In this episode of Culture Talks, Heather and Shaila are joined by Crown Group CEO, Jennifer Harvey, and Director of Account Management, APAC and Consulting Lead at Crown World Mobility, Caitlin Pyett, to discuss the impact culture has on women - particularly women in leadership positions.

Two different women, two different approaches, yet one question to consider as you listen: who's journey do you most resonate with?

As 2025 gets underway, Shaila and Heather return to look at how culture influences the way people mark new beginnings all over the world. From throwing furniture out of windows, to eating grapes under tables, to the numerous traditions that include underwear (and there’s more than you’d expect!), how do cultures honour the arrival of a new year? This special marks the end of the first series of Culture Talks.

Heather and Shaila are back with a special edition of Culture Talks, exploring culture and friendship. Research shows that one of the biggest causes of relocation hesitancy is reluctance to leave family and friends behind. It has also shown that some of the main reasons for assignments failing are loneliness and difficulty building networks. So how can organizations and individuals ensure that friendship - this crucial piece in the jigsaw puzzle of life - doesn't get lost during assignments?

Think about how you introduce yourself. How do you answer the question: "Who am I?" In episode 10 of Culture Talks, Heather and Shaila are joined by .. Jo Latimer as they explore why our answer to this question matters to individuals and companies. They look at the culture of being you; your norms, your values, your behaviors - the things that build up your identity, drawing on examples of relocating partners whose lives are most impacted by relocation.

Finding a solution in the workplace can often be made more challenging when different cultures are at play, because different cultures approach challenges in different way. So how do big organizations with diverse workforces navigate this? This is the topic of discussion for Heather and Shaila in the ninth instalment of Culture Talks.

In the latest episode of Culture Talks, our global skills experts examine the challenges of parenting when it comes to relocating. How do mums and dads adapt when moving overseas? And how does culture interact with parenting? How involved do relocating parents need to be with their children's schooling? How can parents build the networks that they might be leaving behind in their home country? Shaila and Heather are joined by Lucie to consider all of this and more.

Customer experience and fostering better connections with customers is a key priority for businesses today. And when cultural variation is thrown into the mix, this can be even more nuanced and complex. In this latest episode, Shaila and Heather explore the connection between culture and customer service in our globalized world - and bring it to life with their own experience. Why was a Hong Kong waiter so irritated when Shaila offered him lots of thanks? And why was Heather asked to leave a shop in Taipei? They round off this month's show by asking: "What have you learnt about culture from interactions you've had in a customer service context?"

In episode six of Culture Talks, Heather and Shaila discuss returning home, and re-immersion into a 'home' culture. They bust the myth that returning home from an assignment, living abroad - or even from a long holiday - is easy, and explore the oft-overlooked barriers and challenges to returning home successfully.