Work/Business

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.

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, https://humane.marketing/coaching

Areas of Expertise: Conscious Business Coaching, Humane Marketing, LinkedIn

Sarah Santacroce is a Conscious Business Coach for Coaches and service-based solopreneurs, founder of Humane Marketing and author of Marketing Like We’re Human, Selling Like We’re Human, and Business Like We’re Human. Since 2006 in marketing, entrepreneurship, and conscious business coaching, she’s supporting changemakers worldwide through workshops, programs, and her signature Conscious Business Coaching. Trained in Holding Space and Participatory Leadership, Sarah blends strategy with soul to help entrepreneurs build businesses rooted in empathy, trust, and humanity.

Sarah has been a guest on nearly 100 podcasts and has been podcasting since 2016. Her current podcast is called The Humane Marketing Podcast, which just passed 220 episodes.

Diana Ritchie - SSC Sàrl
A Director at Swiss Career Connections, Diana will provide you with some useful tips for job hunting.

: Published: 19 July 2017

Fleur Heyworth 2

By Sunita Sehmi, Walk The Talk

Fleur Heyworth began her professional career as a Barrister and spent 5 years advocating in court, representing government and private clients in family law proceedings. She also worked with NGOs during UPR sessions and drafted recommendations. She organised a number of events hosted by Ministers and Ambassadors, including one on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, Disasters and Emergencies, and another 'Gender Equality: what will you do?'.

Most recently, Fleur was Impact Director for Women@theTable and worked closely with the International Gender Champions. She engaged male and female leaders as role models for change and had a particular focus on Change Management: promoting a culture of inclusion and diversity and addressing perceptions, biases and structural barriers within organisations. Fleur has a Geography Degree from Cambridge University, and took her post-graduate studies in law at Nottingham Law School.

1. Tell us about yourself. I grew up near Manchester in the UK as the eldest sibling of 2 brothers. I have always been keen on sport and community activities, and met my husband on the hockey pitch. I began my professional career as a Barrister, specializing in family law, notably child protection and domestic violence. My husband and I have 2 children aged 5 and 6 and we relocated to Geneva three years ago. We love the outdoors lifestyle here and the fact that our children have become bilingual – although we are sad to say we cannot keep up with them!

: Published: 21 June 2017

British PM Theresa May 500
Photo credit ©BBC Newsight

By Claire Doole, Claire Doole Communications

It amazes me that politicians still think they can get away with not answering the question during media interviews. Who are they hiring for media training? Certainly not me!

The web is full of examples of what not to do during a media interview. In my trainings I use an example of a Blackberry executive who is so on message but completely fails to hear the question.

Watch this as an example of a car-crash interview on BBC Breakfast News.

: Published: 20 June 2017

Sunita Sehmi copy

Earlier this year, you may recall I interviewed Ms Aradana Sethi, author of the book "The Entrepreneur's Wife: A Survival Guide".

Aradana ia also a writer for Namaste Switzerland, an online magazine for Indian residents in Switzerland or those who are Indian at heart.

It was in this capacity that she asked if she could interview me to write an article for the site.

Since I am always interviewing others for knowitall.ch, I thought her article might prove an interesting topic for this month's blog, so you can find out more about me, and see "where I am coming from".

Her article is reproduced in full below. I hope you enjoy it!

Walking her talk by Aradhna Sethi

“Don’t stop yourself from doing something because of the fear of failure,” says London-born Sunita Sehmi, who has made Geneva her home in 1992. Read more about her story.

“I was born in London in the sixties. My parents were Punjabi immigrants who left India for the UK, hoping for a better life and better days ahead. Having seen the partition in India, they were consumed by the struggle for economic survival, hence the move to London in the 1950s, where economic and financial stability were assured,” says a very elegant Sunita Sehmi.

: Published: 05 May 2017

JRT500

By Sunita Sehmi, Walk The Talk

John Tomlinson is the founder of Trainer Tools and the main contributor. He has worked in training and change management throughout his career. In 2014 he joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) as a Learning and Development Specialist. He is now Head of Learning and Development (Europe/Central Asia) at the FCO and is the global lead on Change Management.

Frustrated at the lack of industry recognition for Learning and Development professionals, and a keen listener of podcasts, John decided to launch Trainer Tools as a collaborative podcast project for trainers to share their tools and tips in the hope of benefiting the entire profession.

What is really unique about his podcasts is the level of caring and sharing amongst the L&D professionals and John has a knack of handpicking talented and kind professionals who are willing to support and give to others. I was lucky enough to interview him, hope you enjoy the interview!

Tell us a little bit about yourself. Who are you, where are you from, etc.…?
I'm a Change Manager and L&D professional who loves podcasts ... I travel a lot, so listen to a lot of audio and read a lot of books. I'm originally from Leeds, and have lived in a few different places, but currently settled in Madrid in Spain.

: Published: 01 May 2017

CDC journalism 2

By Claire Doole, Claire Doole Communications

My colleague, Jean Milligan, and myself, have just come back from Bangladesh where we were handling the local media for an event organised by one of Geneva’s international organisations.

For the organisation’s President, who is himself from Bangladesh, it was an opportunity to show that his country was open for business, able to successfully organise an international conference attended by more than 1200 people from 126 countries.

As this was the first international conference in Bangladesh for decades, there was a massive local press corps following the proceedings in great detail. Several national TV channels even broadcast the press conferences live.

I realised during my stint there that it is not easy to parachute into a complex local media environment, and manage the challenges and opportunities that arise. Looking back on my experience in Bangladesh and in numerous other places, I have come up with some tips on managing local media in an unfamiliar context.

The first thing to keep in mind is that many local media work to the highest professional standards. You may find that doing an interview with them requires much more knowledge than with the international media. However, do be aware of the constraints that some of them work under.