Guest Blogs

Knowitall.ch often invites local experts in their field to contribute to their own blogs on our site. This means not only you will benefit from the useful recommendations that we make on our News pages, but you can also profit from some of the great advice and tips that these experts have to make on their favorite subjects. Whilst each of these bloggers has been recommended to us at some point during the evolution of Know-it-all passport and knowitall.ch, obviously we are not able to test out all the suggestions they make on their blogs, nor do we necessarily agree with all their opinions. So if you do find one of their tips useful (or not!), do let us know!

To make these blogs more accessible to you, we have now decided to group them altogether in one section, entitled Guest Blogs, accessible from our main menu bar. We will also post the most recent blogs on the home page of our site in the right hand column.

We are still building up this area of the site, and are looking for bloggers in a number of sections, including Your Home, Travel, and Leisure, so if you feel you have a useful contribution to make in either of these areas, and have the time to submit blog entries approximately every month, then please get in touch!

: Published: 15 December 2025

By Sarah Santacroce, Humane Marketing

Growing a coaching business is an exciting journey. You support people through meaningful change, build deep client relationships, and create a livelihood around service.

Why coaches need both structure and soul

Many of my clients (coaches, entrepreneurs, healers) start their business from the heart. They want to help. They want to serve. They want to make a difference.

But relying on purpose alone can lead to:

Unclear offers
Inconsistent clients
Marketing that feels confusing or scattered

On the other hand, relying only on structure, business plans and financial goals, the classic “hustle harder,” “more funnels,” “scale fast” approach, doesn’t feel aligned and makes you want to just pull the plug and give up altogether. I certainly felt that way when one of my business coaches told me just ‘get the yes’ on my Clarity Calls. ‘Just have them put it on the credit card’ she said. But that didn’t feel good at all with my soul. It’s not how I wanted to run my business. I wanted my clients to have sovereignty and feel good about working with me! So I quit working with that coach.

Because growing a coaching business requires a middle path:

A business that has enough structure to support you and enough soul to feel meaningful.

: Published: 27 November 2025

GES theatre

By Sabine Hutcheson, Director of Marketing & Head of Secondary Admissions at Geneva English School

Why does Drama play an important role in children’s education?
Amongst the creative arts that are taught in most schools, namely Music, Art & Design, and Drama, the latter often doesn’t feature formally on the curriculum or, more often, is undervalued and amalgamated with language learning. Drama is, however, a key discipline through which children develop personally and emotionally and hone the skills that will serve them throughout their lives as successful members of their community.

How does Drama fit in a school's curriculum?
Drama is often overlooked in schools, as reflected, for example, in its complete absence from the Swiss curriculum. Exceptions are found, however, in schools such as Ecole Rudolph Steiner, which includes theatre and circus acts in its programme. Placing Drama at the heart of learning is a pedagogical choice to link personal development with academic progress. Schools offering the English National Curriculum, as Geneva English School, make a deliberate effort to afford the same consideration to Drama as to the other creative arts. From the Early Years Programme all the way to Secondary school, children are taught by a specialist teacher, in a bespoke drama studio. From storytelling to interpreting characters, to using body language to convey emotions, to verbally articulating complex ideas, skills explored in Drama are essential for the personal growth of young people.

Drama as a tool for personal development
Drama is an invaluable tool for developing confidence, communication skills, and effective social and professional interaction. It acts as practice for life itself - teaching how to conduct oneself successfully, understand emotions, and interact more constructively with others. It links perfectly to the study of language, syntax, tone and vocabulary.

In the Geneva region, in addition to choosing a school that delivers Drama as part of its curriculum, international families have the opportunity to enrol their children in English-speaking theatre groups that offer structured and wide-ranging programmes, such as Simply Theatre. Beyond traditional theatrical performance, children and teenagers have access to LAMDA examinations in acting and musical theatre. The former, training for which can also be held within schools such as GES, covers Speaking Verse and Prose, Reading for Performance, and Speaking in Public. In doing so, young people learn to communicate clearly, concisely and persuasively, and also build their confidence and self-esteem.

: Published: 09 November 2025

Celeste Saulo WMO

By Claire Doole, www.doolecommunications.com

From the time humans gathered around fire, our minds have been drawn to stories. It’s instinct — the way our brains lean forward when a tale begins, eager to connect, to feel, and to imagine what comes next. Stories don’t just entertain us. They move us and inspire us.

I am always struck by it – rooms filled with overcomplicated PowerPoint slides and speakers piling on facts like bricks, rather than telling a good story whose emotional pull, if well told, we will always remember.

Below are three examples of good storytelling during an event that I hope will inspire you to tell more stories.

1) Stories on panels: At Geneva Peace Week, I helped the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom design a panel where the speakers were asked to share their stories with the audience. The team created a space for the audience to think differently and listen deeply. People were shown to their seats by torchlight. They listened in darkness to an audio recording we created to mark an event in history, and then the moderator went on stage.

She turned on the light next to her and asked each speaker one by one to turn on their side light and tell a 3-minute story before she moderated a discussion. It was a STAR panel (something they will always remember).

: Published: 19 October 2025

heart Lisa Cirieco

By Philippa Dobree-Carey, From High School to Uni

As parents, we prepare ourselves for the big university departure with emotional farewells, late-night phone calls about feeling isolated or lost, and the occasional existential crisis over course choices. But one thing we might not expect is the mysterious phenomenon known as the 'fresher five'.

No, this isn't the name of a new boy band or a secret society. It's the average weight gain that students experience in their first year at university — around 5 kg (or 11 pounds). It sneaks up on unsuspecting students faster than you can say 'free pizza' or 'happy hour'.

What Causes the Fresher Five?

University life involves making a number of questionable choices. From late-night kebabs and two-for-one pints to all-you-can-eat dining halls, students are suddenly responsible for their own nutrition. And it shows!

Add to that a poor diet, stress, a sedentary lifestyle fueled by empty calories and energy drinks at 2 am while cramming for exams or finishing an assignment at the last minute, not to mention hours spent on Netflix or gaming, and it's clear these habits are not conducive to healthy digestion or involve any kind of exercise.

: Published: 28 September 2025

superman

As someone who works closely with international families navigating the ups and downs of life abroad, Mirsada Hoffmann connected with knowitall to share her experience, a great value to our international community here in Switzerland. Her work centers on supporting parents raising children across cultures—helping families build emotional resilience, strengthen connection, and find steadiness in the face of change.

We caught up with Mirsada and asked her a few questions.

What has been the inspiration behind Thriving Global Family?
I started Thriving Global Family because, as a mother of four, I saw firsthand how layered and emotionally complex international life can be—for children and parents alike. Every move affected our family in different ways. What worked for one transition didn’t necessarily work for the next. Concerns shifted as the kids grew, and I came to understand just how deeply my own emotional state impacted their ability to adjust and thrive.

Parenting is already a complex job—even in one language, one culture, and one school system. Add the layers of international living—new countries, unfamiliar languages, shifting educational expectations—and it can quickly become overwhelming. While the global lifestyle offers incredible opportunities, the harder, more human aspects are often hidden or dismissed. This can leave families—especially parents—feeling isolated.

I started this work to create the kind of support I wish I’d had: community, connection, and real conversations that help families feel seen in both the joy and the struggle.