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First Book of Its Kind
Filled with hundreds of stories from women who have been there and who want to share their advice and tips for success with women just like you.
“In the U.S., "shagging" is a type of Southern dance. So when a favorite "shagging" song came on the jukebox in a bar in Singapore, I told my British clients how we used to shag all the time in college, how I loved it, and how I shagged anytime I could. After I finished and noticed the looks on their faces, someone politely told me that the British definition of "shag" was "to have sex". Needless to say I was utterly mortified!" –Perry
"It's important to have a sense of humor about it all and not be offended or disturbed if people laugh at you. You have to let it roll off your back. You have to be able to throw your ego out the window sometimes."
–Patricia
"You can't tell enough people often enough about your desire to go overseas." –Diane
"Great leaders can find ways to lead in multiple cultural environments and be highly effective in doing so."
–Jackie
"Keep an open mind and be flexible. Don't accept the standard ways of doing things as necessarily best for you."
–Anna
“During our three years in Hong Kong, we managed to visit most every country in the region. We celebrated anniversaries and birthdays in exotic destinations such as Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and Tibet…..we took advantage of long weekends, business trips, and vacations to explore the rich history, natural beauty and colorful cultures of Asia….To anyone living overseas: travel as frequently as possible to the most exotic locales. It expands the mind…You’ll also learn a lot about yourself and the world around you.” –Stacie |
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Women Featured in the Book:
Stacie Nevadomski Berdan, who grew up traveling and wanted the added thrill of working in multiple cultures, moved from Burson-Marsteller’s Washington, D.C., office to Hong Kong the day after her wedding. She spent three intense years in Asia at a critical juncture in her mid-level career and transitioned into a senior global position upon her return to Washington, D.C., jumping from vice president to global account managing director in just a few years. At the age of 34, she was named a WPP partner and ranked in the top one percent of the largest marketing and communications conglomerate in the world. Searching for a more balanced life, she turned her substantial achievements in the fast-paced corporate world into a successful career as author, speaker and consultant. She is mother of two.
Anna Catalano, fluent in Mandarin, moved as a senior manager from Chicago to Beijing with a husband and two small children for two years while establishing Amoco’s downstream office and exploring her Chinese roots. She later spent another five years abroad, this time in London as group vice president, global marketing for BP, and was recognized in Fortune’s 2001 “Most Powerful Women in International Business”, before making the decision to walk away from it all in 2003 and spend time with her extended family in Texas. She now serves as an independent Director on several public boards.
Jacqualyn "Jackie" Fouse, fluent in French, and with a good working knowledge of Spanish, German and Italian, knew in her teenage years that she wanted to live and work internationally. Offered an opportunity to work for Alcon Laboratories in its parent company, Nestlé’s, headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland, she left Ft. Worth, Texas, as a solid, middle manager in finance. For the next eight years she worked for Nestlé and gained broad and significant business and financial experience until she was courted by Swissair Group’s CEO to join as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and for one year helped manage the company through its bankruptcy. She returned home to Ft. Worth as Senior Vice President and CFO of Alcon Laboratories, a $5 billion division of Nestlé. She was awarded “Financial Executive of the Year” in 2005 by the Institute of Management Accountants and Robert Half International.
Diane Gulyas, a chemical engineer with a passion for customers, had 10 years of experience when she went over two bosses’s heads to request a position overseas in Geneva, Switzerland. She and her husband lived there for 2 ½ years and then transferred to Belgium where she supervised a manufacturing plant for another 1 ½ years before returning home to Wilmington, Delaware, to work directly with DuPont’s CEO. Recognized in Fortune’s 2006 “50 Most Powerful Women”, she now manages an international staff of 7,500 and a multi-billion dollar division of DuPont, one of the world’s largest chemical companies.
Patricia Kranz, studied Russian history and became proficient in the language before moving from Washington, D.C., to Moscow with no job but a strong gut feeling it was the place to be in the 1990s for a journalist. Her instincts proved correct as she broke many stories, including eight cover stories about some of the most important events of the decade – the collapse of the Soviet Union and the building of post-Communist Russia. She spent a total of seven years in Russia and then, upon her return to New York, managed reporters in six European countries and then served as National News Editor at BusinessWeek, before accepting her current role as deputy editor, Sunday Business Section, the New York Times.
Perry Yeatman, young, single and a junior executive, left Baltimore, Maryland, for Singapore, where she began her expansive 10-year international career, moving up quickly in responsibility, title, and remuneration as she hop-scotched from Singapore to Moscow and then to London. She parlayed her global contacts into a senior job with Unilever in Greenwich, Connecticut, where she worked for nearly four years. After a brief time-out to spend time with her new husband and daughter, she took a senior position at Kraft Foods, Inc., in Chicago. She now serves as senior vice president for international corporate affairs and global issues management. She is one of Kraft’s top 50 executives and is responsible for corporate affairs in more than 100 countries. |
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