"When life cuts you off, how do you keep going?" - An Extraordinary Conversation with Nadia Riepenhausen
To know me is to know that I’m a planner. A spreadsheet-for-breakfast kind of person.
In fact, I’m probably quite weird for an entrepreneur. I don’t thrive on chaos, I’m not a “last minute dot com” person, and I hate winging it. Spontaneity? No thank you. Please do not throw me a surprise party. I can already tell you exactly what I’m doing on a Saturday morning… three months from now.
And yet, life has thrown me curveballs. More than once. When that happens, you just have to make a freakin’ plan.
Being a grown up has taught me that the best-laid plans can go pear-shaped in the blink of an eye. And it’s in those moments, when the wheels come off, when the safety net isn’t there, that you learn what you’re truly made of.
So many people right now are in a season of uncertainty.
They’ve lost their jobs. They’ve been told there’s nothing out there for them. They’re quietly wondering if they’re “too old” or if AI is rendering decades of experience irrelevant.
And to be honest, LinkedIn can feel like a depressing place to scroll in times like these.
We’ve just published Episode Two of Extraordinary Conversations with askChenai, a conversation Vimbai Mkaronda and I had with Nadia Riepenhausen - communications strategist, viral LinkedIn storyteller, and someone who has made a life out of making a plan when the plan falls apart.
Listen to the full podcast episode here: "When life cuts you off, how do you keep going?" - An Extraordinary Conversation with Nadia Riepenhausen
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Nadia Riepenhausen
Nadia's story is raw, layered, and utterly relatable, especially if you’ve ever had to look at the mess in front of you and figure out how to keep moving forward
She was a university student, working hard, doing all the “right” things, when her support was abruptly cut off. No money. No backup. No plan B.
From there, her life became a series of chapters where she had to build from nothing. Landing in London with just $200, and not a single person to call for help. Losing a job and having to rebuild her sense of self without the title or the salary.
And now, approaching 50, she’s reached a point where she fully trusts herself. Where she no longer edits who she is to make other people comfortable.
We go deep on many things in the episode, including
A childhood of contradictions
Nadia grew up mixed race in Zimbabwe, in a strict German household. The cultural clash was constant. She carried the weight of being visibly “different” in every room.
When the rug gets pulled
At university, she was abruptly cut off - financially, emotionally, everything. No warning, no plan B. It was sink or swim. The decision forced her into a level of independence most people don’t face until much later in life. And it set a pattern: when life throws her off the edge, she learns to build her own parachute.
Landing in London with nothing
Years later, she boarded a plane to London with $200, and absolutely no one to call for help. That first year was a masterclass in survival: scraping by, learning the unspoken rules of a city that eats the unprepared alive, and slowly finding her footing.
When the career breaks
She also talks about the gut-punch of losing a job — something so many on LinkedIn will relate to. The shame. The uncertainty. The sudden recalibration of who you are without the title or the pay cheque. And then, the choice: hide, or show up louder than ever.
And learning how to sit with yourself, comfort yourself. Be very happy and content. 'cause I wasn't going to the office every day. I didn't have colleagues to bounce off of. So there's some days when you have to be your own hype person. You have to. Live with yourself.
Becoming Swiss, and absolutely loving it
We talk about moving to Zug, navigating the complexities of being an African immigrant in an environment where surprise surprise, we aren't all exactly the same. We talk creating a community for herself, finally getting her Swiss Citizenship after years of living there, and now being what I would class as the biggest rah rah I love Swizterland cheerleader (lol).
The gift of age
As she approaches 50, Nadia’s not interested in performing for approval anymore.
How do I wanna dress? How do I wanna act? How do I wanna be?And always jumping around to try and fit somewhere. Now it's just like, I like being with myself and just a few people who get it and who understand. And, that's kind of enough.
Why her story matters for you
This isn’t a neat “overcoming adversity” arc tied with a bow. It’s a roadmap for anyone in a survival chapter right now - proof that the hardest seasons can be the most defining, if you dare to keep going.
💬 Your turn When life has cut you off — financially, emotionally, professionally — what did you do next? Did you sink, swim, or build something new entirely?
For more insights like this, follow me Chenai Gondo, PhD
To learn more about askChenai - explore our website here
To learn more about Nadia and read her inspiring posts, follow her Nadia Riepenhausen