Multi-expatriée depuis 28 ans, dont 10 ans dans l’humanitaire, j’ai vécu de nombreuses transitions professionnelles et personnelles. Entre autres, 4 reconversions professionnelles et 2 événements charnières : devenir parent et endosser le statut de conjointe accompagnante. Je l’ai longtemps vécu avec beaucoup d’agilité. Et pourtant, un jour, j’ai rencontré pas mal de difficultés à clarifier ce que je voulais vraiment ! Viens découvrir mon histoire.
LEARN ABOUT IT IN THIS VIDEO! (if you rather watch it on Youtube, it’s through here).
Automatic english translation is available on youtube
SI TU PRÉFÈRES LIRE, C’EST PAR ICI !
My (shy) return to social media.
I'm back on the social media scene after a long absence. Why have I been away for so long? Because I find it difficult to show myself and to communicate on the social media. Probably because I'm afraid... I'm afraid of disturbing you, that what I have to say won't interest you. I must admit that I'm also a little afraid of the way other people look at me. I'm not much of a social networker. I don't like to put myself out there too much.
I decided to overcome these fears simply because people pointed out to me that it's a shame that not more people know what I offer to expatriates and humanitarians. Aujourd’hui, j’ai décidé de sortir de ma zone de confort pour vous raconter qui je suis et ce que je fais.
My story as an expatriate and humanitarian woman.
J’ai commencé avec des transitions de vie et de carrière grisantes !
My name is Nancy Bonamy, and I currently live in Cameroon. I am Swiss. I’ve been an expatriate for almost 28 years, including 10 in the humanitarian field and around 9 years with the status as expatriate spouse. I’ve experienced many professional and personal transitions. I first worked as a teacher in Madagascar for three years, then as a manager of professional musicians in France, then as a humanitarian in highly sensitive context for over 10 years for the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross)! I then made another professional transition, which I’ll tell you about a little later. Throughout this period, my first 13 years as an expatriate, I loved the changes, I seized every opportunity and found all these life and career transitions really exciting!
Tout s’est ensuite compliqué quand j’ai quitté l’humanitaire.
Everything changed after the birth of my children. I now have two teenage boys. When the first was born, I felt the need to find a new life balance. Especially as my choices no longer involved just me, but also my loved ones.
That’s when everything got complicated for me.
- Je n’avais plus aucune idée de ce que je voulais faire professionnellement.
- My career path was so atypical that I didn’t really know how to make the most of it.
- J’avais des besoins et des envies particuliers. À l’époque tous n’étaient pas clairement identifiés, mais j’avais par exemple besoin de changements et d’international. Pourtant bêtement, je pensais que les changements et une vie internationale, étaient incompatible avec une vie familiale. Alors qu’ensuite tout le contraire s’est réalisé.
J’ai fait une tentative peu concluante.
I tried to go back to my first profession. I went back to teaching for 3 years, in a small village in Switzerland, where I returned after 13 years as an expatriate. And while I still loved the contact with children and parents, I wasn’t really fulfilled, because I had the impression that all my past experiences weren’t really being used. I needed something that took greater account not only of my needs and desires, but above all my experiences and of who I had become, my identity as whole.
I asked myself a thousand questions about what may be the next step in my story.
For me, it was a period filled with questioning and never finding the answers. I didn’t know how to go about clarifying what I wanted. I felt lost, even stupid at times, to be so unclear with my wishes and needs, when I had everything going: an incredible professional experience, a loving husband, healthy (and so cute!) children, a house… what could I possibly complain about? Lost in my questioning, I nevertheless decided to resign from teaching, even though I still didn’t know what I wanted to do professionally.
As luck would have it, a month later my husband was offered a job in New York. So off we went to the United States with our 3- and 5-year-old children.
J’ai osé ouvrir un nouveau chapitre de mon histoire comme conjointe expatriée.
The first year was both great (it was New York, after all!) and disturbing, because I was taking on the role of accompanying spouse for the first time! A strange role! Not at all valued or understood. I didn’t really fit in. After a year, I decided to go back to studies, at New York University, and it was there that I trained, among other things, in professional and personal coaching… my most recent professional transition.
During my studies, I discovered how important it is, at some point in one’s life, to take stock of who you are and what you really want! There are plenty of resources available to help you do this, and above all, it’s normal and healthy to sometimes feel the need to be accompanied and supported in this process.
As my studies progressed, it became clear to me that I had found my calling: to set up my own business as a professional coach, helping expatriates, humanitarians and expatriate spouses to navigate with ease and agility their professional and personal transitions. I thought I wasn’t cut out for entrepreneurship! And I also thought that when you’re faced with so many questions, you have to find a solution on your own!
J’ai dépassé mes freins pour me relancer (encore une fois) sur une nouvelle voie professionnelle.
I overcame my internal obstacles and changed some of the stories I’d been telling myself about myself and my career path. That’s what helped me move forward. And now, for the past 8 years, I’ve been helping expatriates and humanitarians to get out of those constant questioning and create the positive changes they need, to clarify their next professional and personal chapter, to give a new impulse to their career path or establish a better life balance.
I am lucky today to have a job that combines all my past personal and professional experiences AND allows me to activate my talents!
That’s a bit of my story. I hope you’ve found it useful. And you, what is your story?
If you want to know more about me, find me here.