Expat Experts #42 | Leaving Toxic Work Culture Behind: Why I Moved to Amsterdam

What happens when your life abroad looks perfect on paper — but inside, you feel completely empty? ✈️ 🤔

In this episode of the Expat Experts Podcast, host Marc Alcobé talks with Lara Ferreira — a Brazilian-born former corporate high-flyer turned mindful career & life coach, now based in the Netherlands. After a serious burnout, Lara discovered a deeper purpose and founded Mindful Experiences to help expats who feel “successful on paper but empty inside.”

In this conversation, we explore:
🌍 What it really feels like to live abroad and succeed … but still feel disconnected
🔥 How burnout became Lara’s wake-up call and launch-pad for change
🧘 Practical strategies for expats to rediscover purpose, meaning, and fulfilment
💬 Cultural insights: Brazilian warmth vs. Dutch directness — what it means for life abroad
💡 Step-by-step advice for building a life abroad that feels good, not just looks good

💪🏼 Listen now to discover how burnout became Lara’s turning point, what it really means to live mindfully as an expat, and why finding balance abroad starts with slowing down.

🎙️ Guest: Lara Ferreira
Lara Ferreira is a Brazilian-born mindful career and life coach based in the Netherlands, who transformed her own experience of corporate burnout into a mission to help expats find purpose, balance, and fulfilment abroad.

🔗 Guest Links
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulexperiences_/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ferreiralara
Website: https://www.mindfulexp.com/

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Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:51 Guest Background, Expat Journey, and Challenges
• 18:20 Life as an Expat: Fast Reply Questions
• 32:08 The Cultural Mini-Game
• 35:34 Guest Promotion
• 39:07 Wrap-up & Final Thoughts

Transcript

0:00
People who face burnout burnout they feel numb they feel very disconnected. So it was also a process of going back
0:06
to feeling human again feeling feelings and sensations and emotions. So that was
0:11
part of my journey. Yes definitely people see the expert life and the career living and working abroad.
0:18
Usually people most people move abroad experts uh through work. So you find this new job you're going to live in
0:25
this new amazing place that was your dream life your dream role etc. And then you get there, maybe things are not as
0:31
expected. You still don't have close friends. You don't know. You're still kind of adapting, adjusting to the
0:37
place, to the culture, to the weather, to the food. So, it feels like nothing is uh you don't have roots. When I burnt
0:44
out, I really before I was already mapping what other things I could do in my life to make a living that I would be
0:50
happier and I had some possibilities but I couldn't choose which one because I
0:56
don't know something was missing for me to ch to choose because when we choose we have to do something like invest
1:01
time, money, maybe study or whatever. Today we will talk with a Brazilian now
1:06
living in Amsterdam who has walked a fascinating journey from a corporate career in multiple countries to a
1:13
serious burnout and from there to founding mindful experiences a coaching company helping experts to rediscover
1:20
purpose meaning and balance. We will talk about her expert story, how that burnout became a turning point, the
1:27
specific mindsets and tools she uses in her coaching, and of course, a deep cultural dive on what life abroad taught
1:33
her, especially the turnaround of external pressures to succeed to internal fulfillment. Today on Expert
1:40
Experts, Lara Ferrer. Let's start.
Guest Background, Expat Journey, and Challenges
1:52
Welcome to Expat Experts. I'm really really happy to have you here. It's a pleasure. You're joining from
1:58
Netherlands, correct? Today. Yes, I'm in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Nice. And I'm very happy to be here. Thank you
2:05
so much. My pleasure. Maybe we'll recap a little bit. So, because uh I know some information about you, but the audience
2:11
doesn't. So, maybe start from the beginning. You are originally from Brazil, grow up there. Is that correct?
2:18
Which which part of Brazil are you coming from? Yes, I am from Brazil. I grew up in a city close to S. Pao, which
2:25
is one of yeah the biggest city in Brazil. And yeah, I lived since university until adulthood in S. Paulo.
2:32
So 20 million people living there. Yeah, that's the kind of cities that are
2:38
okay. That's another story. We are not used in Europe to these sizes of cities, I would say. When did moving abroad
2:45
happen? Because a lot of people this is sparked by studies or whatever but you were already working when you move
2:51
abroad or when was the moment in your life that you said okay I'm leaving? Yeah I had three experiences abroad. Uh
2:58
so for the first one was uh when I was in university and I took a semester off
3:03
and I lived in London for 6 months and then I went back to Brazil, finished my
3:09
studies, started working and then two years after I graduated I wanted to have
3:14
another experience abroad but really like working and living more permanent, not permanently because it was a year
3:20
contract but working like professional experience. So I lived a year in Stockholm in
3:26
Sweden. Um, then I came back to Brazil again, continued my career and in 2021 I
3:33
moved here to Amsterdam, Netherlands, which is supposed to be more permanent this time.
3:38
Nice. How was this back and forward? Because normally when you go back home, I mean, you also have this feeling of
3:45
going back to a home that is different from what you left. And it's a recurrent topic, not this kind of repatriation
3:52
entering to your home again. How was it for you that London Brazil, Stockholm Brazil and and
3:58
now Amsterdam? Yeah, I feel like the first two experiences because I knew they were
4:03
temporary. There was no not much this feeling of either attaching to the to the new country or the new routine or
4:11
the new lifestyle because I knew I would go back and also let's say when I was living in London I I had a boyfriend he was in
4:18
Brazil. So it was yeah also like was temporary and in Sweden it was
4:23
interesting because there was a big cultural shock for me living this kind of adult life work life and weather and
4:30
a lot of all of other aspects. So for me I was actually happy to go back to Brazil but then as the years went by
4:38
when I was thinking about my future my life the lifestyle I wanted to live I knew that I would have I wasn't fitting
4:44
in Brazil anymore. So I that's why I did a life plan, let's say, to to live in
4:49
Northern Europe, but not uh in the Nordics. Not so north.
4:55
Exactly. Yeah. I mean, it's also something that I wanted to ask you because as a Brazilian
5:00
ending in London rains nearly every day of the year, ending in Sweden, which is
5:06
cold as hell, and Amsterdam, which is I mean, probably better. know, but uh it's
5:11
also a rainy uh environment or country.
5:16
How are you doing with the weather and not seeing the sun as much as back home? Yeah, that's the thing. There are two
5:24
things that I don't like so much about the Netherlands, and the weather is definitely the main one. But there's nothing I can do about it or anyone can
5:31
do about it. So, I just need to accept and plan to go to Brazil like in January or February to escape a little bit on
5:38
the winter. But yeah, Sweden was the most radical one definitely because of the snow and the darkness and yeah, that
5:46
was tough. Imagine living there. I'm a I'm too Mediterranean for that for that things.
5:53
Maybe talking a little bit of professional life because at the end you said you work for certain years in
5:58
Brazil, then you work in Sweden, you went back to Brazil, but then what what
6:04
was your profession back then? It's the same one that you have now or what were you working on?
6:10
Oh, I was working in business and marketing. So for 15 years, I worked in marketing for mostly global and
6:17
international companies. Uh and three two years ago I decided to make a shift.
6:23
Mhm. I was already 10 years considering doing something else in my future when I was thinking what I wanted for my life and
6:30
for the long run and I couldn't see myself in the corporate route anymore for the long run and then I started
6:36
working on what I could do then but not only after I faced burnout that was like
6:42
okay this is the the calling or the last drop that I needed to take the leap and
6:48
do something that feels more meaningful for me. So you managed to avoid the
6:54
burnout or it came even in any way? No, I I faced it. Yeah, unfortunately.
7:00
I see. But this burnout came when you were already in Netherlands.
7:07
So the change was happening while you were already abroad.
7:14
Double scary. let's say like this or uh it always add up to do these kind of
7:20
changes while you're living abroad into the fears that you have. How was the transition and what what
7:27
happened during that period of time that you decided to change your career? Yeah, when I look back I see there was a
7:33
sequence of events. First of all, there was COVID in 2020 which probably yeah a
7:40
lot of people were packed. Most people was were impacted and that also I think made me maybe less tolerant to some
7:47
things because I realize well life is short it can end at any time. So if I'm
7:52
not in a job that I'm yeah happy or satisfied and I must just like find another one. Why leave unhappy?
8:00
And on top of that when I moved here I I was married and then we were already in
8:05
a crisis and then eventually that led to a divorce. We had a bunny as a pet and the bunny died a few months after as
8:13
well and then there was burnout from this uh yeah work relation and it was
8:18
all together. So that was really and it was during winter as well now that I realize it.
8:25
So I think it was a lot to take on over maybe the course of two years or or
8:30
luckily I had a very good network of friends close friends so that was really
8:36
nice. My brother was also living in Germany but it's kind of close by. So that was really good. I had a lot of
8:42
support and before I was already working on my wellness so I knew yeah what to
8:48
do, how to take better care of myself, my health once I left the the the work
8:53
space then I could manage it better. But it was really yeah a lot of different
8:59
factors that combined led to this. And as an expat it's especially burnout in
9:04
the sense of the laws, the regulation, you don't know your rights. Uh it's something new. Even like in Brazil
9:10
burnout treated completely different. So I had no idea how to treat this situation and then treat myself. So it
9:18
was very challenging and that's why also now I really support experts who are going through burnout. So because I
9:25
really understand yeah the struggles makes sense. I mean at the end it's also paperworks for example I was thinking on
9:32
bureaucracy at that point of time like creating something on your own like visa
9:37
processes everything changes no I suppose like I mean from a p perspective of a European citizen living in Europe
9:44
kind of it's easier but when you are not a European and you decide to quit your
9:51
job which is probably related to the visa permit that you're having what happens there
9:56
in my case I I have Italian family background. So I have the Italian
10:02
passport. So visa was not an issue for me. But paperwork was also more in the sense of the regulations on the how to
10:08
treat burnout if I needed a lawyer, how to do the agreements with the company,
10:14
the social security like the unemployment processes and all of that.
10:19
So dealing with that part as an expert when everything is in another language you have to Google translate and you are
10:26
already in a mind state which is over yeah overloaded that was a bit
10:33
challenging. Yeah, I mean eventually you are already in a burnout and you are just adding a load of work on top of
10:39
your burnout which is most of the times not helpful. Let's say like this. Did it also change the perspective of success?
10:46
Because this is something that it's always normally interesting with those who have worked like I also worked for
10:53
some time with international corporates and so on. You need to do a mind change
10:59
to understand that success is not only what you have been doing until now and what the career path it's this
11:05
traditional career path idea of it. No like did it also came automatically or
11:10
it was a process of learning that things are not always as we are taught let's say like this.
11:16
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think for me I had sort of this realization 11 years ago
11:22
when I first started questioning my life my future. Mhm. because I was never too attached like to
11:29
to money or to titles. I was never this person who wanted to really like get
11:35
promoted and grow in the career. I wanted more like to be happy in my role. So I wanted to feel satisfaction and
11:41
then of course money is more like a consequence. But still of course in the course of the years you want to always
11:47
get a better job, you want to grow, you want to have a house and all of that.
11:53
But with burnout definitely I started questioning much more like why do I need money for okay money what kind of
12:00
lifestyle I want to live and what am I open to give up in a way because of course my my lifestyle changed once I
12:06
started a new business and I had no clients in the first month and I had to
12:12
adjust my my my bills and it's uh it's a process and definitely success is not
12:19
equal to happiness happiness for me it's more important and then what comes to it is what I'm I'm
12:26
chasing and more than the usual concept of success. How does all of this lead to your
12:33
current project with mindful experiences? Um and maybe a little bit of putting in your own words what what's
12:40
the work that you are doing right now. Yeah. So yeah, when I burnt out, I
12:46
really before I was already mapping what other things I could do in my life to make a
12:51
living that I would be happier and I had some possibilities but I couldn't choose which one because I don't know something
12:58
was missing for me to check to choose because when we choose we have to do something like invest time, money, maybe
13:04
study or whatever. So I wanted to be more assertive in this choice. But because of burnout I was like okay now I
13:11
really have to make a decision and I went on a process of uh connecting deeper with myself more with feelings
13:18
and less with the rationality or mind or balancing both. I did I did of course
13:23
also coaching but um a lot of holistic treatments or ceremonies or rituals to
13:29
go more into my body into my feelings my emotions especially because often people
13:35
who face burnout burnout they feel numb they feel very disconnected so it was
13:41
also a process of going back to feeling human again feeling feelings and sensations and emotions so that was part
13:47
of my journey and then combined with coaching I also did for example, micro doing salson which is a plant medicine
13:55
which really helped me with getting more clear on all of those possibilities and
14:00
what I wanted to choose not from my mind and what looks good on paper or what
14:06
pays better but what I would feel more fulfilled more satisfied. So that was a
14:11
process which took maybe 6 months or more. Uh and then I knew the direction I knew I wanted to help people support
14:18
people with their mental health with their overall wellness with finding a career or a path that feels also better
14:25
for them as well as I want to uh influence workplaces to be a better
14:30
place for people to work. So I'm not like against corporate or anything that just that can be a better match that can
14:38
be more alignment between both parts. Um and for that yeah the environment has to
14:44
be more more open more human and the person also needs to be maybe more
14:49
honest and vulnerable. So then we can see if there is a match. If both parts
14:55
are just like pretending or using a lot of masks or everything looks fake, then it's you don't know if it is a good
15:02
match or not. And then if you're not in alignment, you're just in a in an environment or in a in a role that is
15:09
draining our energy in the long term that can be very harmful for your nervous system.
15:15
Do you work mainly with expert people in general or everyone? mostly mostly
15:21
experts because they really recognize themselves in my own journey of yeah I am super stressed I don't I feel lost or
15:28
stuck or not I don't like what I'm doing but I don't know what I'm going to do or what I want or what I like what is my
15:35
purpose so I really help them to get this clarity and for companies I also help them with
15:43
trainings and workshop around stress management burnout prevention even
15:48
offsites in a more mindful way. Uh so I try to influence both sides uh so people
15:55
can live a better life, work with something that uh feels more meaningful
16:00
as well. Do you think that the experts also have this I mean from your experience and from the people that you
16:06
work with like this kind of pressure of like the chase of the dream life abroad when you live abroad and you need to be
16:13
looking for this perfection not only from a professional level but you need to scale up when you are living abroad
16:19
and I mean maybe from your own experience would you have treated the same burnout differently if you were
16:25
still in Brazil than what you did in Netherlands? Yes, definitely people see the expert life and the career
16:33
living and working abroad. Usually people mo most people move abroad experts uh through work and that is
16:40
their main then there's a lot of expectations and there is a lot of yeah it's like the main goal. So when that
16:48
main pillar of their life which is work doesn't work as expected there's a big frustration as well. And then the other
16:55
pillars of our lives which keep us moving or give us energy they are not there often especially when you just
17:02
like in the first year for example. So you find this new job you're going to live in this new amazing place that was
17:08
your dream life your dream role etc. And then you get there maybe things are not as expected but then maybe you don't
17:15
have someone like a relationship to support you. You still don't have close friends. You don't know. Yeah. you're
17:22
still kind of adapting, adjusting to the place, to the culture, to the weather, to the food. So, it feels like nothing
17:28
is uh you don't have roots. So, it's really it's really yeah um
17:34
that's what I see from many many clients of mine that there there was a high
17:39
expectation in terms of the career of the job or the role or the company or the lifestyle and then that is not met
17:45
and then there are not other pillars to support. Um so my in my view experts are
17:51
even more prone to burnout than the local ones. I see. You work mainly with uh women or
17:58
with both genders. I work with both both genders. What I do
18:04
sometimes I host events that are Yeah. All genders. Host events that are more directed to women. Sometimes with dance
18:12
and women circle more ceremonial related. I see. Cool. All right. I would say we
Life as an Expat: Fast Reply Questions
18:20
can jump to the fast reply round. I mean, we talk a little bit about it, but the idea of this is knowing how life in
18:26
Amsterdam in your case is for you uh without overthinking it a bit. So, I
18:32
would just ask you a couple of questions and maybe you can reply whatever it is
18:37
the reality for yourself. Let's say like this. The first one that I have it's uh
18:42
talking about cultural adjustments. So, for example, this one thing that took you time to adapt when you arrived to
18:48
Netherlands. Yeah, that's a good one. I think overall was uh mostly adapting to different
18:55
seasons because in Brazil we have in S. Paulo at least more or less two seasons. It's like winter or summer and what
19:02
changes is that summer is super hot and it rains and January and February specifically and then winter is a bit
19:08
colder but 12° not so cold and that's it. But we have like the the days they
19:14
last more or less the same. We have the same fruits and you know vegetables and everything is available all year long
19:20
mostly. Um and it's sunny. So here I really feel the lack of sun from yeah
19:28
usually October, November until March. So it's a long period of darkness.
19:34
Yeah, absolutely. Cool. Uh second one that I have it's social life. How do you
19:39
usually meet friends? How do you describe the social life of Dutch people, for example?
19:46
Yeah. Well, for me, luckily, it's very easy to meet and connect with people. I'm a very social person. I really like,
19:51
you know, getting to know and and that's that's I think the main driver for me to to want to live abroad and be open for
19:58
different places and cultures because I really like getting to know people and their story, their culture, and so on.
20:04
So, I met people that I already knew from Brazil that were living here. I I I'm friends of colleagues from my my
20:11
previous work, my jobs. I made friends with neighbors, parties, events. So that
20:19
I think here it's very at least Amsterdam because Amsterdam is completely different from the rest of
20:24
the Netherlands. People are very open and it's very international. So there's also this willingness to to meet, to
20:30
connect, to make friends, to be friends. I see. Interesting. What about language?
20:35
Can you speak Dutch? Uh if someone trying to learn that is that is a big topic for experts
20:43
here because again Amsterdam is so international and I met so many people
20:48
that they said they studied and then the moment they go and they order a coffee maybe they do a little bit of a mistake
20:53
or they realize the accent is different then they change it immediately to English again so it's really hard to to
21:00
learn like improve to speak to practice that's why so far I haven't uh I haven't
21:06
felt the need to learn, but it's on my goals for next year to start learning Dutch. It's a very hard language to
21:13
pronounce, especially if you're from Latin background. So, it's going to be a good challenge for the coming years.
21:21
Yeah, good luck. I did the German one back in the day. It is a journey. The
21:28
fourth one that I have it's cost of living actually like on average more or
21:33
less the cost of living in Netherlands right now in Amsterdam which I suppose it's also different from the rest of the country what is also surprisingly cheap
21:41
but it's surprisingly expensive for example well here the house market is crazy they
21:47
don't have enough houses for the population in general and then Amsterdam because it's the biggest city and the most international it's also the most
21:53
expensive especially because of expats because then we have tax benefits it. So usually our salary is a bit above uh the
22:01
locals for the first three to five years at least. So that makes yeah let's say
22:07
just the rent it can be around 2,000 uh 2,500 in Amsterdam. So that means that
22:14
the cost of living for one person if you would live alone and pay the rent and all the the housing costs on your own
22:20
can be easily between 3 to5,000 per month. It's quite high but it's
22:25
surprisingly cheap. So yeah, rent is the most expensive for sure. I don't think
22:31
there's anything surprisingly cheap here. Maybe cheese because it's the land of the cheese, but it's not super cheap,
22:37
but it's affordable. Very, very affordable. But I would say that cycling is something that it's for free in a
22:44
way. And that can lead you to do a lot of other stuff. And then I'm suddenly a lot of nice things and places and
22:50
beautiful places you can do for free as well. There's some museums, there are parks, cultural exhibition, a lot of
22:57
cultural programs from the government or the municipality. So, there's a lot you can do for free.
23:04
That's nice. Yeah, you touched a little bit, but finding a home, how does people find apartments?
23:11
What is the hardest part of the whole process? How do you do it? I would say that the whole process is
23:17
very hard, very, very challenging. Even before I came luckily when I came was
23:23
during co so a lot of expats have left the city so there were more apartments
23:28
free but nowadays people take sometimes 6 months to find a place and it's very very very competitive so they have
23:36
usually like a viewing or waiting list of 40 people to see one apartment. So
23:42
the best best way is through contacts, networking, putting yourself out there, start asking everyone, you know, posting
23:49
on social media, joining different kind of WhatsApp groups, Facebook groups, be careful with scams, but yeah, I would
23:56
say through contacts the best way. Nice. This next one, it's something that I know that it's kind of difficult, but
24:04
what do you do to try to live like a local, let's say, like to try to blend in into Dutch society?
24:11
Well, I would say like to to live like a local. The first thing is cycling because it's really not only part of the
24:18
culture, but it's really way better and easier to go everywhere. And that that
24:25
drives to other aspects. So, for example, you have to adapt your clothing, you know, even your style
24:31
usually because it has to be comfortable. Probably if you do your hair, it's going to get wet or messy
24:37
when you get there. So you see that if you are overdressed or if you are with too like makeup and so on, you are not
24:44
blending in because the locals they're very like low key in that sense.
24:51
Yeah. Well, they don't bother about warm lunch for example. So if you are Yeah.
24:56
working and you're going out with colleagues for lunch probably will be more like sandwich or soup or salad.
25:01
Very basic and very fast. 30 minutes. They eat very early in the evening like early dinner. So, if you would invite
25:09
people over uh or if you would go to someone's house, probably they would uh
25:15
like to invite you for like after around 8:00 p.m. because then from 6:00 to 7:00 they would be having uh dinner
25:22
themselves. So, this is interesting to know. And if you want to blend in, just complain about the weather and the
25:28
prices, which applies to a lot of countries.
25:34
Exactly. Yeah. Nice. Um what about the work life? I mean you touch both corporate and
25:40
non-corporate work life in in Netherlands. How is it the whole work environment, job market, work culture?
25:48
I would say in general it's supposed to be a good work life balance in the
25:53
recent years due to several yeah wars and crisis and economic situation. What
25:59
I see is that everybody's working a lot. So it's changed a little bit from what it used to be. It also depends of course
26:06
on the company. So because Amsterdam is the hub for the European Union in for some companies there are a lot of
26:13
international companies. So then there is the company culture American for example. But Dutch uh companies or the
26:20
Dutch work style would be a little bit more casual, very like a practical,
26:25
agile, high paced as well. But it doesn't mean Yeah. And then so that
26:31
means you should be very productive but not necessarily work over hours. So it's a matter of the way of working less
26:38
about the hours. I would say sounds very German also.
26:43
Yeah, I would say similar to German but a little bit more with more um fun on
26:49
the way, you know, more relaxed. Nice. Um the next point I think you
26:55
already touched quite a couple of times, but getting around transportation best way to move around. Is it good the
27:02
system? It's not public transport is really good. You can go everywhere. um and cycling of course
27:10
because it's uh health and cheap. And a lot of people they commute from other cities as well. So the train is also it
27:17
works fairly well. Although if you ask a Dutch person they might say it doesn't work so well. They have more like higher
27:23
standards in this sense I guess. Yeah. But it's uh it's not so cheap. So for example one way one trip uh in a bus or
27:31
metro or traum would be around two two three. So to both ways five to six
27:39
but um what about the healthcare was the system works is easy to access there is
27:45
quality of healthare uh well so that's the second thing that I dislike about the Netherlands it's the
27:52
health care it's more about their the way they face health care they don't do pre preventive self uh health care so
28:01
you never do blood tests or you never know how your health is unless Yes, you have something. So that's a different
28:08
mindset from at least from what I'm used to. Uh the system is public, so but you have
28:16
to pay. So you pay around 140 per month. It's obliged. Everybody has to pay for
28:22
it. You can choose which provider, but it's obliged. And as as you're going to use it, you pay partially also for the
28:29
treatments or the consultation of medication up to a limit of around €400
28:34
a year. So if you need a surgery or anything and then probably part of it will be charged, but then the rest when
28:42
it reaches this uh ceiling of €400, then you don't pay anything else. So it's
28:47
also it's really good if you have something serious because then the the quality and the treatment everything
28:52
will be high quality. Mhm. But for daily things or Yeah. So then
28:58
it's really I I personally do my health check in Brazil.
29:03
Okay. Interesting. What about I mean this is always normally not very good anywhere
29:10
bureaucracy like dealing with paperwork, visas, work permits, so on so on.
29:16
I would say here is the to com here in Sweden. I've only had good experiences.
29:22
First of all, most of the places I need to call or sort out, they have someone that's like you can do it in English. So
29:29
that's amazing. Second of all, it's all digital. It's all clear also the steps and the systems and how to do it.
29:36
There's even a WhatsApp from the government that you can message and you can ask kind of anything. So that's
29:42
amazing. The only thing is that sometimes like the deadlines are can be uh longer. So for example when you
29:48
arrive and you have to register in the city hall to get your ID your number your yeah identification number
29:54
sometimes the the queue for that is like two months so that means yeah for the
29:59
first two months you can't really open a bank account or do a lot of other things but rather than that rather than the
30:06
length I for me at least the experience is quite good compared to other places that I that I know of.
30:13
Nice. Probably it's the first time that someone replies positively to this one, but good.
30:20
Um, I have two more. The next one, it's best and worse. So, basically, what's
30:25
the best thing about living in Netherlands and what's the worst thing about living in Netherlands?
30:31
Well, the best for sure for me it's um being able to cycle. That combines with
30:37
another one which is safety. So being able to be feel independent and safe and
30:43
just be out and about without worrying uh so much I think that's for me yeah
30:48
there's no no price nothing can pay for that for this kind of peace of mind and overall their culture I really like that
30:55
they are like very they're like organized pragmatic but they also really
31:00
like to have fun you know so they like going to parties it's very common to go to festivals and see people in their 60s
31:08
having fun. So I like this balance of you know being responsible and and following your words and things work
31:15
properly but also you have fun. You like to enjoy life
31:20
and what I like the least yeah the the lack of sun and the health care system.
31:25
Last one top tip if someone is planning to move to Netherlands what is your one
31:31
line advice top recommendation? Well, to well, be very aware of why you want to
31:38
move to the Netherlands and the housing. Really be patient if you can plan ahead
31:45
or if you can have someone hosting you for the first months because it can be
31:51
very very stressful and when you move you have already a lot of things to sort out and the housing is really the
31:57
hardest one. Nice. Thanks a lot for for the quick responses on all of these topics. I hope
32:03
the audience will appreciate and get an overview of it. Um, the next part that I
The Cultural Mini-Game
32:08
want to propose, it's a mini game. I mean, I call it mini game, but at the end, it's just like a way to talk about
32:15
the other things in a nicer way or in a faster way. I call this one finish the
32:20
sentence. So, basically, I would give you a prompt and then you can finish that sentence with whatever you have in
32:26
your experience and what it what it's in your mind. First one that I have, it's the biggest lesson living abroad taught
32:32
me is Wow. The biggest lesson living abroad taught me is flexibility and
32:37
adaptability. Nice. One habit I've learned from the Dutch people, our culture that I will
32:44
never give up. Be okay with the wet like with being wet because of the rain. Like it's okay.
32:50
It's no big deal. You will survive. Success for me now means
32:56
peace of peace of mind and a bo a healthy body related to this. I feel more most at
33:03
peace when when I'm outside in nature cycling or
33:08
walking but connected in the present moment. Nice. The hardest part about starting
33:17
over abroad was deciding what to do. My relationship with rain is
33:22
I love and hate. Work in progress. It's work in progress. The food that surprised me most here is
33:28
well they have this croquette which is like a fried thing made of um a mix of
33:34
potato and pork meat I think and then they eat it inside the bread as if it
33:40
was kind of a hot dog but then the sausage is the croette. So for me it's very confusing because it's not like a
33:48
protein and then a carbo dried like fried stuff with bread. So that is very
33:53
interesting. Nice. I wish every expert knew that that living abroad is not as colorful as
34:01
it looks. Absolutely agree. I don't know if you can reply to this one but if you have
34:06
one but my favorite Dutch word is leer. Leer means nice, tasty,
34:14
fun. It's like cool. The one thing I miss most about Brazil
34:19
is the sun, but also papaya.
34:25
The sun and papaya. Papaya under the sun. Uh
34:30
and the last one it's the one thing I never trade about my life in Netherlands
34:36
is that I ne I would never trade from what I have now here I would say it's yeah
34:44
cycling again you're a powerful cyclinger yeah well for because it just gives us
34:52
this sense of freedom I used to have a car in S Paulo and like commuting like having two hours per day
34:59
in the traffic. So that's really what I don't want for my life. I see. I mean, I assume for those who
35:06
cycle and like cycling, this moment of cycling that you disconnect the mind and you start on you don't even realize that
35:13
you're doing a sports anymore. I think people also feel it when running and stuff like this. It's Yeah, it's an interesting feeling. It really
35:21
grounds you into an introspective self. No, let's say like this. It's I also feel it when I cycle and for a long time
35:28
and then it just like certain point my mind it's not thinking about anything anymore. Yeah, I like it also.
35:33
Yes. Nice. Um yes. So before we close the episode I would like to talk a little
Guest Promotion
35:39
bit more about your current project like about mindful experiences. We talk about it a little bit and what you are doing
35:46
right now but maybe you can explain how does it work? What is the dayto-day life that you do? what it's what it's what
35:53
you do with the with the persons and your clients that you work with um a little bit more in detail to anyone of
36:00
the audience who might be interested in in uh getting in contact with you.
36:05
Yeah, of course. I help people who are s searching for a change. So they feel a
36:10
call for something different, something new, a life that is more exciting or more balanced or yeah just exploring new
36:19
things also fresh air, new beginnings or also people who are already as an expert
36:25
and they're living their life but they feel like something is missing but they don't really know exactly what and now
36:31
they work so hard to get there and now that they're there like something is missing. So that was at least my case.
36:36
The more I was like the higher the job title or the more money I was making, the less fulfilled I was feeling. I was
36:44
more like empty and yeah nothing would make like I was like this is it that I
36:49
worked so hard to achieve. So if yeah if that resonates I can I really support
36:55
people in finding what is then either a new direction or a job that there is a
37:01
better match uh or ways to strategize your life as well. what is really the root cause the the pain point what is
37:08
happening in your life because sometimes we feel like oh it's the place it's the city but it's not you know so really
37:14
understanding what is the issue and then what want to do about it what change what what is your desire and then how to
37:21
get there that's when I also can help people with so yeah I have a program for this specific it's a journey because
37:28
every any change it's a journey so we need to yeah and you don't need to do it
37:34
alone So I can guide people in this journey following uh the four steps of my
37:39
framework that I developed after my 10y year journey of seeking what to do, how
37:45
when uh so yeah I created this process to make their lives easier.
37:51
From a practical perspective, how does it work? Like you do online sessions,
37:57
coaching group, uh individual, how do you normally work with your clients? Yeah, I do mostly individual and online.
38:04
So from anywhere once or twice a year I do a group program as well to guide people on this specific journey that I
38:10
mentioned to find more purposeful life and career more or job. And I also yeah
38:16
offer for companies and I host events in Amsterdam. So it's um on LinkedIn if we connect
38:23
then you are able to to see all that I do. Actually that was my next question
38:29
and probably the last one for today. Where can people connect with you? What is the best way of getting in contact
38:34
with you? Yeah, you can connect on LinkedIn Lera or you can also Google Lara Amsterdam
38:42
Mindful Experiences or on Instagram as well. Mindful experiences.
38:48
As always, the description will contain the links to contact Lara if you're
38:53
interested. And of course, if you are passing through that moment of tension in your life between what it looks good
38:59
and it feels good, let's say like this one and you are looking for a change, you know where to contact uh her. It has
Wrap-up & Final Thoughts
39:07
been a very very nice conversation, a very inspiring one. I feel and I know
39:12
that a lot of listeners will recognize themselves in in the story and probably they are passing through that moment. So
39:19
I really really appreciate that you joined the show today. Thanks a lot for joining Expert Experts.
39:24
Thank you. I'm grateful and thank you for having me. That was I also really enjoyed our conversation and I hope some
39:32
people also get something out of it and they can get inspired maybe to move to the Netherlands and if you do contact
39:38
me. I want to send like big hugs uh to everyone listening and your audience and
39:44
thank you as well. Thanks. So yeah to everyone listen I hope you enjoyed the episode today.
39:49
Don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, share this story with another expert who might be passing through the
39:56
same or similar story as Lara. Of course, give some love to the social media of Lara and and check out the the
40:02
profiles. Until next time, keep exploring, stay curious, and see you in the next episode of Expert Experts.