This week on Brown Ambition, Mandi Money sits down with Emmy Award-winning journalist, author, and two-time breast cancer survivor Robin Allison Davis, whose journey from New York City to Paris is anything but your typical Emily in Paris fantasy.After spending a decade building her career at NBC, Robin decided it was time for something different. So, at 32, she quit her job, saved $10,000, and moved to France to start over. But between taking a major pay cut, navigating a new language, struggling to build community, and facing two breast cancer diagnoses, Robin quickly learned that starting over isn’t always as glamorous as it looks on Instagram.And BA fam, we’re getting into ALL of it.
Robin opens up about the financial realities of moving abroad, the differences between American and French healthcare, learning to advocate for herself after devastating medical experiences, and why surviving cancer completely changed her relationship with ambition. Plus, Mandi and Robin get real about dating abroad (because apparently the men are still men, even in Paris!), finding freedom through freelancing, and knowing when it’s time to pivot even when everyone else thinks you’re living the dream.
From corporate success to cancer survivorship to becoming a bestselling author, Robin’s story is a reminder that you can be grateful for the life you’ve built and still want something different. Because sometimes the biggest flex isn’t having it all figured out. It’s having the courage to start again.
In This Episode, We’re Talking About:
- Betting on yourself: Why Robin walked away from a successful television career and how she financially prepared for her move to Paris.
- The real cost of living abroad: Saving $10K, navigating student loans, taking a 60% pay cut, and rebuilding a career from scratch.
- Career pivots and knowing your worth: Going from Emmy Award-winning producer to unpaid intern and learning that your accomplishments don’t always translate across borders.
- Surviving breast cancer twice: Robin’s journey through diagnosis, treatment, fertility preservation, and learning to advocate for herself.
- Healthcare isn’t one-size-fits-all: The financial benefits of French healthcare, the challenges Robin faced, and why affordable care doesn’t automatically mean better care.
- Finding your people: Building friendships, navigating loneliness, and creating community in a country far from home.
- Love, life, and the unexpected: Dating through difficult seasons and refusing to put life on hold while waiting for the perfect circumstances.
- Redefining ambition: Why Robin is choosing flexibility, creative freedom, and work-life balance over the traditional corporate ladder.
Connect With Robin Allison Davis
Book: Surviving Paris — Available in hardcover and paperback.
Instagram: @Robinista
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