That Remote Life | Interviews with Digital Nomads and Location Independent Entrepreneurs

Today on the podcast Mitko (@mitkoka) is joined by Jodie Cook (@cookiewhirls) an entrepreneur, author, course creator, AND competitive powerlifter. Jodie is the author of the new book - The 10 Year Career which lays out a framework for entrepreneurs to take them from beginner to selling the business, what you can expect across that journey and what you should be focusing on in each stage. And on this topic, Jodie is speaking from experience, because she wrote this book while she was in the process of selling her social media management agency which was a 7-figure exit. Jodie has written a number of other books including a series focused on raising entrepreneurial children and she is a frequent contributor to Forbes where she writes on the topic of entrepreneurship.

During this wide-ranging conversation, Jodie and Mitko discussed how she is able to do so many different things at such a high level, why she sold her business and the framework behind her new book The 10 Year Career, why writing is such a powerful practice for entrepreneurs, how to write for publications like Forbes, and much much more.

💬  Topics Discussed:

• Finding new places to travel to and base from
• Why Jodie chose to go with a publisher instead of self-publishing her bok
• How do book translations work?
• Multitasking at a high level
• Having outlets and ways to mentally recharge
• How Jodie started writing for Forbes
• Why Jodie decided to write a series of entrepreneurial books for kids?
• Inspiring someone to be an entrepreneur
• Being a member of Forbes’ 30 Under 30
• How to decide if you should publish an article on your own blog or write them for a publication
• Finding inspiration and creating your idea bank
• Working with other people to create content
• The concept of the “Creativity Faucet”
• Jodie’s tips on getting a contributor role at Forbes
• Why Jodie wrote the “Ten Year Career”
• Why Jodie decided to sell her content agency
• Selling your business and cashing out
• The mindset shit after selling your business
• The Four Phases of The Ten-Year Career Framework
• Avoiding the “normal” career path and work life
• What kind of people can benefit from reading the “Ten Year Career”?
• Systemizing operations and what people usually get wrong about it
• Finding ways to keep your focus on goals and tasks at hand

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🎒 Resources:

• https://www.jodiecook.com/
• https://www.jodiecook.com/ten-year-career/
• https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ten-Year-Career-Reimagine-Business/dp/1399803204
• https://world.hey.com/jodie/the-five-factors-that-hold-entrepreneurs-back-1634258e
• https://clevertykes.com/book/
• https://www.synthesis.com/
• https://www.astranova.org/
• https://twitter.com/Julian
• https://www.julian.com/guide/muscle/intro
• https://www.julian.com/blog/creativity-faucet
• https://www.skillshare.com/user/jodiecook
• https://www.udemy.com/
• https://www.tropicalmba.com/
• https://twitter.com/tropicalmba

Today on the podcast Mitko (@mitkoka) is joined by Evan Hock (@Evan_Hock) the cofounder of MakeMyMove.com a marketplace for remote worker relocation offers. Essentially communities across the US use MakeMyMove as a place to publish the offers they have set up in an attempt to attract remote workers like you.

During this episode, Evan and Mitko discussed the current state of remote work and how it’s affecting communities across the US, what sort of communities are profiting the most from the remote work boom, how to find the best relocation offer for you and we even role played what it would be like for someone like you to use the MakeMyMove platform to move to one of their participating communities and more topics!

💬  Topics Discussed:

• Summary of MakeMyMove as a platform
• Evan’s career move from wanting to be a pastor to a career in tech
• The business evolution of MakeMyMove
• What is the attitude of investors towards remote work pre and post-COVID
• How MakeMyMove makes money
• Are communities aware of the potential of becoming a remote work hotspot?
• How MakeMyMove helps you through the relocation process
• What is the minimum income needed to apply for a MakeMyMove offer
• What kind of income qualifies for a MakeMyMove offer
• Full process break down, from applying for an offer to moving to a new city
• Different types of communities
• Are communities interested in people who still plan on traveling a lot after setting up a homebase
• Fostering and engaging a community of digital nomads
• What are some of the most important things to look for when reviewing MakeMyMove offers?
• Business opportunities in the MakeMyMove space
• What features and amenities are common offerings from cities
• The benefits of moving to a college town
• The future of the digital nomad and remote work movements
• How can you create a digital nomad offer in your community

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🎒 Resources:

• https://twitter.com/Evan_Hock
• https://www.makemymove.com/
• https://twitter.com/makemymoveusa
• https://www.angi.com/
• https://thatremotelife.com/cincinnati-remote-work/
• https://www.makemymove.com/get-paid/west-lafayette
• https://www.businessinsider.com/indiana-town-offers-relocation-money-grandparents-on-demand-remote-workers-2021-10
• https://twitter.com/richard_florida

Today on the podcast Mitko (@mitkoka) is joined by Andrew Fiebert (@andyfieb) the founder of GetLasso and Listen Money Matters which is one of the largest personal finance blogs on the internet and the Listen Money Matters podcast, which is not running anymore, but when it was, it was one of the biggest personal finance podcasts.

Andrew is a serial entrepreneur and tinkerer with even more businesses under his belt and during this podcast they covered a variety of topics, from Andrew's tips on how to manage a lot of different projects and business at the same time, personal finance tips and strategies for entrepreneurs, working with your spouse, the state of the affiliate marketing business, and much more. If you’re a business nerd, you’re going to love this wide-ranging conversation.

💬  Topics Discussed:

• Why Andrew decided to pause his podcast ListenMoneyMatters
• Advertising and earning money with podcasts
• The possibility of Andrew getting back in the podcast game
• The appeal of a free-form podcast format
• Andrew’s tips for managing multiple projects successfully
• What is Lasso and how can it help you generate income from your content
• Transitioning from a solopreneur business model to the head of an organization
• The importance of trying and learning while doing
• Knowing when you should start hiring people and building your team
• Being a content creator VS leading an organization
• Hiring full-time employees or contractors
• Managing the negative sides of not being a W2 employee
• Will tax codes change because of more remote workers and freelancers in the workforce
• Setting yourself up for long-term financial success as an entrepreneur
• The current state of affiliate marketing
• Has the popularity of affiliate marketing decreased
• Being persistent with your projects in the fast-paced online world
• Is the podcast market saturated
• Defining your content and finding your audience
• How to work with your wife/husband/partner

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🎒 Resources:

• https://www.listenmoneymatters.com/show/
• https://twitter.com/andyfieb
• https://getlasso.co/
• https://zoaenergy.com/
• https://twitter.com/MattGiovanisci
• https://share.transistor.fm/s/c38fe196
• https://twitter.com/dcwarrington
• https://www.suzeorman.com/podcast
• https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/
• https://nomadlist.com/
• https://twitter.com/levelsio
• https://share.transistor.fm/s/5a09191b
• https://gastrohealth.com/
• https://www.amazon.com/Tax-Free-Wealth-Permanently-Lowering-Advisors/dp/1947588052
• https://www.tropicalmba.com/podcasts/
• https://twitter.com/seanogle
• https://www.nerdwallet.com/

Today on the podcast Mitko (@mitkoka) is joined by Wes Kao (@wes_kao) the cofounder of Maven - the first course platform focused specifically on Cohort-Based Courses. Wes came up with the idea of cohort-based courses while she was working with Seth Godin and together they launched the AltMBA which was the first cohort-based course of this kind on the internet. 

During this conversation you will learn how Wes ended up working with Seth in the first place, the problem with the current generation of Massive-Open-Online-Courses or MOOCs, and how running your courses through a cohort helps boost your revenue, helps improve completion rates, and most importantly helps students implement what they learn.

💬  Topics Discussed:

• What were some adjustments for Wes when she moved from the U.S. to Canada?
• What is a cohort-based course (CBC)?
• How Wes ended up working with Seth Godin
• Is there a benefit of going through the corporate world before focusing on a more entrepreneurial career path
• Defining and perfecting your craft
• What are the benefits of using Maven as opposed to other platforms when creating a course?
• Can Maven function as a course marketplace in the future
• Finding your audience and growing as a lecturer
• Are MOOCs (massive open online courses) still a viable learning option?
• What is the Creator Monetization Matrix?
• Balancing free and paid content
• Can CBCs be used in regular schools?
• The differences between CBCs and traditional teaching methods
• How does Maven encourage bidirectional learning?
• Using online courses as credentials when applying for jobs or projects
• Differences between a content creator and operator
• Creating content in your style and on your own terms
• Why companies should not reward Super ICs (Individual Contributors) by promoting them to managerial positions

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🎒 Resources:

• https://www.weskao.com/
• https://twitter.com/wes_kao
• https://maven.com/
• https://www.sethgodin.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaganbiyani/
• https://altmba.com/
• https://zapier.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/parrsam/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/sahilbloom/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/patflynn3/
• https://www.upwork.com
• https://www.udemy.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivaniberry/
• https://maven.com/ascend/ascend-leadership
• https://www.creativeelements.fm/
• https://waitbutwhy.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-lennon/

Today on the podcast Mitko (@mitkoka) is joined by Lauren Razavi (@LaurenRazavi) the author of the new book Global Natives which is out now at Holloway Books. She is also the Director of Special Projects at SafetyWing where she heads the Plumia project which is on a mission to build the first country on the internet.

During this interview, Lauren and Mitko discuss how her Iranian background influenced her to become a digital nomad in 2013, what digital nomads as a community can do to tackle many of the issues plaguing local populations of cities that have become nomad hubs, and Mitko and Lauren discussed her work at Plumia and their goal to create the first Nomad Border Pass by 2025.

💬  Topics Discussed:

• How Lauren’s immigrant background influenced her later decision to become a digital nomad
• How local communities view digital nomads
• How can digital nomads improve their relationships with local communities?
• The relationship between governments and digital nomads
• Why coworking spaces are the lynchpins of the digital nomad movement
• Is digital nomadism really the ultimate tool for the democratization of opportunity?
• The importance of second citizenship or residency to a foreign country as a digital nomad
• Increasing global mobility of the nomad workforce
• Citizenships and visas as a subscription service
• How countries and individual cities are trying to attract digital nomads
• How governments and government officials view digital nomads
• Lauren’s book Global Natives
• Lauren’s vision for the future of digital nomads
• Speeding up the progress of government and the real estate sector
• Mobilizing people to further grow and improve the global digital nomad movement

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🎒 Resources:

• https://plumia.org/
• https://lraz.io/
• https://twitter.com/LaurenRazavi
• https://www.holloway.com/b/global-natives
• https://www.hackerparadise.org/
• https://thatremotelife.com/episode91/
• https://hbr.org/2014/06/how-to-succeed-in-business-by-bundling-and-unbundling
• https://apnews.com/article/1983c1c12e2048beba26e1900294be01
• https://plumia.org/tag/plumia-talks/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoIoWylLdDg&ab_channel=Plumia

Today on the podcast, Mitko (@mitkoka) is joined by his good friend Chase Warrington (@dcwarrington), the Head of Remote at Doist and the host of the About Abroad podcast. This was a wide-ranging conversation during which they explored topics like traveling with a pet, why we’ve reached the age of long-term nomading, the appeal of vanlife, and what Chase and Mitko's plans for the rest of the year look like.

💬  Topics Discussed:

• Keeping a diet as a digital nomad
• Traveling full-time with pets
• Airline regulations when traveling with pets
• How infrastructure development made digital nomadism a viable long-term option
• Remote work going mainstream
• Spending time with family and friends as a digital nomad
• Chase’s decision to give up his apartment in Valencia and be nomadic again
• Traveling by camper van instead of flying
• Getting down your ideal travel schedule
• Chase’s impressions of Running Remote 2022
• What surprised Chase about the digital nomad community at Running Remote?
• The challenges companies and employees face when making the switch to remote work
• Teaching companies to implement efficient remote work practices
• The value of having a Head of Remote in a company
• The future of company retreats and events
• How do you become a Head of Remote?
• Mitko’s planned summer trip around the U.S.
• Mitko’s top places in Mexico

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🎒 Resources:

• https://doist.com/
• https://aboutabroad.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/chase-warrington/
• https://twitter.com/dcwarrington
• https://share.transistor.fm/s/596c42a1
• https://nomadcapitalist.com/
• https://share.transistor.fm/s/a04c71b4
• https://runningremote.com/schedule-montreal-2022/
• https://gitlab.com/dmurph
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephe-lee/recent-activity/posts/
• https://www.okta.com/blog/author/samantha-fisher/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjKhMv8T6ls&ab_channel=RunningRemote
• https://www.coworker.com/mexico/santiago-de-queretaro/krow
• https://www.wework.com/l/coworking-space/mexico

Follow me @mitkoka
Follow Stefan @stefanpalios

💬  Topics Discussed:

• Why Stefan bought a mansion in Canada and his plan to turn it into a coliving / coworking space
• How Stefan’s studies in socioeconomics helped him as a freelancer
• The importance of being a quality writer in the digital age
• Are there any skills Stefan had to master during his studies that weren’t useful in the real world?
• Stefan’s checklist for landing a freelance client
• Usual mistakes freelancers make when starting out
• Gaining Social Capital VS Spending Social Capital as a freelancer
• Defining your freelancing skills and goals for clients
• Building “market curiosity” with your services
• Managing multiple services or businesses
• Finding the common thread for your services
• Knowing to recognize “market curiosity”
• Distributing energy between different projects and clients
• Knowing and defining your priorities as a freelancer
• Tactics for getting client referrals
• Making the decision to be a full-time freelancer and having an overlap period
• Why you should always invest in yourself
• What are the most important “laws” for freelancing success

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🎒 Resources:

• stefanpalios.com
• YouTube: Stefan Palios | Business Coach for Freelancers
• Stefan on Instagram
• [course] How to find freelance clients using Twitter
• [course] The Growth Blueprint
• [book] Overlap: Start a Business While Working a Full-Time Jobs
• [book] The 50 Laws of Freelancing: Insider Secrets Every Freelance Must Know

💬  Topics Discussed:

• Why Bansko, Bulgaria could be the next digital nomad hotspot?
• Why Europe such an attractive destination for digital nomads
• How Mexico became such a popular place for the nomads and remote workers
• What cities are popping off in Mexico?
• What places are cooling down in the nomad circuit?
• Places that never became popular among nomads even though they had great potential
• The importance of good infrastructure and flight connectivity for a city
• What did Columbia do right to become a popular place in the nomad community?
• What are some typical hotspots for digital nomads?
• Why isn’t Brazil a much more popular destination?
• Avoiding high-risk and unstable places as a digital nomad
• What U.S. cities are going to be popular for digital nomads

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🎒 Resources:

• Parable
• Digital Nomads Madeira
• NomadX
• Starlink

💬  Topics Discussed:

• What is RemoteBase and how does it work?
• What inspired Chris to start RemoteBase?
• How does RemoteBase define a good deal?
• What platforms does RemoteBase take into consideration when looking at potential rentals?
• The importance of where you live and how you spend your time when you are digital nomad
• What is “decision fatigue” in the context of the digital nomad lifestyle?
• The housing market after COVID
• What factors does Chris take into account outside of price when recommending an Airbnb listing?
• How RemoteBase delivers tailored deals for different types of users
• Top techniques for growing a newsletter
• Are there specific locations in the world that RemoteBase focuses on?
• What are some locations that have become more popular over the last 2 years?
• What does the future of hospitality and housing look like in a remote-first world?
• Why we need a remote-first housing solution
• Chris’ top tips for finding great listings on Airbnb
• Chris’ thoughts on Airbnbs new interface

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🎒 Resources:

• RemoteBase
• RemoteBase on Twitter
• RemoteBase on Instagram
• Scott's Cheap Flights
• Jack's Flight Club
• Airbnb
• Vrbo
• TRL 149: The Future of Coliving & Digital Nomadism with Marc Forster Algas & Gui Pendrix
• Mailchimp
• Stripe
• Slack
• Discord
• Telegram
• TRL 134: Nomad 3.0 and the Future of NomadX with Gonçalo Hall and Dave Williams
• Roamer - Airbnb Internet Speeds check
• Offie - Airbnb Wifi Reviews
• CitizenM

💬  Topics Discussed:

• What is Co-liv and how it was formed?
• How did Gui get into remote work and why he became a digital nomad
• What inspired Marc to come up with Karisma Living?
• Why was Bansko chosen as the location for the Co-Liv’s summit?
• What were the biggest takeaways from the Co-Liv summit?
• The potential of coliving for the future
• The different types of coliving
• What are people looking for in a coliving space and who it’s for?
• The benefits of staying at a coliving space
• How long do people usually stay in a coliving space?
• Does the digital nomad lifestyle keep you young?
• Forming a home base and hybrid styles of digital nomadism
• What is a “slowmad” & break down of nomad homebases
• Creating a global infrastructure for digital nomads
• Owning property as a digital nomad
• The state of co-ownership in real estate
• Does the future of real estate rest in the blockchain?
• Real estate tailored for digital nomads
• Gui’s biggest takeaway’s from the Co-Liv’s summit
• Niches in the coliving industry
• Creating specialized offers for different types of coliving residents

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🎒 Resources:

• Co-Liv
• [book] Art of Coliving
• Gui Perdrix
• Karisma Living
• Karisma on Instagram
• Co-Liv Summit 2022
• TRL 022: Building a Thriving Coworking Space in Bansko, Bulgaria with Matthias Zeitler
• Selina
• Outsite
• Common
• Foodie Flashpacker
• TRL 108: Tynan – The Most Interesting Man in the World on Creating a Limitless Financial Runway, Buying an Island, and Living an Extraordinary Life
• Pacaso
• PoolSuite
• The Collective
• Roam