Have you recognized that your life is too comfortable? Are you looking for a challenge that will sustain you and shape you?
After a life-threatening accident, Birgit Pestalozzi finally decided to listen to her gut. She left the corporate world one year ago, and hasn’t looked back since. In that time, she has been instrumental in reviving Sudan’s film industry and starting her own practice as The Happy Heart Coach, consulting on love and relationships.
In this episode we talk about departing from corporate life, finding happiness, non-profit partners, funding and much more!
“Sometimes I think people in corporate are afraid of people who start living their dreams.” – Birgit Pestalozzi
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Travel Topics:
- The pitfalls of a safe corporate life [3:35]
- Birgit’s breaking point [8:33]
- Surviving a near death-defying horse accident [11:10]
- Lessons learnt from her stint in the corporate world [15:30]
- SwissInititive, the non-profit which has revived the movie industry in Sudan [18:10]
- Say What? Smuggling at the Sudanese Film Fest in Switzerland?! [23:10]
- Art as ‘soft’ social change from a grassroots level [24:35]
- How Birgit is learning to fund a non-profit [27:30]
- The future of Sudanese films in film festivals around the world [30:24]
- Logistics of getting film equipment to Sudan [33:11]
- How to manage three meaningful jobs [38:21]
- Maneuvering runway savings in a job transition [39:40]
- The sport of budgeting [41:35]
- What inspiration comes from cross-cultural connections? [45:15]
- The geography and politics of Egypt and Sudan [46:13]
- Visa struggles to enter Sudan [49:00]
- The imperfection of all 2-D map projections [50:57]
Birgit Pestalozzi Talking Points:
- 3rd Sudan Independent Film Festival
- The most southern city in Egypt, Aswan
- Learn more about the film festival in Switzerland, Festival Del Film Locarno
- Watch the Sudanese movie, Al Mahatta by Eltayeb Mahdi
- Find out more about the Fekra Culture Center, where Birgit taught yoga and met the bedouine women
- Connect with Swiss Initiative:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
- Connect with Birgit:
TheHappyHeartCoach | Facebook | Instagram
“If you take away art like movie-making…then you take away a huge channel of expressing cultural heritage.” – Birgit Pestalozzi
Music Credit:
Take Action:
Birgit said don’t wait for a near-death experience to take steps toward the life you truly want. What steps will you take today?