PlusFortyNine Podcast

In this episode, we sit down with Chiemela, a product manager from Nigeria living in Berlin, whose name means “God has done well.” What starts as a conversation about moving to Germany for work quickly becomes a deeper reflection on language, cultural adjustment, community, and the quiet ways belonging is built over time.

Chiemela shares what surprised him most about German directness, why adapting your communication style matters more than changing who you are, and how finding community through work, faith, and friendships makes life here feel grounded. We also talk about winter survival, vitamin D, Germany’s love of paperwork,...

Laura Soto never planned to stay in Germany. Like many internationals, she arrived through love, stayed through circumstance, and slowly built a life through resilience, curiosity, and openness to change. In this episode, Laura shares how Germany became home after heartbreak, bureaucracy, a second master’s degree, and an unexpected journey into entrepreneurship.

As a Colombian founder working in Germany’s startup ecosystem, Laura reflects on cultural differences between Latin America and Germany, why migrants often thrive in innovation, and how learning not to “submit” to perfection became essential to her confidence. From navigating German structure and skepticism to embracing risk, failure,...

What happens when you build a business before you’re fully prepared for it and then have the courage to let it go?

In this episode, Andrea speaks with Munay Zamorano, entrepreneur, mentor, and founder of the Female Founder Academy. Born in Germany to Chilean and US-American roots, Monaisa reflects on growing up between cultures, buying her first company at twenty-three, navigating German bureaucracy, and learning when growth becomes misalignment.

They talk about business succession instead of the usual startup myth, the emotional reality of entrepreneurship, failure as a learning space rather than a flaw, and why migrants are often more...

In this episode of PlusFortyNine, we talk to life and career coach Simon de los Rios about what really happens when you reinvent yourself far from home.

Simon grew up in Colombia, spent almost two decades in Miami, studied in Europe and eventually chose Germany as the “hardest” next step: new language, coldest climate, barely any prior connection. Behind that decision were years of high-pressure leadership jobs, a pattern of burning out every five years and several long sabbaticals that ended in a silent retreat in Indonesia – and the realisation that something had to change.

Together they talk about...