Resilience and well-being among expatriate entrepreneurs: Envisioning life after a global crisis

Abstract

Expatriate entrepreneurs are exposed to greater risk than ‘local’ entrepreneurs, particularly during exogenous crises. Their psychological characteristics can influence how they view such threats and may inform resultant coping strategies. Reflecting on pre-entrepreneurship experiences and envisioning life post-crisis allows identification of 'what worked' for entrepreneurs throughout their career journeys. This exploratory study investigated the career reflections and future planning of 12 purposively sampled for-profit expatriate entrepreneurs based in the United Arab Emirates, a country with a primarily expatriate workforce. Reflexive Thematic Analysis of semi-structured interview data revealed two overarching themes, “resilience” and “valuing relationships.” These were evident in participants’ career development narratives, demonstrating the centrality of these positive psychology constructs throughout their career journeys in impacting business outcomes and well-being. Despite facing significant challenges, participants were hopeful due to intrinsic (resilience) and extrinsic (relationship) factors, both of which may support psychological health and aid future career efforts. These findings are relevant to career counselors and entrepreneurship educators, who can promote the role of soft skills, including relationship-building, and positive psychological constructs as buffers against future challenges.