After a successful corporate career in supply chain management, Marta Koncz, took the leap to follow her passion for travel and start her own business: Agate Experience, to help people discover and explore the hidden gems of her adopted home country, Switzerland.

Marta has always loved to travel, to discover new cultures, dishes, and customs, and experience something new. Even as a schoolgirl she planned trips for her classmates. As an adult, travelling was more than just a passion, it was also a therapy for Marta as she found she learnt a lot about herself through her adventures and seeing life through a different lens. It was also the perfect way to destress and relax from a busy working week.

Through Agate Experience she offers fun travel experiences and opportunities to discover the hidden gems of Switzerland.

Rosa Mayland, the creator of Rosa’s Yummy Yums, lives in a small Geneva countryside village situated in the French speaking part of Switzerland - a few meters away from the French border. She’s an Anglo-Swiss food enthusiast who loves photography, loud rock or electronic music, walks in the countryside, meeting interesting people, cats, books and independent films. When she’s not writing for her blog, you’ll also find her over at The Rambling Epicure, a daily international food chronicle and online newspaper to which she contributes as a freelance writer.

As you can imagine, she is very passionate about cooking/baking and can spend hours surfing the net for inspiration, reading blogs, creating dishes, testing new recipes or going through cookbooks and magazines. She is crazy about flavorful and soul-uplifting grubs, spices and yummy textures, therefore she’s particularly fond of Asian, Caribbean, Mediterranean, South American, Middle Eastern delights as well as regional and traditional specialities!

Rosa has kindly agreed to let us post some of the recipes from her blog on knowitall.ch.  Each month we will feature a new dish from her site, but due to space limitations we will only publish the recipes listed in each blog entry. However, you MUST click on the link provided with each recipe to read for yourself the inspiration behind each of the dishes prepared by Rosa and to see the wonderful collection of photos accompanying each dish.  Many of these photos have been taken at locations in and around Geneva - see if you can work out where they have been taken!

http://rosas-yummy-yums.blogspot.com/

Ceylan Ayik is a certified Integrative Nutrition Healthy Living Coach and RYT 300hours Yoga Teacher, whose aim is to empower busy women on their journey to becoming happy, healthy role models for their children, family and friends.  She is passionate about helping them to transform their minds, health and bodies through optimal nutrition and yoga.

She leads groups workshops on nutrition as well as one-on-one health and nutrition coaching packages. They include pantry detoxes, cooking lessons and clean food shopping trips.

Alongside her busy coaching practice and yoga teaching, she is a mother of two, wife, and writer for her fitness and gourmet blog, Fitgurme.

www.ceylanayik.com/

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Dean Marriott was born in London and educated in the UK and Germany.  He retired from a career in finance, aged 33, and subsequently retrained as an actor and teacher.  From an early age, his passion for languages and the arts has underpinned both his professional and social lives.  In his quest for leisure activities, Dean keeps one key thought in mind: if Shakespeare’s words are true and ‘All the world's a stage’, we shouldn’t have to look far in order to be entertained.  We just have to make the time to appreciate it.  

If you are searching for an element of entertainment in your leisure pursuits and have a desire to look beyond the obvious, then Dean will use his artistic eye to point you in the right direction.  

Dean left Switzerland in July 2017 and is currently studying towards a Masters in Film Directing in Berlin, although he is still managing to squeeze in some acting, where possible.

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Nicola Ogilvie has been sewing as long as she can remember, and loves new challenges. From a very early age, she has attempted most things you can make on a sewing machine, from creating her own wedding dress and recovering a chair to quilting and embroidery. In her early career, she was employed by Courtaulds, working in a factory making underwear for Marks & Spencer!

Through her sewing business, Just Sew, Nicola now shares her passion with a new generation. She runs workshops, mostly for children, and teaches in the after-school program of a local international school. She loves the fact that even the youngest get a great sense of satisfaction from their completed projects. After a number of requests, she will soon be offering courses aimed at adults.

Although sewing is clearly Nicola’s thing, she admires all craftsmen and women, and loves to see how people use their creativity.

www.justsewgeneva.weebly.com

Originally from South Africa, Lisa Gibson moved to Switzerland in 2011 with her fiancé and has enjoyed every minute of this adventure. Currently based in Lausanne, she's a freelance and feature writer. She started her personal blog as a means of documenting her travels (both in Switzerland and around the rest of Europe) and as a way to share the expat experience with friends and family back home.
 
Lisa's love for Switzerland goes back to when she first visited as a teenager more than 15 years ago - so living here has been like a childhood dream come true! As an adult, her love affair with Switzerland continues… she loves exploring the region and discovering the lesser-known gems, often not mentioned in the tourism brochures.
 
The saying “Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer” could not be more true for her.
 
http://misswissbliss.wordpress.com/
 

Oguzhan (Osan) Altun is a freelance photographer based in Geneva, and one of the founder members of the Geneva Photo Club. He specializes in landscapes, portraits and event photography.

His passion for life shows in his photos with vibrant colors and an edgy style. He continuously strives to show something special about his subject and push the boundaries every time.

His teaching style combines 10 years of training experience in corporate life with contagious passion for photography and the best training materials available online on the net. He is crisp, to the point, and focused on getting the participant practice what she/he learned.

His portfolio is available at his website Altun Photography and his latest work in instagram (@altuno) and on his Facebook page.

Micaela Crespo started her expat adventures at the age of 17. During her expat journey she obtained a PhD in Chemical Engineering, she became a project manager, started blogging, got married and had two children. She believes all expat mums have the potential of carrying out their dreams! She created Expat Lifehacks to help expat mothers who feel overwhelmed and lost develop the confidence and strategies they need to feel fully supported and thrive.

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Denise Nickerson, co-author of Know-it-all passport’s Education Guide Switzerland is American and French. She is a Fulbright scholar with a Teacher’s Certification and a Master’s Degree in Education. She has been a speaker in over 300 international schools in 30 different countries. She works as a speaker, writer, college and university counselor, an educational consultant working with families around the world, and she provides training and development for educators in schools and universities. International education is her passion!

Sabine Hutcheson is an education professional with over twenty-five years’ experience in teaching and leadership in schools in Switzerland, the UK and neighbouring France. Sabine has worked as a Teacher, Education Consultant, University and Careers Advisor and, in the past eight years, has held senior leadership positions in schools in Geneva. She is currently the Head of Secondary Admissions at Geneva English School.

Julie Tompkins-Wagner is an active concert pianist, music educator and administrator with over 40 years of experience, 27 of them in the International environment. She is currently the Head of the Music Academy at GEMS World Academy Switzerland as well as the Director of Pianoforte Productions, the Summer Music Program, and the Artistic Director of the Geneva Youth Ensemble.

Julie holds a Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and English from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a qualified I.G.C.S.E. examiner and is active in the Associated Boards of the Royal Schools of Music examination program. She is passionate about the benefits of making music, bringing young musicians together and working with young people of all ages in order to help them gain the life skills that they will need for their future.

Other interests include photography, writing, travel, gardening, Scouting and the Kosovo Musical Project. Julie has participated in several photography exhibitions and is a published author. She has numerous recordings available under the pianoforte productions label.

www.Julie-music.com

Marianne Salem is the Executive Director of the Lake Leman International School (LLIS) in Morges, Vaud. Founded in 2011, the school offers education to students aged between 3 and 11, with flexible teaching that matches each student's needs and a strong focus on community engagement for both pupils and their families.

In order to accommodate both international and local students, LLIS prioritises teaching of the French language. The co-education of international and local students in the same school has a very positive impact on the integration of international students into the local community and fosters the friendship between Swiss families and families from abroad.

Lake Leman International School, www.llis.ch

Former Head of Communications and Alumni Relations for Haut-Lac International Bilingual School, Sara Dubler is a bilingual, half Swiss and half Irish young woman who completed her International Baccalaureate at Haut-Lac in 2006. There she experienced true bilingualism and enjoyed being part of a local / international community.

She then did a BA at Stirling University and an MA at EM Strasbourg Business School before spending time in Belfast working in a Customer Engagement Agency. She recently moved back to Switzerland and entered the field of international education.

Sara was responsible for advertising, digital marketing, and communications at Haut-Lac International Bilingual School in St-Légier-La Chiésaz near Vevey and also for developing the alumni network.  She is a marketing enthusiast who is passionate about the digital world and enjoys combining her knowledge and skills to boost the vibrant school community and watch it thrive and develop.

Michela Mantani worked at La Côte International School as Communications Manager from 2017-2020. Passionate about education and the impact that different learning styles can have on a child’s learning journey, she has been researching and writing about the various educational options available in the Lake Léman region since relocating here from London in 2008.

Michela obtained a First Class Honours degree in Modern Languages and Literature from the University of Florence before moving to London to start her career in publishing, where she also gained her TEFL (Teacher of English as a Foreign Language) Certification.

Originally from Italy, Michela is a Geneva-based freelance writer, blogger and mum to three children. Before moving to Switzerland in 2008, she worked at the BBC for many years as a TV Distribution Executive and at the Laura Ashley headquarters in Fulham as Product Development Technologist.

A CIM-certified professional, she's a design, food and travel enthusiast who tries to involve her children in everything she does. Since moving to Switzerland, she has taken up snowboarding, stand-up paddle and very much enjoys the outdoor lifestyle the Lake Léman region can offer.

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Sandra Steiger is the TutorsPlus Academic support manager and has over 10 years’ experience teaching English at various schools in Switzerland. During her 6 years at the International School of Geneva, she was also the Service Learning programme Coordinator, Homeroom Mentor and Head of Year 8. Now she helps parents and students get the academic support they need.

Trudi Hayes is the Director of Swiss Language Group in Geneva, which comprises of three schools. Wall Street English, Swiss French School and Ecole Suisse d’Allemand. Trudi has a background in client relationship and service management and is a qualified English teacher. She and her team of language consultants help students find the best language courses for them, according to their individual objectives and requirements.

Sarah Santacroce is a certified social media, internet marketing, and virtual event specialist. She 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.

Sarah draws on 12 years of experience in Business Administration, in fields ranging from Employee Training to Public Relations at big and small companies. She became interested in Online Marketing and Social Media to promote her own business and after lots of research and numerous classes and webinars she is now offering that knowledge to other small- to mid-sized businesses who struggle to find their place on the web.

In this blog, Sarah draws on examples from her own blog to give knowitall.ch visitors a few tips for managing their own businesses.

Diana Ritchie, owner and founder of SCC Sarl, will provide you with some useful tips for boosting your professional performance. Diana has been operating successfully in the region for over 15 years, providing career-related counseling, networking and coaching to partners and spouses of international employees relocating to Switzerland.  She has been training herself on conscious awareness (authentic leadership) and job-related topics, and provides expert trainers through a special initiative called NotchUP Training.

Successful Career Centres
Boosting Professional Performance
www.scc-centre.com

Sunita is an Executive Coach, Trainer and Consultant. She is of Indian origin and was born in London before moving to Geneva in 1992. She has a Psychology background (specialising in Occupational Psychology) and a Post Graduate in the Development and Training of Adults. She also completed a Masters in Ressources Humaines, Coaching et Gestion des Carrières at the University of Geneva.

During her 25 years experience Sunita's drive has always been to help people to do their best and hence led her to create Walk The Talk.

In her free time Sunita is a Mentor for the Branson Center of Entrepreneurship and a proud member of the School in The Cloud Team.

www.walkthetalk.ch

Knowitall.ch has teamed up with expat entrepreneur, Crissy Mueller, to provide you with a series of blog articles, offering advice on how to set up your own business in the Lake Geneva region. 

Crissy provides writing, editing and translation services through her company, Writing that Works. Her mission is to help businesses and individuals get the results they want though quality writing in English.

Before starting her own business, Crissy worked for companies and organizations in Germany, Switzerland and the United States, where she managed and coordinated a variety of programs at the intersection of education, travel and cultural exchange.  She has a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and German from Tufts University.

She is passionate about intercultural communication, entrepreneurship, and discovering how to live life to the fullest.

www.writingthatworks.net

As the founder of Croft Coaching, Deborah Croft, has a passion for helping people overcome challenges, embrace change and live life to the full; with an ethos of “work hard, play hard”.

Croft Coaching is a Coaching and Training organisation, dedicated to inspiring and empowering Individuals and Groups to play to their strengths and honour their values; so that they are truly engaged, energised and present; inside and outside of the workplace.

Croft Coaching partners with Organisations and Individuals who are seeking to evoke positive, long term transformational change; grounded in greater self-awareness, clarity and conscious choice. In partnership with Viva Consulting, they help organisations include and embrace the impact of the transition to parenthood in their diversity programs.

www.croftcoaching.com

Robert Harris has over 25 years experience working for some of the major financial institutions in the City of London, including 12 years at Citibank where he was a Senior Banker. During his time at Citibank, Robert was responsible for global relationships with important financial institutions and instigated a number of landmark deals.

Robert is a founding partner of Forth Capital and has helped the company become the leading expat financial advisory company in Switzerland. He has been quoted in the Financial Times and numerous magazine articles.

For the www.knowitall.ch website, Robert invites various members of his team at Forth Capital to contribute blog articles on different financial topics that he thinks will be of interest to our readers.

www.forthcapital.com

Claire Doole 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.

Claire is also a highly experienced moderator having facilitated panel discussions with government ministers, NGO activists, humanitarians and human rights specialists at major events.

www.doolecommunications.com

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Melitta Campbell

Melitta is a 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 even held a position in 2019 as the president of the Swiss Riviera Toastmasters Club in Montreux. Not to waste any energy, Melitta is an integral part of the TEDxLausanne team. She recently founded New Female Entrepreneurs Club which boasts a podcast of the same name.
Originally from Wales, she now lives in Montreux in a chalet she has renovated with her husband overlooking the Swiss Alps.
www.melittacampbell.com
www.facebook.com/MelittaCampbellCoach
www.twitter.com/MelittaCampbell

Jennie Delreeve (formerly Delbridge) is one of the co-founders of Peak Of Wellbeing.

Due to her own childhood trauma and years of experiencing painful emotions and self destructive habits, Jennie is passionate about helping others overcome similar experiences. She works with a wide variety of individuals and groups from high-flying entrepreneurs to stay-at-home mums.

Jennie has created her own successful methodology during 12 years of clinical practice and has been greatly influenced by the works of John McMullin, Brene Brown, Esther Hicks and Penelope Young.

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Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Tanya is Swiss by Nationality and lives in Zurich with her husband, Russell, and her two little girls.

After having her second baby, and understanding only too well the challenges of working and having children (with no family support as they are all back in South Africa), Tanya is determined to provide a service, through her franchise business, Rockmybaby, that will make life a little easier for families when it comes to childcare. She strives to help parents feel confident in the care of their children so that they can have some well-deserved time-out’s for themselves.

Over her career, Tanya has worked in corporate environments, providing recruitment services to clients across different industries.

www.rockmybaby.ch

Dr Penny Fraser  MB BS BSc(HONS) MRCS(ENG)

Dr Penny is a British-trained Emergency Medicine doctor, who lives in Geneva.  She is also the mother of two girls aged 9 and 10. Along with Dr Michelle Wright and her other colleagues at HealthFirst, she has a passion for delivering health education and First Aid training to the English-speaking community in Switzerland. 

HealthFirst provides a range of practical, interactive First Aid courses including a unique Mountain First Aid Course and a First Aid course, obligatory for the Swiss Driver’s Licence, and suitable for anyone from the age of 14.

www.healthfirst.ch

Milena McRae works with individuals and groups from all walks of life, helping them build their dreams, accelerate their results, and create richer, more fulfilling lives.  As a certified life coach, she specialises in helping you discover your purpose and create an environment that is supportive of it.  In working with Milena, you will be guided to analyse your existing beliefs, patterns of thinking and behaviors that are at the core of your current results.  You will then work on transforming them, bringing them in alignment with your desired results.

Milena wholeheartedly believes that we can all live truly fulfilled and successful lives.  Her passion to help you discover the greatness in yourself shows generously in her interactions, coaching and mentoring work.  Whether your challenge in life is in discontent with your current results or in longing for better and more — be it in your health, relationships, occupation or time and money freedom, she can help you take confident steps towards the full spectrum life you know you deserve and want to be living now.

www.milenamcrae.com

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Johdi Woodford was born in Zimbabwe in 1979 and discovered Pilates in 1999 when a leg injury ended her marathon running career and an osteopath suggested she try Pilates. She began to practice Pilates regularly in every country she lived in and, having arrived in Switzerland in 2004, and having worked in the Marketing & Communication sectors, she decided to make her passion her career and trained to become a Pilates Instructor after the birth of her first child. She has been certified with the Pilates Institute in Geneva and London and teaching since 2010. Her training includes workshops on Pilates for pre and post pregnancy, Pilates for seniors, as well as special sessions led by physiotherapists on the rehabilitation of the back, shoulder and hip girdle.

Johdi opened Little Bird Pilates in 2014 with the aim of sharing her passion for intelligent exercise to a wider audience. Her main aim is to help people, of any age and any sporting background, to find freedom of movement, and gain strength and suppleness without pain and discomfort, which then improves their daily lives. Johdi regularly attends workshops and seminars in order to continue to deepen and broaden her knowledge and technique.

https://www.facebook.com/littlebpilates

Hiba Samawi (formerly Giacoletto) is a Psychologist and Coach working in Geneva, Lausanne and online.

A Swiss-Jordanian mix, she has a Masters Degree in Psychology from the University of Lausanne and is a certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN). She previously ran Healthwise.ch, a health coaching business where she also created healthy recipes.

Hiba uses mindfulness-based behavioural approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT). These are more active forms of therapy where, more than just talk, you learn skills for living.

She specializes mostly in difficulties around relationships, emotions, making healthy change and eating, and also offers group sessions, both in-person in Geneva/Lausanne and online.

www.wiserhumans.com
fb.me/wiserhumans

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Hiba Samawi (formerly Giacoletto) is a Psychologist and Coach working in Geneva, Lausanne and online.

A Swiss-Jordanian mix, she has a Masters Degree in Psychology from the University of Lausanne and is a certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN). She previously ran Healthwise.ch, a health coaching business where she also created healthy recipes.

Hiba uses mindfulness-based behavioural approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT). These are more active forms of therapy where, more than just talk, you learn skills for living.

She specializes mostly in difficulties around relationships, emotions, making healthy change and eating, and also offers group sessions, both in-person in Geneva/Lausanne and online.

www.wiserhumans.com
fb.me/wiserhumans

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Dr. Irina Schurov is a Nutritional Neuroscientist with a PhD from Cambridge University (UK) and over 20 years’ experience in science and health-providing services. She created and founded LiveRight, an initiative to help others through nutrition and wellbeing strategies. By building an educational platform around healthy eating habits, by restoring the relationships between people and food, by supporting your individual circumstances and through personalized coaching in nutrition, she wants to help you and your family achieve the optimal balance between help and life.

Irina focuses especially on children with ASD and related neurological conditions by addressing the connection between gut and brain by detoxifying, nourishing and resetting a whole body biochemical balance. She provides personalized nutritional support to families and an individual DNA nourishing programme for each child in order to maximise their potential in life.

www.liveright.eu

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Birgit Suess, owner of Sweet Sunshine Speech Therapy, is a Swiss-American who grew up between the US and Switzerland and speaks English, German and Swiss-German. Because of a worldwide shortage of Speech Therapists, she uses technology to connect special needs students around the world with English speaking Speech Therapists.
 
With almost 20 years of experience as a Speech Therapist and 10 years experience with Teletherapy, she is a pioneer in the Teletherapy world. Her personal specialty is working on social language with high functioning children on the Autism Spectrum. Her passion is finding new and innovative ways to help children with special needs.
 
www.SweetSunshineTherapy.com

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HealthFirst, providing physical First Aid training and Mental Health First Aid training, as well as Health Education, throughout Switzerland (www.healthfirst.ch).