Anna Skorobogatowa

About Beyond Cubicles

📢 #BeyondCubicles is a weekly LinkedIn series created by Carolina D’Souza, born out of her own experience transitioning from a corporate career to independent consulting. Since its launch in June 2024, the series has evolved into a platform that showcases the inspiring journeys of several founders who have redefined the traditional 9-to-5.

Through authentic narratives, #BeyondCubicles highlights themes of courage, resilience, and purpose. The stories feature individuals from diverse industries—ranging from tech and education to wellness and adventure—who share their experiences of stepping away from conventional roles to pursue passion-driven careers. 

✨ Note: All features in this series are unpaid and shared as a way to honor and amplify real stories of transformation.

“The deepest freedom is internal.”

“I know what it’s like to stand at an official event feeling like just a spouse or a mum while holding two master’s degrees,” says Anna Skorobogatowa.

For more than 15 years, she followed her partner’s diplomatic postings. With children in tow, she restarted her career each time momentum built.

“When you’re a diplomatic spouse, holding onto any sense of professional continuity is nearly impossible,” she says. “Visa restrictions, bilateral agreements, and host or home country laws often make traditional career paths very tricky. Trust me, I tried.”

The final push came when a spouse at her second-last post attempted to take her own life. “That’s when I knew: I couldn’t stay quiet anymore.”

For years, Anna, who has lived in nine countries, wondered, ‘Is it just me?’ and felt guilty for struggling in a life that looked “privileged” from the outside.

Her leap wasn’t from a job but from the need to stop looking the other way. “I started speaking up, breaking taboos and silence, and opening conversations we weren’t supposed to have,” she says.

Her coaching business, Not Just a Spouse (notjustaspouse.com), supports diplomatic and expat partners in rebuilding from within and shifting external systems.

“Did you know that an accompanying diplomatic partner is officially called a ‘dependent’? Our status is often equivalent to that of a minor child,” she says.

She is now building a global community both online and offline through coaching, workshops, advocacy, her podcast Unpacked with Emma Gore, and support from her mentor Deborah Henning.

The brand’s name came from years of answering, “I am the spouse of…”. “We are not just anyone’s plus-one. We are highly educated, strong, talented people with our own ambitions and desires.”

Her message resonated. A LinkedIn post about the label “dependent” went viral, reaching over 50,000 people. One response was: “Anna, I thought I’d lost my voice. Now I know I’ve found it.”

“It’s still evolving,” she says of her personal brand. “This work is delicate. It requires tact, truth-telling, and heart. I’m learning to be a real diplomat.”

And freedom today? “The deepest freedom is internal: the power to choose what meaning I give things.”

Her most valuable lesson? “Validate yourself. Not everyone will clap. Some days, no one will.”