Maggie Williams began her career in the NHS, working as an Anaesthetic and Emergency Practitioner, where she gained invaluable experience in high-pressure environments and developed a deep understanding of patient care and safety. Transitioning into operational management, Maggie quickly honed her leadership skills, overseeing complex systems and teams to improve efficiency and outcomes. In 2017, Maggie boldly moved to Portugal with her family, embarking on a new chapter in her career in global mobility. She successfully leveraged her extensive background in healthcare and operational management, transferring her skills into a new industry. Since then, Maggie has been with BiCortex Languages and Translations, where she currently leads day-to-day operations and focuses on business expansion, client development, and operational growth. A natural […]

This post is inspired by sundaebean. Tired? Surprising Sleep Tips for Expats Reclaiming Rest: Why Expats Need to Prioritize Sleep As expats, we often find ourselves caught in a whirlwind of professional and personal commitments—so much so that sleep becomes an afterthought. It’s not uncommon to hear our peers complain about sleep deprivation and burnout (we may even be the ones voicing those complaints). For this edition, I want to explore how we can regain control by setting clear boundaries and embracing better sleep hygiene—an idea inspired by sleep expert Christine Hansen, founder of Sleep Like a Boss. Understanding the Sleep Struggles of Expats Before setting new habits, it’s important to understand why sleep becomes such a challenge for expats. Quite […]

The Push for Rainbow Talent in Global Mobility is a series we created for Pride Month to raise awareness of the issues diverse talent might experience in the realm of Global Mobility. Although international organizations have a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) objective, many need to catch up due to a lack of understanding of how DEI impacts Global Mobility.  Global Mobility Programs often do not require specific Diversity and Inclusion objectives as part of their strategy. While I understand that we might not need to develop an inclusion strategy ONLY for Global Mobility, we should still include Global Mobility in our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion goals. Globally, the proportion of female employees engaged in international assignments is merely 14%. […]

Dr. Jens Schmidt, A German Executive in Shanghai Dr. Jens Schmidt is an expat. The company’s corporate headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, assigned him  to improve efficiency at the company’s manufacturing plant in Shangai, China. During his first 90 days he came up with a list of quality issues and he shared this list with three of his direct reports (Mr. Zhu, Mr. Cao and Mrs. Ping).  He asked them for input on how to mitigate the issues within the next 90 days and what the “low hanging fruit” were. He emailed them on Friday evening and asked them to respond by Monday morning, enough time to review over the weekend. While Dr. Jens Schmidt was sorting out his moving goods […]

I used to tell my colleagues once that I sometimes feel that I am like an orchid. I would only blossom in the right environment and when I get a lot of love from the people working with me. As a creative person, I also need to feel safe and accepted and this is the hardest part because we often make connections between items that others will not connect. Also, connect people with each other who would not necessarily see why they should be connected.  On the weekend I attended a short workshop in a monastery of a Dominican sisterhood in Ilanz. There in the loving eyes of those sisters, I immediately understood why I would like my clients to […]