Meet Laura Lopez, an expat, a purpose coach, and a female founder!
Laura LB is a personal coach and CEO of Long Gone Laura, an established expat and traveler! Recently, we interviewed her about her expat experience.
1. How did you begin your expat lifestyle? As a student, entrepreneur, trailing
spouse, professional, retiree, etc? And tell us about that journey!
My journey started 12 years ago when I moved to England to learn English, thinking to
come back after a year...My mind, perception, self-belief and values expanded once I
was there and one opportunity after another made me stay abroad and I ended up living
in another three countries, Italy, the USA and Australia, my current country of residence.
2. Tell us about ‘Long Gone Laura’... And being a Purpose Coach...What does this
entail?
Long Gone Laura was born as a travel blog in 2018, my business sifted to a coaching
business two years after facing various unexpected challenges, including my mum’s
passing and the rejection of my visa in Australia making me lose my full-time job, house
and the life I had built. From that moment my deep healing journey began and it was my full-time job to work on myself, the more healing that occurred, the more mind shifts I had the clearer I could
see who I was/wanted to be and what I wanted to do in this world. That was the
beginning of my journey as a coach, I got certified and started my business journey in
2020. Now, I am also a Certified Neuro Transformational Therapist and I help other
expats in the exact position I was in years ago; lost, stuck, unfulfilled and with a burning
desire to make an impact and be an entrepreneur but not really knowing where to start.
My job entitles; accessing the subconscious mind of my clients to release their stored
negative emotions, and limiting beliefs to reprogram their minds.
Once their mindset is in the right place, I help them find their passion, skills, knowledge
and unique talents and link it to a mission they care about lastly give them clarity in their
purpose-driven business idea and how to start it.
3. What are the benefits and challenges that you've faced as a female expat?
Benefits: The empowerment I felt after starting from scratch in a new country, learning
new languages and building a new life in several countries. I think any expat is brave
and courageous to enter the discomfort and the unknown, and I have used it as fuel to
achieve anything I set my mind to. I do not fear failure or the unknown because I know I
can always fall and get up again.
Challenges: Mainly mental blocks that I set myself, as English is not my first language
when I moved abroad 12 years ago I built many insecurities around not being able to
speak the language and felt somehow less than locals. I limited myself in the
opportunities I went for because I thought I wasn’t going to get them. All of that is now
way behind me, and I wouldn’t be where I am if I didn't do all the inner and mindset work
to overcome it.
4. You have settled in Sydney? What do you love about Australia and where else have
you lived/traveled to that has left a lasting impression on you?
Yes, I live permanently in Sydney. I love nature, breathtaking beaches and wildlife, it is a
paradise for an outdoor and animal lover, which happens to be me! I lived in England,
Italy, USA, briefly New Zealand and now Australia. From all of those Australia got my
heart, I arrived here by chance and I never expected to love it so much.
5. How were you able to assimilate into your new home country? Were you able to
make friends, find community, and be comfortable/ deal with visa protocol?
If you ask me about my first country abroad, England, I would say everything was
difficult besides the visa because I didn’t have one at the time. I didn’t speak English
when I moved to England, and I had little to no savings, job or friends, it was a rocky
start but time and energy improving the language and going after the opportunities that I
could get made me grow as a person as well as improving my English and building a
community. Settling in Australia was sort of easy, especially because I already lived in
other English-speaking countries and I knew well the language and an idea of the
culture. Finding a community at times was easy, others not so easy when you meet
expats, they often go back to their home country so it involves a lot of goodbyes.
Nowadays, I’m grateful to have people around me who are staying in the country, but I
keep expanding my circle of friends and community as my growth journey evolves. In
regard to the visa, Australia doesn’t make things easy but with perseverance and
commitment, you can find a way to get sponsored and get permanent residency aka the
golden ticket.
6. What advice do you have for females who may not have lived the expat or digital
nomadic life but want a change, yet they feel stuck in their old mentality?
1. Take a piece of paper and a pen
2. I would start getting curious about how they feel, and why they are not taking
action. What is the fear/limiting belief behind it?
3. Challenge the fear and belief: Is it really true? Question it and resonate with it.
We are the ones who have perceived what is possible or not, it is just a
PERCEPTION, and you can change it at any time. Once you have questioned it,
Write down, what are you gaining by believing that lie/perception and what are
you losing, and empathise the losing part.
Then create a new empowering belief that means the opposite and an easy/small action plan to strengthen it. New results will shift your mindset. Just get moving and take action, that could mean
doing some research for 10 minutes every day about a place to move or making
time to explore things you enjoy and seeing what nomad job you would like.
7. What goals have you accomplished as an expat that you wouldn't have been able to
accomplish in your home country?
The most important, the self-belief and confidence I have in myself, if I didn’t go through
the challenges I went through I wouldn't have seen what I’m truly capable of. Secondly,
lifestyle and growth mindset, here you can live very well as the salaries are high and as
it is a new country I feel growth and opportunity energy is all around. Lastly, the wildlife
and nature that I have here, really nature my soul, I could go for a hike and see five
species of animals in an afternoon and the white sand beaches are just stunning.
8. What do you like to do in your spare time?
I like dancing bachata and salsa, hiking, yoga, travelling and any outdoor activities.
9. What does it mean to be a personal coach and what sort of clients have you worked
with?
It means I get to experience first-hand the breakthroughs and life-transformative shifts
of my clients. I am there to guide them and facilitate the change, but at the end of the
day, they are changing because they have decided to do the inner work that is needed
and that itself is powerful. To add, the most amazing thing is that I also grow as a
person and coach as I help them. I have worked with a lot of different people from
over 20 nationalities between ages 20–60 years old. But they all have something in
common, they want to overcome their mental barriers to be the best version of
themselves and serve others.
10. What advice do you have for other females who may want to get into the coaching
world/start their own coaching business?
Do it! It is the best thing you can do. I would highly recommend doing a certification that
is accredited by the Association for coaching or the International Association of
coaching. Get the skills, do the inner work, and be ready to serve others, meaning don’t
hold back when telling people what you do and how you can help others, that will speed
up the process of getting clients.
Connect and find out more about Laura LB here: