When bombs reached her home in Zagreb, Croatia in 1991, Ana Tajder, the daughter of actress/artist Jagoda Kaloper and architect Radovan Tajder, fled to Vienna to escape the war and soon made Vienna her home.
Though her parents were artists Ana rejected a life of creativity, choosing instead to pursue her MBA. But after nearly a dozen years working in marketing and advertising and for the UN, she began to experience depression, anxiety, and an overwhelming sense of burnout. While home nursing herself through the flu one day she began to write and all at once rediscovered a passion she had forgotten. Soon after her first novel From Barbie to Vibrator was published in Croatia in 2008 and Austria in 2009. In 2010, she was awarded the prestigious Austrian State Grant for Literature for her second novel Titoland.
In this episode Ana who is now a journalist and author, a podcaster and mother, shares her story of the painful scoliosis surgery she endured as a teenager, losing her home and country to war, and how she created a life for herself she wouldn’t trade for anything. Though she witnessed her husband battle cancer and lost her mother to lung cancer, Ana feels blessed and grateful for where she is today. She believes the ultimate goal in life is to find the one thing you’re meant to do and she wouldn’t change hers for anything, regardless of the experiences she’s gone through.
Connect with Ana:
Website
Podcast
Podcast Instagram
Connect With Ronit:
For more about this episode click here!
Girl Left Behind featuring Judy Temes
Recovering from Diet Culture featuring Stefanie Bonastia
A Dream Come True featuring Robert Miller
Healing Sexual Wounds featuring Leah Carey
Find Your Harbor: Life in the Wake of Loss featuring Margo Fowkes
Shaking off the Past: From Difficult Childhood to a Place of Peace featuring Michael Arterberry
A Better Culture for Women in the Workplace and Beyond featuring Laurel Anne Stark
Life After Childhood on a Commune Featuring Phoebe Pilaro
Generation Cult featuring Dhyana Levey
Parents Who Leave for Cults featuring Lily Dunn
Emma's Laugh: The Gift of Second Chances featuring Diana Kupershmit
Finally Safe at Home featuring Sabrina Osso
Two Sisters on an Organizing Mission featuring Kelly and Katie McNemamin
A Life in 147 Days featuring Andrea Wilson Woods
Strong Like Water featuring Laila Tarraf
Salvation, Injury, and Reinvention: A Football Story featuring Kenneth Scott
Fostering and Nurturing Children with Autism featuring Dr. Lynette Louise
Life After Pregnancy Losses featuring Kim Hooper
From Athlete to Human featuring Kacee Hoffer
Your Body Is Not A Problem featuring Katherine Yasi
Join Podbean Ads Marketplace and connect with engaged listeners.
Advertise Today
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL