Relying on decades of experience in working across cultures, Diana Rowland founded IntXel (formerly Rowland & Associates) in 1985. The company leveraged her expertise in Japanese-American business culture. Over the years she has brought together a network of highly skilled and specialized trainers to address the needs of the global business environment.
Ms. Rowland lived abroad for ten years (seven years in Japan) and has traveled in 56 countries (counting only the ones arrived at by land, sea, or prop plane). After her return to the United States, she worked for a Japanese trading company as a liaison with their American contacts.
She is the author of the two recent eBooks, Japanese Business: Rules of Engagement and Japanese Business Communication: Lost in Translation? as well as the best-selling book, Japanese Business Etiquette: A Practical Guide to Success with the Japanese (Warner Books 1993). She is co-author of International Excellence: 7 Breakthrough Strategies for Personal and Professional Success, (Kodansha International, 1996).
Ms. Rowland's television appearances include the Lehrer NewsHour, and radio interviews include Australia radio. She is often quoted in publications such as Fortune, Esquire, Business Tokyo, Japan Newsweek, the International Herald Tribune, American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, Asian Wall Street Journal and the Nikkei Weekly.
Since 1986 Ms. Rowland has served on the faculty of the International Executive Programs at the Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Southern California, as well as on the faculty of their annual Asia/Pacific Conference. She has also taught programs at Mercer College, West Georgia College School of Business, and the University of California in San Diego. She additionally teaches courses at various Japan America Societies and sits on the board of the Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana and has been honored with the Bravo! Signature Award by the National Association of Women Business Owners.
Diana K. Rowland started her cross-cultural learning by leaving the United States at the age of 17 in 1968, flying to Luxemburg by an Icelandic Airlines turboprop plane. She traveled throughout Europe and North Africa for a year then took a 53-day overland bus from Europe to India in 1969. She lived in India for two years before taking an East German freighter to Japan. Living in Kyoto, Japan for the next seven years she applied herself to becoming fluent in speaking and reading standard Japanese, as well as in Kyoto and Kansai dialects.
She is the only non-Japanese to have completed a two-week sky diving course instructed entirely in Japanese by Self Defense Forces personnel. She has made 1,200 skydives and has organized and participated in several world record jumps including the largest formation to be completed at night.
