?? Hello from Misty Karuizawa! (STIMY #47)

???? STIMIES,

From the misty, rainy Nagano prefecture ??!

I've been here for over a week and found it a dream.

It's been too easy settling into life here while experiencing many new things, like:

• Curling (aka Chess on Ice) - I still have two very bruised knees!
• Pickleball - those 70-year-old Japanese ladies are vicious & told me, very kindly, that it was only their 2nd time?! They were also the first to pick up the mop and clean the entire courtyard when our session was over!
• Thrift shopping - There's an amazing store here called Second Street that sells everything from LV bags to heaters, bikes and clothes. A very fancy, almost brand new, winter jacket can cost 900 yen (RM 27 / USD 6); I kid you not. A Le Creuset pot goes for about 7100 yen (RM 200 / USD 48.5)
• Recycling - every household must segregate the items into different bags being throwing them out. If you don't get it right, the rubbish bag get sent back to your house & you also get fined
• Speedy Amazon deliveries - free next day deliveries are a dream
• Hiking - always remember to bring a bell. Wild bears are everywhere!
• Grocery shopping - The Japanese grapes here are incredible & don't get me started on the sashimi...
• Konbini - aka Lawsons or 7/11. They have a ton of yummy snacks that are perfect for a meal if you're in a rush. The milk pudding is a particular favourite of mine
• Working from a coffee shop / library / co-working space - where I'm typing this out right now
• Weekend trip to Nagano City - where we toured an underground bunker, visited an old samurai village, encountered a massive temple celebration on the streets and found a lovely matcha latte to wash it all down with

Thoughts on Digital Nomading in Japan:

What's made this experience such a joy is being able to stay with friends who live in Japan. I just tag along and follow them wherever they go! ??

This is helpful when knowing the best desserts to buy at konbinis, which izakayas to visit for delicious 1,000 yen meals, tagging along for pickleball/curling sessions and also the best places to shop.

This trip is also unlike any other trip I've made to Japan because I didn't come with the mindset of being a 100% tourist.

I'm here to work too!

Will I be digital nomading again?

100%.

I guess it's time to plan for future trips. ??

Want to grow your personal brand?

Join the Build Your Why course to learn how to tell your story in simple, practical steps.

This is a beta launch so if you join now, you get a 50% discount as thanks for believing in a product that doesn't yet exist ??

You also get to build BYW with me!

Click HERE to learn more.

Meet the Poster Child of Coca-Cola

Meet Jonathan Mildenhall .

Former Senior VP at the Coca-Cola Company and the first Chief Marketing Officer at Airbnb .

Jonathan is at the top of the marketing industry.

The go-to person who's the only CMO to have had 2 Superbowl ads featured at the same time (by 2 different companies).

But he didn't have it easy.

He grew up the literal black sheep in his family: All his siblings were white but he was the only mixed black child in his family. And growing up in the North of England, that made him stand out.

The physical and racial bullying was so intense that he once ran crying to his mum saying that he hated being black.

When at university, he expressed an interest in advertising but was told that the odds were against him.

Thankfully, an advertising agency took a chance on him, saying:

You're very different to the normal profile of a graduate trainee.

We've never recruited from Polytechnic. You come from a Leeds council estate. We're not sure that this is going to work out, but at the same time, there's something really compelling about you. You light up a room. You're very, very emotionally intelligent, and we think that clients would trust you.

And so we just decided that we're just going to experiment and we want you to join us.

That was the start of Jonathan's career

Jonathan eventually scaled to the top of the London advertising scene before being poached by the 可口可乐公司 (Jonathan hadn't even consider himself as a viable candidate for the position!). And eventually moved to Airbnb after an intense 3-hour chat with Brian Chesky .

If ever there was someone who defied the odds & has proven that you can achieve anything you set your mind to in your career, it's Jonathan.

And I couldn't be more thrilled to have him as the 150th guest on the So This Is My Why Podcast !!

Check out Jonathan's episode in full here: YouTube

P/S: Special thanks to former STIMY guest Eric Toda whose epic story about Jonathan is the reason why I later reached out to Jonathan for this interview!

P/P/S: If you were forwarded this email and want to subscribe to STIMY Newsletter or read past editions, CLICK HERE.

Ling Yah

Say ???? on LinkedIn, Instagram or Discord

It takes 60+ hours to produce 1 STIMY episode.

If you'd like to help keep STIMY going, you can become a Patreon member for as little as $0.10/day!