Our Cultures & Our World Podcast

In this episode, Aldo Spaanjaars shares profound insights gained from his 30-year journey through the dynamic and competitive Chinese market, where he held leadership roles at major brands like Adidas and Lacoste. Aldo breaks down the core principles from his co-authored book, "Dragon Tactics: How Chinese Entrepreneurs Thrive in Uncertainty," with Sandrine Zerbib, the former CEO of Adida...

Welcome to Part 2 of the special Association Netherlands China board members series. In this series, I interview five board members from the Association Netherlands China, VNC – Vereniging Nederland China in Dutch. In this episode, I had the pleasure of conversing with Frans Greidanus. Frans studied physics and received his PhD from Leiden University in 1982. In 1982 he joined Royal Philips for wh...

Embark on a journey through the nuances of Chinese business with seasoned expert Lianne Baaij. With two decades of hands-on experience, Lianne shares profound insights on interpreting, overcoming cultural challenges, and achieving success in business engagements. Key Highlights: 1. Lianne's Expertise: Unpack the wealth of knowledge from Lianne's extensive Sinology background and 20 years...

As we wrap up 2023, I'm excited to share insights from my last 5 podcast guests. In Part 4 of the China Tips Podcast, you can listen to tips from: Episode 16: Ian Mote, Finance Consultant, Author of 'From Chicken Feet to Crystal Bath – One Englishman’s Travel in China' and 'Ginger in Her Socks – One Englishman’s Parenting in China' Episode 17: Jinfeng Shen, Child and Adole...

Episode Summary: In this enlightening episode of our podcast, we dive deep into the complexities of doing business in China with the expert insights of Gabor Holsch. As someone who has spent 20 years in China, establishing a successful consulting career and a family, Gabor brings a wealth of experience and knowledge about intercultural leadership and the nuances of the Chinese business landscape....

In this latest episode of "Our Cultures & Our World Podcast," I had the pleasure of talking with Ann Zhang, a good friend and someone I deeply admire. Ann is passionately involved in sustainability and has brought her passion to the educational field with the X school in Suzhou, China. This unique educational initiative, inspired by her transformative experiences at the THNK School o...

In this episode, we're joined by Janine Jakob, a global citizen born in Germany who relocated to China six years ago to pursue a double master's degree. Janine's transformative journey began when she discovered the profound link between happiness and success. Following her instincts, she decided to stay in China and establish her coaching business Full Potential Partners, dedicated...

Dear listeners, thank you for tuning in to the Our Cultures & Our World podcast. In this heartfelt episode, I had the pleasure of talking to Jinfeng Shen, a psychotherapist born in China who made the Netherlands her home 15 years ago. This episode holds a very special place in my heart because over the past year, I've had the honor of volunteering with the non-profit Foundation, co-founde...

Dear listeners, welcome back to Our Cultures & Our World podcast. I hope you had a wonderful summer. In the first episode of this season, I had the pleasure of talking to Ian Mote. Ian hails from London and has been living in China for 15 years now. In our delightful conversation, we delved into the origins of not one, but two of Ian's books. His writing journey commenced with travel stor...

Thanks for tuning in to listen to this special China Business Tips Podcast Part 3!  I hope you have listened to Part 2 of the Tips Podcasts and found the tips interesting and useful for you and your business. If you speak Dutch, hopefully, you also listened to Part 1 in Dutch. This is the last part of the Tips Podcast series. I hope these Podcasts have provided you with valuable insights that you...

Thanks for tuning in to listen to this special China Business Tips Podcasts Part 2! As the summer vacation approaches, I would like to create a few short podcasts to share valuable tips from the guests of this season about doing business with China. As you know, at the end of each podcast, I ask my guests to share their tips. Last Wednesday, I published Part 1 in Dutch, and next week, you can list...

Omdat de zomervakantie nadert, wil ik graag een paar korte podcasts maken om de waardevolle tips van de gasten over het zakendoen met China via de speciale Tips podcast te delen. Zoals jullie weten, aan het einde van elke podcast vraag ik mijn gasten om tips te delen.  Het belangrijkste doel van deze podcast is om je een brede kennis te bieden over China, de Chinese cultuur, inzichten over verschi...

In this episode #15 of🎙️Our Cutlures & Our World Podcast, I had the honor of interviewing Selena, the founder of Oooit Art, a company dedicated to cross-cultural communication through art.  Here's what you can expect from our conversation: 🔹 Selena's unique role: A curator and cross-culture communicator bridging Chinese and international cultures through art. 🔹 Beyond a product: Ex...

In this week's podcast, I had the pleasure of interviewing a very special guest, Martine Wijkhuizen, an experienced trainer from the Netherlands. Over the course of seven years working in China, Martine gained extensive experience in educating Chinese coaches and managing horse riding schools in China.  During our conversation, Martine shared valuable insights on the following topics: 🌱 Over...

Dear listener, I'm delighted that you've discovered Our Cultures & Our World podcast! I'm Mei Yang, your host. I was born in China and later moved to the Netherlands after completing my studies. Over the past 25 years, I've been actively involved in fostering intercultural collaboration between Europe and China..   This podcast aims to provide you with a broad knowledge abo...

Jacco Bouw is a marketing technology expert who founded WebPower 24 years ago, just 2 years after he graduated from the university. WebPower is a marketing technology company specializing in email marketing. Ten years ago, Jacco also founded Agency China, which is specialized in social media marketing.  In this podcast, Jacco shared his journey of expanding his business to China in 2006 with a mis...

Hedda Sasburg is the owner of Orange Swallow and Sustainability Included. In this podcast, Hedda shared with us her journey to China, which began in 1997 when she took the Trans-Siberian Express from Moscow to Beijing. As a business economist, she was fascinated by China's economic growth and outbound activities. Later, she adopted a daughter from China. This personal connection inspired her...

Monique Knapen has studied social history at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. She also followed Sinology courses at Leiden University and Beijing University. Over 30 years ago, she lived and worked in China for 6 years.  Between 2009 and 2017, Monique worked as the Program Director for China at Dutch Culture. Dutch Culture is the policymaking and executing partner of the Ministry of Foreign Affair...

Rijk Schipper comes from The Netherlands. He has worked and lived in Shanghai from 2005 to 2008 as Business Group President for all SCA Packaging and Hygiene businesses in Asia Pacific. SCA is a leading Hygiene and Forest Products Company in Europe with offices worldwide.  In this podcast, Rijk shared with us about the challenges of leading SCA businesses and Joint Ventures in China, about the gen...

Jessica Sun (Sun Hui, 孙慧) was born and raised in China, where she studied Linguistics at Xi’an University of Technology. After working in the tourism industry and at an international secondary school in Xi’an for 10 years, Jessica moved to the Netherlands in 2013.  Together with her husband Ed Sander, Jessica co-founded China Talk in 2014. Jessica is a certified Chinese Language and Culture teac...

Happy New Year everybody! ✨💫 First of all, I want to thank all my listeners for your time and your support in 2022, and for all my guests for sharing your beautiful stories and your wisdom! 💕 In 2023, I hope to bring on exciting guests to share more beautiful stories and valuable knowledge with all of you about China, Chinese people, Chinese culture, the Chinese market, and how to do business i...

Deze week heeft Henk Vaandrager veel ontwikkelingen in de tuinbouw sector gedeeld. Henk komt uit noord Holland maar woont en werkt al 16 jaar in Kunming, een stad in zuidwest China. Henk werkt op dit moment als General Manager voor Fall Creek® . Fall Creek bedient de wereldwijde fruitindustrie met blauwe bessengenetica, planten, tuinbouwondersteuning en marktinformatie. Het heeft kwekerijen en R&a...

Kit-Yu Lo is een zelfstandige ondernemer en geeft bedrijven & organisatie advies op het gebied van Organisatie Ontwikkeling, Change management, Business Value Management en proces/product (door)ontwikkeling.  Dit doet ze door vooral samen met de opdrachtgever te kijken wat de vraag achter de vraag is. De vragen lopen uiteen van teamdoorontwikkelsessies tot het opnieuw positioneren van de produ...

For nearly two decades, Yan Liu has co-founded and taken the lead in many innovation ecosystems and platforms in China, the Netherlands, Australia, and Southeast Asia, to bring people from different sectors, disciplines, and cultures together to listen, dialogue, and to co-create, which include the first coworking center Xindanwei - listed by Fast Company as one of the most innovative companies in...

Achttien jaar geleden vroeg oom Ben die zijn producten liet produceren in China aan Jasper Delisse of hij voor hem naar China wilde, “China, wat kan ik daar gaan doen?” vroeg Jasper. Hij was 22 jaar en net klaar met zijn studie. Maar omdat hij met een goede vriend samen mocht reizen naar China was hij toch gegaan. Door deze reis en door daarna 1,5 jaar lang in China gewoond en gewerkt te hebben wa...