Episode 9: Leaving glamour, gaining health through your Ikigai with Violet Pacileo

Ikigai with Jennifer Shinkai

Have you been thinking about leaving Tokyo and finding your own piece of paradise in the Japanese countryside? That’s exactly what Violet Pacileo did when faced with the reality of her highflying but stressful life in Tokyo’s financial industry. However, moving her family to the slowly dying town of her ancestors in Otoyo in Kochi, Shikoku was not all freshly dried green tea and yuzu baths!

If you enjoyed this episode and it inspired you in some way, we’d love to hear about it and know your biggest takeaway. Come and find Jennifer and Violet here on LinkedIn.

In this episode you’ll hear:

• What drove Violet to create a dream life and career for herself in finance that didn’t make her happy
• Her experience during an Ikigai workshop with Jennifer that helped her to make a huge change in her life
• The benefits of speaking about your ikigai with someone who isn’t invested in the outcome or in a group setting
• What happened when she landed in rural Kochi with her international mindset and some of the surprising opportunities that came her way
• Why networks are so important in Japan and how Violet built a new one at lightning speed in a traditional rural area.
  

About Violet

Violet is a seasoned finance professional with over 15+ yrs working in Tokyo, London and LA for Japanese and international investment banks and asset managers. Her background is in Japanese equities where she spent her time selling Japanese stocks to institutional investors, researching and analyzing Japanese listed companies, introducing Japanese companies to foreign institutional investors, advising Japanese companies on their institutional investor strategies including ESG and corporate governance strategies and most recently consulted for a HK based hedge fund. She relocated to the countryside in Kochi in Aug 2020 to promote economic development in the region. She is of mixed heritage, born in Tokyo and raised in both Japan and the UK, giving her the advantage of connecting with Japanese and English speakers on a native level. She has been a passionate advocate for women’s rights and has hosted many female networking and speaker events including for Women in Finance Tokyo. She is the host of NHK World's Otoyo: Bringing Fresh Life to a Traditional Community, and is scheduled to host more episodes along the theme of Genkai Shuraku ("Marginal Village"). Her company VP Advisors K.K. is also building a Crossfit retreat in the town of Otoyo, which is due to open in Spring 2022.
Connect with Violet

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/violet.daike.pacileo/

https://www.instagram.com/otoyostrength/

LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/violet-pacileo-949b1815/

Website: https://www.otoyostrength.com/

VP Advisors: Coming soon.

Links mentioned in this episode

Violet’s NHK appearance: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/2007418/

Jennifer’s Ikigai workshop Special offer for listeners for this episode

https://20210610poyikigai.peatix.com/