Below you will find a selection of the most recent entries from bloggers in our Work/Business section.
To view the entries from individual bloggers, click on the links below:
- Claire Doole - Claire Doole Communications
Claire is a former BBC correspondent and international spokeswoman who is passionate about helping people communicate with confidence. Since 2006, she has successfully trained hundreds of professionals in the art of presenting and public speaking, talking to the media, managing communications in a crisis, and writing for the web. In addition, she has coached C-level executives and public figures to give powerful TEDx and TED style talks in Europe and the Middle East. A Swiss and UK national, Claire trains and coaches in French and English.
- Elizabeth Ballin - Life Coach
As a long time member of the international community in Geneva, Elizabeth Ballin has been coaching adults and students from all parts of the world. She has coached business professionals, musicians/artists, couples, families and adolescents. She is a fully accredited Life Coach by the International Coaching Federation. Elizabeth Ballin, Life Coach
- Patrick Hoza - US Tax & Financial Services
Since 1990, Patrick has many years of experience with US individual expatriate taxation under his belt, including High Net Worth Individuals, streamline/voluntary disclosure filings and tax consulting, as well as working with large multinationals like Novartis, BP, Hewlett Packard and General Electric. He has extensive knowledge in serving both US expatriates and resident and non-resident aliens with their US tax-related issues. Patrick Hoza is a Tax Director at US Tax & Financial Services, with extensive experience in all aspects of Individual US tax and Expatriation, including Hight Net Worth Individuals and large multinationals.
Patrick started his career in 1990 in California, with Westpro Ltd., as a Senior Tax Consultant, then spent the middle part of his career working at KPMG and Ernst & Young. During his time with Ernst & Young, he worked and lived in Russia, France and finally Switzerland. He has gained a valuable working knowledge of the respective income tax regulations in all of these countries.
Patrick holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Colorado, is a member of the National Association of Enrolled Agents and is a Certified Acceptance Agent.
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Melitta Campbell - Business Coach
Business Coach and Mentor with nearly 3 decades of business experience and a passion for helping women confidently build a business they love. She is also the founder of the Swiss Entrepreneurs Club and president of the Swiss Riviera Toastmasters Club in Montreux. Originally from Wales, she now lives in Montreux in a chalet she has renovated with her husband overlooking the Swiss Alps. - Sunita Sehmi - Walk The Talk
Founder of Walk The Talk, Sunita has been training, developing and now coaching Business Communication skills in both companies and educational establishments for over twenty years. She has a passion for helping people to maximise their potential and created Walk The Talk with the sole aim to drive each and every client to perform their best.
- Robert Harris- Forth Capital
With over 25 years experience working for some of the major financial institutions in the City of London, Robert is a founding partner of Forth Capital, the leading expat financial advisory company in Switzerland. Regulary quoted in newspaper articles and magazines, he is well placed to advise expats on a variety of financial issues that may arise during their time living in Switzerland.
- Debbie Croft - Croft Coaching
As the founder of Croft Coaching, Debbie has a passion for helping people overcome challenges, embrace change and live life to the full; with an ethos of “work hard, play hard”.
- Sarah Santacroce - Simplicity
A certified social media, internet marketing, and virtual event specialist, Sarah enjoys every aspect of small business marketing. Through her own business, Simplicity, it is her mission to help other small businesses and solopreneurs increase their visibility and use social media tools as part of their marketing strategy.
- Diana Ritchie - SSC Sàrl
A Director at Swiss Career Connections, Diana will provide you with some useful tips for job hunting.
This year my blog is dedicated to interviewing leaders and subject matter experts to help promote healthier work-life balance. With any luck this will enable us to create better relationships, productivity and performance. I am convinced that this is an idea that needs to reverberate from the top and therefore will devote this year focusing on just that …. With a little help from my friends!
This month, I have been lucky enough to interview John Purkiss, who is a headhunter. He is also the co-author of Brand You, How to be Headhunted and Ken Purkiss – 50 Photos.
I really hope you enjoy his interview as much as I did.
Best wishes,
Sunita
Sunita Sehmi: How did you get to where you are today?
John Purkiss: I had a conventional type of upbringing: school, university, work. For the first few years I got everything I wanted in life through intelligence and hard work. I had the perfect CV. Then, at the age of 26, I was diagnosed with clinical depression. Like many people, I was suicidal before I was diagnosed. The doctors did their best, but the treatment of depression is very patchy, so I had to figure out most of the cure for myself. Then at the age of 35 I was running a business in Paris, which I had to close down. Despite all my cleverness and hard work, I was clearly missing something. Gradually I realised that, if I wanted my life to change, then I had to change. One reason for writing the latest book is that I have discovered how to help myself and am doing my best to help others. That’s how Change From Within was born.
By Debbie Croft, Croft Coaching / Geneva Coach Alliance
I wonder how many of you have been in, or overheard conversations about New Year’s Resolutions, where some speak with great fervour and passion; whilst others say ‘I don’t believe in making resolutions’. It made me consider how a simple date can cause many people to pause and reflect, pull over to the slow lane if you like, even if for 5 minutes; when the rest of the year, we stay in the fast lane.
So, what happens when you pull over to the slow lane or even stop? What do you become aware of?
It forces me to come up above the mental to-do list and juggling hats, as if I am looking down at myself from the canopy of the trees. From this viewpoint, I can see the roles I am playing in my life with detachment, and I can ponder over what is important to me in each of those roles. I actually dedicate time to reflect on questions similar to the ones I have listed below; as opposed to wonder if I have food in the fridge for the next couple of days, work organised, commitments on my radar so I don’t miss a vital playdate, thank you cards written etc etc!
Happy New Year to one and all! I trust you are all on top form and the year has started well.
This year my blog will be dedicated to interviewing leaders and subject matter experts to help promote healthier work life balance. With any luck this will enable us to create better relationships, productivity and performance.
I am convinced that this is an idea that needs to reverberate from the top and therefore will devote this year focusing on just that …. with a little help from my friends!
This January, I have been lucky enough to interview Genpo Roshi, founder of the Big Mind Process www.bigmind.org.
I really hope you enjoy his interview as much as I did.
Best wishes,
Sunita
Last minute shopping rush, office parties, wrapping up gifts as well as financial year. Yep, you have guessed it… this month’s blog is dedicated to the festive period, how to be serene instead of being mean and how to be calmer to avoid all the drama.
However the words of wisdom below are not mine but come from a talented ensemble of people from varying backgrounds and professions. They have taken time out of their busy schedule to give their wonderful advice on what’s worked for them during the holiday season.
So enjoy this last installment from Walk The Talk for 2013 and please let me take this opportunity to wish you all peace and joy this holiday Season and a New Year of health and happiness and Prosperity
Sunita xx
Image courtesy of Master isolated images / freedigitalphotos.net
By Diana Ritchie, Spouse Career Center and Swiss Career Connections
It reminds me of the saying, what do you want to do when you grow up? We all know that when we grow up we will work, but do we all know that we get to choose what we do when we grow up? As a student I didn’t. I studied Economics at university because my father was a successful business man and wanted his children to study commerce.Well I did not get into the faculty of commerce at McGill University and since I liked and did well in Economics in my final year of High School in Toronto, I took the next best thing, a BA in Economics. My real first job out of University was selling Life Insurance and I was very good at it and I enjoyed it because I was good at sales. Was this my dream job? No, but it had aspects of what I enjoy, a flexible job, meeting new people, helping people and being creative.
Statistics show different figures but in summary about 80% of people in the Western world do not like their jobs. Jobs as we know them today are a legacy from the industrial revolution and the terms they used have stayed with us to the present; terms such as compensation (meaning payment for your time at work), labour (referring to staff) and Human resources (similar to natural resources). Work historically was not meant to be enjoyable and even today we work so we have money to do what we enjoy. What if our job was what we enjoyed? I sometimes hear people say, “Why should I be paid for doing something I enjoy?” I would like to believe that we are coming around to the idea that work does not need to be hard and unpleasant, that getting paid to do something we like and enjoy is the norm and that employers (and many are starting to realize this) are responsible to their employees to ensure that they are happy and enjoying their job. Evidence of this is the ratings on the best employer published by Forbes, CNN, Guardian, etc.
