The Remote Work Tribe Podcast

In this episode of the Remote Work Tribe podcast, we chat with Jared Kleinert, Co-Founder/CEO of Offsite. 

Jared generously shares with us some of the nuances of hosting a successful offsite such as:

• Being intentional about the retreat.
• Understanding the importance of the venue as an experiential setting.
• How to take advantage of team retreats and increase their ROI
• When to plan for an international vs a domestic retreat

And much more.

Episode timestamps:

• What is Jared working on today? (0:35)
• What was the inspiration for starting Offsite? (1:50)
• What makes a great venue for a team offsite? (4:45)
• What should companies think about when they are planning their offsite (7:30)  
• How to balance “business as usual” presentations vs. experiential cultural activities in offsites? (12:12)
• What are some of the best icebreakers and experiences for company retreats? (16:10)
• Do you recommend running activities outside the venue or should be centralized? (19:10)
• Tools or resources to help you plan your team retreat. (21:10)
• Strategies to make a hybrid retreat exclusive. (22:50)
• Domestic vs.international retreats. (27:20)
• Lightning round questions. (30:45)

We hope you enjoy it!

Links mentioned on the podcast

• Joinoffsite.com
• [email protected]
• linkedin.com/in/jaredkleinert
• Theremoteworktribe.com
• newsletter.theremotetribe.com
• Jessicamalnik.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Remote Work Tribe podcast, we chat with Kimberly Bringas, LDP lead at Drizly.

Kimberly has a strong people operations background (Ops --> HR --> Leadership Development) with over a decade of experience in Tech. This episode talks about strategic team building, innovative people processes, distributed team communication practices, sustainable culture development, and leadership coaching, among many others.

Timestamps.

• What is Kimberly working on today? (0:35)
• What makes a great remote-first leader? (1:35)
• How can a leader adapt 1-1 conversations to remote settings? (4:15)
• Tools and tips to run remote 1-1 weekly conversations (8:15)  
• Who should own the agenda, the direct report, or the manager? (12:10)
• The connector manager model. (13:30)
• Tools or training that people managers find helpful? (15:10)
• How to build a culture to encourage team members to grow? (11:40)
• Strategies to better lead asynchronously. (22:10)
• Most common mistakes people managers tend to make. (25:20)
• Helpful books, courses, and resources for first-time people managers. (29:45)
• Lightning round questions. (32:00)

We hope you enjoy it!

Links mentioned on the podcast

• Linkedin.com/in/kimberlybringas
• Theremoteworktribe.com
• newsletter.theremotetribe.com
• Jessicamalnik.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Remote Work Tribe podcast, we chat with Eman Zabi, founder at Terrain.io. 

Among many subjects, we discuss her experience moving from a copywriting agency business to a SaaS mindset, what it takes to build and inspire great teams, and the advantages of no-code and low-code tools to create apps. 

Timestamps.

• What is Eman working on today? (0:35)
• What inspired her to create Terrain? (1:35)
• Training for teams at Terrain? (4:15)
• How to find generalists for your team and the thought process behind it? (6:30)
• Questions she asks during interviews to find out if people are passionate about their lives and work? (8:30)
• How to build a culture to encourage team members to grow? (11:40)
• How does Eman ensure people are collaborating on her team? (13:45)
• Her approach towards meeting and asynchronous communication? (15:40)
• How does she manage a service business together with a software business? (17:15)
• How to learn to delegate? (19:10)
• Mindset shift from running an agency to running a SaaS. (22:16)
• Advantages of no-code and low-code to create apps. (25:50)
• How to decide what should be the next features for Terrain. (27:50)
• How being a copywriter has impacted her journey as a developer. (29:00)
• How to get past imposter syndrome. (30:10)
• Lightning round questions. (33:00)

We hope you enjoy it!

Links mentioned on the podcast

• terrain.io
• twitter.com/eman_zabi
• Theremoteworktribe.com
• newsletter.theremotetribe.com
• Jessicamalnik.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Remote Work Tribe podcast, we chat with Tommy Walker, founder at The Content Studio. Among many subjects, we discuss the critical elements required to build a successful remote content team, the pros and cons of hiring in-house vs. freelancers, some of the most common mistakes new writers make, and much more. 

Timestamps.

• What is Tommy working on today? (0:35)
• How is The Content Studio team structured? (1:10)
• When does it make sense to hire in-house, and when does it make sense to hire freelancers? (2:10)
• How does the onboarding process work at The Content Studio? (5:30)
• How to get freelancers to want to work in-house? (8:15)
• How to build a culture that combines asynchronous and synchronous work effectively? (9:15)
• What are some ways to align teams of both in-house and freelancers? (12:45)
• The skills he looks for when hiring writers at The Content Studio? (17:00)
• What are some of the most common mistakes that writers make (20:55)
• The synergy between certain professions and proper blog writing (24:50)
• Lightning round questions. (27:50)

We hope you enjoy it!

Links mentioned on the podcast

• thecontentstudio.com
• twitter.com/tommyismyname
• Theremoteworktribe.com
• newsletter.theremotetribe.com
• Jessicamalnik.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Remote Work Tribe podcast, we chat with Jesse Hanley, founder of Bento, which helps eCommerce and SaaS brands drive more sales with super-targeted, highly relevant email, SMS, and conversational marketing campaigns. In this talk we discuss how to use Discord as a customer success channel, what it takes to run asynchronous teams, and how to grow by asking others for help.

Timestamps.

• What is Jesse working on today? (0:35)
• How is Bento’s team structured? (1:29)
• Running product support on Discord? (3:49)
• Advantages of running support and building communities on Discord? (8:10)
• How to set up Discord as the main support channel? (11:25)
• How to build team collaboration within Discord and the importance of Async communication? (13:05)
• Processes to onboard new employees in an asynchronous culture? (15:45)
• Mindset shifts from an agency to a SaaS company. (18:25)
• The importance of openness and transparency. (22:15)
• How to use Discord bots for tracking team performance? (23:30)
• Strategies for prioritizing customer requests on Discord. (26:00)
• How did he come up with the idea of Bento? (28:30)
• Lightning round questions. (30:50)

We hope you enjoy it!

Links mentioned on the podcast

• Bentonow.com 
• twitter.com/jessethanley
• Theremoteworktribe.com
• newsletter.theremotetribe.com
• Jessicamalnik.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Remote Work Tribe podcast, we chat with Andy Cabasso, co-founder of Postaga, a new all-in-one platform for link building and email outreach. He is also the co-founder of Offsprout, an app that helps web design agencies build websites for their clients more efficiently, using white-label website building tools. As a serial entrepreneur he shares a lot of valuable information about remote teams, onboarding, and remote-first culture.

• How did Andy start Postaga? (1:40)
• How is Postaga’s team structured? (2:50)
• How to grow your team and maintain a great culture? (4:10)
• Where to host your onboarding training, and how does the process work in general at Postaga? (7:50)
• How does Andy structure his onboarding and SOP courses? (9:50)
• How long does it take a new hire to feel acclimated to the role? (11:55)
• How to balance asynchronous and synchronous culture? (14:35)
• Hiring asynchronous-first talent. (17:05)
• What makes a good test project? (19:45)
• How to build team culture across time zones asynchronously? (22:25)
• Managing watercooler conversations on slack. (24:40)
• Mindset shift from an agency business to a high-growth SaaS. (26:00)
• False assumptions about the SaaS industry. (27:50)
• How does Andy structure customer support/success today? (39:00)
• Intercom and how customer success can be done better. (32:40)
• Lightning round questions. (35:20)

We hope you enjoy it!

Links mentioned on the podcast

• Postaga.com - Be sure to use the coupon code podcast50 for 50% off for three months.
• linkedin.com/in/andrewcabasso/
• twitter.com/andycabasso
• Book - Traction - by Gino Wickman
• Theremoteworktribe.com
• newsletter.theremotetribe.com
• Jessicamalnik.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Remote Work Tribe podcast, we chat with Michael Glover, Content Marketing Manager at ConvertFlow. He has been working remotely for several years and shares with us his knowledge and experience as a remote marketing manager. We also discuss some of the challenges that turn up leading remote teams and the strategies that work best when working remotely.

• Exciting projects Michael is working on these days (0:55)
• How did he come up with the content experiments idea? (2:20)
• How to optimize workload and content creation? (4:10)
• Asynchronous communication and collaboration. (8:10)
• Organizational strategies to run remote teams asynchronously (10:35)
• How to build a remote culture (14:15)
• Skills and signals to find collaborators that fit culturally. (17:50)
• How is the hiring process with asynchronous components? (19:55)
• Introverts and remote work (22:10)
• Introverts vs. extroverts and leadership styles (23:25)
• Michael’s previous experience as a personal trainer and its impact on marketing (25:00)
• Michael experience with local SEO back in the trainer era (29:50)
• How his experience as a business owner shaped his understanding of marketing (32:25)
• Tips to build marketing reports that work (34:40)
• Lightning round questions (37:33)

We hope you enjoy it!

Links mentioned on the podcast

• convertflow.com/blog
• twitter.com/TheMGlover
• Theremoteworktribe.com
• newsletter.theremotetribe.com
• Jessicamalnik.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Remote Work Tribe podcast, we chat with Mike Schaffer, Group Senior Vice President, Corporate Digital Innovation at Marina Maher Communications.

Mike has been named: One of the World's Top PR & Marketing Gurus | Top 30 PR Pros on Twitter | A PR & Marketing Superhero | One of the Foremost Authorities on Trust in Business. In this episode, he shares decades of insight and experience as a remote leader in the industry. We touch upon remote leadership, how to develop empathy as a leader, radical candor, remote onboarding, and much more. 

• Exciting projects Mike is working on today. (1:05)
• How his leadership approach has evolved since the pandemic. (2:30)
• How to manage digital relationships and social media with your team positively. (4:10)
• How to lead 1-1 meetings. (6:30)
• How to get to know new team members and develop a management style that works for them. (8:20)
• How to leverage both office-based and remote-first leadership skills. (11:50)
• How has hiring changed since the pandemic? (15:40)
• Mindset shifts that leadership went through to adapt to remote work. (17:35)
• How to onboard remote employees (19:35)
• Asynchronous communication for onboarding remote employees (23:05)
• Introverts vs. extroverts and leadership styles. (24:25)
• How to build an intentional remote culture. (26:28)
• Most significant mindset shift Mike has experienced since 2020. (28:32)
• Lightning round questions. (30:38)

We hope you enjoy it!

Links mentioned on the podcast

• twitter.com/mikeschaffer
• linkedin.com/in/mikeschaffer
• instagram.com/mikeschaffer/
• Theremoteworktribe.com
• newsletter.theremotetribe.com
• Jessicamalnik.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Remote Work Tribe podcast, we chat with Jesse Schoberg, Co-Founder, and CEO at DropInBlog.com.

As a digital nomad since 2008, he shares his relationship with work, leadership, asynchronous communication, and management of fully distributed teams. This is a fantastic episode if you want to learn more about Jesse's path working remotely for more than a decade, what works for him, and how to flow across time zones and workstyles.

In this episode, we discuss: 

• What inspired Jesse to start DropInBlog. (1:30)
• How did he prioritize projects and decide to go all-in with DropInBlog. (3:15)
• Mindset shift from leading an agency vs. a SaaS product. (5:10)
• How to allocate time and resources when running an agency and a SaaS product. (7:00)
• Leadership style and async communication. (8:35)
• Frameworks and mental models Jesse looks for when hiring new talent. (12:05)
• Interviewing processes at DropInBlog. (13:40)
• How Jesse found his co-founders for DropInBlog. (16:10)
• Leading a team with partners and finding alignment. (19:45)
• How leading an agency vs. creating a SaaS product has changed leadership dynamics. (22:30)
• How was selling their smaller SaaS products before focusing all efforts on DropInBlog. (25:40)
• His experience with diverse income streams and multiple jobs and how they shaped his work style. (27:25)
• Team retreats at DropInBlog. (29:15)
• How being a nomad changes your relation to work and your overall lifestyle. (32:35)
• Lightning round questions. (35:30)

We hope you enjoy it!

Links mentioned on the podcast

• twitter.com/JesseSchoberg
• dropinblog.com/
• linkedin.com/in/schoberg
• Theremoteworktribe.com
• newsletter.theremotetribe.com
• Jessicamalnik.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of the Remote Work Tribe podcast, we chat with Venessa Paech, digital sociologist, director at australiancommunitymanagers.com.au, and co-founder of Swarm Conf. 

Her expertise and clarity in the intersection of technology, humanity, and AI are remarkable. We can all learn from her approach to leading communities with kindness and a pedagogic attitude in community building. 

In this episode, we discuss: 

• Trends in AI, Machine learning, and Community.
• Biases in Facebook groups.
• How to combat biases to manage digital communities better.
• How to foster a great culture in a global digital community?
• Companies that have understood and developed a collaborative remote culture.
• Building culture across time zones.
• Why are philosophy and culture more important than tech tools?
• Employee management and time tracking software and their impact on culture.
• Introverts vs. extroverts in leadership roles in remote communities.
• Lighting round questions.

We hope you enjoy it!

Links mentioned on the podcast

• twitter.com/venessapaech
• linkedin.com/in/venessapaech/
• www.venessapaech.com
• Theremoteworktribe.com
• newsletter.theremotetribe.com
• Jessicamalnik.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.