Michelle Manias

China–Europe Specialist

My work sits at the intersection of language, culture, people and international systems.

I work with individuals and organisations when language, culture and context change — and people still need to communicate, integrate, collaborate and perform effectively.

My background is not built on intercultural theory alone.

It comes from years of direct experience across languages, international business, operations, training, coaching and sport.

My professional journey began with languages.

I graduated in Translation and Interpreting, specialising in Chinese and English.

My academic background includes 80 ECTS in Chinese Language, Sinology, Translation & Interpreting, complemented by studies in modern and contemporary Chinese history and direct study experience in China.

Languages taught me something that still shapes my work today:

speaking the same language does not necessarily mean sharing the same meaning.

Behind a misunderstanding there may be much more than vocabulary.

There may be hierarchy.
Expectations.
Role.
Trust.
Organisational culture.
Different ways of giving feedback.
Different ways of making decisions.
Different assumptions about what should be obvious.

That is where my interest in intercultural communication began.

MORE THAN TEN YEARS IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

For more than ten years, I worked directly in international business and operations.

I worked with suppliers and professional counterparts across Germany, Austria, Sweden, China and the Middle East, using different languages and adapting communication to different professional and organisational contexts.

A particularly significant part of my career involved approximately seven years at the operational interface between an Italian organisation and its Chinese headquarters.

My role included purchasing, logistics, imports, cross-border coordination and daily communication between Italy and China.

I was often required to translate more than words.

I had to make information, priorities, expectations and operational needs understandable and usable across two different organisational and cultural systems.

This was intercultural communication in practice — long before I used that professional label.

ITALY ↔ CHINA

China represents my strongest cultural and professional specialisation.

My relationship with China combines:

academic study;
Chinese language;
direct experience in China;
professional travel;
years of daily collaboration between Italian and Chinese organisations;
international operations;
corporate communication;
intercultural analysis.

I have experienced directly how apparently simple business issues can become complex when language, hierarchy, timing, expectations, relationships and organisational culture interact.

For this reason, I do not approach China through a list of cultural stereotypes or “dos and don’ts”.

I look at what is actually happening between specific people, roles and organisations.

EUROPE, CHINA AND THE MIDDLE EAST

My international experience has never been limited to one market.

I have managed professional relationships with European suppliers and international clients, including work on complex commercial operations involving a major client in Doha.

These experiences exposed me to different ways of communicating, negotiating, planning, interpreting responsibility and building professional trust.

They also reinforced one of the central ideas behind my work today:

international communication problems are rarely only communication problems.

They often sit at the intersection between:

LANGUAGE → CULTURE → ROLE → ORGANISATION → PERSON

FROM PROCESSES TO PEOPLE

At a certain point in my career, my attention moved increasingly from processes to people.

I began studying and working more deeply with:

communication;
coaching;
human performance;
training;
team dynamics;
adaptation;
pressure;
professional identity.

I have since worked with professionals, entrepreneurs, teams and athletes, combining communication, intercultural awareness and human-performance tools according to the context.

This experience allows me to look at international environments not only as systems, but also from the perspective of the person who has to function inside them.

WHAT I DO TODAY

Today, my work is centred on Intercultural Communication.

I help people and organisations understand what happens when language, culture, professional role and context change.

My work currently develops across several application areas.

BUSINESS

I work with companies, managers and international teams on:

multicultural communication;
international onboarding;
intercultural leadership;
international employee transition;
communication across headquarters and local organisations;
China–Europe professional communication;
language-in-role.

SPORT

I support clubs, athletes and coaches in the intercultural and international-transition dimension of professional sport.

My work is designed to complement existing Team Management or Player Care functions, with specific attention to:

international athlete transition;
athlete–coach–staff communication;
intercultural integration;
language-in-role;
family and partner transition;
first 30/60/90 days.

INTERNATIONAL TRANSITION

I support individuals and families preparing to move between countries, combining intercultural preparation, transition coordination and integration support.

My approach follows:

PREPARE → COORDINATE → INTEGRATE

with particular attention to the first 30/60/90 days.

TRAINING, HIGHER & EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

A second important line of my work is education.

I bring practitioner experience into:

corporate training;
executive education;
guest lectures;
higher education;
applied case studies.

My teaching and development areas include:

Intercultural Communication
Cross-Cultural Management
China–Europe Communication & Culture
International Transition & Global Mobility
Language, Culture & Professional Identity
Intercultural Communication in Sport

My aim is to connect theory with what actually happens inside international organisations, teams and transitions.

SYNERGIA

I am also the Founder of Synergia, a centre dedicated to language, cultural and professional training.

Synergia allows me to integrate structured language and cultural preparation when it is relevant to an international transition or organisational need.

This may include:

Italian for Daily Life;
Italian for Work;
Language-in-Role;
language and cultural preparation.

MY APPROACH

Culture matters.

But culture is never the whole explanation.

When something goes wrong in an international environment, the easiest answer is often:

“It’s cultural.”

Sometimes it is.

Sometimes it is language.

Sometimes it is hierarchy.

Sometimes it is role ambiguity.

Sometimes it is organisational culture.

Sometimes it is pressure.

Sometimes it is simply two people interpreting the same behaviour differently.

My work therefore avoids reducing people to nationality.

I look at the interaction between:

LANGUAGE → CULTURE → PERSON → PERFORMANCE

and ask:

What happens to people, communication and performance when language, culture and context change?

That question connects every part of my professional journey.

International transitions are also part of my personal history.

My family story includes generations who moved across countries and borders: relatives who lived in the United States and Venezuela, and a father whose work took him across Europe.

Later, I chose languages, China and international business.

Today, I work with people and organisations navigating new countries, cultures and systems.

I do not see international transition simply as movement from one place to another.

It is the process of learning how to function again when the context around you changes.

WHY THIS WORK MATTERS TO ME

LET’S WORK TOGETHER

I work with:

International individuals and families
Companies and HR / People teams
Global Mobility and relocation providers
International managers and multicultural teams
Sport clubs, academies and agencies
Universities and Executive Education providers

If your context involves people working, moving or performing across languages and cultures, we can start from the situation you are facing now.

Tell me the context.

We will identify what is actually happening and what kind of support makes sense.

DISCUSS YOUR CONTEXT