1. Unstoppable Career Moves: Overcome Fear & Take Action

[Music] Have you ever had this feeling like there's a version of you waiting to be unlocked that's braver, bolder, and more alive? Like, they exist just a few decisions away. If you're dreaming about moving somewhere new, changing careers are just leveling up your life in a way you can't even explain it. You're not behind. You're not late. You're exactly where you're supposed to be. I'm Joanna and welcome to the Chasing Waves Podcast. I've spent most of my adult life chasing big waves, both literally and metaphorically. I moved from New York City to Germany, then to Asia, both times with no job and barely any money. And both times with people politely asking, "Are you sure this is a good idea? Translation? This is a terrible idea." People who always judge. But guess what? Those leaps changed my life. Career trajectory, everything. They led me to become the head of business marketing at Spotify across Asia Pacific. And now I help others like you make your own bold strategic moves. I know what you might be thinking. That's great for you. But I have responsibilities. I don't know if I'm brave enough. I hear you. But here's the thing most people misunderstand about bravery. Bravery isn't about being fearless. Bravery is just having a better plan than your panic. And that's why this show exists. This podcast is about learning how to move intentionally and strategically from unsure to unstoppable. One way at a time. In this very first episode, I'm giving you the practical framework I used to rebuild my life. In the next 15 minutes, we'll cover one, how to use fear to build momentum. Two, how to stay focused while remaining flexible. And three, how to build a network from scratch, even when you feel like you don't know anyone. Don't worry about taking notes. I've created a downloadable cheat sheet in the show notes for you. Let's dive in. Step one, let's reduce the fear. Stop wearing and start researching. When I decided to move to Germany, I didn't speak the language. Kind or nothing. That's terrifying, right? Fear thrives in the unknown. It's like a monster in the closet waiting for you to make a mistake. So how do you turn on the lights? You do the research. Not just the dreamy stuff like best cafes in Berlin. I mean the practical reality-based research that makes the unknown feel manageable. For those high achievers, I know exactly what some of you are about to do. You're going to open up your laptop and try to research everything. Every country on a map, 50 different cities, applying to a random job in London, then one in Singapore, then one in Dubac. That is not research. It's panic disguises productivity. I know this because I've done it. Researching every city feels productive, but really I was avoiding the heart apart yet, which is choosing a lane. When you try to go everywhere, you end up going nowhere. So yes, you can start broad, but then you must narrow it down ruthlessly. So how do we start? Let's get honest about what you actually want. Before I even looked at cities, I had to ask myself some brutally honest questions. What do I really want in this next chapter? Not what sounds impressive at the dinner party. Not what I should want. My friends or family think I should do. What do I truly want? It took me a while to nail this down, to really get to the core of what I wanted and not living someone else's dream. For me, I eventually landed on a few core things. I wanted to experience a new culture. I wanted to learn a new language, and I wanted to keep growing and marketing. That was it. Not a perfect vision, not a 10-year plan, just a direction. I love the idea of Europe after backpacking through it. The food, the culture, the history. But Europe is not a plan. It's a vibe. I had to filter it down. Where could I realistically get hired? Which companies sponsor visas? What sacrifices was I willing and not willing to make? Some places I considered. London? Easy choice and tempting. I knew the job search would be faster with no language barrier. But my values said, "No, Joanna, you want to be uncomfortable and you want to learn a new language." Paris? Gorgeous. But most marketing rules require fluent French, and I knew it couldn't get there fast enough. I'm good with languages, but not bad, good. Berlin? Booming startup, seeing English-friendly offices and a culture of international talent. Bingo. That's when the fear shifted, and this plan started to feel like a calculated risk. Protect, analyze market patterns and not postings. Don't obsess over individual job postings, months and advance. Companies might not take your application seriously, especially if you don't have a local phone number, and jobs might be gone by the time you arrive. Instead, look for patterns. This approach gives you realistic visibility into your career prospects. Are there multiple jobs that match your skills or just one or two? Is English consistently acceptable? If there's a skill gap, can you start filling it now? In addition to mapping out what I truly wanted, I looked at costs of living as well. Berlin, for example, was surprisingly affordable compared to New York, and that mattered a lot. It meant I had more runway and slightly more time to land the right bowl, not just the first one. I looked at non-negotiables, rent, groceries, transport, and also considered lifestyle questions. And I want a quiet pace or an active social scene. Were there hobbies that I wanted to keep? Me could I realistically afford without draining my savings entirely? I gave myself a two-month runway. Three, if I stripped my budget down to the basics. Was that tight? Absolutely. But that deadline was the most powerful motivator I could create for myself. It's not for everyone, but it did force me to become laser-focused, activating a drive that was absolutely necessary to find a role fast. Finally, once I decided on Germany, research turned into action. Nothing glamorous. I signed up for a German class while still in New York. I joined professional groups on LinkedIn and targeted Facebook groups like expats in Berlin, and started saving little by little. They didn't really need a latte every day. Small actions matter. You don't need to have everything figured out, just do something that moves the needle. Ask yourself today, "What's one small thing I could do today to move closer?" That monster in the closet? It's mostly shadows. Before we move on, I want to pause here, because this is where most people actually get stuck. Not because their plan isn't good, not because they didn't research enough, but because of what starts happening inside. I remember those nagging doubtful questions. "What if I hate it? I've only ever spent a week there. I don't know anyone else who's done this, so why do I think I can?" And the big one, "What if I fail?" Sound familiar? It's rarely one loud fear. It's a quiet, persistent chorus of reasonably sounding doubts. Here's what I want you to hear. There's nothing wrong with you. Your brain is doing its job, trying to keep you safe, but fear rarely says, "Don't go." It whispers, "Maybe wait a little longer." Here's what shifted for me. I stopped asking, "What if I fail?" And started asking, "What if I never try?" "What if I stay where I am?" Not because it's right, but because it's comfortable. That didn't erase the fear, but it stopped letting fear make the final decision. Something that I love using when the mental chatter is too loud is the headspace app. Before you tell me you don't have time for a meditation app, they have these three-minute SOS sessions, which is incredibly powerful for such a small time commitment. It's game-changing for me. Three minutes. We all have three minutes to spare. Now that the plan is in place and the psychological hurdle is cleared, it's time to talk about what happens when you hit the ground running. Which brings me to step two. Agility. What happens when reality hits? I still remember with every international move, I had to fit everything in two suitcases. 23 kilos each. That was my whole life. It was not easy. What about my shoe collection? Packing light forces clarity, physically, and mentally. What do I really value? What's necessary? Here's how agility played out for me. When I moved to Asia, I started in Hong Kong. I felt speaking Cantonese and having family there would give me an advantage. But after a month, it became clear that companies wanted Asian experience I didn't yet have. I'm going to be honest. That realization was a gut punch. My ego was bruised and I've never felt so unwelcome in my life. I told everyone I was moving to Asia to make it. And here I was, 30 days in, feeling like a total fraud. It's hard to admit your perfect plan failed when you're used to being the person who always has the answers. But I have to remind myself, this is just what I feel. feels like to be in the middle of a wave. It's the part where everything is moving fast, it's a bit chaotic, and you haven't quite found your footing yet. It's not assigned to quit, it's just the transition. Instead of pushing harder in a place that wasn't working, I small with my pride, executed Plan B and moved to Singapore. One month, one pivot. That's exactly where my dream job at Spotify appeared. To navigate new places effectively, I follow the agility rule of three, one, know your non-negotiables. Basically, you need to know what you'll compromise on and what you won't. For me, I could only work at a company whose product I believed in, but city, job title, and salary, flexible. Your non-negotiable might be related to culture, work-life balance, or specific industry. These core values are your compass. Everything else is simply a lever you can adjust. Two, expand the boundary. If your initial plan stalls, widen your map, city, company size, role scope, when Hong Kong didn't work out, I didn't just look at Singapore. I brought in my view to include smaller tech firms and contract rules. Anything that would grant me the local experience. Be ready to trade a prestigious job title for a strategically valuable location or experience. Three, act with speed. What helped me was to check in on my progress weekly is my current accroach to generating interviews or just applications. When I hit a wall in Hong Kong, I didn't leaner. I pivoted fast. Momentum is your most valuable asset. Focus on your destination, but be open to pivoting when reality reveals a better path. Choose your non-negotiable wisely, release what's negotiable, and move fast when you need to. Step three, networking. And let's talk about networking. For some people, it's exciting. For others, it's panic-inducing. I get it. Networking can feel awkward or transactional, especially when you feel like you have nothing to offer yet. I've heard this a lot while I've had one-on-one coaching sessions with my clients. But let me reframe it for you. Networking is simply letting the world know what you're trying to do so it has a chance to help you. When I was still at HBO, I asked a senior executive for coffee. I was so intimidated and was sure he'd say no. But he said yes, and I'll never forget. The minute we sat down, he immediately said, how can I help you? I was shocked. Help me. I still have goosebumps whenever I tell this story. He told me, I wouldn't have agreed to this coffee if I didn't want to help, so let's get straight to it. That moment changed the way I see networking. It's not begging, it's humans helping humans. He connected me to someone at Sky Television in Munich, Germany that led to the job opening I eventually landed. One I would have never even seen let alone applied for because the job description was written, guess what, entirely in German. With their advice, I went for it and it worked. You don't need 200 connections. You just need one conversation that opens one door, connect with everyone and anyone, even if they aren't in your industry because people have friends. You never know who will open that door for you. I'll be releasing a dedicated episode on networking, including tips and how to get over that dread. So don't forget to subscribe. Here's a quick recap of what we talked about today. You wanna go from unsure to unstoppable, you want to chase that big wave, step one. Reduce the fear with research. Let's turn the lights on in the closet. Step two, focus but be flexible. Pack light physically and mentally. Pivot when necessary. Step three, humans want to help humans. Networking doesn't have to be scary. People wanna help. I'll leave you with this final thought and the secret to what pushed me forward. I always ask myself the same question. What's the worst that could happen? What clicked for me was that the worst case scenario wasn't failure, it was staying exactly where I was. If it didn't work abroad, I'd return to the same job hunt back in New York. I only have more to gain, experiences, potentially new friends and pride that I took the lead. Make sure you download this episode's recap and worksheet to reflect on what we've just covered. It's waiting for you in the show notes. Now, if this episode gave you that jolt of confidence or helped you shift your perspective, please share and hit subscribe so you don't miss the next wave we chase. Thank you so much for joining me on this first episode of Chasing Waves. I'm your host Joanna and let's go chase that wave. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)