Transformations with Jayne

Photography, jewelry design and outdoor adventures near Tokyo are just some of the topics I’m talking about today with my guest Janine Naoi from Ippei & Janine Photography.

Thank you to Sarah Nishina for encouraging me to contact Janine! If you have always wanted to spend more time in nature but don’t because you live in Tokyo or you think it’s too dangerous or scary (also me) then this is the episode for you.

I had the pleasure of getting to know Christine back in January of this year and I was very curious to know about her sessions and how she uses her intuition to help others.

It was so nice to have my guest for this week back on the show again after exactly three years! In episode 7, Victoria Close from @bikudesigns spoke about just taking off with her accessory business and starting to ship internationally. Now she ships her creations all around the world and is trying new things, too. I loved checking in with Victoria to see how far she has come and how much bigger her dreams are moving forward! An awesome transformation!

Wow! I never imagined I would get this far when I first climbed into that small dark closet in my mother's house in NZ and sat down on a pile of cushions to record the first few episodes of this podcast on my iPhone with that microphone on the headphones! 

But here we are! 100 Episodes and 3 years. It took a while because, well, life! But I guess never completely giving up has served me well and even when I had to take a break because life was just a little too crazy or there was just no way to record because of lack of internet or quiet space, somehow we got there! Steady and sometimes painfully slow will still get you there! 

So today is a solo episode, the first I've done in a while. I didn't edit it either. Going back to my roots of #imperfectaction and just getting it done. Sometimes that is all we need. 

This episode with Katheryn has been a long time coming! I thought she was too busy to come on my show! She had been wanting to come on since she first heard about it. So there you go. Don't assume! 

Sarajean was in a very uncomfortable situation when the shaking started on 3-11 in Tokyo. In this episode, we talk about how she became involved in the recovery work in Tohoku and some of the things she discovered that she is now using as knowledge to help us be better prepared for future natural disasters. You should definitely listen to this episode if you are wondering if you have everything in your emergency kit! 

Dr. Mareike Dornhege is such a cool and powerful woman! I hope you will enjoy our episode this week as we continue the remembering 3-11 theme. 

Do I have a great episode for you this week or what! I have to say, this is one of the most moving and fascinating interviews I've done on the TWJ podcast.

On March 11, 2011, Angela Ortiz experienced an earthquake in Tokyo that would become known as the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. What she did next is a story of guts, determination, a coming together of people with the right skills at the right time.

I hope you will listen to this episode and hear what Angela and her team achieved during those difficult times and how they have relentlessly supported Tohoku during the 10 years since.

We talk about:

Angela’s experience on the day of March 11, 2011

How she and her family helped bring supplies to the disaster zone

Starting an NGO and growing with it

What is needed long term to support the disaster zone

Angela’s Book: 8 Principles that will make you an effective leader in social impact

How we help others effectively when disaster strikes

Angela Marie Ortiz is a Colombian American multinational,  long-term resident of Japan, with over 30+ years living in rural Japan and Tokyo.

She is a social impact entrepreneur, CSR professional, author and fitness enthusiast.

Her career began as an early childhood educator in Tokyo in 2005. She transitioned into social impact after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disasters of northeast Japan where

she established her own company, Place To Grow - a community building nonprofit using fitness and language exchange to Inspire and connect children in the rural province of Tohoku.

In 2016 she moved into the corporate sector, supporting companies like H&M and Adidas Japan to launch and grow social and environmental sustainability programs. She supports with project management, impact marketing, cross sector stakeholder engagement and partnership development. She also has a wealth of experience in public speaking.

Today I'm talking to Dr. Jackie Steele. Jackie, a Canadian, Founder & CEO, enjoi Diversity & Innovation, was in Sendai on March 11, 2011, and this experience influenced the course of her life. 

We talk about:

How Jackie came to be in Japan, after years of Japanese study

Why Jackie was in Sendai on March 11th, 2011 when the earthquake and tsunami struck

Her experience on that day and how they escaped the disaster zone

How she found a way to contribute using her unique skills and knowledge

The challenge with the Japanese legal family definition and system

Disaster risk as a diversity issue

How the disaster has encouraged women to take on grassroots leadership roles

Dr. Jackie F. Steele is a trilingual political science professor, published author, and longtime Japan resident. An expert in diversity, women's empowerment, diverse talent mobilization and inclusive decision-making, Jackie is experienced in guiding leaders in the co-creation of organizational mission, policies and practices that place diversity and innovation at the heart of high performing, inclusive culture. Dr. Steele’s approach to D&I is evidence-based, and uses scientifically credible metrics in support of holistic systems design and mindset change via education. Jackie has taught at leading universities in Canada (UOttawa) and Japan (UTokyo). She teaches in the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Sophia University. In her volunteer life, Jackie leads the Global Diversity Management Committee as a Governor of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan, serves as Vice President of FEW Japan, and is the Strategic Advisor of WomEnpowered International (UTokyo).

In this episode, I'm talking to Tracey Northcott. She is an inspiration, with how she has created so many businesses across different markets. Her business Tokyo Family Stays has been an amazing success, until Covid closed the borders and her main market could no longer travel to Japan. 

In this episode we talk about:

How Tracey and others were affected by the Covid Pandemic

A great online group for entrepreneurs in Japan we have found a lot of support from

How Tracey started what became a 7 figure “Minpaku” business

Being a bridge between newcomers and locals

The importance of niching down

Some cool ideas for places to spend this summer in Japan

Australian Tracey Northcott of Enfour, Tokyo Family Stays and Tracey Northcott Consulting is a serial entrepreneur and multi-preneur based in Tokyo, Japan. She is one of the most successful Airbnb hosts in Tokyo, at one point having 23 properties for rent in the Tokyo 23 Wards. She also runs Software development company Enfour with her family as well as Tracey Northcott Consulting where she helps other hosts discover the true potential of their STR or Airbnb business maximizing their investment, enjoyment and hospitality standards.

I first met Kristen in person a couple of years ago and was pleased to become reacquainted with her again at the end of 2020. On the show we talk about:

How Kristen came to be in Japan and living in the countryside end of Chiba

Fun things about living in the Japanese countryside

The reward for being persistent with yoga practice

Jayne announces her “Theme Word of the Year”

Kristen also announces hers!

Advice for getting started with painting

Kristen says:

“The worst question ever is “What do you do?” because it's hard to pin me down to doing just one thing. I have reinvented myself so many times that I can list 64 different jobs I have been paid for - some in the arts, in technology, in education, and in business management. I'm currently focused on art, yoga, and making sense from chaos. I’ve been on the Internet since 1991 and was for many years the first search result for “Kristen” but was later eclipsed by actress Kristen Stewart”.

MEDIATINKER (personal)

Harumi and I were planning to record an episode in March 2020. That didn't happen and you will hear more about that in the episode, but I think we have a great episode for you this time given all that has happened during the last nearly one year.

In 2018, when we met for the first time, Harumi was just finding her confidence to even call herself a photographer. Now, (when the situation allows!) she spends her time between Malaysia and Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture. Photographs for luxury brands and is working with women to help them market their businesses through excellent images.

We talk about:

How having two businesses helped her to survive in 2020

Ways she and her family have managed being apart

How she has transformed into a "photographer"

Lessons from working with luxury brands and their customers for her own businesses

Harumi Suzuki is an international photographer based in Japan and Malaysia. She specializes in portraits, profiles, events, food, landscape, travel, hotels, and street photography. Her work with clients in the luxury lifestyle space has taken her to the UK, Malaysia, Australia, and all over Japan. Her work has been featured in magazines such as Tatler Malaysia, Robb Report, and YTL Life, and she has worked with a number of luxury brands such as Lexus, Marriott Hotels, and The Ritz-Carlton.

It's been a while since we have had a guest on the Transformations with Jayne Podcast, and it was my plan to bring Xenia on the show before leaving Sweden. It really helps if you can be in the same time zone for recordings!! Unfortunately, we were foiled by croaky voices and other things so we are finally doing this!

In our episode we talk about:⁠

How she came to love Japan and Japanese tea

Challenges she faced when the Coronavirus launched at the same time as her business

Tea combinations and pairings

Her advice for those starting out with learning about tea 

You can find out more about Xenia at the links below. 

Hello! 

Not since the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in my back yard have I had such a challenging week as just before Christmas when we tried to move back to Japan during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

This week is the first episode I have recorded for the year and from my very own recording studio/walk-in closet back in Iwaki, Fukushima. 

and I am talking about: How NOT to move countries in a pandemic.

1) Don't get taken to hospital by ambulance on the day you are moving

2) Don't miss your PCR test that is key to the whole family being able to return to Japan

3) Don't nearly give yourself a heart attack waiting for your test results...and more!

Even when it feels horrible and you wonder how you can get to point B, eventually, you will get there and realise you are where you so badly wanted to be before. Touching down in Japan and passing through immigration was a huge relief, right up there with escaping from Fukushima during the nuclear meltdown.  I know. Talk about dramatic. Jeez, can't you just move countries like a normal person?!?! Apparently not. 

I'm also talking about what 2021 might hold for us now that we are in Japan, how I'd like to contribute to our community as we come to the 10th anniversary of the Great Eastern Japan earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown. 

I'll be bringing you more voices this year in the form of new shows and I'll even be managing some of them too! 

Hello!  This week I am sharing a very special episode with you. We are safely back in Japan and have cleared self-quarantine. It has been a very busy time so I will just play this episode for you with no special intro! 

Not long after I started my podcast I had an idea to do an episode with one of my biggest supporters, my husband Koichi. This podcast episode proved to be one of the most popular episodes ever with so many people sending questions in before it even was recorded. We met nearly 20 years ago when I was first sent to Iwaki as an English teacher and he just happened to be in the class I was teaching - naughty! 🤗😂

Fast forward and we have several international moves, a dog, two kids and a partridge in a pear tree, just kidding!

I am extremely lucky to have so much support from him and that we value the same things. It is hard to believe how much our lives changed even since this was recorded- we will have to get another episode on the books for 2021. Who wants to hear Mr N back on the TWJ Podcast? 😃 

You can find out more about starting your own podcast or even having me manage your whole show for you! 

Are you looking for change? In February of 2020 I had the pleasure of interviewing one of my wonderful clients and long-time fan of my podcast, Minori Hanashima. 

Minori is an account manager and translator based in Tokyo in the PR Industry. I was so proud of Minori for coming on the show and stepping out of her comfort zone to join me and how far she has come even though she didn’t change anything on the outside, only on the inside. 

In the episode: 

How she built a network around her interest in translating 

Her transformation from stressed sick to happy and satisfied with her life 

The reason behind her previous lack of confidence and how she is now 

The change in her thinking habits that decreased her stress levels 

Her guiding word for the year and why she prefers that over goals 

There is so much value in listening to someone who is actually going through their transformation, I hope you will find some great inspiration in her story. I love seeing my clients reach success and helping them get there. 

Earlier in 2020, I interviewed Jacqui MIyabayashi, a fellow Kiwi & I am sure she won’t mind me saying, a bit of a serial entrepreneur! We talk about her new business North South Stewart but it is important to note that this is not Jacqui’s first or even SECOND business. This is also not her first time on the podcast as she was one of my first guests way back when I started and a big supporter. Jacqui is a long-term Osaka resident and mum to two boys and one of her pet peeves- being cold! Which is why she started a new business in recent times importing New Zealand wool accessories. 

The episode is all about:

How Jacqui started her first online business to where she is today 

The value of experimenting 

Being your own influencer 

Overcoming fear and leaving your comfort zone 

Firstly a huge congratulations to Jennifer Shinkai on the release of her podcast- Ikigai with Jennifer Shinkai (I may or may not have played a part in that!) Not long before our move to Sweden, I interviewed Jen for my podcast- Jen is British and a long-term resident of Tokyo where she lives with her family focusing on integrating Ikigai (life purpose) into her daily work as well as an inclusion and diversity specialist. If you miss this episode the first time, I highly recommend a listen and then head over to Jen’s channel to check out her new podcast and show her some love. 

In this episode we talk about: 

The recent typhoon and flooding (in October 2019) 

How Jennifer came to be in Japan 

What is "ikigai" Points of You ® coaching 

Jennifer runs a lot of online workshops now as well so be sure to check her website or FB page for more details especially if you are interested in learning more about Points of You or Ikigai. 

In 2018 I had the pleasure of interviewing Sarah Furuya for my podcast.  Sarah is a life coach, executive coach and facilitator who works with entrepreneurs, educators, executives and more. Sarah has a BSc Hons in Human Psychology and Human Biology, is a certified practitioner of Lumina Spark and Saville Wave psychometrics and a graduate as a trained Systems Coach (ORSC) and in 2019, not long after we recorded this she started her own interview series which is now also a podcast. https://www.sarahfuruya.com/legends-interview-series In this episode we talk about: How Sarah came to be where she is today How Sarah uses a word of the year CSR: Corporate Social Responsibility and what that looks likes for Sarah About being bold and the importance of visibility The three similarities Sarah sees across her coaching clients And so much more! If you missed it the first time, definitely listen in- or perhaps it is time for a re-listen. At the time, her legends interview series was still a thought in the back of her mind- we had no idea at the time that I would then consult with her to get her own series online in podcast form!