Latest / Digital Nomad Life Podcast / 128) From 12-Hour Nursing Shifts to Building a Remote Business: How Katie Quit Her Nursing Job

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128) From 12-Hour Nursing Shifts to Building a Remote Business: How Katie Quit Her Nursing Job · Digital Nomad Life Podcast

• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: I was working like every single day, 12-hour shifts.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: It was really bad.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: It was really sad.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: Lots of people were, you know, sick and dying.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, how can I get out of this lifestyle?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: Because I don't know what's coming next.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I just don't want to be a part of this anymore.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Hey there and welcome to the Digital Nomad Life Podcast.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Krista, also known as Kristabella Travels on social media.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: I am a long-term digital nomad and a digital nomad coach, joined today by one of my previous clients, Katie Sousa, who I am so proud of for her success story of going from a nurse based in Tennessee to being completely remote, having just quit her job a few months ago, and is now a full-time podcast manager and content strategist.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Katie and I have actually been in touch in the Digital Nomad Life Academy, which is my business where I help people become digital nomads, even if they're starting from traditional careers like nursing or construction or a traditional nine to five, whatever.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: The DNLA is where I help people make that transition into being a full-time digital nomad.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: And Katie has actually gone through the program on two separate occasions.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm really excited to have her share her story with you.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure that no matter where you are in your journey, you will resonate with at least a part of her story.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: And my intention for this episode today is to show you that if she can do it, you can do it too.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: She has um, again, just uh an amazing story that's filled with all the same kind of confusions and questions and unknowing about the future as you have.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna be asking Katie some of the hard questions, and um, we'll do our best to make this the best story of transformation you've ever heard.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: All right, Katie, welcome.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: Happy to be here.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so happy to have you here.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: It feels like it's a really full circle moment where that we're actually doing a podcast together.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: When was it or did you originally hear about me on my podcast?
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you can tell the listeners how you originally found me.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's been, I think, six years.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: I found you on TikTok in 2020 when the world was shut down, and we were all trying to like find an escape.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: I saw your beautiful face on TikTok just telling us how we can live remotely, work remotely, and you're on a beach, so that helped.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: I was on a beach.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: I was living in Bali at the time, and uh yeah, was really just shouting from the rooftops because I know so many people during the pandemic were feeling really trapped, obviously, like literally actually trapped.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: And um, actually, of all professions in the world, I think nurses were potentially struggling the most.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, I'm curious to hear about what your experience was during the pandemic in terms of relating to your career.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I was a travel nurse at the time.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I traveled around to different areas and I was in downtown Chicago.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I was working like every single day, 12-hour shifts.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: It was really bad.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: It was really sad.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: Lots of people were, you know, sick and dying.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I think when I wasn't at work, which was like, you know, sleeping right before bed when my mind wouldn't shut off, I was scrolling and I was like, how can I get out of this lifestyle?
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: Because I don't know what's coming next, and I just don't want to be a part of this anymore.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um I loved helping people, but it was just, it was a really scary time at that time.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: So you were looking for a way out during the pandemic to just do it sounds like literally anything other than that, or you specifically wanted to work remotely.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: I think anything other and remotely.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like I didn't want to work in a cubicle nine to five.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like I couldn't see myself doing that, but um, definitely something remote that I could work wherever, because at the time I was a travel nurse, so I did get to have a little bit of the travel bug and go around the US.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: I still wanted that.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but of course, the world was shut down at that time, so there was no travel.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, maybe being home and working remotely and being safe at the time.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: For sure.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I think um I'm just imagining, well, not even imagining.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: I I speak to a lot of nurses.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think that this is one demographic of people that reaches out to me a lot because I do think that nursing it's such a hard career.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: I think the burnout rates are really high.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's as you said, people that really want to help people.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's people that are really motivated to do good in the world.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: But if they get burnt out by their career, it's like then what?
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe there aren't so many transferable skills.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we can talk about that as well.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if that's actually true or not and how you deal with that.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: But what would you say to an earlier version of yourself?
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like that that version of you who's scrolling, that's like, I just want to get out of here.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: At the time, did you think that there really was a possibility?
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how did you relate to that big question?
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: I that's a good question.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I mean, I saw people doing leaving their jobs and doing other things online.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: I just never thought that like I could do that because I thought, okay, I chose nursing.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: This is something that you have to be in person for usually.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: This is something hands-on.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm like, I went to school for nursing.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I only know healthcare things.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: I only know about like viruses and like how to get somebody ready for like the OR.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how does that translate to helping somebody online?
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so at the time, like I just didn't think there was a possibility.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like looking back now, I would love to just be like on my screen talking to myself, like, hello, there are other opportunities out here.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you do have transferable skills.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: They may be like soft skills, they may not be like hard skills, but you know, like as nurses, you're good communicators, you're loyal, you're you can follow like a template or like um step one, step two, step three.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: There's just like so many things that are transferable that you don't think are transferable because they may be soft skills.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, nurses are are very studied people, like you've gone how to learn, right?
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, which I think is such a transferable skill, um, especially because you obviously learned how to do everything that you're now doing professionally, it sounds like within the last several years.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, can you talk briefly about your experience learning new things?
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like, did that feel scary?
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Did you have direction on that?
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: If you didn't have direction, how did you manage that?
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me about the journey of learning new things.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, learning new things, it was scary, especially because it's like, you know, you're not going to school.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: You're having to like use YouTube and find people who have maybe are a few steps up, you know, ahead of you in that journey.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I just resorted to like social media, YouTube, any type of like workbook or like digital copy that I could get.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: There wasn't a lot out there on podcasting.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I taught me, taught myself as much as I could through YouTube, but then I ultimately found someone who was able to help me and like a coach that I paid to help me with just editing.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: Because like editing seemed like this huge beast to figure out.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like I had never, I mean, I had posted on social media like one picture at a time.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even think carousels had come out at the time.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, how am I gonna edit video and audio?
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: I have no idea how to do this.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, I taught myself as much as I could on YouTube, and then I reached out to somebody that was a few steps ahead of me and paid them to help me learn.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: But I think I did Zoom calls with her maybe three times for an hour each, and then I was able to just market my skills as an editor.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: So it sounds very daunting, but once you get into it and you practice, it's anyone can do it, especially nurses.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: Cause like you said, we're very studied.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: It was very hard to get through nursing school.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: If you can get through nursing school, you can teach yourself pretty much anything.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like to go through nursing school sounds like one of the freaking hardest things anybody can do.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I agree.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Anybody who's listening, if you have gone through nursing school, please have a little bit more faith in yourself and like a little bit more trust that you can learn new things.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, I'm wondering if maybe because of the way that nurses, and I think this applies to anybody that's gone through rigorous schooling like this, um, the way that you've gone through such intense schooling, maybe people are perceiving learning new things as having to do that all over again.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, they don't even know where to start.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think when you traditionally go to college, it's kind of like you're spoon-fed, this education, like you go sit in a lecture and like it's very traditional and structured and rigid.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like when you're trying to learn something on your own, you don't have that structure.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: But as a nurse, you're disciplined.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't know if I'm answering this right, but yeah, it's this was just kind of a vague statement, I guess.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: But I think what I'm what I'm saying is um here I'm just hearing the voices of so many people that have reached out in my DMs.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: And this one person specifically very recently was saying that he's a nurse and again is super burnt out and he doesn't have any transferable skills.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, you can learn new skills, but I think the the big challenge that people like this have is they think, oh, if I have to learn new skills, that means I need to do four years of studying something, and that was so intense, and I don't know if I can put myself through that kind of learning experience again.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it's definitely not, yeah, it's not the same, it's not the same at all.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, can you okay?
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: So, like it's not the same because what it's not the same because you go through, like I would like brain dump everything that you find enjoyable or fun or intriguing or whatever to figure out like what path you want to take because there's so many things that you can do online.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then from there start just researching YouTube, Instagram, TikTok.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm a big fan of like social learning, like getting on social media and finding these people, like I said, that are a few steps ahead of you and just kind of seeing what they're doing.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: And then, like, specific to podcast editing, you just download download the software.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: So, like the script is what I edit on.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: You download it on it, and then you can talk into it and say a few paragraphs and then edit it and just play around with it.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: It can be fun.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't have to be this like rigorous thing, and it's took me, like I said, a few months, and then I already had clients.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not this huge, scary thing.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: And that's like a really technical thing that I'm doing.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many jobs that or there's so many businesses that you can start that aren't as technical.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: Technic do you like technology kind of scared me as a nurse because like we learned one computer system on how to chart, and that was it.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: The rest of the stuff was done in person, you know, like taking care of patients.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think that your brain is maybe though actually pretty technical now that you're more comfortable with this world?
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: I think I'm more technical than creative.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like I wouldn't say that I'm creative.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I guess I would lean towards technical, but like big things like that scared me because I had no idea.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: I had no idea how to do it.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I just wanted, I mean, I didn't actually know how you were gonna respond.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, but you responded in the way that I hoped that you both.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, I am technical.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because um, again, I I think this demographic of people that are in healthcare, or maybe they're I don't know, whatever, but specifically healthcare, like the way that you have to learn in such a rigorous way, like you naturally to me, you would be slightly more analytical than the average person.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because even though the actual hands-on part of your job is you're working with individuals, the way that you needed to learn, you need to have that side of your brain pretty active.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: So um just another hopefully reassuring word to anybody listening.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: If you are in healthcare, that again give yourself a little bit more credit, have a little bit more faith in yourself that learning new things online might actually come way more naturally to you than you think that it would.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, okay, so Katie, I want to hear your story about how you actually got these clients and how you ultimately started growing and scaling your business because I know you said you recently quit your job, but you had started the business before that.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: So, how did you build your business?
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: So I think I finally hit rock bottom in June of 2024.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: I was just sick of it.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: I was a just a regular nurse in a hospital.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: Then I did travel nursing because I thought, oh, I'll get a little bit of travel.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: I won't be so burnt out.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: I was still burnt out.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: Then I was like, oh, I'll get a remote nursing job.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: I worked from home, but I still was burnt out because I had a boss and I made my income was capped and I couldn't go on vacation and all those things.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: So finally, after I had exhausted every single avenue from being a nurse, I was like, okay, this is it in June.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I have to start my own business.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I had already been with Krista back in 2020.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_01: So this is four years now where I wish I would have just stuck with it in 2020 because I'd be so much farther in my business, but that's neither here nor there.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um I finally got there in June.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: Wait, actually, can we pause?
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, because I want to I want to address that.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like you said, I wish that I had just stuck with it back in 2020.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: What was it back in 2020 that prevented you from actually going for it all the way?
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: I think I, like I said, I had started travel nursing.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: So outside of the three 12s that I had to work in the hospital, I was having so much fun with my friends.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: I was making pretty good income because as a travel nurse, you make more than a regular nurse.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's just like I hadn't totally hit rock bottom.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: But those three 12s in the hospital were pure hell.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't want to be there.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: But I was like, oh, I can deal with this for now.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like it'll be fine.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I don't think I fully dedicated myself to the time needed because on my days off, like I said, I was in a new city and I was having fun and I was not there yet.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but then there became a point where it's like, okay, I travel nurse for five years or four years, and then I was sick of that.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: So like, um basically that like back in 2020, you were like, okay, I want to do this, but um, or this meaning you wanted to start a remote business, but maybe life wasn't quite uncomfortable enough to actually do the things that you have to do to make having an online business work.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I think life wasn't so uncomfy that I like was going to die.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like I could still have fun, but yes, it was still irritating.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like I remember it got to a point, and this is when I was like, okay, I have to go get a remote job because I still wasn't like, I need to do a business that's remote.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I still thought, oh, the answer is to just get a remote job.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: That still wasn't the answer.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: But I just remember one time like a patient asked me for like a glass of water, and I was just like so outraged that I had to walk, you know, 10 more feet to go get water and come back, which is like horrible to say.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: But if you're a nurse, you understand like the burnout is real, especially like being caretakers and stuff.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that's when I realized, like, okay, I gotta get out of the hospital because this isn't good for me or for patients.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's when it got like super uncomfy, but I still had one more avenue.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: I still was like, okay, I'm gonna stick to nursing, I'm gonna work remote.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: And then I did that, and that still wasn't like the answer.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I think I just in 2020, I hadn't fully hit rock bottom.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: I could still tolerate the three twelve tolerate.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: So you were working remotely as a nurse.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um how does that even work?
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I was working for an insurance company and like triaging their patients.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: So the purpose of the job was that so that not everyone would just run to the ER.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: They would talk to a nurse first, and the nurse would like discern, okay, you can put a band-aid on it, or you need to go to urgent care, you need to go to the ER.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, which was very boring and which was required me, even though I could work from home, I was in front of my computer 12 hours.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I couldn't go to the bathroom without telling my boss or my team members that I had to go to the bathroom.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I had no PTO.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: I still got like a 30 cent raise every year.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: So then I still was like, this is not it.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: I have to start my own business.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: And wait, did you say a 30 cent raise?
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 30 cents.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: What do you mean a 30 cents?
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, yeah, I think like as a nurse, like you're making pretty good money, it's fine, but like that is so irritating because it's like you're excelling.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: I was training everyone that was new.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: I wasn't getting paid to train them.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: I wasn't getting like incentives for how well I was doing.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: I was just stuck at that same rate every year with getting a 30 cent raise.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas now, like if I want more money, I just go and do more outreach.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like it's so easy to scale when you have your own business.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think that uh whether it's nursing or anybody else that's in a high income profession, I often hear that people are like, I'm scared that if I leave my job, I'm never gonna be able to replace my income or I'm never gonna be able to make as much money as I'm making now.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: And um would love to hear just your reflections on that, like your insight on income coming from a high earning profession.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I actually make more now than I did as a nurse.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um obviously, Queen.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: Let's go.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, obviously, it didn't start out like that.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like you get your first client and then you keep doing outreach and referrals, and it kind of snowballs from there.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so I'm at the point where like I'm in my 30s, I live in Tennessee, I own a home.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I didn't want to just like quit my job and go cold turkey and try to find like that, just wasn't feasible for me.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I worked my full-time job alongside with my clients until I started making more with my clients than I did with my full-time job.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: And that's when I knew, okay, it's time.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: And it was like consistent, like three or four months in a row.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: I was making more with my clients than my full-time job.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: So I was able to quit.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's very real and um I don't want to say easy, but simple.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's a, it's you do your outreach, you do your referrals, you do good work, and you get more clients.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's you can replace your nursing income.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's not impossible.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it may take a little while.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: And if you want to do it the safe route, you can do it how I did it, um, which I think is the best route.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then yeah, you're you're uncapped.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: Your earning potential is uncapped once you were for yourself.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think this uncapped earning potential, at least for me, I had heard that phrase when I was still working in corporate, and I just didn't really get what it meant because when I imagine uncapped, I think like through the roof, like and to think, oh, I could make a million dollars.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, should I really?
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't know.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I I I had personally a disconnect of seeing how I could fit in with uncapped earning potential.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I think what you're saying is it's not that you're gonna start your business and immediately make a ton of money, but it's that if you do more work and you strategically change some things in your business, like doing more outreach or um, you know, creating a more compelling offer that you can make more money right now without having to wait for someone to give you a raise.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you have control over how much money you make, as opposed to, like you said, in the hospital and they being like, okay, you've been, you're in RN and you've worked for seven years.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: This is how much you get.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then each year you get 20, 20 cent or 30 cent or whatever.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, no, you don't have to wait for somebody else to tell you.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: You can go find those clients.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: You can change your pricing.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like when I first started, my pricing was low because I was trying to get my first clients.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: And then I got clients who gave me great testimonials, and then I was able to raise my rates.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, raising your rates, doing more outreach, changing your offer, being more visible online, these are all ways that you can make more money without having to wait for somebody to like hand it to you.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: Love it.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: Personally, I can't stand other people controlling any aspect of my life.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: If I want to make more money, I want to make more money.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: If I want to take a vacation, if I want to go pee, I'm gonna go pee.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: Outrageous.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I use that as like an example in my marketing.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, nobody's really asking to go to the bathroom, but you know, literally, literally, so crazy, so crazy, so crazy.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so we're back in the story.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so 2020 happens.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, I gotta get out of here, and you join the DNL hoping that we'll you'll find a remote possibility for you, and you see that the possibilities are there, but you're like, oh, but nursing money is pretty good.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I'll actually just like stay in this field a little bit.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: And you're like, Yeah, forget remote entrepreneurship.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: But then actually a remote job was just not also not it.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: Sounds like it was super boring, really unfulfilling, suppressing, not as much freedom as you thought.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: So then, as you said, you quote, hit rock bottom.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: So then you decided podcast management.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, and you hired a coach to teach you how to do that.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: While also attending YouTube university.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you call it.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: And okay, so then okay, so now you you've learned the skill.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: You've you've invested in setting up your business.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: How did you get your very first client?
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I did like the outreach method.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I created an Instagram, started posting on there, and then I started looking for people who have clients or sorry, for podcasters on Spotify and just reaching out to them.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I mean, there's different like ways to do so.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like on LinkedIn, you can be more straightforward.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: On Instagram, you kind of want to like talk to them for a little bit, get to know them.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, I just started doing mass amounts of outreach every week, like 100, 150 messages.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I was able to land my first client in two months from launching.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: Amazing.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so impressive.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and then the following month I had two more.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, yeah, like what August?
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: So in four months, I had three clients.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, how much were you making from three clients that you got within four months of deciding this is what I'm doing?
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: I think I was making around 3,000 or 3,500.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, which is really good.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it wasn't enough to like quit my nursing job, but it was definitely like a start.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, oh my goodness, I'm actually making money.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: People are paying me every week as the like authority or someone who can help them.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it was shocking.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I know.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: I remember that too, like having my full-time job and then also starting to do lifestyle coaching on the side.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: And when the first few clients paid me, I was like, wait, what?
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then I was making double my salary, actually, because I had my salary and then I had almost replaced it.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I was basically making twice as much.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, personally, I remember being like, oh my gosh, maybe I should just have my full-time job and do this side hustle.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but uh yeah, I'm curious to hear from you.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like, so the full-time job that I had was pretty low-key because I was remote anyway.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so for me, maybe having a side hustle plus my full-time job wasn't so demanding.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: But as a nurse, how did you manage that?
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: Were you just working all the time?
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: Or uh, and also how did that feel?
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like, tell me about this phase where you were having your full-time job and your podcasting business.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I worked remote as a nurse, so I worked 312.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I had four days off, like a typical hospital nurse.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I had those four days, but yes, I was grinding, I was working weekends.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, like, I don't want to sugarcoat it.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: If you really want to get out of it, you are gonna put in the work.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: And there was a time where I was grinding and it was not fun to have both.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, having both incomes was great, but like I was working at night, I was working on the weekends, doing whatever I could, but it was such a short period of time.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm not even that far removed from it, and I really don't even remember it.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I've only been, I've only had my business for a little over two years.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I think I grinded for a year maybe.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it was worth it to me.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's just like going to nursing school.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: You grind for four years, for four years, for four years to go be a nurse, and then you're unhappy as a nurse.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like you only have to grind for a few months, like max one year if you're truly grinding.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, I don't want a lot of work.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: That is such that is such such such a good and important perspective, like especially to all the nurses out there, healthcare people, like you did grind for so many years on end and and for a cause that you know you don't really have any control over.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas grinding for your own business, where you get to have the dreamiest goal at the at the end, like your reward is is whatever you can dream of.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm curious, what kept you so motivated during that one year of grinding?
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because I know, like, I mean, the way that you tell the story, it sounds like, oh, you know, you put in the work and then you got the client, and like it was easy.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm guessing it wasn't actually like easy like that.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um so in those moments when the early days of entrepreneurship is a grind and it is it is hard and it's tiring, and you don't know if you're actually gonna make it or not, when it feels a little bit risky, what kept you motivated to keep going?
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: I think just it was really hard to stay motivated before I got my first client.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: Cause I was like, you know, it was a shorter period of time.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: It could take longer than that, but it was just like I'm not seeing the fruits of my labor, like I'm not having anybody like sign up.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_01: But once you get like that one client or that second client and they start paying you, it's like, okay, this is real.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_01: People are paying me to do this for them.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_01: So if they're paying me, there's got to be other people out there.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's like I got a little bit of taste like from those clients that it's like, okay, it's real.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_01: So if I keep putting in the work, then there should be more clients on the other end of the internet somewhere.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I think that's what kept me voted motivated.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if I like grinded for two years and I never got a client, like that would be very, very hard.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: But what you're saying is like actually business is pretty simple.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like you built you, you, you have an offer, you have a skill that you know is valuable.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: I think you didn't say it on this episode, but before when we were talking, you were like, Yeah, I was listening to podcasts and I thought, well, somebody's editing these.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you so you chose something that you knew somebody would find value in, you learned how to do it, and then you just started asking people if they wanted it.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: And like it's not that it's not very complicated, actually at all.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, it's simple, it's not easy, I would say.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like, it's very simple, and it is it, you know, you have to have hard skin because like a lot of people aren't responding, or they're responding and being like, no, like, but okay, then you just say thanks, like happy to connect and move on.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: There's other people out there.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, it doesn't phase me now.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think at the beginning it probably did phase me a lot when I didn't get responses or I got responses that were like, no.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but that's just like part of business, like your marketing, you're outreaching.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_01: If somebody and then you're also targeting these people, you aren't just like throwing a dart in the dark, like you're looking for me.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like, do they have a podcast?
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_01: Is it active?
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like, do they have a producer on it that I can see?
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_01: These are all like qualifying things before I even reach out.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so there's like a plan behind it.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, it's it's just it's simple, but it's not easy.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: I I literally always say the same thing too.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'm very careful to never use the word easy when it comes to online business.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: Because one, I feel like I don't believe in selling people some kind of get-rich quick scheme.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, you're you're gonna have to work for this.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that's why I make the Digital Non-Mad Life Academy a full year because I know that I I mean sometimes when people say, Oh, it's an eight-week program, sometimes it does work.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: But I think the person that's joining it has to be so ready.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like, they gotta clear their whole schedule and they need to be so dialed in in order to do a boot camp style thing, which can work.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: But for most people, it's like you're living your life.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: You probably have a full-time job, you have stuff to do.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you get sick, and like you need to be able to keep coming back and keep getting motivated in order to make it because it is it is a grind.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, speaking of the Digital Non-Mad Life Academy, um, I would love to hear from you about what you got out of it joining the second time around.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: Because I know the first time you joined without having the specific business idea, right?
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I know we did a different version of the career assessment way back then.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, actually, wait, quick side note.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: If anybody is listening and you don't know what I mean when I say a career assessment, something that I offer to people who they know they want to become digital nomads or they want to start an online business, but they don't know what business to start.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_00: I do this career assessment process where I analyze all of your work history, your soft skills, your personality, your interests, your likes, your dislikes.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like literally, we leave no stone unturned.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then I help you come up with a business idea that's aligned with who you are right now.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: So um that is something that I offer.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people join the DNLA needing the career assessment.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: I would actually say most people do.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_00: But Katie, when you join the second time, you actually had your business idea.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: So um I'm I would just love to hear you say it because a lot of people are like, oh, should I still join the DNLA if I already have a business idea?
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: So what about you?
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what did you get from the program the second time that you joined?
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_01: And this is what I wanted to say too of how I stayed and motivated, obviously, having a coach like Krista.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it just helped to bounce ideas off of people and like to have a cheerleader.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but the second time around in DNLA, like there were other people that were in the DNL that were, so I had already had, I already had my business, I already had like one or two clients.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: I was still trying to scale so that I could quit my corporate job.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and there were some other people in there that were kind of in the same um space as me.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like they already had a few clients and they were like launching a masterclass.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_01: And it was really important for me to be in those calls because I was able to see like what Krista was advising them on and take that and put it into my business.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I also could come to her with questions.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like I had questions about freebies and like marketing and things like that.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_01: These are all I do well with a coach, and these were all like questions.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_01: I had so many questions still, even after I launched my business.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_01: I had even more questions probably because I had all these crazy scenarios come up.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it just helped me scale and be able to get more clients and get booked out and quit my corporate job.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_00: There you go.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: But you did ultimately quit your corporate job.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, how did that feel?
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: It felt amazing.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it was scary for sure.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um when I because I'm I'm quitting, I'm telling all these nurses that like I'm quitting.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: My boss was a nurse, whatever, and they're like, to do what?
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what are you talking about?
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: They're all like in their 40s and 50s and been nurses forever and don't really understand like podcasting your social media.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_01: So they were all super like congratulatory, but they just didn't understand.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_01: So that was kind of like nerve-wracking.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it felt really good.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_01: And to know that like, I don't have to set an alarm, I don't have to ask to go to the bathroom, I don't have to like deal with annoying bosses.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, it felt really good, really liberating.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then I I guess you probably suddenly had a whole lot more time on your calendar.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I had a lot of time on my calendar, and I'm still like trying to balance that.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_01: I want to get like in a groove.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_01: Cause I think so I've been, I think it's seven months now.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I will just like because I'm so excited to work and like to do things.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_01: I've never been excited to work.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'll wake up and like go downstairs in my pajamas and like start working, and I'll look up and be like, okay, it's 10 a.m.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like I need to go like get dressed and like do the things.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yes, I have, I can, you know, sleep until 11 or I can go down and start working at 7 a.m.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_01: or like when like I think I do my best work in the morning.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's just nice to not have to be structured.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_01: You can do what you want when you want.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, totally.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the episode, the episode in the Digital Nomad Life podcast that came out just before this is about ADHD and entrepreneurships and entrepreneurship.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying that you have ADHD because you're like nurses have to be very, very disciplined.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but discipline is a thing that you you have to harness as an entrepreneur.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I think for a lot of people in the quote normal world, corporate world, discipline looks like being in your desk at 9 a.m., sitting there until five, and making sure that you're like doing something the entire time.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then maybe you always make sure that you go to the gym after work and like that's what discipline is.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I think when you're an entrepreneur, it's really different, like because now you are staying disciplined, not being connected to society's clock, your discipline connected to your own clock and like what works for you.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_00: So it's cool that you figured out that you do your best work in the morning.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_00: Did you know that before, or did you figure that out once?
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because I feel like I get the like 2 p.m.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_01: sleepies, you know.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like, you know, eight, nine, like because I just wake up early.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, I'm excited for the day, I'm ready to grind, and then like I can take the afternoon off to do whatever.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, every day kind of looks different for me.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I do kind of, and I think this is a lot of nurses, is we do like a schedule.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_01: And so, like, I do kind of want to be like, okay, you need to be going to the gym at this time, but I don't have to.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody's telling me to do that.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's just like the nurse in me and the disciplined side of me wants to like, you know, set up a loose schedule for myself.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I can do whatever I want whenever I want.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_01: I go to lunch with my fiance sometimes.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_01: I go like I'm in Tennessee.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_01: So like I go hang out with my friends that like our stay-at-home moms or like go on a walk with my dog.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I can go do those things.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if they tell me a time, then I can do my work before or after that.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like my work is very much with the podcasting, it's like, okay, this episode needs to be out on Tuesdays, so I need to have it done by Monday.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I have the whole week to do it.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I figure out what my schedule is going to be that week, and then I plan my work around it.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_01: So good.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas like before my schedule was work, and then what kind of fun activities could I put around it?
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_01: And now it's like, what are my fun activities?
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_01: And then work is before after.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_00: So good.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's such a paradigm shift to go from like squeezing your life around work to making your work fit into your life.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: I just think that is so cool.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, speaking of your life, I would love to hear a bit about just what your lifestyle is like.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_00: So you're recently engaged.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: Huge congratulations again.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_00: So exciting.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess you're gonna be entering into a wedding planning season and you're working from home.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: You said you're based in Tennessee.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like, does your husband I'm your husband, your soon to be husband, um, does he work remotely too?
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so no, he doesn't.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_01: He is a project manager for residential buildings, so he is very much at work every day, Monday through Friday.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the goal is to like have my business skills so much that he can work for me so we can't travel.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's like the goal.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_01: But for right now, that's what he does.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_01: So he's at work.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_01: And like I said, I get to meet him for lunch sometimes.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like, it's not the ideal situation.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_01: I would love for him to work remotely, but like this is our life right now.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I have a lot of friends and family in the area that I get to hang out with like during working hours or go work out or go walk or do all the things.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_01: So go to like Mahjong.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_01: Sounds very lame, but I'm you know, I'm stateside, I'm in my 30s.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_01: So these are like fun things that I like to do, gardening.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, I love them.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_01: But then like I also travel a lot.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I have a lot of friends that are getting married and bachelorettes and girls' trips, and my parents sold everything in their digital nomads.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_01: So like I get to go stay with them for a month.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I have all this flexibility if and when I want to do it, to use it.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_00: Wait, did you just say your parents are nomads?
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, wait, tell me more.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_00: What are they doing?
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_01: So they retired and they were like, we're ready.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_01: They've always wanted to travel.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's like I got the travel bug from them.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I'm an only child.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_01: So they sold everything over a year ago, and they've been living remotely in Costa Rica and Mexico.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_01: They're about to go back to Mexico in November.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_01: They do like half of the year in the US and half of the year in like a foreign country.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that's been super exciting.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I've loved watching them be able to finally do the things that they wanted to do, and they had to wait until they retired to do it.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_01: So, like I'm loving our new generation, like we're actually questioning and we're getting out of this because now I can go travel and do these things and I don't have to wait till I'm they're in their 60s, 65.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it is good for me because now I get to go and enjoy it with them and I don't have to ask my boss for permission or you know, use my two weeks of PTO.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_00: That is so cool.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_00: So basically, there are times when you know, I guess your fiance sticks around home, but then you're like, I'm gonna go to Costa Rica to go visit mom and dad and I'll see you in a little bit.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_00: And you just do that without having to yeah, ask anybody, as you said, or take take time off.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like I I do some dog sitting too, because I get to go stay in these fun places and like not have to pay.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I was just in Charleston, South Carolina for six weeks, working remotely from there.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's so cool.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, my fiance came for like a long weekend, but that's all he could come for because uh he only has so much PTO.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_01: But like I was there, this house was on the beach, like walking the beach every day with their dog, working.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_01: It was so much fun.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_01: So that's another thing you have to do when you have your own business.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds like an actual dream.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_00: So uh beautiful.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_00: So you were just working on your podcast business from this beautiful home in Charleston with the company of a dog.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_01: It was fun.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_01: I have a few friends that are there because that's the perk of like being a travel nurse.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_01: I have friends kind of scattered everywhere.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I got to like spend time with them um and go to the beach.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I would work for a little bit in the morning and then in the afternoon go to the beach for a few hours and then come back and do a little more work and then go out to dinner or whatever.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I like kind of just doing like a few hours of blocking of work and then fun.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, that is so cool.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what are do you have any if you think about your journey of being a remote worker, maybe over the past seven months or yeah, since you quit your job.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what was a moment when you were like, this is so surreal?
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I can't believe I'm here or I made it.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like, do you have any little visual moment that you could share with us?
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think just honestly, like waking up and realizing, okay, I don't, I woke up without an alarm.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_01: And like I was able, I saw that it was nice outside and like I was able to go to the pool.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_01: And like just knowing that I don't have somebody like, where are you?
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_01: Why aren't you clocked in?
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_01: Why aren't you sitting here?
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_01: I think I just had that realization over like the first month.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't like a specific moment because at the first few weeks it didn't feel real.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like it I felt like I was in a dream.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but definitely I think like going to Charleston the past six weeks, that was a definitely like I made it moment.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I've had a lot of like micro moments where people like ask me what I do, and I'm like proud to say, like, this is what I do.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like, you do that full time?
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, this is my business.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's been really cool to just like show people what's possible.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_00: Amazing.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, your story is so inspirational and just amazing.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I really I was so excited to get you on the podcast because again, I think your story of going from something that's as traditional as it gets, as physical as it gets, as in person as it gets, as quote, non-transferable as it gets, for you to go from that all the way to being able to be making more money than you had been making completely on your own, so autonomously, actually being excited to work on your business, which is what you said earlier.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like I just love, love, love, love to hear that.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you gave so many awesome hot tips in this episode.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I just hope a lot of people that hear this are gonna feel so inspired.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_00: And if they want to reach out to you, Katie, then can they do that?
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_00: And if so, where can they find you?
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, of course.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, my Instagram is at it's KatieSusa, and I would love to chat with you if you have any questions, especially the nurses, um, because it's possible.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_01: And with Chris's help, you could be here too.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yay, amazing.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_00: And actually, um, I would love to hear from you.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_00: I often talk about what is the digital nomad life academy, but could you share with the listeners what the program is?
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_01: So the Digital Nomad Life Academy is kind of like this little ecosphere where it's all people either wanting to start their business or have already started their business and just needing help.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_01: There's lots of like courses on there where she where Krista teaches you like tactical things that you can do to start this business.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then there's also multiple coaching calls a week where you can bring these questions.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_01: There might be somebody teaching a certain topic, or you can bring your questions and get these answered.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's super important to have the support.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_01: I definitely wouldn't be where I am without having the coaching and the knowledge of the people that have gone before me to help me and guide me.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then you're also just Like in this community with other people who like we're cheering each other on, we're attending each other's events.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's also really fun to have that community, especially when you start going off on your own.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like in Tennessee, I don't know anyone that's doing what I'm doing.
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_01: So it's nice to have this community of other people inside the academy that are doing what I'm doing and can relate.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you should definitely join.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_00: Beautiful.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_00: You nailed that so much.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love it.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_00: One one little uh qualifying thing I wanted to say in there is, yeah, Katie, you mentioned there's um there's coaching calls multiple times every week, and there are there's either four or five, and we have them staggered so that no matter what time zone you're in or what your schedule is, you'll be able to make it.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_00: So we do have people that are working a graveyard shift, or they're in Australia, or they're in the Netherlands or something, or they work on the weekends, or they work during the week, and we do calls on Sunday, and like just the community is really set up so that no matter what your hours are for your full-time job, you're still going to be able to get that support.
• 48:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and also again, meet people from all around the world who are in the same position and same mindset as you.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_00: And uh yeah, Katie, what you just said about being in Tennessee and people just like not really getting it.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, personally, I find not having like-minded people around me to be very alienating.
• 48:58
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why I was really passionate about creating the DNL so that people don't feel that way.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_00: So, um, whoever you are listening to this, I really hope that this episode inspired you.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are at all curious about working with me or becoming a digital nomad yourself, I I can't stress this enough.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_00: My DMs on Instagram are open.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like you can send me the keyword apply if you just want to straight up apply to the DNL, or you can just send me a question.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_00: Just like ask me literally anything.
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm really passionate about supporting people make this kind of transition.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_00: I just think the world will be such a better place when more people are happier with the thing that they're doing for 40 hours a week.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's just too much time to be burnt out and stressed and feeling undercompensated and underappreciated and all the things that come with a job that you're just not that into anymore.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_00: So send me a DM on Instagram at Christabella Travels or send Katie a DM at it's KatieSusa.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and yeah, I hope that one of us hear from you soon.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you so much for listening to the Digital Nomad Life podcast.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_00: Wait, before we go, Katie, is there any word if you could think about someone on the other side of this podcast who's listening and they're inspired and they're like, I think I can do it, or I'm I'm interested, but also I'm not really sure.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_00: What would you say?
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_01: You can definitely do it.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I definitely did not think that I could do it, but if I can do it, you can do it.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_01: So just jump in, learn, go to YouTube university, hire Krista, and yeah, you'll be on the other side and you'll have your own business.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_00: Amazing.
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_00: I what I what you said at the beginning of the episode, you're like, I wish I had just gone all in in 2020 because I'd be a lot further ahead than I am now.
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's like you could start now, or you could start in five years when you're ready.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_00: But in five years, you're gonna be five years older.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_00: And five years of your life will have gone by.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_00: So you might as well just send me a DM on Instagram and we can talk about it.
• 51:07
  SPEAKER_00: So amazing.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, with the Katie, thank you so much again.
• 51:11
  SPEAKER_00: It was such a pleasure having you here, and um wish you all the luck scaling your business to infinity and beyond.
• 51:19
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_00: Love it.
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening to the Digital Memed Life podcast, and we'll see you in the next episode.
• 51:24
  SPEAKER_00: Bye.