Difference Makers Podcast

Someone asks to “work from another country for a few weeks” and it feels like an easy yes. Then the questions start: does a visitor visa change tax status, when do workdays become taxable, and could a single remote worker accidentally create a permanent establishment abroad? We sit down with Carla Wilson, the Chairperson of the Chartered Accountants Worldwide UAE Committee, international tax specialist Hugo Van Zyl and HR leader Sarah Brooks to get brutally practical about cross-border remote working, especially for organisations employing UAE-based staff who want flexibility without triggering hidden compliance costs.

We talk through the real mechanics of tax residency and double tax treaties, including why the 183-day threshold is not a universal safe harbour and how source rules can tax income from day one in some jurisdictions. Hugo explains how dual residency can arise and how treaty tie-breakers like permanent home, centre of vital interests, and habitual home are applied in the real world. From the employer side, we dig into permanent establishment risk and what actually happens when you cross the line: registration, filings, potential VAT thresholds, withholding duties, and wider risk management considerations.

Sarah brings the people and policy lens: what happens to UAE payroll, WPS, visas, and end-of-service gratuity when someone works abroad, and why “approved on WhatsApp” is not a process. We also cover governance: who owns the decision, what a clear approval framework should include, and how to handle edge cases like maternity leave where “presence” and “exercising employment” can become a critical nuance. If you manage global mobility, HR governance, payroll compliance, or corporate tax risk, you will leave with a sharper checklist and a clearer line between supportive flexibility and unmanaged exposure.

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Your career is not a solo sport, and pretending it is can quietly stall your progress. We’re joined by Kingsley Aikins, widely known for his work on professional networking and relationship building, to talk about what networking really looks like when it’s done with decency, curiosity, and intent.

Kingsley shares the stories that shaped his outlook, from rugby and the “five people you spend time with” idea, to landing in Sydney knowing nobody and helping create the Lansdowne Club, now one of the largest Irish business networks anywhere. We dig into the moment many of us recognise: thinking networking is sleazy or fake, then realising that other people hold the keys to jobs, clients, promotions, and opportunities. Hard skills may get you on the ladder, but soft skills get you up the ladder.

We also get practical. Kingsley breaks networking down into a repeatable process (research, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship) and explains why introverts can be better networkers than extroverts. We talk about loneliness in a screen-first world, the layers of a modern network (personal, strategic, operational, online), and why your LinkedIn profile and personal brand matter whether you like those terms or not.

If you want clearer connections, stronger career resilience, and a smarter way to show your value without self-promotion, press play. Subscribe, share this with someone building their network, and leave us a review with the one relationship skill you’re working on.

A Chartered Accountant from New Zealand ends up advising global investors on Italy’s value proposition, and somehow that’s only the start. We sit down with Aster Thackery to trace the real career mechanics behind a “non-linear” path: why her Chartered Accountancy qualification travelled further than a law degree, how London changed her access to international business, and what foreign direct investment (FDI) looks like when you’re the person translating finance, tax incentives, and opportunity into plain language for decision-makers. 

We also get honest about culture and identity. Aster shares how being mixed shaped her early questions of belonging, then became a strength in a global city where cultural awareness is a serious professional skill. From working styles in New Zealand and Ireland to the hierarchy and nuance she encountered with Italian colleagues, she explains what she learned the hard way and why The Culture Map is a must-read for cross-cultural communication, leadership, and “reading the room” without guesswork. 

Then the conversation turns local, and surprisingly moving: how a simple Greenwich coffee meet-up during Covid grew into a community of around 2,000 parents, a free village fair, and a sold-out International Women’s Day family morning tea. We talk social impact, social enterprise structure, and the line that sticks: people want a village, but they don’t always want to be a villager. If you care about community building, networking, time management, and building a meaningful career without perfectionism, you’ll take plenty from this one. 

If this sparked something for you, please subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave us a review. What part of Aster’s story feels most relevant to your own path?

A global summit can feel like a once-off highlight, but for Liswaniso Namatama it becomes a turning point. I’m joined by the Lusaka-based chartered accountant and auditor to talk about what changes when you walk into a room of 2,000 young leaders and realise every person has a story of impact. The biggest lesson he brings home is disarmingly simple: you don’t need to wait for the “right time” to start making a difference.

We dig into how those One Young World connections turn into a lasting network of chartered accountants across countries and cultures, and how that community mindset helps spark action back in Zambia. Liswaniso shares how meeting fellow accountant Dorica Chanda leads to Young Dream Radiators, a foundation focused on mentorship and outreach programmes for less fortunate communities. The goal is to show up consistently, build hope through real conversations, and give young people role models they can actually reach.

Then we get practical about the auditing profession. Liswaniso challenges the cliché that audit is only box ticking or fault finding, and explains what auditors really do: understand businesses, assess risk, apply professional judgement, and help organisations improve how they operate. We also tackle AI in audit, where automation speeds up analysis, but trust, interpretation, and human-to-human communication still decide whether findings land and changes happen.

If you’re exploring an accounting career, working in audit, or wondering how professional skills can drive social impact, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share it with a friend in finance, and leave a review with one thing you want people to understand about audit.

A rural village where income arrives once a year is hard to transform, unless you change the rhythm of cash, supply, and trust. That is what Manuel Rodrigues has been building through EDP Mozambique: a practical, for profit system that links tens of thousands of small scale farmers growing maize and soya to real buyers, then reinvests that supply into poultry so families can earn again and again rather than waiting for harvest season.

We talk through how the model works on the ground: crop aggregation, processing, and a route to market that now includes 11 retail stores across central and northern Mozambique. Manuel explains why adding a hatchery and producing chicken feed from local maize and soya becomes the “flywheel” that creates a microeconomy, improves food security, and increases protein availability in communities where it is often scarce. You will also hear what vertical integration looks like next, from producing fertilised eggs with community partners to plans for an abattoir that can protect farmer margins and open access to the formal sector, including grocery, hospitality and restaurants.

The conversation does not dodge the hard parts. We discuss unethical behaviour such as seed loans not repaid, why clear consequences matter, and how sustainability changes when international donor funding is cut. Manuel also shares how chartered accountancy skills, from controls and costing to negotiation, help keep a complex operation accountable at scale.

Subscribe for more stories at the intersection of social enterprise, sustainable agriculture and impact investing, share this with someone who cares about inclusive growth, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.