Why failure is no fiasco and rather feedback [The Culture Guy Podcast]

Rachel Smets shares her confidence hacks for moving abroad On this episode Rachel Smets, author of “Awaken Your Confidence,” shares her experiences of moving abroad and living in different countries. Born and raised in Belgium, she currently resides in the Netherlands. She left home in her mid-20s and moved to Spain where she landed her first job abroad. Over the years, Rachel has lived in …

Nazis not welcome

How do we respond to hatred and bigotry? [The Culture Guy Podcast]

An attempt to digest the Charlottesville riots and the rise of violent hate groups in the United States This episode begins with a different song, as it covers different terrain. I recorded it on August 13, 2017 under the fresh impression of the white supremacist “protests” in Charlottesville, VA (USA). You’ll notice that I am struggling to find the right words. …

Mastering a mixed marriage in Indonesia [The Culture Guy Podcast]

Silke Irmscher talks about transitioning from Saxony to Java On this episode Silke Irmscher, founder of Culturenergy, tells her story of how she left Germany and fell in love with Indonesia and, in fact, found love on the island of Java. Silke has been living in Indonesia for more than 15 years and together with her husband, Ri Yanto, she …

No need to force cultural agility upon others [The Culture Guy Podcast]

Marie Gervais talks about Nabil from Nottingham and being allergic to rice in Japan On this episode Marie Gervais, the CEO of Shift Management, Inc. in Edmonton, Alberta (Canada), shares how she learned that people can be plotted on a continuum of cultural rigidity. Sometimes people’s positions on this continuum changes over the course of a lifetime, but sometimes it does …

When moving within the U.S. feels like going from Morocco to Finland [The Culture Guy Podcast]

Melissa Hahn shares how the question of identity can shape a relationship between partners from different cultures. She also describes how the geographical distance within one country can equal that of the opposite ends of a continent. Born and raised in Arizona, Melissa has had many opportunities to travel and live abroad and to experience other cultures. However, the first time …

The secret of mastering a mixed-culture marriage [The Culture Guy Podcast]

Carmen Ring explains why tolerance will only get you through the first year of an intercultural relationship Born in Ploiești, Romania – at a time when the Iron Curtain was still closed and her country was governed under the dictatorship rule of Nicolae Ceaușescu – Carmen now lives in New York State with her American husband and their toddler son. …

How to become a cultural chameleon [The Culture Guy Podcast]

On this episode Pellegrino Riccardi explains how he reconciles his three cultural backgrounds Born in the UK to parents who came from Avellino in Southern Italy, and raised in a bicultural family in Bath – an English city which first experienced visitors from ancient Rome as early as AD 60 – Pellegrino now lives in Norway with his Norwegian wife …

Cosmopolitans, let’s keep reaching out! [The Culture Guy Podcast]

The Culture Guy pontificates about cosmopolitans, the signs of the times, and how four agreements will help you stand for who you are. We have been seeing a rise of nationalist, protectionist, or xenophobic tendencies across the world. The Culture Guy Podcast takes a look at the dilemma this creates for some of us. For those who live and work across cultural …

What executives, doctors, lawyers, students, teachers, baristas, and goat farmers have in common [The Culture Guy Podcast]

Getting outside of your comfort zone is easier with the tips in Andy Molinsky’s new book, Reach Exactly a year after he first appeared as a guest on The Culture Guy Podcast, Andy Molinsky is back. In this first episode of 2017 Andy talks about his latest book, Reach: A New Strategy to help You Step Outside Your Comfort Zone. Often, …

How lawyers can cross cultures with ease [The Culture Guy Podcast]

Why international attorneys need to learn about intercultural communication Jeri Weber is an attorney-at-law and an intercultural consultant for legal professionals. She was born and raised in the U.S. Midwest, spent time in Asia as an exchange student and has lived and worked in China, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. On this episode Jeri highlights the fact that most …

Why this NRI thinks “I will” beats IQ [The Culture Guy Podcast]

Why Mitch Patel thinks skills can be taught and not attitude Mitul “Mitch” Patel is the founder and CEO of Vision Hospitality Group, Inc., which will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year. Mitch is the son of immigrants from India – his father came to California from a village in Gujarat with $8 in his pocket. Today Mitch leads an …

How a global traveler discovered the B.A.N.K. code [The Culture Guy Podcast]

Cheri Tree is the founder and CEO of B.A.N.K.code, a company which developed a unique personality-based sales training approach. On this episode she shares the story how her nomad upbringing lead her to crack personality codes. Coming from a U.S. military family, Cheri traveled a lot during her childhood and when she was a student. Now, as an adult, she …

What are you doing with your hands? [The Culture Guy Podcast]

When people communicate they don’t only use their words, they always include parts of their body to convey their message. Depending on where in the world we are from, we use our hands, our heads, and the rest of our bodies differently. You’ll find hundreds of infographics on the internet highlighting how some gestures work in certain cultures but would …

Let’s talk about sex(ism), baby! [The Culture Guy Podcast]

During this episode I’ll be talking about sex. In a clean and mature way. It is still a podcast around the topic of sex – and about sexism. Let me be really clear: sexism will hurt your business. And sometimes you will encounter it coming from angles you weren’t expecting. I recently wrote a piece about this topic on our …

How to build cross-cultural rapport by leaving your food comfort zone [The Culture Guy Podcast]

When he moved within the United States, from Maryland to Arkansas, Michael Spencer realized that some of the stories about the U.S. South are sometimes more than just stereotypes. Or, as he found out, Southerners like their tea sweet. Which meant that rapport building in the Ozarks is different than at the Chesapeake Bay. Then his company offered him an …

The results are in: We know where you are from!

In June of 2015 our company audio program, The Culture Guy Podcast, was launched. Since then host Christian Höferle released 21 episodes. Today, 15 months later, we have collected enough reliable user and listener data which we are sharing with you now. First of all, we want to extend a huge THANK YOU to you for downloading our podcast and …

When the expat dream turns into a career challenge [The Culture Guy Podcast]

In the past few weeks we have been posting several useful articles on our Facebook Page about life abroad, the challenges of expatriation, raising children overseas with two languages, and repatriating back home after having lived abroad for years. So it is time we let someone who has been through all of these stages share her story. Meet Germany-native Tina …

Talking about connection across cultures, ethnicities, socio-economics with Gary Rahman

Adjusting to different cultures and the behaviors which are acceptable and familiar to their representatives isn’t only challenging across country lines. Often we find distinct subcultures within nations. That’s the case in comparatively small countries like Spain, Germany, or Italy and especially in large territorial nations like China, India, or the United States. In the U.S. the different American cultures …

Why you need to attend the annual conference of SIETAR USA [The Culture Guy Podcast]

Brett Parry, who serves as the Director of Communication and Marketing for SIETAR USA, is an independent intercultural coach and facilitator. Originally from Australia, he works throughout the United States from his home base in Chicago. In his role at SIETAR (Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research), he has spearheaded efforts to revamp the organization’s online presence and digital …

The Culture Guy Podcast

How Joe Lurie intrigues people through difference [The Culture Guy Podcast]

Joe Lurie, the author of Perception and Deception – A mind-opening journey across cultures, is back for another conversation about bringing people from around the world together. If you missed the first time Joe was a guest on The Culture Guy Podcast, you can listen to the episode in the archives. During this new episode Joe shares with Christian his …