Nara, tell me about a specific time when you’ve made a shift in your professional life and the impact this has had. 

“Well, I might cheat a bit if that’s ok and open it up to a bigger life shift rather than just professional! I’d always been so laser-focused on what I now call my ‘pre-prescribed path’: you know, work hard, get a good college degree from a good school, get a decent job, earn well and join the rat race. I’m sure that’s familiar to many but for me as a child of first-generation Korean immigrants to the US, this was always going to be the way – whether spoken or not. On the face of it, I had it all: I was living in New York with all the endless energy and possibility that goes with it. And I thought I was thriving off all of it until one thing in particular knocked me sideways. I took a role that – over time – physically debilitated me to the point where I realised this wasn’t the life I wanted. In fact, I was no longer able to have it. There’s something so visceral and arresting about coming home from work exhausted. Crying. Almost helpless. It shook me and I realised something had to give and fast. At the time, I was single and approaching my mid-thirties so I didn’t have anything holding me back. So I took a big leap into the unknown. Not an instant one – it took the best part of a year or so – but within that I pushed myself every which way to be uncomfortable: being alone, travelling solo, being vulnerable, battling the FOMO of NYC, developing myself in new ways and trusting in the power of the universe to open up new doors, opportunities and ways forward. It sounds straightforward now when I hear myself say it but it was anything but. Especially with having such a Type A personality where everything is used to being under control! But the vulnerability had to happen to force other doors open. So the shift for me was leaving everything I knew behind: the values I’d grown up with; the corporate career I’d worked so hard to forge; the ways I was ‘destined’ do things. And in doing so, embrace willpower and a new resolve to take a scary punt on what the future might hold.”

Wow. That is inspiring. And I’m jealous just hearing about it. It really seems like there’s so much energy released when you did it. I’m sure doing this and making that shift wasn’t without its challenges, either. Could you tell me about some of those?

“For sure there were challenges! The biggest one for a start was shaking free from the cold and hard New Yorker I had become. You know, slowing down, being patient and physically having to tell myself to stop and that I didn’t need to operate at 100mph. It was so tough! I’d say it took me about 6 months or so of moving to Europe to get that out of my system.

There were others, too. Coming from the US where it seems you have to fight for every benefit to a Europe where there were far more social structures in place. Provision like public healthcare was a big adjustment for me. It sounds funny when I say it but it felt like I had to go through a full process of cultural acclimatisation before I could begin to think about other stuff. That was difficult.

And then there was a further layer of challenge in re-wiring the way I communicated. I spent three and a half years in Berlin when I first came to Europe and even though their direct and straightforward style is similar to New Yorkers there was more subtlety and nuance to it and I learned to become a more flexible and effective communicator. So when I moved to Italy in 2019 (where I’m still based) and where the focus is much more on softer, relationship-based communication, I had more tools in my toolbox to be able to navigate this. The double whammy here was in also applying my digitally-native background to a much more traditional bricks-and-mortar set up. But I’d say the osmosis happened over time – with the communication style challenge being softened by my move to Germany which made what would have been a total clash in style in moving to Italy all the easier. 

Now that you mention those challenges, I can totally see they needed to be overcome. You kind of need to sort your base levels out I guess. That’s a lot of change to go through, though. And sounds knackering! What would you say were the breakthrough moments along the way?

“Practically speaking, the biggest breakthrough was in reaching a scary state of physical rock-bottom to shake myself out of my rut. That was a breakthrough in itself and not one I’d care to repeat.  

But looking more positively at the shift and looking back to where I am now, I’d say it was letting go of my ego and the ‘accepted’ way of doing things that was a big deal. Being for so long encumbered by an expected course of events, throwing out all those norms and being open to – well – anything was a complete game-changer. No 9-5 or regular pay-cheque and suddenly having to be flexible and open-minded was a breakthrough and once I’d done it I realised if you leave yourself open to influence and points of view the most amazing things can happen. I’m now developing a start-up idea which would never have happened if I didn’t listen and learn from people with different experiences to me, who were younger than me and who had different ways of approaching things to me. Going out there and being comfortable with learning – and being vulnerable – as you go has been so liberating.”

That’s wonderful, and I can really relate to that, too. And finally, it certainly sounds like there’s been a seismic impact to you having made the shift you did. How would you summarise that?

“Without doubt it’s what friends and those closest to me now say about me. They said to me: ‘Something’s different. You seem lighter and happier.’ And I really do. Knowing I was the stereotypical New Yorker feels a world away now. I’ve really found the light inside of me that never really shined before and that’s serving me well as I found, develop and navigate an exciting new business idea which I feel really moulds together everything about who I now am. I open up to every person, opportunity and let go of all my fear”

What a wonderful position to be in Nara, I’m so thrilled for you. Thanks so much for telling me your story and I look forward to hearing how your business goes.