I’m a trilingual American who spent 8 years in Japan, including high school, college, graduate school, and my professional career. I earned my Bachelor’s from Boston University and Master’s from Tokyo’s Ochanomizu University.

My career utilizing Japanese language and cultural skills began in 2003 with concert promotion, and later moved to interpreting/translating, electronics, and automotive. I was able to do this while living in Japan, Poland, Italy and the US.

Read my story & follow me on LinkedIn

What’s ikigai?

The Japanese word ikigai (pronounced ee-key-guy) can be translated as “a reason for being” or “sense of purpose.” I define it as your passion, and believe that you can have a “career ikigai.” Read about ikigai.

My ikigai is to share my message via blogging, speaking and training to help job-seekers discover their own ikigai that blends with their Japanese skills – especially those still in school or recently graduated. Further, I help globally-minded employers understand the benefits of these bilingual/bicultural employees, and assist them with the search and training. Finally, my hope is that my job board becomes a hub for all Japanese-related jobs in the US.

P.S. I’m a firm believer that karaoke is the greatest way to connect people, especially if they don’t speak each other’s language ♫

As featured in:

• BFF Tokyo: How to Get a Job in Japan from Overseas. Read this guide with 7 routes to get your job in Japan. (March 5, 2021)
• Business Success Japan Podcast: Kasia on Hourensou: Improving Communication in Japan with… Spinach? Lydia and I dig into what hourensou means in business and why you should do it. (April 20, 2020)
• Contacto Japan: Byron and I talked everything about Japan, Japanese language, ikigai, and careers in this YouTube video. (October 10, 2020)
• The Dan Nestle Show: Ikigai Could Be Your Secret Sauce with Kasia (September 27, 2021)
• Great Lakes JET Alumni Association: I’m a big supporter of my local JETAA! Check out the entire 2022 Career Fair, and here’s my keynote speech from the 2019 Career Fair.
• Ichimon Japan Podcast: Do you have any funny or embarrassing Japanese language mistake stories? This episode was a lot of fun! (November 21, 2020)
• Inside Japan Podcast: Diversifying Your Career in Japan w/ Kasia (May 8, 2020) and How to Succeed AFTER Japan (October 29, 2021)
• Japan Expert Insights: I’m honored to have my bio and some articles featured on this great website.
• Japan Society of Boston: Listen to this “My Japan Journey” podcast episode about how a high school study abroad program changed my life and how I have been forever entwined with Japan since. (November 24, 2021)
• Japanese With Friends Podcast: Japanese Jobs In America With Kasia From Ikigai Connections. I may have gotten a little … passionate when discussing the JLPT and what the idea of “fluency” is with Colton. (June 30, 2021)
• JETwit: Post-JET Jobs: Using Your Bilingual/Bicultural Skills. (April 29, 2020)
• JobBoardGeek Podcast: I was thrilled to be interviewed by two powerhouses in the job board world about my niche business model. (February 17, 2022)
• Kamara Toffolo: What Career is Right for Me? Discover Your Career Ikigai & Do the Work That You Love. Kamara, a former JET, and I had a blast talking about ikigai! (February 11, 2021)
• KCJS: I was honored to speak for the Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies during their Alumni Talk series and other social media-related activities. I highly recommend this college study abroad program, so be sure to check them out and see which colleges are a part of this consortium. (2020-2021)
• 企業概況ニュース：企業概況ニュースでのインタビューに参加させて頂きました。弊社のミッションについて語る事も出来ており、どうやって日系企業とローカルの「カケハシ人材」がご一緒に働けるかについても説明する事が出来ました。US Japan Publicationへは感謝の気持ちでいっぱいです。（2021年7月15日）
• Kizuna（絆）Project: In collaboration with Hiro-san from B-Bridge and some amazing “Kizuna Connectors,” we offer a safe space for making friends and speaking any level of English and Japanese. Join our Facebook group to learn more!
• Kokoro Media: I was featured in an article about my journey. (November 6, 2020)
• Laurasian Institution: Launch Your Japan-Related Career Whether you want to work in Japan or in a different country, listen to get concrete advice. The panel discussion was truly incredible with the powerhouse speakers including Dr. Anne Hooghart, Jessica Cork (Senpai Success Story), and Anthony Griffin (Senpai Success Story). (April 24, 2021)
• Nightcrawlers: Passion Driven: Discovering Your Ikigai. Angel and I discussed ikigai, jobs, and Japan. (August 10, 2020)
• Pacific Dreams: 「バイリンガル人材の募集、採用、教育の仕方：現地の『カケハシ人材』が米国の日系企業をどうサポート出来るか」についてお話する機会がありました。（2021年9月24日）
• Pacific Northwest JET Alumni Association: I participated in a panel discussion regarding working in Japan, and you can view the entire 2022 Transitions Career Forum here. (February 5, 2022)
• Pacific Tango Group: Using Bilingual/Bicultural Employees To Support US-Japanese Businesses (June 9, 2021)
• Schoolcraft College: Creating Bilingual Careers For Those Not Yet “Fluent.” It was an honor to be included in the “International Agenda” – a magazine of the Schoolcraft College International Institute. (Fall 2020, pg. 11)
• Seasoned With an Accent: Erica and I had a great podcast conversation about being an immigrant and learning another language. (March 2, 2022)
• Seishun 18 Leaders: I highly enjoyed speaking about hourensou with these high school students, hosted by the Japan-America Society of Houston. (March 7, 2022)
• Small Business Japan Podcast: “Building a Business Around Supporting People with Japanese Language & Cultural Skills w/ Kasia.” (June 7, 2020)
• US-Japan Bridging Foundation: Building a Japan-related Career (September 15, 2021) and How to Network in the US and Japan (October 20, 2021). Both replays and all related links are here!
• USJETAA: Careers Using Japanese for JETs. This was a fun webinar I did with the ever-genki Dr. Anne Hooghart and Faye Valtadoros Sensei.  (August 20, 2020)

Activities in the US/Japan community:

Advocacy Work for Students

• Hinoki Cup Roadshow & Japanese Jobs 101. Ikigai Connections partnered with the Hinoki Foundation, GEN-J Michigan, Michigan-Shiga Sister State Program, Kids Explore Japan, and Accurate Japanese Language Services to promote the benefits of learning another language. From October 2019 through April 2020, we reached 1,100 middle/high school and college/university students in 23 Michigan K-16 schools. Read about the journey in this article from Asia Matters for America (Nov. 16, 2020)
• Resume and career workshops for students of the Japanese language at the University of Michigan, Boston University (my alma mater!), Eastern Michigan University, and the University of Texas at San Antonio. (From 2019)

Presentations for Employers

• The Pacific Tango Group sponsored my webinar about Using Bilingual/Bicultural Employees to Support US-Japanese Businesses. (English – June 9, 2021)
• Get Your Kakehashi: How Local Bilingual/Bicultural Employees (inc. New Hires) Can Support Japanese Companies In The US. 現地のバイリンガル・バイカルチュラルな従業員。新入社員含む が米国の日系企業をどうサポート出来るか。This webinar in Japanese with bilingual slides was in partnership with Japan Intercultural Consulting and GEN-J Michigan. (日本語でのwebinar – September 2, 2020)
• Keynote speaker at the JETRO Human Resource Development Seminar in Chicago, Illinois, where I discussed the benefits of bilingual/bicultural employees. (March 2019, newsletter pg. 3)
• Guest speaker at the Michigan branch of the Japan Auto Parts Industry Association regarding bilingual/bicultural employees. (March & April, 2019)

Master of Ceremony / Event Support

• Japan Business Society of Detroit Foundation Scholarship Award Ceremony for high school and college recipients going to Japan, and the Grant Award Ceremony for local organizations. (2012~)
• Japan America Society of Michigan & Southwestern Ontario Young Professionals: JAS Annual Dinner at the Detroit Athletic Club (June 2019), Sushi Night in Ann Arbor (Oct 2019), JAS Holiday Dinner at the Meadow Brook Hall (Dec 2019), Kato Sake Works (takumi series webinar – July 2020), Shinola (takumi series webinar – Oct 2020), Tokyo Olympics: Japanese Design and Cosplay (takumi series webinar – June 2021).
• Keynote speaker at the Great Lakes JET Alumni Association Japanese Job Fair in Michigan (2019, 2022). As you can tell from my speech (Facebook and LinkedIn), I’m very passionate about bilingual/bicultural employees!
• Judge for the Japanese Language Speech Contest, organized by the Consulate-General of Japan in Detroit. Fun fact: I was a participant at the very first one in 1996 and won first place 🙂
• Japan Cultural Development’s Hina Matsuri at the Detroit Institute of Arts: Neo Japanesque Concert, Fashion Show. (March 2019)

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Speaking Requests

I am incredibly honored to be invited to speak for various organizations, schools, and companies. I am based in Michigan but am available to speak virtually to any audience. To see a list of my public speaking engagements, please scroll up to the “As Featured” section.

If you are interested in learning more about my speaking and rates, please complete this form here. (Please include the date/time, duration of presentation, topic, and prospective audience in your description.) Thank you!