After a career in digital transformation, Josianne Robb is transforming herself by becoming an entrepreneur as a divorced empty nester. These are the smart financial moves—and one very expensive lesson—that helped get her here
Josianne Robb has been adapting since she was seven, when the Bata factory where her father worked as a shoe designer shuttered. He was one of the lucky few retained by the CEO. The only catch? They had to relocate abruptly from Belgium to Nigeria, a career move that ultimately improved the family’s fortunes.
“To be able to work hard and have somebody help you and change the story of your family for generations is incredible,” says Robb. “Now I’m trying to do that through coaching, by helping people change their limiting beliefs, see how awesome they are and gain confidence.”
In June 2021, Robb had the courage to leave the corporate C-suite and follow a long-time dream to launch a coaching business, Adaptologie—becoming an entrepreneur at 51. But it took more than courage, of course, it took money. Robb was well positioned after a lifetime of saving, knowing and negotiating her professional worth, and following her mother’s directive to be financially independent.
“It doesn't mean that I didn't have setbacks and cries and hard times,” says Robb, a third-culture kid whose love of adventure brought her to Hong Kong in 2013. “You brush yourself up and go forward, including when you're divorced.”
Below she opens up about her strategies and philosophy that money should be a tool to move you forward, not something that defines you.
Part-time job in university (1988-1991) = earned enough to cover costs
I was the first person in my family to go to university. I liked school, so it felt like the next logical step. It was only later that I realised there was a big debate between my parents about whether it was necessary. My mom was a secretary and she pushed for me to go university to have a better future, not to find a husband.
My parents paid for the first year, but the second year I had to find my own way to fund it or drop out. That was the first time I was confronted with, what is my relationship to money? Is it my master or a vehicle for achieving something? I decided it was the latter. I met a guy who was hiring people to renovate floors in shops and banks from 8pm to 11pm, and I thought, that’s brilliant. It allowed me to go to university, work, and then party.
My weekly pay covered everything effectively: rent, tuition, which was not expensive, and books, which were. I had one of the better jobs and was forever lending money to others, which was very empowering. And my mom was dead proud.