In this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Giovahnna "Gio" Ziegler - Brazilian olah, marketing leader in Israel's high-tech ecosystem, former contestant on Brazil's Next Top Model, best-selling author, and mother of two.
Gio shares her journey from Rio de Janeiro to Tel Aviv, why Aliyah was a philosophical certainty more than a logical decision, how she built a successful career in Israeli tech without speaking Hebrew, and what it's like to raise trilingual kids in a Yemeni-Brazilian household. She opens up about the LGBTQ community in Israel vs. Brazil, why she'll never go back, and why Israelis' refusal to apologize in the supermarket is actually genius.
The conversation continues with:
Growing up in a famous artistic family in Brazil - and rejecting it
Being the first openly gay contestant on Brazil's Next Top Model
Building a marketing career in Israeli tech from scratch
Starting (and quickly shutting down) her own agency
Raising kids in three languages in Tel Aviv
The LGBTQ community in Israel: openness, acceptance, and belonging
Why she feels Israeli - not Brazilian
This is a bold, funny, and deeply personal conversation about reinvention, belonging, and the life you build when you bet on yourself.
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#GioZiegler #Israel #Aliyah #BrazilianOlah #IsraeliTech #LGBTQ #LifeInIsrael #YallaLetsGo #TelAviv #Marketing #JewishIdentity #NextTopModel
KEY TOPICS
0:00 - Intro
0:49 - Meet Gio: From Rio to Tel Aviv
2:17 - Life Story in One Minute: Hippie Roots, Corporate Career, and Two Boys
2:44 - Why She Made Aliyah: A Philosophical Decision
3:53 - Not Another Boring Marketeer? Actually, Kind Of
5:20 - New York Times, South Africa, and Getting to Israel
6:57 - Growing Up in a Famous Artistic Family — And Rebelling
8:27 - Did Moving to Israel Mean a Career Setback?
8:55 - How She Cracked the Israeli Tech Market
10:13 - Starting Her Own Agency (And Why She's Shutting It Down)
11:19 - Brazil's Next Top Model: The Tyra Banks Contract, the NDA, and the Gay Twist
13:52 - From a House of Models to Her Wife Hofit
14:01 - Marrying Into a Yemeni Israeli Household
15:35 - IVF in Israel: What's Free, What's Not, and the Danish Donor
17:16 - The LGBTQ Community in Israel vs. Brazil
19:43 - Raising Trilingual Kids: Hebrew, Portuguese, and English
21:16 - Would She Ever Go Back to Brazil? Absolutely Not.
21:37 - What's Hard About Living in Israel (Lines. Just Lines.)
22:07 - Why She Loves Israelis: Unapologetic, Good-Hearted, and Consistent
23:18 - Advice for Anyone Considering Aliyah: Just Do It
24:07 - Rapid Fire: Israeli Salad, Kafkafim & the Haredi Kid
RESOURCES
Follow Gio on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giovahnna/
Subscribe to Yalla, Let’s Go here: https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go
Learn more about Aleph: aleph.vc
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CREDITS
Hosts: Erica Marom, Abbey Onn
Executive Producer: Sarah Bard
Producer: Sofi Levak, Dalit Merenfeld, Myron Shneider
Video and Editing: Nadav Elovic, Yotam Kushnir
Music and Creative Direction: Uri Ar
Content and Editorial: Jackie Goldberg
Design: Nimrod Sapir
