The cultural challenges you’re facing have been the story of my life. (Literally!)
My mom is Japanese and my dad is American. I was raised between Florida and Tokyo and have spent a lot of time dissecting how different value systems have shaped my identity and how I view the world.
What I know for sure is that no matter what we believe as individuals and what we feel is the “right” way to do things, we share common values with others that drive how we behave in social settings whether those common values reflect our individual thoughts or not.
If I could help you question how you live, work, and care for yourself through the lens of the Japanese perspective and serve as a catalyst for making your life easier, more enriching, and fun, then I’ve succeeded!
“One of Tokyo’s Hotspots to Satisfy Anyone.”
How it all started
When I first started Thrive Tokyo, it was out of a passion to help people with wellness through Eastern holistic health concepts. I had lost 40lbs (nearly 20kgs) through Japanese health concepts and I was eager to share them with the international community.
But I came across a problem: the international people who wanted to learn about health in Japan didn’t know how to shop for groceries! Can’t eat healthier food if you don’t know what you’re buying, right?
I was blown away by other challenges I was hearing from people new to Japan. Like saying no to networking opportunities because of being afraid of getting lost on public transportation and showing up late (or not at all!). Or wanting to make banana bread but not knowing what a bag of flour looks like in the store or how to use a microwavable oven.
So my services pivoted to helping people take the shortcut to knowing how to live their lives on their own terms, to running full orientation programs on day-to-day life in Japan, to helping people decipher the emotional struggles they were facing due to cross-cultural difference in business settings.
And now, here’s what Thrive Tokyo is today: an opportunity for you to learn how to live, work, and thrive in Japan through cultural programs.
Professional Bio
Katheryn Gronauer is an Executive Coach specializing in Leadership, Culture, and Wellness. Her primary website for coaching is www.katheryngronauer.com.
Regarding culture, Katheryn helps professionals learn how to understand the work culture in Japan through private training. She is an ICF-certified coach with certifications in leadership and wellness coaching from the Center for Executive Coaching and the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. More importantly, she grew up between Japan and the US with first-hand experience growing up with Japanese culture and understanding objectively what is different from others.
Katheryn is also a Tedx Speaker (“The Sento Mindset”) as well as a professional writer for JapanToday, Savvy, Women’s Health, HuffPost and more. She has authored the book Confessions of a Yo-yo Dieter on her experience of losing 40 pounds with Western and Eastern health concepts.
