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194. The Escapepreneur's Blueprint To Working From Anywhere And Loving What You Do · The Life-First Solopreneur

• 0:00
  Carly Ries: What if your next big business move came with a passport stamp? In this episode, we sit down with Karen King, aka the escapreneur, who ditched the nine to five grind for business that works from anywhere. From time blocking naps to launching summits mid air, Karen shares how to build a business that supports your dream lifestyle, and we talk mindset shifts, simple tech setups, and how to figure out what you actually want out of life. So be sure to tune in. You're listening to The Aspiring Solopreneur, the podcast for those just taking the bold step or even just thinking about taking that step into the world of solo entrepreneurship.
• 0:39
  My name is Carly Ries, and my cohost, Joe Rando, and I are your guides navigating this crazy but awesome journey as a company of one. We take pride in being part of LifeStarr, a digital hub dedicated to all aspects of solopreneurship that has empowered and educated countless solopreneurs looking to build a business that resonates with their life's ambitions. We help people work to live, not live to work. And if you're looking for a get rich quick scheme, this is not the show for you. So if you're eager to gain valuable insights from industry experts on running a business the right way the first time around or want to learn from the missteps of solopreneurs who paved the way before you, then stick around.
• 1:19
  We've got your back because flying solo in business doesn't mean you're alone. Karen, we were talking offline and I was saying that I partially wanted to have you on the show for strategic purposes and partially for selfish purposes. And it's just because I think what you do is just so so cool. So welcome to the show, first of all.
• 1:40
  Karen King: Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
• 1:44
  Carly Ries: Likewise, obviously based off what I just said. But you've built a business that runs from anywhere in the world. And I just wanna know, because I feel like some people have different definitions of this, but what in your opinion is freedom first? What does that mean, and what does it look like in practice for solopreneurs?
• 2:03
  Karen King: Mhmm. Freedom is having the choice to decide what you do, how you live, how you spend your time. And so, yes, of course, that's money and all of these sorts of things. But for us, it was about setting ourselves up so that we could choose how we live. We could choose which country we're in.
• 2:22
  We could choose, you know, whether I sleep in tomorrow or I, get up and do work or it's having the freedom to choose, not being forced to live a sort of Groundhog Day existence, is what we were doing.
• 2:35
  Carly Ries: You can choose when you wake up in the morning?
• 2:38
  Karen King: Most days. I've got full control over my schedule. At the moment, I'm working really hard. So I've chosen to work really hard. I've chosen that I have to have my calendar open from 8AM.
• 2:49
  But you know what? There's been a couple days this week. I'm like, you know what? I need to sleep in. So I just blocked my calendar for that time.
• 2:56
  Carly Ries: That's amazing. And I mean, we talk a lot about building a business that supports your life. And you talk a lot about building a business around your ideal lifestyle like this. You can work if you choose. I feel like when people think of ideal lifestyle, that doesn't always mean like, I just wanna sip pina coladas on the beach all day every day.
• 3:12
  It can include working. So how do you help solopreneurs figure out what that lifestyle looks like for them in the first place?
• 3:23
  Karen King: So the last sort of four and a half years for us has all been about the tech side of people running a business. So that's been about helping them, you know, create the freedom of not being trapped in a business. Now with the launch of the escapepreneur, this is about helping people really tap into what is it they want.
• 3:44
  well, let's go back eleven years ago now, I was working too hard. I had two kids that I just wasn't seeing very much of.
• 3:54
  And I had a massive wake up call one day and thought, you know what? This is not how I want to live. There's gotta be more to life than this. And so we stopped and said, you know what? What do we really want?
• 4:06
  And that's what I think I so often hear people say, oh, I just want more out of life. Surely, that this isn't all there is. So it's about helping people stop for a second and think, what do I truly love to do? And then how can I make money out of that? Because too often in life, we do what we do because we need the money.
• 4:25
  And it's not necessarily always that fun, whereas if you build a business around something that you're truly passionate about, then it's okay to get out of bed at 8AM because you want to get out of bed, versus, you know, the alarm goes off and you go into a job that you don't love.
• 4:40
  Joe Rando: I have a question. So I hear you. I get it, and I agree with it, but I just, wonder when you talk about that, what did you call it, a freedompreneur, what?
• 4:52
  Karen King: Escapreneur.
• 4:53
  Joe Rando: Escapreneur. And the idea of being an escapreneur, which is very cool, and I think very appealing to a lot of people, but what about the concept of saying, gee, in order for me, in my situation, my skill set, my opportunities to be have that freedom of life, I have to do a business I'm not passionate about. I don't hate it. I'm okay with it, but it's not the reason I would get out of bed. But I'll certainly get out of bed and do it if I can then, I don't know, go surfing whenever the waves are up or whatever it is that I want out of life.
• 5:24
  I mean, how do you feel about that?
• 5:26
  Karen King: Absolutely. I've done that over the last nine and a half years of travel. I've done so many different things. And, you know, it's a fact of life that we don't always get to do what we love all the time.
• 5:38
  But I think when you've got that balance so, like, for me, it was about, well, look. You know, this is gonna pay the bills. It's gonna allow me to travel the world. And so traveling the world was my priority, and you know, I had to balance the two against each other. The end goal, you know, this is what we try to help people get to is what do you love to do and how can we turn that into something that people will pay you for. I had a conversation with my daughter yesterday. We're working on a summit at the moment, and she's doing all of my video editing for me. And I said to her, you know what? you could literally start a business around this. And she said, well, mom, I've been watching all of your summit interviews, and they say you should be doing what you love.
• 6:18
  And I said, well, yes. But you've also gotta earn some money in the meantime. So if you have an opportunity that gives you the income, doing something that you at least enjoy, and it's gonna get you where you wanna go, it's a stepping stone.
• 6:32
  Joe Rando: Got it. Thank you.
• 6:33
  Carly Ries: Of course. I imagine there are a few stepping stones to get to where you want. So how do you help people identify what their passions are? Because as much as people are like, oh, I have a passion for this and that, sometimes they don't know. Like they just, they want that lifestyle but they don't know what will really feed them.
• 6:50
  So how do you help them identify what their passion is and then actually figure out a business around that?
• 6:57
  Karen King: It's a really good question actually. Because when I first went through this exercise myself, I literally stared at a blank page. I was reading The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. And one of the first questions he asked is, if money was no object, what would you do with the rest of your life? And I was sitting on a plane halfway from Bolivia to The US, and I sat there looking at this piece of paper.
• 7:19
  I wrote down travel, and I thought, yeah. Right. As if that could happen. And then I wrote down help people. Beyond that though, I had no idea.
• 7:27
  I literally was so out of touch with what I enjoyed doing that I stared at a blank page. And it took me it actually took me considerable amount of time, even a couple of months to really just let that sort of percolate until I sort of started coming up with things. And it's not something that you don't come up with the end result right now, you know, really, really quickly. It's about just looking at those things that, if you were asked to jump up on stage and talk about something, what could you jump up on stage and talk about without any preparation? For me at that time, it was helping people build websites, helping businesses create websites to, you know, get themselves online.
• 8:08
  Now did I absolutely love doing that at the time? I loved the money and the fact that it gave me the freedom. But, you know, after a couple years of doing that, I really didn't enjoy it anymore. But what I discovered in doing it was that I love teaching it. And so that evolved into teaching people how to build websites.
• 8:27
  And so it's a natural progression like that. But I think you've gotta start somewhere. And so what we talk to people about is what do you enjoy doing? Now that might be knitting. It might be, you know, could be anything, baking.
• 8:42
  You know, there are so many different things that you could do. It might be what do people come to you and ask your advice for. Like I said, what could you get up on stage and talk about? So those sort of things, essentially, what we're doing is sort of packaging up your knowledge with what you enjoy doing. And if you can find a balance of the two I mean, in the world that we live in now, coaching is is such a big industry.
• 9:10
  If you're a couple of steps ahead of someone else, especially in this world where we're looking for connection, there's so much noise. If you can find somebody that's gonna teach you what you wanna know and, have that connection with them, people will pay that money. You know? I built a cake decorating business when my daughter was eight weeks of old eight eight weeks of age, and I learned from YouTube. So there are so many different things you can do, but it really is about tapping into those sort of core fundamentals and then looking at how do I make money.
• 9:43
  A lot of people start with the money first. I need to make money. Oh, this is a good idea. I could do this. But ultimately, they get a couple years down the track and they're not enjoying it and it's mundane and it's, you know, it's like you've locked yourself into a nine to five again.
• 9:55
  Carly Ries: If a person is like, I am so passionate about travel like you said. So they're like, oh, well maybe I'll start a travel blog or a travel or YouTube channel or an Instagram. These markets can be so saturated though because so many people have that passion. So many people I mean, on Instagram, anybody can be a show of travel these days. So what do you recommend they do to stand out when they might be passionate about it, but it's gonna be hard to make money off of it.
• 10:24
  Karen King: Yes and no. I'm not a big believer in competition. And the reason I say that is because, again, going back to the personal connection, we're all searching for that personal connection, and we're not gonna connect with everybody. So a really good example of, what, five, six years ago, I joined a five day challenge, and it turned out to be two five day challenges covering the same topic running at the same time. Now one was a guy, one was a girl, not that that really matters.
• 10:53
  But in their messaging, it became very obvious very quickly that I was more connected with the female more than I did the male. Not because of the gender, just, her messaging and the way that she sort of put herself across. And so I naturally went that way. Not to say that his information wasn't any good, but that was the connection I made. So what I would say, and, in all of these interviews I've been doing lately, this has come out time and time again, just be yourself.
• 11:25
  There is absolutely no need to pretend to be somebody. And in this world where, we're surrounded by all these perfect images and, you know, perfect YouTube videos and all of this, again, going back to that desire for connection, people want that authentic connection. And so be yourself. And you know, that's something I'm really trying to embrace myself these days. I've really sort of held back from social media because I'm like, oh, you know, I felt so much pressure for my online presence to be perfect.
• 11:55
  And then, in doing all of these interviews lately, I thought, you know what? People just need to get to know me. And my customers, for example, those that do know me love what we do. And so by not just being out there and being myself, I'm kinda hiding away from people. They're not getting to meet me.
• 12:12
  But I'm also avoiding meeting my ideal client. I wanna work with people that absolutely love me and, you know, love the gray hair and the wrinkles and, all of that sort of stuff. And so by being yourself, you're gonna attract the people that want that connection with you and would love to work with you.
• 12:29
  Joe Rando: I have a question. I get what you're saying. This idea of being authentic, I totally agree. Even though it doesn't always feel good, especially in the beginning. But one thing that I'm wondering when we talk about, you know, Carly mentioned the saturated markets.
• 12:45
  It seems to me that, doing what you said, being a coach, finding your people, your audience is a way to build a pretty viable business. But when people think about maybe doing a podcast or doing a YouTube channel where they're making money off of the advertising, That seems like a harder lift to me these days. It's very saturated and it takes an awful lot of engagement to really make enough money to survive. And I don't think very many people are doing it unless they have a lot of engagement because it's just, you know, it just isn't feasible to get enough revenue out of the ad spend. do you have any opinion on that?
• 13:27
  Am I wrong?
• 13:29
  Karen King: No. I think there are certainly ways that are going to earn income faster. And, yeah, I think there's certainly, you know, blogging. I the first eighteen months of our travels, I blogged all the time, and we had a YouTube channel. And while I regret stopping that because I wish that I could look back now and watch those videos, It took me eighteen months to earn my first first dollar out of it, and it wasn't even a dollar.
• 13:54
  Amazon sent me a check for, I think, was 56¢ or something like that. So, you know, I was really consistent. But, yes, I needed a big following. On the other hand, you can you know, VA work is a really, really easy way to get yourself out there. You only need you know, it might be bookkeeping.
• 14:12
  It might be, I'll organize your email inbox. I literally when I first got one of my team now, the first task I got her to do and the first reason I employed her, I just needed my inbox sorted. I was so sick of all the spam and blah blah blah blah blah. And so I just brought her on to just look after that. Now she could have taken that.
• 14:30
  Maybe it's not something she loves to do, but she could have taken that and turned that into an offer that, you know, she could do for other people. So, yeah, there are lots of different ways of doing it, and there's certainly different time frames on how long it's gonna take you. But for me, as an example, I'm really keen in the future to start a podcast. But, I've also got a following now as well. So, I think it's something that you can add to it down the line.
• 15:00
  Joe Rando: I mean, for us, the podcast serves the business LifeStarr. Right? we don't really run ads. and if we were running ads, even though we're in the top two and a half percent of all podcasts in the world, I don't think we'd be making a ton of money.
• 15:14
  I haven't really looked into it, but I doubt it would pay the bills in any meaningful way, because you have to be at that upper upper echelon. So I just always think it's important for people not to kind of set out with with a vision that isn't necessarily gonna hold water today, even though it might have been a good idea ten years ago.
• 15:33
  Karen King: I had a really good conversation with someone the other day specifically about podcasting because one of the questions that I had was exactly that. How do you make money out of it? And what they've done is all of the extra stuff, so not the ads, but it's been an avenue for lead generation, which has then led into other things. So they have courses and things like that. So the podcast itself is really, the top of funnel, so to speak, attracting people that can come into your world.
• 16:03
  Joe Rando: That's how I view it. Definitely.
• 16:06
  Carly Ries: Yeah. well, so let's say there's this guy Frank hanging out in his cubicle right now, listening to this show, and he's like, man, I wanna do that. I wanna travel the world. But you kinda get into the like, you're conditioned to be the nine to five. Like when you said, well I just time blocked sleeping in.
• 16:22
  It's like, oh my gosh, you can do that. So my first question is, what kind of mindset shifts does he need to make? But also what should be that first step into getting to be an escapreneur?
• 16:35
  Karen King: It's a really, really good question. I think the first mindset shift is that it is possible. And knowing what is possible is massive. You know, I'd been working online for years. I'd been building websites for myself.
• 16:51
  I'd been doing all of these sorts of things. But what I didn't understand was that if you've got a laptop, you can literally you know, if you've got a business online, you can literally work from anywhere. And it never occurred to me that I could leave those four walls. You know, society teaches us how we're, you know, meant to live. the cars, the kids, the house, all the things that we're meant to have to live the American dream or the Australian dream or whatever it might be.
• 17:21
  And we grow up with that model to us, and we kinda just don't know what we don't know. And so realizing what is possible. We have a community of families that travel the world, either full time, part time, or, you know, just on vacation. And there are 14,000 families in there that sort of all have sort of learned about this concept. We call it world schooling, learning from the world, educating through from the world.
• 17:50
  And I launched that community because I wish I'd known about this ten years earlier because there's a whole lot of choices I'd have made in my life that I probably would have made very differently if I knew that this was an option. So understanding and being around people that are living a different way of life is a huge thing. Because if you're surrounded by people that are doing the the normal life, it's really hard to break outside of that mindset. So that would be the mindset, but also the first step that I would recommend people do is just get into that sort of space, digital nomad groups are very popular as well. Just see what is possible.
• 18:29
  And then from there, part of that and as I said, part of what we do is about helping people identify their passions and then helping them identify what they can do with that to make money. Because, again, you don't know what you don't know. So it's all good and well to say, oh, well, you know what? I'm really good at, knitting or whatever the case may be, but that doesn't mean you've got any clue what you could do with it. But when you're surrounded by people that not only know, but have been there and done that, then you get the support and the answers to the questions that you might have.
• 19:05
  Carly Ries: So let's say a person is really good at knitting, and they're like, I want to and I love knitting and I wanna live in Fiji. But let's say they're not tech savvy because they like knitting. What's one thing they could do today to educate themselves in or, an automation or something to get a business going that could help with the tech side of things if that's kind of their hang up?
• 19:26
  Karen King: Well, I'm a little bit biased because, as the founder of Gold Star Pro, I built the platform entirely because this was a massive issue for people. I'd been on the other side, a coach, course creator. And typically, we all need, you know, 53 different platforms, and we need to learn them all, and we need to pay for them all. And it was just too much. Most business owners are not techie.
• 19:48
  And I would say 80 to 90% of the people I speak to are not techie. They got into their business because they love what they do. But then all of a sudden, they sit there and they find themselves in front of a laptop trying to figure out the tech stuff. So what I would say is if you wanna make that move into maybe it's a course or whatever whatever the case may be, there are lots of ways that you can do it without complicated tech. You can literally set up a Facebook group, send someone a PayPal link, they pay you, you let them into the group, And, you know, maybe send them a Zoom link so that you can get on a call together.
• 20:20
  It doesn't have to be super complicated. But when you get to the stage, if you wanna step it up, then looking for a software platform that simplifies it as much as possible. So ours is an all in one with a massive focus on people and support and that it's okay to not know the answer. We have a rule that there's no such thing as a dumb question. We want people to ask those those questions because it's the only way that they can learn.
• 20:47
  So, yeah, realize that it doesn't have to be complicated. But when you do want to grow that or advance it, do it with the right support.
• 20:56
  Carly Ries: That's so funny you said Facebook with a PayPal link because it really can be that simple. But nobody like, people are like, okay. Well, what systems can I get in place? And it's like, Facebook, PayPal, done.
• 21:08
  Karen King: And my brain immediately goes to, oh, because, you know, you can build a website and you can do that, but that's what I do. And so that's easy for me. And, whenever I build something, I want it to look super professional and all of this sort of stuff, but we're just setting ourselves up to fail. If you're not techy, just keep it simple. You can make it very, very easy, and it can still look very professional.
• 21:33
  You can jump on Fiverr and get a logo made for $5. You can create a page on Facebook which has messenger so you can communicate. There's so many different ways you can do it without it being complicated.
• 21:45
  Carly Ries: I feel like there are some people listening to this right now. They're just like, oh my gosh. I could do this. It seems attainable. But I think there's also kind of a sense of overwhelm.
• 21:55
  Once they realize they can do it, there's also the decision. And you have kids. You were talking about world schooling and I think it's like, yeah, have to run a business but I also have to book my travel. I have to schedule things for the kids. I do this. And it's a lot. So do you have any tips for people that are trying to kind of do it all while running a business if they want to be an escapreneur?
• 22:19
  Karen King: Yeah. Probably just slow down. I guess one of the things that I would say is that when you are living a life that you really enjoy, when you've built a business that you really enjoy, it becomes easier. it becomes instead of, work and home life. Or for our kids when we started world schooling, you know, pre world schooling, it was I have to go to school and learn, and then I get to come home.
• 22:45
  Whereas world schooling was, well, let's just live our lives and we'll just learn as part of it. So there wasn't this sort of negative connotation versus the, you know, I can relax now because I'm at home. And I think the same goes when it comes to your business. But what I would do is just keep it as simple as you can. Block out time.
• 23:02
  Get the family involved. we do a lot with our kids, and quite often, we get to a new city, and I'm like, okay. So we need to do something next weekend. You guys go plan that because I've got interviews to do this week or whatever the case may be. I still do a lot of it because I really, really enjoy it.
• 23:18
  So for me, the travel part of it and booking flights, that's my, relaxation, which sounds a bit weird. But, I can spend hours just sitting there looking at comparisons and all of these sorts of things. So get help with the things that you don't need or don't enjoy, and really, lean into the things that you do enjoy because it gives you more energy when you're doing the things that you love.
• 23:40
  Carly Ries: We always say flying solo in business doesn't mean you're alone. And I think that's another thing people need to remember that just because they're, like, jet setting and traveling the world, that doesn't mean that they have to still be doing everything. They can have somebody do that, like help with taxes and accounting and everything.
• 23:56
  Joe Rando: I like that you said that if you like doing it, even if it's not something that necessarily every other measure would say to outsource it, do it if you like it. You know what mean? It's like it's always this, you know, there's always this, I don't know, this math that just says, oh, you shouldn't be doing that, so that's not a good use of your time. But, you know, hey. You like booking flight. I kinda get it too. I kinda like booking flights as well. I never have anybody book my flights.
• 24:23
  Karen King: Yeah.
• 24:25
  Joe Rando: I always do it myself.
• 24:26
  Karen King: At the moment, we're building out this summit. And building these pages, for example, I so enjoy it. And I love the creativity of designing it and mapping it out and then creating the automations in the back end. And I can sit for hours doing that, but I absolutely love it. And you know, there's that that part of me, like you said, that people are saying, oh, it's not a good use of your time, but it is because I really enjoy it. I'd much rather have someone else do other things. You know, I'm paying my daughter to edit the videos. I brought a team member on to find the speakers for our summit. Do the things that you really enjoy and find support for those that don't. I read a book recently, Buy Back Your Time, by Dan Martell.
• 25:11
  And, honestly, it was really eye opening. Like, it really sort of talked about everything you kind of know already. But when he puts it down and says, you don't need to be the person cleaning up your inbox. If you enjoy it, great. If you don't, you can have somebody for, half the amount that you're worth or a quarter of the amount that you're worth do it for you, and they'll probably do a better job of it than you.
• 25:36
  So, yeah, do the things you enjoy and let someone else do the others.
• 25:39
  Carly Ries: Oh, I feel like that's the perfect place to end this show. Such great advice. And Karen, you help people find success in being an escapreneur, whatever version of that is for that person. So we always ask our guests this question, what is your favorite quote about success?
• 25:59
  Karen King: That's a really good question. I keep circling back to something that popped into my head when I first started traveling, and that was that life's too short for ordinary when extraordinary is an option. And that's kind of the motto I live by. I didn't wanna wake up at 80 and look back and regret the way that I'd lived my life. I didn't want the kids to get to 18 and suddenly look back and say, you know what?
• 26:24
  I missed out on all of that time. success for me is beyond just the work that I do. Obviously, that's a big part of what we do, and we need the money and all of those sorts of things. But success for me is living a life that I enjoy and that, I'm having an impact on other people. So if you can create a life that's extraordinary, then I think you're super successful.
• 26:48
  Carly Ries: so I'm not gonna show my phone, but I saw this quote on Instagram, you know, where everything is real? And it's now my screen saver, but it says this is the new 1%. It's waking up early, putting your family first, pursuing their passions. They don't wait until retirement to travel. They're grateful.
• 27:08
  They work out. They eat whole natural foods. Teach their kids and teach their kids proper values. I saw that and I was like, screenshot, save. Because that is success now.
• 27:20
  I mean to a lot of people, especially solopreneurs. It's not the big paycheck. It's the lifestyle.
• 27:26
  Karen King: Yeah. I remember having a conversation years ago. And, when we first started traveling, there wasn't a lot of money because we made the mistake of starting to build the business after we started traveling. I don't recommend that. But, yeah, there wasn't a lot of money, but we didn't have a lot of money when we were living an ordinary life in Australia.
• 27:44
  And I said to my husband, I'd much rather be traveling the world full time doing what we do on not a lot of money than, being stuck in a nine to five living in the same four walls with not a lot of money. So choice is yours.
• 27:58
  Carly Ries: Well, Karen, this has been wonderful. Where can people find you if they want to learn more?
• 28:04
  Karen King: Theescapepreneur.com is probably the easiest place.
• 28:07
  Easy enough. And we will have that link in our show notes. But thank you so so much for coming on the show today. It is very inspiring.
• 28:15
  Thank you for having me. I love talking about this stuff.
• 28:17
  Carly Ries: Great. Well, you're good at it. And listeners, thank you so much for tuning in. As always, we really would love that five star review. it means the world to us.
• 28:26
  We love that boost in the algorithm. So please be sure to do that. Share this episode with a friend. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform including YouTube. And we will see you next time on The Aspiring Solopreneur.
• 28:40
  You may be going solo in business, but that doesn't mean you're alone. In fact, millions of people are in your shoes, running a one person business and figuring it out as they go. So why not connect with them and learn from each other's successes and failures? At LifeStarr, we're creating a one person business community where you can go to meet and get advice from other solopreneurs. Be sure to join in on the conversations at community.lifestarr.com.