers advisor told me that writing was not a viable career. Once out of uni I wrote a cook book called French Tarts and that was the end of my French – except that I am still a Francophile and adore the language, films, landscape and FOOD!
I have worked all the time I have been abroad, and have been a journalist, copy writer, writing teacher, publisher, author and now Book Cook, helping others to write their books too.
ExpatWomen:You are the author of many books now – including some specifically for expatriates. What made you start writing books and what makes you write books for expatriates?
Jo: French Tarts was accepted by the first publisher I approached back in 1985. I had not cooked any of the recipes and had not been published before. So I though 'I can do this' and began immediately with a large dollop of self-belief. Convinced I had a future I kept on doing it!
By the time I got to Dubai I had published 10 or so computer handbooks and French Tarts. When I got to Oman I co-wrote a cook book called Dates (this time I could cook!). When I got to Norway I could not find any English writing work so decided to write about what I had learned – running a business and keeping a career going despite moving around a lot. That was Career in Your Suitcase. In parallel I was collecting stories for an anthology of stories about living abroad, called Forced To Fly. I realized that all I was doing was writing about what I know. That is all I have ever done. I am an expat. I have worked overseas continually. I have achieved what I have achieved because the first thing I did was find my passion (Find Your Passion published 2004) and networked liked crazy (Grow Your Own Networks 2003). I have become an Expat Entrepreneur (2006).
ExpatWomen:Can you explain to us what makes your book Expat Entrepreneurs unique?
Jo: It is written about ordinary people like you and me – not the Bransons and Gateses most books focus on. Real people, real stories, real lives. People are inspired by those with whom they can empathise. That's why it is unique.
ExpatWomen: The Expat Women (and the men you featured) all seemed to start new ‘career lives' overseas. Do you think this reinvention of a career overseas is typical amongst expats? And if so, why do you think this is so?
Jo: Reinvention is necessary because doing what you did in one place may not work elsewhere. You need to do whatever suits the current market and new trends AND your passion. Frequently if you move overseas as an independent (not someone on a corporate move) you have no job to go to so you have to start from scratch. Many of the case studies in my book are of people who are spouses of those who are in corporate employment (like me – Shell wife, one time Schlumberger wife) and so have to follow the employed spouse and keep putting down and picking up their own career. They move places so their career needs altering. Also, when you get the opportunity of a clean break you can start from scratch and begin by deciding what you actually want to do this time.
ExpatWomen: What would be your Top 5 tips for aspiring Expat Women Entrepreneurs?
Jo: 1. Be prepared to alter your ideas based on the market.
2. First find your passion.
3. Learn all you can about networking and DO IT.
4. Brand yourself carefully and cleverly.
5. Find out what motivates you (money, time off, people, fame) and ensure that you truly want to do what it is you set out do, because if you don't, you wont get out of bed in the morning with a smile.
ExpatWomen: Can you tell us some of your favorite online resources for Expatriate entrepreneurs?
ExpatWomen: Jo, you run a web site about “Book Cooks”. Can you please tell our Expat Women more about your web site and what you do as a Book Cook?
Jo: A book cook is someone who helps our author clients to create the right recipe for their book and from appropriate ingredients. It is a full editing and consultancy service that gets books from brainwave to bookshelf. We start with manuscript editing and conclude with creating the finished product if they are to self-publish or the proposal if they want to find a publisher or agent.
Writing a book is much like cooking – you need to write from what you have in your store cupboard, add a few extras, some inspiration, some case studies and of course a dash of WOW!
I am Executive Chef of the team and have two Head Chefs who work for me and a team of freelance Sous Chefs. Based all over the world!
ExpatWomen: Thank you very much Jo and we wish you all the very best for your latest book, Expat Entrepreneurs!
Jo: Thank YOU.
Excerpt from the Book Do You Have What It Takes?
It depends on how you look at it. Either you see an international
move as the opportunity to reinvent yourself and do something
new, or you see it as the end of doing something you enjoyed in a
place that had become home. Of course, a move has elements of
both these viewpoints, but where there are endings, there are also
beginnings set to follow, and a positive attitude is vital if you want
to keep your career on track.
Moving on can give you the chance to look at your personal
collection of strengths, skills, talents and values and decide how
you could best turn them into fulfilling work in your new location.
If you are choosing to move abroad to start a new life then the
chances are you will be faced with taking your career with you, or
starting a new one when you arrive. Whichever scenario seems to
match your own, the move will allow you to reinvent yourself big
time. Lucky you!
When Sue Burns went to Dubai, she was a nurse. While she was
there she retrained as a fitness instructor and later as a
swimming teacher, choosing to do work connected with her hobby,
instead. Penny Tindle was a nurse too, but when she went to
Norway and discovered her qualifications were not valid there she
became an aromatherapist and ran ante–natal classes.
Many expatriates become inspired by the local community to
branch out into a new venture that they would not otherwise have
thought of back home. Sue Young switched from health centre
management to running a cookery school when she moved to
Paris. Her unique idea, to take expatriates first to the markets
and then into school to cook the food and eat it, became ‘La Toque
d'Or' cookery school.
What all successful entrepreneurs have in common is a collection
of traits that define them as the kind of people willing and able to
run their own show, not once in one location, but repeatedly if
necessary.
Are You Flexible Enough?
Elizabeth Kruempelmann is an American, married to a German,
living in Germany. In 2003, her book, ‘The Global Citizen' was
published. In it she shows how a graduate can prepare for global
life. Like many, Kruempelmann endorses the value of assessing
your skills before you go. She provides what she calls a ‘mini–
course for the culturally challenged' in her book, which includes
Richard Lewis's fascinating ‘Lewis Model of Cultural
Classification'. Do the test and discover whether you are
linearactive, multiactive or reactive, then find out which cultures
would best match your specific personal skills.
‘Flexibility, confidence and open–mindedness are very important
qualities if you want to work in Europe in a foreign culture and
language,' says Kruempelmann.
It can be hard to be flexible if you have studied for a long time to
work in a specific area or industry, but expatriate partners will
only survive if they are willing to think laterally.
‘Graduates should ask themselves whether they are willing to take
a less than ideal job in an industry or company that interests
them, a job where they will have the possibility of proving
themselves, making contacts and moving up. This is flexibility,'
continues Kruempelmann.
They should consider whether they are able to think positively
when difficult challenges come up at work, or as a result of living
in a foreign culture. This is confidence.
‘They should question whether they are willing to take the time to
learn the language and the cultural aspects of doing business
locally, instead of assuming that the way business is done at home
should be the way it is done abroad. This is open–mindedness.'
