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92) How Angie Quit Corporate, Lost 55 Pounds, and Built her Dream Digital Nomad Life in Thailand: · Digital Nomad Life Podcast

• 3:36
  Christa: Hey there and welcome to the Digital Nomad Life Podcast.
• 3:38
  Christa: I'm your host, krista, also known as Krista Bella Travels on social media.
• 3:43
  Christa: I am interviewing a very special guest.
• 3:45
  Christa: It is one of my clients who I have had the privilege of working with, for I don't even know how long has it been, angie, would you say A year and a half.
• 3:54
  Christa: Okay, so over a year, or.
• 3:56
  Christa: We met over a year ago and started working together, as Angie had the dream to become a digital nomad, like I know so many of my listeners also have that dream.
• 4:06
  Christa: So today I want to interview Angie all about her amazing journey of leaving her nine to five in Sydney, australia, moving to Thailand, joining an epic fitness camp, becoming a content creator, doing remote sales and really just actually changing her life like 180 degrees.
• 4:25
  Christa: Her story is so inspiring and I am so excited for you to learn all about it.
• 4:31
  Christa: So, angie, welcome.
• 4:32
  Christa: Thanks for being here.
• 4:33
  Christa: Thank you for having me so excited, okay, so let's cue the listeners in on, just like this moment in time of where you're at right now in your journey.
• 4:42
  Christa: So we are recording this episode here in Bali, but I know you don't live in Bali, so just tell us about your life.
• 4:50
  Angie: So for the last six months I've been living in Thailand.
• 4:52
  Angie: This is a pit stop for me on my way back to Thailand.
• 4:57
  Angie: I was home for the last three weeks in Sydney, yeah, so quick pit stop in Bali to go see Krista and to see one of my other good friends from the DLNA a lot, and yeah, and then I'll be heading back to Thailand where I'll be based again at the fitness camp and yeah, we'll just see how long I stay there, because I'm currently loving it so much so far.
• 5:18
  Christa: So cool, okay, so first of all, having a lifestyle where Bali is a pit stop is just so cool and fully on its own, like oh, yeah, let me just casually pop over there just to see my friends.
• 5:29
  Christa: And you mentioned Olatz, who is one of the other members of the DNLA, which, if you're listening and you don't know what that stands for, it stands for Digital Nomad Life Academy.
• 5:40
  Christa: That's my business, where I help people become digital nomads.
• 5:44
  Christa: So pretty much almost anybody that you hear me interview on this podcast is a member of the DNLA, just like Angie.
• 5:50
  Christa: So yeah, so you about a year to I don't know a year and a half ago.
• 5:56
  Christa: I guess quit your job in Australia and then, yes, moved to this fitness camp.
• 6:01
  Christa: But will you tell the story of why you joined the DNLA in the first place, like what was your motivation to wanting to become a digital nomad?
• 6:11
  Angie: Yeah, so I guess it was something that had been on my mind for uh since probably 2022 is around the time when I first heard of the digital nomad lifestyle uh, funnily enough, from your Instagram account.
• 6:27
  Angie: And then, um, I had a job at the time a corporate analyst job at the time and then I wasn't happy in that role and I quit it in uh May of 2022 to figure out this digital nomad lifestyle, and I knew that Bali was a big sort of like the Mecca of digital nomadism and I almost didn't believe that this lifestyle existed.
• 6:53
  Angie: So I was like the best way for me to prove to myself that this is possible is to go see for myself if I can meet other digital nomads who are truly living this lifestyle in a sustainable way, Sorry.
• 7:08
  Christa: why did you think that the lifestyle was impossible?
• 7:10
  Angie: It just seemed too good to be true.
• 7:11
  Angie: It just seemed like it was an insane dream life that only existed on social media, and there's no way people are actually doing this.
• 7:21
  Angie: Yeah.
• 7:23
  Christa: Okay, so you're in Australia.
• 7:25
  Christa: You're like okay, I see these people on Instagram like what's the deal?
• 7:30
  Christa: Basically, yeah yeah, and I was one of those people.
• 7:33
  Angie: Yeah, yeah, you were one of those people that was, you know, showcasing your life and all the amazing clients that you had.
• 7:40
  Angie: That achieved the same lifestyle and I was amazed and impressed, but I was also super skeptical.
• 7:47
  Angie: So I needed to go see for myself in Bali and yeah.
• 7:51
  Angie: So then I booked a month at a co-living in Bali, one of the really well-known co-livings at the time Dojo.
• 7:57
  Angie: In case anybody doesn't know what's a co-living, a co-living is like a giant house or a villa where people go there all from all over the world to live together and to work together.
• 8:12
  Angie: It's a great way to network with people who are living that like freelancer, remote, entrepreneur, location, independent lifestyle.
• 8:21
  Christa: Okay.
• 8:21
  Christa: So you basically came to Bali for a month and you were like yeah, I'll just live in this house of all remote entrepreneurs, like let's see if these people are actually real people.
• 8:29
  Angie: Yeah, I wanted to rub shoulders with these people that were living my dream lifestyle, and it was.
• 8:35
  Angie: It was incredibly valuable.
• 8:37
  Angie: I used my time.
• 8:38
  Angie: I saw these people who were living an amazing lifestyle, realized it absolutely was a real lifestyle that you could make for yourself, and I got rid of that limiting belief that it wasn't possible.
• 8:53
  Christa: Okay.
• 8:53
  Christa: So when you came to Bali and you met all these people, what shifted?
• 8:57
  Christa: And then what did you do next?
• 8:59
  Angie: So I walked away from that experience knowing that it was now possible, but still a bit confused about what to do next in terms of starting a business, in terms of what kind of career that I wanted.
• 9:14
  Angie: But I think the number one thing that I learned from that experience from anybody that had their own business was that you needed to be good at sales.
• 9:25
  Angie: You needed to learn how to produce sales, whether that was, you know, e-commerce and having an online store and people just buy products from you, or you needed to be good at one-on-one selling, talking to people and convincing them to buy from you Wait.
• 9:43
  Christa: so what were you doing before you came to Bali, when you were in Sydney?
• 9:50
  Angie: I was working for American Express, oh okay.
• 9:52
  Angie: Doing just like, Like a PowerPoint monkey just putting together slides Never heard of a PowerPoint monkey but I love that.
• 10:00
  Christa: Okay, actually, I'm just happy that you actually didn't have super relevant experience, because I think that's the point of this podcast, like so many people that are listening you know they're driving to their PowerPoint monkey jobs right now.
• 10:14
  Christa: They're listening to this on their commute and they're like seeing this lifestyle and being like oh, that's impossible.
• 10:19
  Christa: But here you are saying no, no, I started from a place where I didn't have relevant experience either.
• 10:25
  Angie: Yeah.
• 10:25
  Angie: Yeah, I didn't have any experience.
• 10:28
  Angie: I was just doing some random PowerPoint stuff and spreadsheet stuff but, nothing super valuable that I could translate into a remote career.
• 10:40
  Christa: Right.
• 10:40
  Christa: So then you came to Bali and you were like, huh, I should probably get good at sales, because that seems to be the most needed thing.
• 10:46
  Angie: And then you yeah, that was the one skill set that was common amongst all the people that were running their own business was that they were very good at sales.
• 10:56
  Angie: Whether that was building a sales funnel for their business, speaking to people one-on-one and convincing them to buy, or to just listen to them, we're all selling in some way.
• 11:07
  Christa: Selling is, for sure, one of the most important skills and it can be really fun, but I think you've got to have the right mindset around it, which I don't know if I actually even introduced what I really want to talk about in this episode so much, but just to take a pause to give the listeners some backstory.
• 11:24
  Christa: So Angie and I had dinner the other day and I was just like catch me up on all the things, like since our last, you know, deep and meaningful conversation, and you just had so many really amazing mindset drops.
• 11:36
  Christa: I was like sitting there taking notes and I was like this would be such good, valuable information.
• 11:41
  Christa: So, yeah, I think the way that your brain works and like your mindset and determination and everything is, I know, something that's going to be so valuable for the listeners.
• 11:52
  Christa: So you had this mindset where you were like, okay, I want to change my life.
• 11:56
  Christa: I see that this lifestyle is real.
• 11:58
  Christa: Now I'm going to go learn the most valuable skill that I can, which is sales.
• 12:02
  Christa: So you went back to Australia and what'd you do?
• 12:06
  Angie: Yeah.
• 12:06
  Angie: So the first thing that I did when I got back to Australia was to find myself a job in sales, and ideally one that would be some way to be able to work remotely from overseas.
• 12:19
  Angie: So I landed myself a job in tech sales or software sales, working for a company.
• 12:25
  Angie: That was hybrid at the time, so working in the office and also from home most of the week, but they gave us 60 days remote working from anywhere in the world.
• 12:37
  Angie: That was something that was listed in the LinkedIn job ad and I double confirmed with the recruiter.
• 12:45
  Angie: That was a real perk and they said, yes, dependent on your performance, of course.
• 12:51
  Christa: Okay, so then you got really good at sales.
• 12:54
  Angie: Yeah, I was very surprised by how good I got at sales, considering I at the time was a very overweight woman of colour who was very anxious, very awkward.
• 13:08
  Angie: I still consider myself very anxious and awkward, yeah, just not what you would think somebody who would be good at sales would be able to achieve.
• 13:17
  Angie: Yeah, I definitely had.
• 13:18
  Angie: Probably like my first three months where I didn't have a real quota.
• 13:22
  Angie: I was failing, failing a lot, failing fast, failing often, but you know, picking up the phone, getting the rejections, getting people like yelling at you and telling me, don't call me anymore, and it was very, very confronting being in that environment.
• 13:40
  Angie: I was hired as a team of eight and by month four half my team had left, not because they'd been fired but because the job was just really hard and I was yeah, I just stuck it out.
• 13:55
  Angie: And six months in I was doing really, really well.
• 13:59
  Angie: I'd never missed a month of my real quota.
• 14:02
  Angie: And then I asked to work remotely overseas in Bali.
• 14:08
  Christa: Wow.
• 14:08
  Christa: So I just saw you posted on Instagram today a little bit about your journey of sales and did I see that you were the number one female sales rep in your region or something like that and something about hitting 180% of your quota.
• 14:23
  Christa: Every time there was some ridiculous stats in there I was like damn girl.
• 14:28
  Christa: I knew you were good, but I didn't know that you were that good yeah.
• 14:31
  Angie: So I ended up being the number one female sales rep globally in the company and the month that I worked remotely from Bali, I think everyone in the company was a bit like, oh, will Angie be able to keep up her results?
• 14:45
  Angie: But that actually ended up being my best performing month, where I hit 180%.
• 14:49
  Angie: And I think, honestly, it was just me being in an environment where I was so happy and so focused on making sure that my life outside of my job was good because I was only there for a month that I was making the most of my time.
• 15:07
  Angie: So I, just when I was working the equivalent of Australian hours nine to five I was so locked in, so locked in, so hyper-focused and so driven.
• 15:16
  Christa: Okay, this is not part of like your story, but I'm actually just curious about your perspective.
• 15:21
  Christa: So let's say that there's a listener out there who currently has a job and their job has said you cannot work remotely.
• 15:27
  Christa: This hybrid situation or whatever, they've stripped it away.
• 15:31
  Christa: You as a salesperson who can sell your ideas or whatever.
• 15:36
  Christa: What would you say to an employer if they were like no, you can't work remotely.
• 15:43
  Christa: How would you try to convince them that it actually would be a good idea for you to work remotely now that you have this experience?
• 15:50
  Angie: I tell them.
• 15:50
  Angie: I am so focused on making this an important part of my lifestyle.
• 15:56
  Angie: My why is so strong that it's going to make me hyper-focused the moment that I get to the destination that I want to work from, and you will never see me more focused.
• 16:11
  Angie: If we need to hop on a call, I will be on time.
• 16:14
  Angie: If you need me to call this many people a day, I will do it.
• 16:19
  Angie: So make sure that you already have a history of being a consistent performer before you make the ask, of course, and then, yeah, once you ask them, they have no reason to object otherwise.
• 16:37
  Christa: Wow, I love that Okay, so valuable.
• 16:38
  Christa: So for anybody out there, if you have a job right now and you're like my job's okay, they just won't let me work remotely, just try.
• 16:44
  Christa: I would say, just take, maybe even send them this podcast episode.
• 16:47
  Christa: You can hear about how Angie's absolutely smashed her goals while she was in a happy environment of working remotely.
• 16:55
  Angie: Yeah.
• 16:56
  Christa: I love that.
• 16:56
  Christa: Okay, so I know I kind of know your story that you went, that you know you left Bali after working remotely and you did the thing with your work and you did really well as a salesperson and all these things happened and then you and I started working together at some point in there.
• 17:16
  Angie: Yeah, during the time that I was in Bali.
• 17:17
  Angie: Oh, it was when you were in Bali, okay.
• 17:19
  Christa: Yeah, okay.
• 17:20
  Christa: So what was your motivation now to join the DNLA?
• 17:24
  Christa: Because you were already kind of doing this remote thing and it was working out.
• 17:28
  Angie: You know a lot of people ask me why are you interested in starting your own business?
• 17:32
  Angie: You've got it pretty good right now just working for a company, and they're allowing you to work remotely at least for two months of the year, which is way better than most people have it.
• 17:45
  Angie: So why are you getting greedy now?
• 17:47
  Angie: Part of it was I was selling something that I wasn't passionate about.
• 17:52
  Angie: I was selling hospitality software tech, which I'd never worked in hospitality before, and I, yeah, didn't feel particularly passionate about about, you know, picking up the phone every day to call people and explain about this software.
• 18:12
  Christa: So, basically, you were, you don't, you weren't passionate about what it was that you were selling and you wanted to start your own business.
• 18:19
  Angie: Yeah.
• 18:19
  Angie: So I want yeah, I wanted to start my own business because I as much as like.
• 18:26
  Angie: The perk of being able to work remotely for certain amount of months per year was good.
• 18:31
  Angie: I wanted to be able to work from anywhere in the world 365 days of the year.
• 18:36
  Angie: I also was not particularly passionate about the thing that I was selling and I wanted that autonomy over that, full autonomy over how much I made, where I'm the person that's in control, Because when you work for a company, they can change your targets at any time, they can change the rules around how much you're able to earn, and when you're working for a company, even if you work in sales, there's only so much that you can control.
• 19:07
  Christa: Yeah, Okay.
• 19:08
  Christa: So you were motivated to start your own business.
• 19:09
  Christa: You were like okay, I want to have my full control over my time and of the kind of work that I do.
• 19:15
  Christa: And somehow you and I got connected.
• 19:18
  Christa: Actually, you like knew my old roommate.
• 19:19
  Christa: I can't remember if we already talked about this in the no, no.
• 19:23
  Angie: So that was like a complete serendipitous accident.
• 19:27
  Angie: So I was friends with Anna and she and I had met the year before when I was living at this co-living, and her and I ended up being in Bali at the same time the next year and she was telling me about how she was looking for a place long-term in Bali, and then she had found this amazing house and she felt really aligned with the person who was advertising that the room was free, and it turned out to be Krista.
• 19:58
  Angie: It was me by complete and you were like.
• 20:02
  Angie: I know who that is yeah, I was like what a crazy world that you know my friend is now going to live with.
• 20:08
  Angie: The person who introduced me to this whole lifestyle is probably the, the, the reason why I'm in bali right now so cool, love that, okay.
• 20:18
  Christa: So we started working together like very shortly after that.
• 20:22
  Christa: Yeah, um, and like I guess meeting anna, you were like, oh, okay, she's like a really real, actual person yeah, yeah or anybody listening.
• 20:30
  Christa: I am not some kind of robot, I'm not some AI character.
• 20:34
  Christa: I'm like, actually a real person and I actually am not lying about my lifestyle.
• 20:38
  Christa: I really do live in Bali.
• 20:39
  Christa: I really do have a cute little dog that I take to the beach every single day.
• 20:43
  Christa: I really have traveled to almost 70 countries.
• 20:46
  Christa: I really do make multiple six figures in my business that I love.
• 20:50
  Christa: Everything is like just fucking love life.
• 20:54
  Christa: And yeah, I understand why some people might be like is this real?
• 20:59
  Christa: Like what is anyway?
• 21:00
  Christa: So love that.
• 21:01
  Christa: You got confirmation that this is real and okay.
• 21:04
  Christa: So when we started working together I can't remember, did you know what business you wanted to create at the time or was that part of the process of us figuring that out?
• 21:13
  Angie: No, I did not know.
• 21:14
  Angie: I knew that I had a skill set in sales and that was it at the time.
• 21:21
  Christa: So, for anybody listening, if you are wanting to have this kind of digital nomad lifestyle, you don't actually need to even have a business idea.
• 21:30
  Christa: Literally, the reason why people come to work with me just like Angie did is that they want to have the lifestyle, but they don't necessarily know what business they want to create.
• 21:39
  Christa: So that is why you would hire me.
• 21:43
  Christa: So many people are like I want to work with you but I don't have a business idea.
• 21:46
  Christa: I'm like that's the point.
• 21:48
  Christa: That's literally why you would hire me to help you figure that out.
• 21:52
  Christa: Of course, I also helped you build a business and I help you figure out how to market that business and I help you how to be successful in your business.
• 21:58
  Christa: But the very first step and the most important step is figuring out what business you're going to create in the first place.
• 22:04
  Christa: So, angie, you knew that you had this really robust, proven skill set in sales.
• 22:10
  Christa: So I mean, I'm remembering, like at the beginning of us working together, I encourage you to stick with sales because you were amazing at it, and I think we like experimented in a few different niches with what business you're going to create, and then it was like a few months in where there was a curveball.
• 22:31
  Christa: Yeah, can you tell me, can you tell us about the curveball?
• 22:35
  Angie: Yeah.
• 22:36
  Angie: So, uh, I had, for my entire life, um, really struggled with my weight and, uh, the the past year traveling had definitely, like uh, made my weight climb more, cause I was ignoring that, uh, whilst I was traveling, cause I was like life is good, life is good, who cares that I'm plus size and then it and I just was refusing in my mind to do the shadow work on addressing that I was like my life is so good in every other aspect of my life, who cares that I am like really overweight and that I don't like the way that I look in the in the mirror?
• 23:12
  Angie: I was, I was just completely ignoring it.
• 23:15
  Angie: And then you know that time of year New Year's, the way you're doing New Year's resolutions, where you're really reflecting on your life that was a time where I got really real with myself and really real with Krista, where I was like we're floating a lot of different business ideas.
• 23:36
  Angie: This I don't even know is like business related, but I know that I need to sort out my health.
• 23:42
  Angie: I know that I need to work on my fitness because it's reaching scary levels right now, and this is my number one priority, maybe even more important than focusing on building a business right now, and you were probably the first person that I'd ever been super raw to about how scared I was about where like how my weight was going, how my fitness was going and I told you this big, scary dream of mine that was to go on a big fitness journey and commit the next year and, however, for the rest of my life, really to improving my fitness, documenting the journey and inspiring other people to also focus on fitness or the areas of their life that they had been neglecting.
• 24:37
  Christa: I'm going to cry right now.
• 24:38
  Christa: Yeah, I remember this conversation very, very well For the listeners.
• 24:44
  Christa: Angie and I were working together one-on-one doing a VIP container.
• 24:48
  Christa: So in the VIP containers we really can go very, very, very deep.
• 24:53
  Christa: The reason why most people hire me is for business coaching and marketing and career coaching, and I love that.
• 25:01
  Christa: But to me, the thing about business and career and lifestyle everything that I talk about it's like you do it all because it's going to make you happy.
• 25:13
  Christa: You do it all because you want to be fulfilled.
• 25:16
  Christa: Like that's why I encourage people to create a location independent business.
• 25:21
  Christa: So if there's something in your life that is making you deeply unhappy or it's affecting your ability to achieve the ultimate level of happiness and fulfillment, then that's what we need to address.
• 25:35
  Christa: So, yeah, I remember there was like a pivot in the work that we did together where we actually started talking about more like your holistic life goals and yeah, I know the fitness journey was a big well, it was like the thing we and we talked about it a lot but also about like the content creation plan that would go along with it.
• 25:55
  Christa: So, um, I think let's just fast forward from that pivot moment.
• 26:02
  Christa: Also, I just want to say thank you so much for trusting me with um, your like big secret at the time, so honored and really means a lot to me.
• 26:11
  Angie: So being there for being there for me.
• 26:12
  Christa: Fuck yeah.
• 26:13
  Christa: Oh my God, I literally like cry every time I see your content online.
• 26:17
  Christa: I'm like.
• 26:17
  Christa: I'm so proud of her.
• 26:18
  Angie: It's so amazing.
• 26:19
  Christa: Because what you're doing is so amazing.
• 26:22
  Christa: Like for real.
• 26:23
  Angie: Thank you, I appreciate that.
• 26:25
  Christa: So just for the listeners, like why am I full body goosebumps right now?
• 26:28
  Christa: And like so excited, like just tell people what you did.
• 26:33
  Christa: What happened next?
• 26:42
  Angie: Yeah.
• 26:42
  Angie: So I told Krista about this and I didn't really have a an idea of how I was going to even execute this, cause I was still very, very anxious and insecure about my weight, um, and I didn't even know if there was any worth in me documenting it, cause I didn't even know if I could commit.
• 26:50
  Angie: You know, I've been, I've been overweight my entire life.
• 26:52
  Angie: I don't even know if there was any worth in me documenting it because I didn't even know if I could commit.
• 26:54
  Angie: You know, I've been overweight my entire life.
• 26:57
  Angie: I don't know what my body looks like at a healthy weight.
• 26:59
  Angie: I've, you know, at times like lost like 10 kilos and then put it back on and then some very quickly later and just never had any sticking power when it came to fitness.
• 27:11
  Angie: So my whole mindset at the time, even when I'd share this with Krista, was it, that's the dream.
• 27:18
  Angie: I don't even know the first step, which is like getting my fitness stuff sorted out all together.
• 27:24
  Angie: But then and I was still, like you know, doing really well in sales I'd just been promoted, so I was like, oh, you know for the most part like pretty okay, so just kept chugging along and then six months went by.
• 27:38
  Angie: And then it was June, uh, 2024, where I was okay, I'm ready, I'm ready, um, the, the sales gig, it was good, uh, I learned lots, but this fitness thing, I'm, I'm ready to go all in, I'm, I'm, I'm ready to just make it my number one priority.
• 27:58
  Angie: Because now I've realized I've I've hit all the insane milestones in my career where, like top sales rep, where I'm getting recognized by publications for how well I'm doing and, you know, cashing like big checks, but I'm still like running away from the my number one priority, which is health, and there's some sort of quote that goes by where it's like you, if you neglect health, then you will inevitably only end up with one problem in life, something along the lines of that which essentially is you can have an amazing partner, an amazing lifestyle, amazing money and all the material and intangible things that somebody would consider like a fulfilling life, but if your health is still something that you neglect or struggle to stay consistent with, then all of that other stuff doesn't really matter.
• 29:00
  Christa: So you decided that the step would be to join this all-in fitness camp.
• 29:06
  Christa: Yes, where In Thailand?
• 29:09
  Christa: In Thailand.
• 29:10
  Christa: So booked your one-way ticket to a tropical island.
• 29:14
  Christa: Yeah, enrolled in this fitness camp.
• 29:16
  Christa: And yeah, I was asking you the other day but I was like, tell me, what was it exactly like when you first walked into this camp?
• 29:25
  Christa: That must have been a pretty intimidating experience.
• 29:29
  Christa: From what it sounds like the way that you tell your story, you really had this fitness journey up on a pedestal Like this.
• 29:34
  Christa: Like you know, weight loss, muscle building, lifestyle change, diet, like all of it was just this like big, big, big, looming thing that probably felt impossible.
• 29:47
  Christa: So you dove into the impossible, which I just want to really celebrate you for that as well.
• 29:53
  Christa: Like that is literally what you did.
• 29:55
  Christa: It was such a big thing you didn't even want to talk about it and then, finally, you did and you just were like okay, I commit 180%.
• 30:02
  Christa: So what was it like when you first went to Thailand?
• 30:08
  Angie: Yeah.
• 30:08
  Angie: So for context, I'd found out about this fitness camp, which was located on this.
• 30:13
  Angie: The destination is Fitness Street in Phuket, thailand, which is essentially this neighborhood of all these fitness camps, muay Thai gyms, all on this street, and my first impression was, oh, this place is for people who are already really far along into their fitness camps, muay Thai gyms, all on this street.
• 30:24
  Angie: And my first impression was, oh, this place is for people who are already really far along into their fitness journey, people who are fitness junkies.
• 30:31
  Angie: There's no one there who's going to be like me.
• 30:32
  Angie: In fact, I would say probably half the people that are on Fitness Street were in a similar position to me, where they were feeling behind in their fitness journey and really trying to have a big transformation, really trying to prioritize their fitness.
• 30:47
  Angie: So I picked a fitness camp that I felt like.
• 30:51
  Angie: I really liked their classes, I liked the vibe of and it felt beginner friendly and, yeah, just dove into it.
• 30:58
  Angie: And what's this camp called?
• 31:00
  Christa: Titan, titan.
• 31:01
  Christa: Okay, so check it out.
• 31:02
  Christa: Angie's a big fan.
• 31:04
  Christa: I'm like I want to go.
• 31:05
  Christa: I want to go to Titan.
• 31:05
  Angie: Okay, so check it out and she's a big fan, I'm like.
• 31:06
  Christa: I want to go to Titan.
• 31:06
  Christa: Okay, so you went there and how did it feel when you first joined?
• 31:12
  Angie: Yeah.
• 31:12
  Angie: So it was very daunting.
• 31:15
  Angie: My first day I almost felt ashamed or angry that I had to be there.
• 31:21
  Angie: I was like I can't believe I have to do this.
• 31:23
  Angie: I can't believe that I'm having to sign up to a place like this to sort out my fitness.
• 31:29
  Angie: And then I would say like almost instantaneously I started talking to people and they were so warm and welcoming, like other people that were training there, the staff that were working there, everybody was just so warm and non-judgmental.
• 31:45
  Angie: I had booked for a month and then after a month I was like no, I have to stay for longer.
• 31:51
  Angie: And then one month turned into three months to max out my visa.
• 31:56
  Angie: And then I said no, I'm staying for another three months and I'll just keep on staying as long as I can stay.
• 32:03
  Christa: Yeah, so cool, so amazing.
• 32:06
  Christa: I love stories like that.
• 32:08
  Christa: I've met I mean just the number of people that I've met over the years that I've been abroad, living in Bali and in Thailand and there's there's just this thing that happens with people where I feel like they do the really scary part about getting on the flight, booking the ticket, signing up for the thing, going on the trip, and then it's like once you get there, the fear has already come and gone, so then you just end up staying and staying and staying and staying longer.
• 32:38
  Christa: I mean, I literally thought that I would be in Bali for a week.
• 32:40
  Christa: This is literally my five year anniversary in Bali Five years.
• 32:44
  Angie: Wow, yeah, this week.
• 32:45
  Christa: Yeah this week, yeah this week.
• 32:46
  Angie: Oh my gosh.
• 32:47
  Christa: I know so crazy, but so I love that for you, that you were like okay, let me just do one month For the listeners.
• 32:54
  Christa: I want you to get value out of the episode as much as possible, and so I just want to like really drive this point home, which is that if you're scared to do something like let's say that you want to become a digital nomad, you want to start working remotely or whatever you don't have to commit to like making the thing your whole freaking life right away.
• 33:18
  Christa: Like what you can do is what I did coming to Bali for a week.
• 33:22
  Christa: You can do what Angie did going to Thailand for one month, signing up for just a short-term, bite-sized thing, and then, once you take the bite, then decide if you want to go all in.
• 33:33
  Christa: It doesn't have to be this huge life-changing commitment, but I do think that if there's a lot of fear around just even taking a bite-sized thing, it's probably because it's the best thing for you 100%.
• 33:48
  Christa: So, let's hear what do you think about that?
• 33:50
  Angie: 100%.
• 33:51
  Angie: I was dealing with so much gym anxiety before I signed up to this fitness gap.
• 33:55
  Angie: I was like how am I going to commit to even a month of being here Because I haven't walked into a gym in so long, because I feel so judged and so insecure and my heart rate, before I've even stepped on any equipment, just shoots up, because I'm like, oh my God, that person looked at me for 0.5 seconds, wow.
• 34:16
  Christa: Okay, so all right.
• 34:18
  Christa: So you're in the gym, you're having anxiety, but people are really nice and warm.
• 34:21
  Christa: You stayed for three months.
• 34:23
  Christa: You stayed for six months, yeah, and what about the content creation part?
• 34:28
  Christa: I feel like that we maybe glazed over that.
• 34:30
  Christa: I think that's such a cool part, like you connected with the people that were there and you pitched them and I didn't you.
• 34:37
  Angie: So in the back of my mind whilst I was going on this fitness journey was wow, I'm like really starting to get results for the first time in my life.
• 34:43
  Angie: I feel like I'm having a huge mindset change.
• 34:45
  Angie: This would be really cool to document, and I was taking photos for myself, you know, along the way.
• 34:52
  Angie: But I knew that if I was really going to be serious about this content creation thing that I had shared with Crystal many, many months ago, I needed to start posting about that.
• 35:03
  Angie: And so after a weekend of you know, one of these really magical weekends where I'd spent on the boat with a bunch of people from this camp and I just felt like, wow, we're all different body shapes, like we're all at different stages of our fitness journey, and yet I feel like I've never felt more at home, like I could talk to the fittest person on this boat right now about my weight loss journey and about, like, how uncomfortable it was to fit into my clothes, to go, you know, down the street and just feel so judged all the time.
• 35:32
  Angie: They would empathize with me and they wouldn't judge me.
• 35:34
  Angie: And I could talk to somebody who's heavier than me and talk to them about fitness and I'd feel like we would have a lot of commonality.
• 35:43
  Angie: So I just felt like, wow, these people are my fitness family.
• 35:47
  Angie: So if these strangers I can feel so aligned with and feel so supported, maybe it's not that scary if I just share my journey online, because I will be sharing with strangers again.
• 35:59
  Christa: Wow, okay, I think there are so many people that are terrified to share anything online, let alone something vulnerable like a weight loss journey.
• 36:09
  Christa: So I love that point of just like you had a real life experience where you felt, held and seen and then used or leveraged that evidence to give you the courage and motivation to actually start sharing it with strangers the courage and motivation to actually start sharing it with strangers.
• 36:27
  Christa: But were there any other pieces to this mindset shift that could be included here, just in case any of the listeners are in that situation, wanting to share but are feeling scared?
• 36:36
  Angie: I realized that the first post is always going to be the scariest post.
• 36:39
  Angie: It's the one where you kind of set the tone for, wow, do people hate me?
• 36:45
  Angie: Do people care that I even am going on this journey Like, am I going to get judged?
• 36:50
  Angie: Because people are going to think like, why do you think I should care about this post and is it going to be considered a humblebrag?
• 36:57
  Angie: And is there anything noteworthy that I'm even saying so?
• 37:01
  Angie: Yeah, I've gone through all possible emotions you possibly can when you post something super raw that you know people on social media really appreciate vulnerability and I was ready at that stage to be vulnerable because I felt like I was in a good headspace mentally where, even if I did get like a weird comment, I wasn't going to let it stop me.
• 37:25
  Angie: Like I had so much momentum behind me and so much evidence that what I was doing was important.
• 37:33
  Christa: Yeah, I would love to expand on that point a little bit because the thing I've had my own journey with sharing vulnerable things and I do think that vulnerability to put yourself into a situation where you're going to share something vulnerable to the public is really scary slash, almost impossible if you are still vulnerable with your own self.
• 37:58
  Christa: So, if you know, we rewound the clock back to the moment where you first told me this like big secret, like I want to take my health into my priority.
• 38:13
  Christa: It was like you just had this precious little secret that like, oh my gosh, if you gave it to the wrong person it could just shatter and like really affect your self esteem.
• 38:19
  Christa: But then, like you know, sharing it with me, and then maybe a few other safe people started like to give you the courage, like, ok, I can, I can do this thing, I can take the first step.
• 38:30
  Christa: And then it sounds like you went to Titan and also were held and seen and like were safe with these other people.
• 38:37
  Christa: So you built up that safety that you were like, ok, this thing that I once felt was really vulnerable, I feel less vulnerable about it now.
• 38:45
  Christa: You built a resilience around the vulnerability and then you can share it.
• 38:50
  Christa: Yeah, so for anyone, if you are like feeling like you really want to share something or you want to document a journey or whatever you want to come clean to the public or to the people that you know about something that you've been going through, maybe just try to share it in a safe setting a few times before you go put it online and, like you could get to a point where now, like Angie, it's like okay, I'm sure that first post was a little scary, but then it stops being scary, and then what you just said is people really appreciate vulnerability, so you probably got a lot of actual, really positive feedback.
• 39:30
  Angie: I'm assuming yeah, I would say 99,.
• 39:31
  Angie: More than that 100%, 100% of the people that interacted with my post were so supportive.
• 39:39
  Angie: There was not one negative comment.
• 39:42
  Angie: It was just so many people saying, wow, this is such a vulnerable post and I'm so inspired, Like whether they were further along with their fitness journey.
• 39:52
  Angie: They were just inspired by my vulnerability and my ability to be real with myself and I was just like, yeah, amazed by the amount of support that I received and it really just fueled and confirmed for me that I was doing something that mattered and I was doing something that felt right to me.
• 40:17
  Christa: I'm sure people were so inspired by your vulnerability, because when people see someone else doing something vulnerable, you know everything in life is a mirror for us.
• 40:26
  Christa: It always causes us to reflect on like well, where am I showing up, where am I being vulnerable?
• 40:31
  Christa: How come I'm not going on this kind of fitness journey?
• 40:33
  Christa: How come I'm not committing in the way that she's committing?
• 40:35
  Christa: So I think when people see someone being really vulnerable, they know how much courage it would take because they're thinking about oh wow, if I were to post something that was that vulnerable for me, how would I handle it?
• 40:48
  Christa: So, yeah, anyway, just keep doing the scary thing People are probably going to be way more supportive than you think.
• 40:57
  Angie: So that is amazing, that scary feeling of being vulnerable online.
• 41:01
  Angie: That's what you feel at the start and then it goes away, because the more that you show up on social media, the more that you are vulnerable, even if it's more and more intimate the things that you're sharing.
• 41:15
  Angie: If anything, you get more resilient or more unaffected by the noise, the criticism, the feedback the more that you do it.
• 41:26
  Angie: I think, yeah, the more that I've shared about my life online and I've had more engagement and more people reach out back to me, I've realized that, wow, life just carries on.
• 41:39
  Angie: People can say what they want to say, people can share their two cents and everything and and and life goes on.
• 41:47
  Angie: So, yeah, there's there's always going to be, you know, one or two hiccups along the way with with sharing something online.
• 41:54
  Angie: I don't think I ever dealt with somebody trolling me, but you know, I did watch people unfollow me that and some of those people were people that I held dear.
• 42:04
  Angie: It's going to hurt and you're going to be sore, but then afterwards you build that resilience, you get better, you put in the reps and the muscle grows.
• 42:16
  Christa: Fuck.
• 42:16
  Christa: Yeah, let's talk about your reps at the gym.
• 42:19
  Christa: What is the transformation that you have made so far in your fitness journey?
• 42:27
  Angie: Yeah.
• 42:27
  Angie: So I have realized, like through the my time at the fitness camp, what sort of movement I really enjoy For me.
• 42:34
  Angie: I really like lifting.
• 42:37
  Angie: I find that it is something that I can naturally progress quite quickly with, can naturally progress quite quickly with um.
• 42:48
  Angie: So you know, I went from having maybe deadlifted once or twice in my life, and nothing over 70 kg, to um.
• 42:52
  Angie: My pb now is 120 kg damn.
• 42:55
  Angie: Yeah, that's a lot yeah yeah, yeah, um, and it's kind of cool, like how supportive everybody is at the gym when they, when they see me lifting heavy, they're like, damn, aren't you that girl who was like on Instagram, like being very raw about how she was like feeling very behind in your fitness journey?
• 43:15
  Angie: Because, damn, you don't look like you're that far behind in your fitness journey when you lift 220 kg?
• 43:19
  Christa: Oh my gosh, for real.
• 43:20
  Christa: You know, you just reminded me of a podcast episode that I recently recorded.
• 43:24
  Christa: It would already be out by now.
• 43:25
  Christa: But it's all about discovering your passion.
• 43:28
  Christa: So I think that there is a common misconception that people have that if you're passionate about something, it means that you're really good at it, or that if you're good at something, it means that you're passionate about it, but it's not necessarily the case.
• 43:43
  Christa: Like fitness obviously is something you were not passionate about before you.
• 43:47
  Christa: It's not necessarily the case.
• 43:48
  Christa: Like fitness obviously is something you were not passionate about before.
• 43:53
  Christa: You were like the anti-passionate about fitness.
• 43:55
  Christa: So when you first joined the fitness camp, it was like you didn't immediately become passionate and you weren't immediately talented at it either.
• 44:02
  Christa: But with your curiosity, you discover that you were like oh wait, I'm actually kind of good at this and it sounds like it just exploded this passion that you have now.
• 44:12
  Christa: I think anybody that goes to your Instagram will see that you're just someone that's literally still 180% in even months and months later, which is amazing that you have that sort of.
• 44:26
  Christa: It's amazing that you have that consistency and that passion.
• 44:30
  Christa: That fire is still there after so much time.
• 44:33
  Angie: Yeah, I tried everything at the fitness camp.
• 44:36
  Angie: I tried all the different classes and even before I went to the fitness camp I tried to be a Pilates girl.
• 44:41
  Angie: I tried to be a running girl.
• 44:43
  Angie: I tried to everything under the the sun because I knew that if I just found that one form of movement that I really enjoyed, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad trying to commit to this whole fitness journey.
• 44:56
  Angie: So yeah, through the fitness camp I learned that I love lifting.
• 45:01
  Angie: That was really fun for me and then quickly got good at it.
• 45:07
  Angie: So it was the thing that, for me, was quite integral to my fitness journey and how I managed to stay so consistent.
• 45:15
  Christa: So cool and that consistency is definitely feeding your content.
• 45:19
  Christa: And yeah, I know you're making content for your own page, but also like for Titan as well, right, and I want to kind of like circle back to your career, because I think, now that the listeners have heard the whole journey of you deciding, okay, I need to be good at sales if I want to work remotely, if I want to have my dream lifestyle.
• 45:41
  Christa: So you figured out how to do sales, then you did sales and then you're like okay, I want to start my dream lifestyle.
• 45:47
  Christa: So you figured out how to do sales, then you did sales and then you're like okay, I want to start my own business.
• 45:49
  Christa: So then we talked about you creating your own sales business, and then you're like actually, what I'm passionate about is fitness.
• 45:55
  Christa: So ditch the sales thing for a little while, went into fitness, content creation.
• 46:02
  Christa: And now what are you doing now to kind of bring this all together?
• 46:07
  Angie: Yeah, so I know that with content creation it's a long game bringing in any sort of like brand deals with with being able to generate an income that is livable off.
• 46:19
  Christa: It is.
• 46:19
  Angie: So I'm happy to stick to the grind and, you know, be making naught from it at the start and for how I've along, cause this feels very aligned to me and and I'm helping people who are similar to myself going through a fitness journey.
• 46:35
  Angie: You know, my page is really about catering to those people who feel like they're behind in their fitness journey.
• 46:41
  Angie: But you know, a girl's got to support herself.
• 46:44
  Angie: I know that I have this very valuable, very lucrative skill set, so I decided to become a remote closer for online fitness coaches.
• 46:55
  Christa: And guess who's freaking amazing at that, it's Angie.
• 46:59
  Christa: So I just love this because I think if we rewound the clock back to when you and I first started working together, could you have ever imagined that you would be here first of all on a podcast talking about how I think you said you're down like 55 pounds or 25 kilos or something like incredible physical transformation and also being a salesperson for a fitness person.
• 47:33
  Angie: Yeah, yeah, I just can't imagine that this is what would have happened, especially within the timeframe that we had that initial conversation.
• 47:41
  Angie: Yeah, big transformation, not just physically but mentally, over the past year and a half.
• 47:47
  Angie: But, yeah, I just I can't even think of process it Going back to, yeah, that version of me that was so, so uncomfortable with the conversation regarding fitness.
• 48:02
  Angie: Like, even if my friends were talking about their Pilates class that they had gone to over the weekend and I didn't attend because I'm not a Pilates girl or I just hadn't done any physical movement in so long, I would feel uncomfortable at that table because I'd be like they're judging me or they're only having this conversation to try to trigger me.
• 48:22
  Angie: I was just so anti-fitness that any sort of conversation regarding weight or fitness or food really, really, really upset me.
• 48:31
  Angie: And then I think, just the mental process of being so real, so vulnerable with myself and, and I think, just like the mental process of being so real, so vulnerable with myself and uncovering all these limiting beliefs and ugly thoughts that were in my head, that were really not grounded in logic or reason, but just like pure emotion and trying to protect myself, I had that big epiphany over the course of many months and yeah, yeah, I'm better for it.
• 49:02
  Angie: Yeah, amazing.
• 49:03
  Christa: It's so cool.
• 49:04
  Christa: I mean I feel like I've been your biggest hype girl ever.
• 49:07
  Christa: But yeah, it's all true.
• 49:10
  Christa: I think just because I've had the privilege to be with you on the entire journey, like from the very beginning, when it was just the littlest seed of an idea, this kind of like oh, maybe I want to document my journey.
• 49:22
  Christa: And now you're just actually doing it, and not only that, but you've transmuted your remote work sales experience into something that also now accommodates your new, fully fledged passion.
• 49:35
  Christa: Okay, so for anyone who's listening that doesn't know what I do, I just want to zoom into the beginning process of working with Angie.
• 49:43
  Christa: Obviously, now you can see this full transformation that she has made, where she is doing something that she's good at, that she's passionate about, and really everything has come full circle.
• 49:52
  Christa: So the way that I work with my clients at the very, very, very beginning, first thing that we do is I take a huge inventory of basically your whole life process, like major life stories that you have, things that made you feel emotional.
• 50:09
  Christa: I also take a big inventory of what you know that you're good at and what you're curious about and what you have tried and what you haven't tried, just like it's no stone unturned.
• 50:18
  Christa: It's a massive inventory, but once I get all of that information, we can have a really deep and meaningful conversation about who you are as a person, what your long-term goals are and chances are I will pull it out of you what your secret passion is and what's like really below the surface.
• 50:39
  Christa: Actually, it's so funny.
• 50:41
  Christa: I just have so many clients that are like Krista.
• 50:45
  Christa: On our career assessment, you told me that I should do this thing, and I didn't believe you at the time, or I didn't want to do it, and now I'm two years later and I'm doing exactly that thing.
• 50:53
  Christa: So, just so you know, like again, you don't have to know what business you want to create, to work with me that, literally, is my gift to you.
• 51:03
  Christa: To help you discover that and, who knows, maybe a year and a half from whatever that date is, you will be here in Bali living your best life, recording a podcast with me talking about everything that has happened since that pivotal moment, since that decision, because that really is, I think, the thing.
• 51:23
  Christa: I think what we have heard from your story, angie, is that you have this amazing ability to just decide and commit, and it's like once you decide, and once you commit, you're all in.
• 51:35
  Christa: And when you're all in on anything, you're probably going to get good at it.
• 51:39
  Angie: Yeah 100%.
• 51:41
  Christa: I see very big things for your content creation journey.
• 51:43
  Christa: I know it's new, but I think there's no way that if you keep showing up the way that you are, that it won't blow up.
• 51:52
  Angie: I just know it.
• 51:54
  Christa: Thank you, and same thing, like all the fitness coaches that are out there.
• 51:57
  Christa: If there's anybody that's in the fitness industry and you need a salesperson Angie's your girl Definitely hit her up.
• 52:03
  Christa: Where can people find you, actually, if they want to follow along the journey or if they want to contact you about sales.
• 52:09
  Angie: It's at Angie underscore Trin with three H's.
• 52:17
  Christa: That's T-R-I-N-H-H-H.
• 52:18
  Christa: So definitely message, angie, if you are just curious about.
• 52:22
  Christa: Is that cool if people message you yeah, 100%.
• 52:24
  Christa: Okay, so message Angie, tell her that you heard this podcast, or message me and tell me that you heard this podcast.
• 52:30
  Christa: If you're curious about how you could embark on a journey of a lifetime, pursue your passions, live your best life, make money from anywhere doing work that actually lights your soul up, then I would love to support you in that journey.
• 52:47
  Christa: So feel free to slide into my DMs at ChristabellaTravels on Instagram.
• 52:52
  Christa: You can send the keyword fitness podcast and then I will know that you came from this episode.
• 52:58
  Christa: I'll know that you heard all about Angie's story.
• 53:00
  Christa: And if you send me that keyword fitness podcast at Christabella travels, I will send an automated message and it'll be like hey, tell me about yourself.
• 53:09
  Christa: Who are you, what, what's your story?
• 53:11
  Christa: What have you been doing for work?
• 53:12
  Christa: Give me a little bit to work with so that we can actually have an actual conversation.
• 53:17
  Christa: If you're just like hi, krista, I listened to the podcast, you're not giving me anything to work with there and it's going to be annoying to me.
• 53:24
  Christa: So if you message me, do it.
• 53:24
  Christa: I would love to hear from you.
• 53:25
  Christa: But, like tell me about yourself and then I can help you once I have some information.
• 53:30
  Christa: Because if there's one thing that I do not do.
• 53:32
  Christa: It's a one size fits all approach.
• 53:34
  Christa: I think that's gross and like really a not cool way to run a business where you're helping people with something that's so personal, like it's so personal your career, your lifestyle, your dreams, anyway.
• 53:47
  Christa: Keyword fitness podcast at Christabella travels, or go into the show notes, find Angie's account too and hit us both up.
• 53:55
  Christa: I'm sure we both love to hear from you and I just want to say thanks for listening.
• 53:59
  Christa: Angie, thank you so much for being a guest.
• 54:03
  Angie: Thank you for having me.
• 54:04
  Christa: Thanks for just being you and being such an inspiration to me and, I'm sure, to anybody who's heard this episode.
• 54:10
  Angie: Likewise Thank you for being my safe person.
• 54:13
  Christa: Love it All right.
• 54:15
  Christa: Well, thanks for listening to the digital nomad life podcast and we'll see you in the next episode.
• 54:19
  Christa: Thanks, bye.