Biography
Francis Kremer is German, a General Manager at Wessel-Werk, and the person who actually coined the word "Flexpat." His argument is simple once you hear it: an expat is someone a company sends abroad for a few years and brings back, a Flexpat is someone who decides to build a life and a career in a place on their own terms, and treats the move as a long game rather than a posting.
He has spent years in China doing exactly that, and he hosts the China Flexpat Podcast, where he has recorded more than 175 episodes with people who have made China work for them. So when he talks about what it takes, he is drawing on his own career and a few hundred other people's careers at the same time.
What comes through is that he builds on purpose. The career, the language, the network, none of it happened to him by accident, and that is the whole point he keeps making.
Areas of expertise
- Career building in China
- German-Chinese business
- Manufacturing & operations
- Podcasting & media
- Language learning strategy
- Expat vs Flexpat mindset
What the conversation covered
We talked about the difference between an expat and a Flexpat, and why that distinction changes almost every decision you make abroad, from how you learn the language to how you think about staying. He described building a career in China intentionally instead of waiting to be assigned somewhere, and what it looks like to combine German structure with Chinese speed instead of complaining that they do not match.
His language advice was refreshingly practical: do not try to master Mandarin, learn the 300 to 500 sentences you actually use, and use them. And he kept returning to knowing your own value, because the people who thrive abroad are usually the ones who are clear about what they bring before they ask what a place can give them.