Research shows that only 25% of expat employees
sent on an assignment abroad are women.
We can change that!
Managing an international career, a multicultural team and a family life abroad can be challenging. However, with the right support and guidance, expat women have all the capacity and talent to maximize results for the company, make the impact they want for their team and preserve their energy to fully enjoy their personal experience abroad.
„Disconnection is the enemy of impact!“
I’ve experienced myself what a difference guidance and the right people can make. It was actually a bunch of extraordinary expat women on assignment in Ethiopia, who really helped me through my rough start in the country. I was terrified to leave my home country, terrified to take on a leadership role that felt two sizes too big for me and where I was the only expat in the team, and terrified to settle in another home. They believed in me, listened to my worries, listened to my fear to fail, and encouraged me step by step. They challenged my thinking, my status quo, my thoughts ‘this is how life should look like with late 20s’, and made me think. So I’ve learned some words of the local language, I started truly connecting to the people around me, and liked our life in Ethiopia more and more. And then: All of a sudden, we made local friends, and really fell in love with the country, its traditions and unique vibe.
Without my mentor expat women who guided me in those times, I do not know how the assignment would have evolved. I would not even know if we ever dared to choose another assignment, which brought us to Jamaica. They came at the right time into my life, and this is the story, why I felt that we shall provide all support possible for outstanding women like them, on assignment, juggling family and a global life, and still manage to be THAT one person for another one arriving.
I was inspired by so many women I met and worked with along the last years, so I felt a need to specifically support high achieving expat women on their mission and help them discover how they can maximize their impact, have more time and more energy.
Focus of my work is to audit your energy level (#energyleadershipindex) as expat, declutter your global life, co-create compassionate goals, re-connect yourself to the place and people that matter most and make sure that your ROI will happen. For you and your organization.
CocoHeart
‘’Fresh coconut water washes off your heart – and you’ll feel free and full of energy again’’
Jamaican Proverb
I’ve experienced myself what a difference guidance and the right people can make. It was actually a bunch of extraordinary expat women on assignment in Ethiopia, who really helped me through my rough start in the country. I was terrified to leave my home country, terrified to take on a leadership role that felt two sizes too big for me and where I was the only expat in the team, and terrified to settle in another home. They believed in me, listened to my worries, listened to my fear to fail, and encouraged me step by step. They challenged my thinking, my status quo, my thoughts ‘this is how life should look like with late 20s’, and made me think. So I’ve learned some words of the local language, I started truly connecting to the people around me, and liked our life in Ethiopia more and more. And then: All of a sudden, we made local friends, and really fell in love with the country, its traditions and unique vibe.
Without my mentor expat women who guided me in those times, I do not know how the assignment would have evolved. I would not even know if we ever dared to choose another assignment, which brought us to Jamaica. They came at the right time into my life, and this is the story, why I felt that we shall provide all support possible for outstanding women like them, on assignment, juggling family and a global life, and still manage to be THAT one person for another one arriving.
I was inspired by so many women I met and worked with along the last years, so I felt a need to specifically support high achieving expat women on their mission and help them discover how they can maximize their impact, have more time and more energy.
Focus of my work is to audit your energy level (#energyleadershipindex) as expat, declutter your global life, co-create compassionate goals, re-connect yourself to the place and people that matter most and make sure that your ROI will happen. For you and your organization.
Much love, Gertraud
Hi, I’m Gertraud, an Austrian and traveler by birth. I am a global HR professional & Coach who is passionate about helping women expats and organizations see what’s holding them back from creating higher impact abroad.
For the last several years, I’ve worked and lived as expat in Ethiopia and Jamaica. Having personally experienced the dynamics of juggling family, career, marriage, and friendships while living abroad, I deeply relate to the challenges of thriving as a working expat mum. I’m fascinated by the impact an expat may bring to another country, what opportunities may be co-created with the local team and the emotional rollercoaster that expat life entails. Working for a global executive search network allows me to see the complexity of moving talent across the world every day. As Coach, my passion is to be a business/life/check-in partner for courageous expat and repat women that experience transitions, career changes, crave more time for themselves and want to maximize their impact at work and at home. My coaching program CocoHeart was crafted in Jamaica and combines all my passion: laser focused coaching, going deep & achieving the personal and professional goals that inspire you.