Remote Business Growth

Episode 13: Scaling Startups and Redefining Remote Work with Sondre Rasch Welcome to the Remote Business Growth podcast! In this episode, host Paul Urwin speaks with Sondre Rasch, co-founder of SafetyWing, about his journey from working as a policy advisor in the Norwegian government to building startups that support the global remote workforce. Sondre shares his experiences founding Superside, a freelance platform, and SafetyWing, which provides a global social safety net for remote workers and digital nomads. This insightful conversation dives deep into the challenges and strategies involved in building and scaling businesses in the digital age. Key Takeaways: The Entrepreneurial Journey: Sondre discusses his transition from government work to entrepreneurship, highlighting his motivations and the initial challenges he faced. Building SafetyWing: Learn about the inspiration behind SafetyWing, a company that aims to provide health insurance and income protection for remote workers globally. Navigating Y Combinator: Sondre reflects on his experience with the renowned startup accelerator, Y Combinator, and how it shaped his approach to product development and growth. Growth Strategies and Scaling Challenges: From acquiring early users through AdWords to leveraging word-of-mouth and an ambassador program, Sondre explains how SafetyWing grew sustainably. The Three Phases of Startup Growth: Sondre outlines the “DIY Stage,” “Adolescent Stage,” and “Scaling Stage,” offering valuable insights on how to handle the unique challenges at each stage. Vision for the Future: Sondre shares SafetyWing's future plans, including launching a membership product that offers comprehensive benefits and protections for remote workers. Connect with Sondre Rasch: Website: SafetyWing LinkedIn: Sondre Rasch Closing Thoughts: Paul wraps up by reflecting on the value of remote work and digital nomadism, emphasizing the importance of support systems for this new era of the global workforce. If you're interested in building remote teams or scaling your business, visit There Is Talent. Here is the full transcript: SUMMARY KEYWORDS remote work, business growth, Sondre Rasch, Safety Wing, digital nomads, Y Combinator, startup challenges, product development, customer acquisition, growth strategies, team management, legal challenges, scaling phase, user experience, membership product SPEAKERS Sondre Rasch, Paul Urwin Paul Urwin  00:01 Welcome to remote business growth. Your go to source for all things remote work and business growth. Join us as we delve deep into the strategies, insights and success stories that will help you thrive in the remote work landscape. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a remote team leader, or simply curious about how to grow your business, this podcast is your gateway to unlocking your full potential. So get ready to embark on a journey of innovation and success. Hey there, Paul here, and welcome to episode 13 of the remote Business Growth podcast. How you doing this week? I hope everything is going well. I hope your remote work is going well, and I hope you're considering some of the amazing possibilities that working remotely or building remote teams bring. So just yeah, lots of opportunities out there, and that's what we like to talk about on this show. If you'd like to find out more about building remote teams or hiring a virtual assistant or remote specialist for your organization, then head on over to www dot, there is talent.com that's www dot, there is talent.com right? Let's get cracking today. I've got a very special guest, and his name is Sondre Rasch. So this, this podcast episode. I've recorded hundreds of podcast episodes, and this, honestly, is just one of the best I just absolutely loved it. I loved the style that that Sondre has and how he takes us through some of his thought processes as he, as he builds startups, as he creates those, those startups, I think was just for me. It was just fascinating, really revealing he's, he's just a really smart guy and just just a wealth of information in this episode. If you're looking, if you're interested in that, that thought process as of how to actually go about creating and scaling a startup, then this is, this is the episode for you. As I said, I just think it's really, really brilliant. So let's get cracking with Sondre. Sondre Rasch, a former policy advisor in the Norwegian parliament, is the co founder of safety wing, a company dedicated to building a global social safety net for remote workers and teams. His vision is to create a country on the internet offering citizenship as a service regardless of your location. The idea for safety wing originated from his previous venture, superside, a freelance platform he co founded in 2016 recognizing the need for benefits and income protection for freelancers. Sondre took the initiative to build these solutions himself when none existed. Both companies were supported by Y Combinator, a prestigious startup accelerator that provides seed funding and membership to early stage companies. Sondre, welcome to the show. Thank you. Paul, great to be here. Yeah, no. Great. Great to talk about anything related to remote work. And today we're going to be talking about, well, among other things, insurance for remote workers. But before we get to that, Sandra, tell us a little bit about you and your entrepreneurial journey and how you got to where you are today, please. Sondre Rasch  03:11 Yeah. So I started my career working for as a policy advisor for the government of Norway. Well, I had some as a teenager, some entrepreneurial dabbling as well. Yeah, when I started sort of web hosting company in my room, but later got interested in policy and politics, and so I worked there for a bit, and it was there that I felt, you know, a bit disillusion with the pace of change and government and so, yeah, left to fund startup with my friend from school, Frederick, and we started Freelancer platform, super side. Paul Urwin  04:00 Okay, that sounds, that sounds, that sounds great. And you make it sound, you know, sort of like it was a smooth transition, and very easy to do. I'm always interested in these transitions. I mean, how did you actually come up, come up with that idea? How did and then, how did you actually take the plunge? Was it was that difficult to go through? Yeah. Sondre Rasch  04:21 I mean, it was, I should say, I always had a hunch that I probably would start a I wanted to start a technology startup, yeah. So it was like it was in the back of my mind, and I was for a long time looking for a way, but it was still hard. In particular was hard because I was comfortable. So my job was really pleasant. It was quite meaningful, policy advisor. We, I kind of like, got this, you know, it, it felt meaningful and important. I also had a super, like, flat. Flexible place. I lived in a nice part of town. I worked to work along the ocean there in Oslo. Yeah, it was just, it was a really pleasant situation, yep, and, and I had, like, a career there, right? So I was giving that up. And so I come across this idea of the digital nomad idea a few years before, so I knew that, oh, it's possible, if I get, like, some kind of freelance income, that I can sort of sustain myself while starting my startup. Yeah, if I live in somewhere cheap, like Berlin. Berlin was much cheaper back then. This is continuous, yeah, you could live, you could live in like, $500 a month in Berlin, if you really, okay, yeah, yeah. So anyway, that was, that was roughly the plan. So I started thinking ahead at the time. It was also like developing, you know, exploring a few different ideas and and on the way discover and a few different people I might start something with. And it is just one of those days come up the idea that I'm and then talk with Frederick about it, and very sold on this and it the partnership really works out. Our cooperation works. And yeah. So then I sort of just start planning this day where I was going to quit my job and become a digital nomad and work full time on my startup, yeah. And I think I did that, like, six months ahead of the date and and in between, then I'm registering an Upwork. I'm trying to see if I can get some freelance gigs, like on the weekends and stuff. Yeah, yeah, and, and I do so I get this economics writing thing, and, and, yeah, that the time comes and goes. I should add there's one part to the story. Right before this. It's like December. So this is 2015 so in December, 2014 I remember I went to the cinema and watched this movie, Walter Mitty. Okay, Walter Mitty. And there's such a great scene in the movie, because at this point, my mind is churning on this idea, like, should I quit my job and just go full time on my startup, yeah, yeah. But, and, and there's some part of that that seems very stupid and irresponsible, because of course I would earn any money. Yeah, yeah, they have bills. So I recall there was the scene in that movie where he's like, pursuing this person, and weirdly finds himself in Iceland, and there's this moment where, in order to pursue this one path, there is this helicopter pilot who's really drunk, who's getting into his helicopter, and then he's like, playing the song by David boy, I'm blanking on the name, and He's sort of running after and jumping into the helicopter. Into the helicopter. And I just found, like, I was like, yes, that's exactly what this feels like, yeah, like, not like bold, just like, really stupid, like, very unclear reward at the end of this, yeah and, and definitely high risk, and actually likely to go badly. Yeah, reckless way, yeah, but still anyway. So, so, yeah, so. And then I said this date, decided to do it, try to get this freelance job, tried to reduce my costs. So I came across this idea about increasing your personal runway, able to save up, like, I think it was 10, 15k Yeah,...

From Service to Scale: Mastering Digital Growth with Shannon Teague Shannon Teague is an entrepreneur and expert in the world of remote hiring and online business.  With extensive experience in both service-based and product-based businesses, Shannon’s journey began in the luxury hospitality sector, where she specialized in recruiting spa therapists for five-star hotels.  Over time, she transitioned into digital entrepreneurship, founding her current business that offers comprehensive remote hiring solutions.  Shannon is also passionate about helping businesses streamline their hiring processes and build effective remote teams. Through her work, including online boot camps, webinars, and digital resources, Shannon equips business owners with the tools and strategies to succeed in today’s virtual workplace.  Her personal journey of adapting from traditional service-based business models to digital product-based strategies has been a massive learning curve, and she now shares this knowledge to empower other entrepreneurs. Shannon’s expertise is highlighted in her latest venture, Scaling Up Simplified, where she offers valuable guidance on scaling businesses through remote work and digital marketing strategies.  Key takeaways  Transition from Service to Product-Based Business: Shannon highlights the stark differences between service-based and product-based businesses, especially in terms of marketing strategies. Challenges of Digital Marketing: How running a product-based business involves building a strong digital presence, utilizing content marketing, and developing sales funnels, which was a learning curve for Shannon Importance of Free Content: Shannon emphasizes offering valuable free content as a key strategy for attracting potential customers, particularly in the digital product space. Adaptation and Resilience: Shannon’s journey involved overcoming challenges, including shifting her business model during tough times like the COVID-19 pandemic. Focus on Remote Hiring: Shannon dives into her current expertise which lies in helping businesses build successful remote teams; which she supports through various online platforms like boot camps and webinars. Connect with Shannon  Website - https://www.scalingupsimplified.com/  Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-teague/ Here is the full transcript: Paul Urwin  0:01   Welcome remote business growth. Your go to source for all things remote work and business growth. Join us as we delve deep into the strategies, insights and success stories that will help you thrive in the remote work landscape. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a remote team leader, or simply curious about how to grow your business, this podcast is your gateway to unlocking your full potential. So get ready to embark on a journey of innovation and success. Hey there, Paul, here. Welcome to episode 12 of the remote Business Growth podcast. Well, we've been off on a little bit of a break, so this is the first episode that has been released in a while, and we're now absolutely back at it. So I hope you enjoy this one, and I hope you enjoy all the future episodes that we've got in the pipeline, because we've got some great ones coming up in the next few weeks and months ahead. So keep listening, and please let me have any feedback I'd love to hear from you. If you are thinking of building a remote team or you'd like to hire a virtual assistant or remote specialist for your organization, then head on over to https://thereistalent.com/, that's https://thereistalent.com/ and we can analyze your specific situation and help you to get that set up right. Today, I am talking with Shannon Teague, an amazing guest. I just love her story. Shannon started with Xero and built a temping recruitment company, providing spa staff to Blue Chip hotels across the UK. Initially a one woman show, she grew her team to 70 contractors and a remote support team. Within five years, she also invested in a startup selling popcorn flavorings to view cinemas to run her business remotely. Shannon hired a tech expert and created a 24 hour online booking system, automating most processes despite facing challenges and failures, her positive mindset and determination led her to success. Shannon's journey inspired her to teach small business owners how to grow their businesses remotely, achieve their potential and live their dream. Lives. Her first book, scaling up, simplified, brings her vision closer to reality, guiding readers worldwide to achieve their dreams. Shannon, welcome to the show. Shannon Teague  2:14   Hi Paul, thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here today. Thank you for the opportunity. Paul Urwin  2:20   Now, really looking forward to this one you've got, well, an amazing story, really. So please take us back a few years to the start of your entrepreneurial journey. Where did it all start for you? Shannon, Shannon Teague  2:32   Thank you, Paul, that's a great question. So I'm sure you and all the listeners are familiar with an author called Tim Ferriss, the four hour workweek is one of his famous books, absolutely, yep. So my journey started at that point, back in about 2013 I was traveling Thailand. I'd met a friend there, and he was fully living the remote lifestyle, and that was the first time I ever heard about it, and during that time, I was also reading the Tim Ferriss Four Hour Work Week. Met this friend of mine and realized that that's kind of a lifestyle that I wanted to achieve for myself. So I went back to the UK. I was based in the UK at the time. I'm originally from South Africa, but I was living in the UK at the time in London, went back to South Africa, and quit my job and started preparing for starting my first business, which was a recruitment temping agency to the five star hotel sector in the UK. So I was a spa therapist myself, and I started to outsource myself as my first contractor. We cater to the five star, sparse sector within the UK, so super niche, and I slowly started to grow my contracting team and remove myself from that element of the business to prepare myself to be able to start traveling and living remotely and enjoying a remote business lifestyle. And I slowly grew my team to by the time I left the UK, we were around 40 contractors. I had a small support team at that stage, and I slowly started to grow my business over the years to about 100 contractors and a support team of 10. And we're all based around the world. The support team and I met up in various parts of the world while my business ran in the UK, and this provided me the opportunity to live in India, to live in Thailand and Bali. I spent most of my time in Southeast Asia, and that first business gave me the knowledge and the foundations to be able to do what I'm doing now. So because my business catered to the hospitality sector. When covid happened, it was a massive hit for us, unfortunately, but in my opinion, everything happens the way it's supposed to, and it gave me the foundation and the knowledge to be able to do what I'm doing now, which is teaching small businesses through digital programs and. I've also authored two books since then, how to develop hiring and operational systems in your business to hire remote and online teams, starting with your very first hire, and then building your team from that point. And had I had not gone through this journey of being fully remote and starting my first business, and all the knowledge that I learned from that and also running a recruitment agency, then I wouldn't be where I am right now, which I think is the perfect place for me, because it aligns in every way. I'm teaching businesses how to hire on a remote level, how to be remote. That's my target audience, and that's the lifestyle that I live and every decision I make is around complete location independence. So that's kind of my story in a nutshell of how I got to where I am right now. Paul Urwin  5:52   Excellent. There's so much good stuff in there. Tell us a little bit more about the London mobile spa. So I'm really interested in how exactly you got started, so you were obviously working in that industry, how you had the idea and how it looked at the beginning. I'm really interested in how businesses look right at the beginning. That's Shannon Teague  6:12   a great question. Thank you. So I wanted to start a business to be remote. So I was a spa therapist, as I mentioned. I worked within the five star hotel sector myself, and I first started to outsource my own services as a mobile therapist to spars and to people, and then I was very close to the managers, and I grew quite a reputation as a spa therapist myself. And they started asking me whether I knew therapists and whether I had a network of therapists myself, and I kind of saw an opportunity there and then started building a temping agency from that point. So that's kind of how it all started. But yeah, at first it was, as you can probably appreciate and understand. At first it was intense, working crazy hours, like 16 hours a day being my own therapist, and then working on the business in the evening, and then doing interviews here and there, and trying to, like, start to finally remove myself from that point. But I had a breaking point where I realized that if I didn't actually start taking serious action towards removing myself from being a contractor in my business, then I was never going to achieve the lifestyle that I wanted to achieve. And this breaking point happened when I actually had a panic attack, which is not normal for me. I was overworking myself. And that was the point where I made a due date, where, by this date, irrelevance of where I am financially, what is happening. I have to stop being a contractor in my business, and that goal really made me push myself and work towards making that happen. And by that time,...

Jesse Chambers is the founder and CEO of wrkfrce. With over four years of experience in the remote work domain, Jesse has been instrumental in creating content and providing insights for remote workers and businesses embracing remote work models. Jesse's journey into the remote work sphere started with a clear vision of empowering individuals and businesses to thrive in remote work environments.  As the founder of Workforce, a platform dedicated to remote work resources and insights, Jesse has curated a wealth of knowledge and expertise in navigating the challenges and opportunities of remote work. His passion for remote work extends beyond mere advocacy; Jesse is a firm believer in measuring output over input, emphasizing the importance of results-oriented approaches for managing remote teams.  Through his work, Jesse aims to dispel common fears and misconceptions surrounding remote work, advocating for a more flexible and productive work culture. Jesse's insights have been widely recognized, making him a sought-after speaker and thought leader in the remote work community.  His forward-thinking approach and pragmatic strategies have helped numerous individuals and businesses adapt and thrive in the remote work landscape. Key Takeaways.  Remote work is here to stay, with companies increasingly embracing flexible work models. The fear-based push for in-office work is driven by outdated management practices focused on input rather than output. Talent is the key differentiator, with companies offering remote flexibility attracting and retaining top talent. Remote work offers advantages like broader talent pools and increased productivity but requires intentional efforts to address social interaction challenges. The future of work is global, with companies realizing they can recruit the best talent regardless of location or language barriers. The evolution of remote work includes rethinking traditional office spaces to support collaboration and social connections. Embracing remote work unlocks opportunities for individuals and businesses to thrive in a more flexible, interconnected world. Connect with Jesse LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessewrkfrce/  Website - https://wrkfrce.com/ Here is the full transcript: Paul Urwin  0:00   Welcome to remote business growth, your go to source for all things remote work and business growth. Join us as we delve deep into the strategies, insights and success stories that will help you thrive in the remote work landscape. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a remote team leader, or simply curious about how to grow your business, this podcast is your gateway to unlocking your full potential. So get ready to embark on a journey of innovation and success. This is episode 11 of the remote Business Growth Podcast. I'm Paul Urwin. If you're looking for a virtual assistant or remote talent to help you grow your business, then head on over to https://thereistalent.com/. We have an awesome interview today, it's with Jesse Chambers. Let's get cracking. Jesse Chambers is an entrepreneur in the digital media space and accomplished executive with leadership experience at successful startups, as well as some of the largest most well respected global media brands. In early 2019. He left the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and dog and working full time from a 27 foot Airstream trailer founded workforce. That's WR K, fr C. E, rooted in the belief that when we design our careers around our lives, and not vice versa, we are more productive and more fulfilled workforce is a digital media company that gives remote workers and the businesses that employ them information, tools, and inspiration. Jesse grew to understand the far reaching impact of digital transformation on our lives, our culture, and ultimately, the way we work while helping to lead brands like TechCrunch and in gadget among others. And because of the travel demands of his various roles, Jessie found himself a de facto remote worker and digital nomad and loved it. By building Wrkfrce, Jessie and his team seek to question the inherited wisdom, that the only way to work is in an office from nine to five, and to help people and businesses realize their full potential through flexible and remote work. Jesse, welcome to the show. Jesse Chambers  2:06   It's great to be here. Thanks so much for having me. Yeah, Paul Urwin  2:08   I'm really looking forward to talking about the wonderful topic of remote work, among other things. So Jesse, where are you connecting from today? Jesse Chambers  2:16   I am currently in Austin, Texas, and have lived here for about a year and a half. Before that I was a full time digital nomad before that. I basically live my adult life in San Francisco. So not all over the map, but I've covered a few miles in my day. Paul Urwin  2:32   Well tell us a little bit about your journey. And please, Jesse. Sure. Jesse Chambers  2:36   So my grip on the east coast, but pretty much the moment I graduated college, I headed west to San Francisco. This was in 2001. So this was the early days of the.com. Boom, I like to joke that as I was driving across the country, I heard the first.com bubble burst. And so when I first moved to San Francisco, you would meet people and they wouldn't ask you, what do you do for work? They would literally say, "Do you have a job?" And so it was a different kind of thing different from San Francisco than what we think of today, but I had a really great experience in San Francisco and built my life and career there. And in 2019, I left the traditional corporate environment where I had been a monetization operations and strategy executive for some large companies, and founded my company workforce, which I'm still running today. Excellent. Paul Urwin  3:26   So big decision, they're back in 2019, then how did you come to that decision? Jesse Chambers  3:32   It's a funny thing, Paul. So I worked at a large company for over a decade, and we had been through a couple of mergers. There was another merger coming down the pike, I sort of tried to look into the future. And I wasn't sure if I was number one going to have a job on the other side of that merger. And number two, if I was going to want the job that I had. And so I did an exercise that I find really valuable to do today or just anybody can do it. But what I did was I made a list of the things that were important to me in whatever role was next, regardless of job title, company or even industry. What are the things that really matter to me and what it is that I'm doing. And it sounds silly to say this, in hindsight, but only through doing that exercise. Did I realize that already in 2017 2018, I was a remote worker. That's because back then it wasn't a job feature that we negotiated. It had just happened organically. I was based in San Francisco, my company was based in New York. So I was spending one week per month in New York, at the home office. I had just through a quirk I had desks at two different company offices in San Francisco. And I was traveling a ton. And so when I was in San Francisco, if I needed to be in the office, I was in the office. If I needed to work from my home office, I was empowered and entrusted to do that. Essentially, it was treated like an adult. And so I knew that whatever it is that I wanted to do next, I didn't want to give up that freedom and that flexibility. And so armed with that as sort of a starting point. I went and looked around to find communities or websites or places where people who wanted to work remotely could find more information about that. And I found nothing, really. And I was very frustrated for about 30 seconds. And then I said, Wait a minute, if this is something that you wish existed, maybe other people would, too. And so that was really the seed that has grown into the workforce over time. And so I ended up leaving that company. And by the way, it was option number two, I had a job, but I didn't really want the job that I had. And so it took about a year to kick the tires on the concept of workforce. This was in, as I say, 2017 2018. Back then, in the US, we were at about 6 million people working remotely, most of the time. And I saw that sector growing to 15 to 20 million people within 10 years. And so I said, Well, this is a strong community going to grow. I would really love to be a part of it. I would really love to be sort of the identity site for people who work remotely or want to. And so I kicked it off. And right around the time we were going to launch the workforce to the world, a little thing called the pandemic happened. And we went from 6 million people working remotely, to 60 million people overnight. And so on the one hand, obviously, it was a really challenging and terrible time in a lot of ways. But for our business, it was a very fast paced, exciting time. And in fact, we had to sort of really reorient how we were looking at our audience, because no longer was our audience, a small group of people who were making a choice and trying to move in direction of remote and flexible work, but rather a whole bunch of people 10s of millions of people who were reactive, and were forced to work in this way. And we're trying to say, how do I do this? How do I effectively lead a team? How do I advocate for myself in a remote environment? And so it was a fascinating and very abrupt shift, which we tried to work to meet to give our audience the best chance of success as we possibly could. And Paul Urwin  7:00   stuff? And how exactly do you help people in the Wrkfrce? Jesse Chambers  7:04   So we think of the Wrkfrce audiences, people who work remotely or want to and the businesses that employ them. And so we try to create content for that audience to enlighten them and power them, giving them the tools they need to succeed....

I am delighted to be able to share this interview with Sophie Wade with you. Sophie is an amazing speaker with so much to share on the topic of remote work. We had a wonderful conversation on skills and empathy in remote work and this episode will really help you to understand how to develop and frame your own skillset for the remote landscape. Thanks Sophie! About Sophie Sophie Wade is a visionary author, speaker, and consultant specializing in the future of work and talent management.  With a deep understanding of the evolving dynamics in the workplace, Sophie advocates for a "skills first" approach, emphasizing the importance of assessing individuals based on their skills rather than traditional job titles or qualifications.  Her insights into the rapidly changing landscape of work, driven by technological advancements and shifting job roles, have made her a thought leader in the field. Sophie is the author of "Embracing Progress," a comprehensive exploration of the future of work that anticipates the trends leading towards remote work, flexible talent pools, and the rise of freelancers and independent contractors.  Her second book, "Empathy Works," delves into the essential role of empathy in fostering collaboration, understanding, and human-centric approaches to talent management in the modern workplace. As the founder of Flexcel Network, Sophie leads efforts to help organizations adapt to new ways of working, integrate remote work options, and cultivate empathetic leadership practices.  She also offers courses and workshops on LinkedIn, covering topics such as empathy in sales, understanding Gen Z in the workforce, and future of work skills. Sophie's expertise and passion for creating more effective, collaborative, and empathetic work environments make her a sought-after speaker and consultant for companies looking to thrive in today's fast-paced and interconnected business world. Key Takeaways  Skills First Approach: Shift focus from job titles to assessing individuals based on their skills. Rapid Skill Decay: Skills become less valuable faster due to technology changes, emphasizing the need for continuous learning. Cost of College vs. Skills: Rising college costs push companies like AmEx, Google, and Microsoft to value skills over degrees. Importance of Empathy: Empathy is crucial for effective collaboration and understanding in a fast-paced, interconnected work environment. Remote Work Evolution: Remote work is not just an option but a core aspect of modern work flexibility. Empathy in Leadership: Leaders need to enhance their empathy skills to manage distributed teams effectively. Practical Empathy Habits: Break empathy down into thinking, feeling, and acting to improve communication and teamwork. Connect with Sophie LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/a-sophie-wade/  Website - https://www.sophiewade.com/

Tamara Sanderson is amazing! She is a seasoned remote work expert with a wealth of experience working for prominent companies like WordPress and IDEO, and I'm so pleased she agreed to come on the podcast! About Tamara With a passion for revolutionizing the traditional work model, Tamara has dedicated her career to exploring the dynamics of remote work, emphasizing freedom, flexibility, and focus. During her tenure at WordPress, Tamara honed her expertise in remote team management, contributing to the company's innovative approach to distributed work. She played a pivotal role in fostering a vibrant remote culture, leveraging tools and strategies to enhance collaboration and productivity across global teams. Tamara's insights into asynchronous communication, remote team dynamics, and creating meaningful work environments have been instrumental in shaping the future of remote work. Her advocacy for structured yet liberating remote work practices has led her to co-author a book titled "Remote Work: Managing Freedom, Flexibility, and Focus," which provides actionable strategies for individuals and organizations embracing remote work. Tamara holds a deep belief that remote work offers unparalleled opportunities for individuals to thrive professionally while enjoying a fulfilling work-life balance.  Through her work, she aims to empower others to create their ideal remote work experiences and unlock their full potential in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Key Takeaways from this Episode Shift from Email to Chat: Encourage teams to minimize reliance on email for internal communication and prioritize using chat platforms for transparency and accessibility. Embrace Asynchronous Communication: Promote asynchronous communication to allow team members flexibility in responding to messages and reduce interruptions during deep work. Results-Oriented Approach: Adopt a results-oriented approach to managing remote teams, focusing on clear expectations and deliverables rather than micromanagement. Create a Strong Company Culture: Foster a strong company culture through storytelling, shared experiences, and regular meetups to build trust and camaraderie among remote team members. Encourage Local Community Engagement: Encourage remote workers to engage with their local communities to combat isolation and find social connections outside of work. Invest in Workspace Setup: Encourage remote workers to invest in creating a conducive workspace, whether it's a dedicated home office or a cozy corner in a café, to enhance productivity and well-being. Seek Balance and Meaning: Prioritize work-life balance and meaningful contributions by structuring work routines, pursuing personal interests, and finding purpose in remote work experiences. Connect with Tamara LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamara-sanderson-943a051/  Website - https://www.remoteworksbook.com/

In this episode of Remote Business Growth, host Paul Urwin interviews Juan Ortega, an experienced business coach and owner of an ActionCOACH franchise. Juan shares his journey from a successful corporate career in the hospitality industry to becoming a thriving entrepreneur and coach, helping businesses of all sizes achieve success. Key Points: Juan's Background: With over 25 years of sales, marketing, and business experience in the luxury hotel industry, Juan made a bold decision to transition into coaching and consulting over a decade ago. Transition to Coaching: Despite initial doubts and pushback, Juan followed his passion for coaching and training, leaving behind the corporate world to pursue a more fulfilling path. Business Coaching Focus: Juan's coaching focuses on helping businesses solve challenges related to profitability, sales, operations, and marketing, with a goal of achieving sustainable growth. Transformation Stories: Juan shares examples of clients who have experienced significant transformations, from scaling their businesses to achieving work-life balance and financial success. Importance of Remote Work: Juan emphasizes the benefits of remote work, highlighting how it allows businesses to access skilled talent globally and increase productivity while freeing up time for business owners. The Fun Skill Matrix: Juan introduces the concept of the Fun Skill Matrix, encouraging entrepreneurs to focus on tasks that align with their strengths and passions while delegating other tasks. Blend of Online and In-Person: While Juan conducts most coaching sessions online, he recognizes the value of in-person interactions, especially during live events and quarterly meetings with clients. Benefits of Coaching: Juan offers a complimentary coaching session to potential clients and guarantees results within 17 weeks, emphasizing the proven benefits of working with a coach. Conclusion: Juan's journey from corporate success to coaching entrepreneurship serves as an inspiring example of following one's passion and making a meaningful impact in the business world. His commitment to helping clients achieve their goals and embrace remote work underscores the importance of coaching in driving business growth and success. Connect with Juan Ortega: Website: Action Coach Fort Lauderdale LinkedIn: Juan Ortega Here is the full transcript: Paul Urwin 0:01 Welcome to Remote Business Growth, your go to source for all things remote work and business growth. Join us as we delve deep into the strategies, insights and success stories that will help you thrive in the remote work landscape. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a remote team leader, or simply curious about how to grow your business, this podcast is your gateway to unlocking your full potential. So get ready to embark on a journey of innovation and success. Hey there, Paul here and welcome to Episode Eight of the Remote Business Growth podcast. How is your business going? And how are you doing remotely? Well, I hope you're doing fantastically well. And I hope that this episode is going to help you even more today we have an interview with the amazing Juan Ortega. One really is a very, very interesting guy. He's someone who has stacks of corporate experience and then decided to make a massive change about I think 11, 12 years ago and to become a coach and he now spends his time helping other entrepreneurs to achieve success. So he's a really, really high energy guy with just lots of experience as well. Lots of experience and lots of fascinating nuggets of information. So we talk about his journey. But we also talk about business coaching and whether business coaching is a relevant path for you to take. So lots to unpack in this. In this episode, lots of great things that we talked about, and we'll get cracking in just a second. First of all, if you would like to hire a virtual assistant or remote worker to help grow and scale your business, then head on over to www.thereistalent.com. Right? Let's talk to Juan. Juan Ortega has over 25 years of sales, marketing and business experience having led teams for some of the most luxurious hotel companies in the world. In 2012. He made the entrepreneurial shift and launched the journey to excellence, a business coaching and consulting organization to help businesses not only survive, but thrive in all areas of business. Today, as an owner of an action coach franchise, he utilizes his real world experience, along with the action coach methodology to achieve amazing results for clients throughout America. One has experienced tremendous success working with businesses of all sizes and industries by helping them solve their most challenging issues around the areas of profitability, sales, operations, and marketing. As a speaker, trainer and facilitator, he brings energy, humor and fresh ideas to every presentation he delivers. As a husband and father of three amazing girls, one understands that a business must deliver not only profits, but also the time to enjoy life. Juan, welcome to the show. Thanks, Paul. Unknown Speaker 2:53 Appreciate it. Happy to be here. Yeah. Paul Urwin 2:55 Great. Great to have you here and really looking forward to talking about talking about coaching, and talking about remote work as well. So why don't you tell us a little bit about your story and how you got to where you are today, please? Yeah, Juan Ortega 3:06 absolutely. So this journey on coaching is now going to be about 12 years old. I'll start with what I was doing prior to coaching. So the first 20 years of my life. I was in the hospitality industry, specifically working in hotels, and I got into the hotel business for two reasons. The one was we I grew up in Orlando, Florida, and in Orlando, you either go work for the mouse, or you go work at a resort somewhere. My dad was a food and beverage director. So he got me in working at his hotel when I was 18. And I told him that it was only going to be a summer one summer and 20 years later, I was still in the hospitality industry. But I did fairly well for myself. I ended up spending about first five years in operations and then I shifted into the sales and marketing realm. And I got to be the youngest director of sales and marketing in two different companies. And they got to work in some cool places. So I worked in Aruba, Jamaica, Bahamas, I was in San Francisco, I was in New York, New Jersey all over the state of Florida, mainly with four and five star Five Diamond properties. So I got to stay in some really amazing places. But in 2012 I even though I enjoyed what I was doing, I was really burning out of the whole corporate politics and and really I realized that the higher up I got, I was getting further and further away from what I really enjoyed. I what I really enjoyed was working with my team, business strategy, coaching, training, developing people. And I was tied up in meetings and in airplanes and things like that and it just got further and further away. So in the I would say spring of 2000 And 12 Coincidentally, I was coming back from a business trip from New York. And I picked up a magazine and I read this article about action coach, and it said, It's the world's leading business coaching organization. And I circled it. I came home, I jumped on the computer did some research. And probably within an hour, I said to my wife, I said, this, I think this is what I want to do. I think I found what I want to do in the second half of my life. And six months later, I had like, retired and quit my career of 20 years, of course, everybody thought I was crazy, scariest thing I ever did best thing I ever did. And here I am. So that's how I went from doing that to doing this. Paul Urwin 5:41 Wow. Fantastic. So there was a lot of pushback from from different people about you making that that transition was that was that hard to fight through at the time? Juan Ortega 5:52 You know, I think I was so for me, it honestly wasn't I mean, absolutely. wife, friends, family reset, are you sure you're sure you've got a really good thing, you got a great position, you know, six figure salary, you get to travel to these exotic places that these hotels and resorts most people just dream about? And I and all of that, I mean, it was kind of easy for me to just swap those things away. Because in my mind, I was done like, I was going to do something for myself. I just didn't know what and when this opportunity came about, it was just a no brainer for me. Paul Urwin 6:28 Excellent, excellent. Okay, and how long did it take you to, to get to get started? I mean, you've obviously you've obviously had a lot of experience in your corporate life as a as a coach, as a trainer. Lots of lots of knowledge, lots of experience, but then to then transition into being a full time Coach, how was that, initially that that sort of getting started? Juan Ortega 6:51 Yeah, well, you know, I could lie to all of us, including myself and say that it was an easy transition. But it really wasn't. I mean, even though I knew about business, I knew about branding and marketing and sales, it was a little choppy there, in the beginning, going from corporate guy to self employed, you know, like, when the dust settled, I realized, I got no team, I don't have a multi million dollar budget, I gotta go out and find customers like reality really set in at one point. So the transition took took a bit. The the organization and the training that I went through, is brilliant, the frameworks, the tools that were given, everything is amazing. So, absolutely, I leaned on what I had learned in those first 20 years. But I will learn more in the 11 now than I did in the first 20. And, you know, it's interesting, I think the biggest change that had to happen, was all psychological was all me and really transitioning from a corporate mindset, to a self employed mindset. And now,...

Laryssa Wirstiuk is the founder of Joy Joya, a highly specialized digital marketing agency catering exclusively to the jewelry industry.  With nearly eight years of experience in the field, Laryssa's journey into jewelry marketing stemmed from a lifelong fascination with the emotional and aesthetic allure of jewelry. Despite initially pursuing a career in various marketing roles across different industries, Laryssa found her true passion in serving the jewelry sector. A seasoned entrepreneur and marketing expert, Laryssa's expertise lies in crafting tailored digital marketing strategies for jewelry businesses, helping them thrive in an ever-evolving market landscape. Her agency offers a range of services, including email marketing, content marketing, and social media management, all designed to enhance brand visibility and drive sales in the competitive jewelry market. Laryssa's commitment to remote work and her innovative approach to client acquisition reflect her forward-thinking mindset and dedication to fostering growth opportunities for businesses worldwide.  With a passion for creativity, a knack for strategic marketing, and a relentless drive for success, Larissa continues to make a significant impact in the jewelry industry and beyond. Key Takeaways Niche Specialization: Laryssa's success highlights the power of niche specialization in business, focusing exclusively on serving the jewelry industry with her digital marketing agency, Joy Joya. Remote Work Efficiency: Running a remote team, Laryssa emphasizes the efficiency and benefits of part-time remote workers, highlighting the flexibility and productivity they brings to her business. Content Creation: Laryssa's approach to content creation, including her book "Jewelry Marketing Joy" and podcast, underscores the importance of consistent and value-driven content for brand building and thought leadership. Steady Business Growth: Laryssa's journey showcases the value of steady business growth, emphasizing the importance of learning and adapting along the way to effectively scale her agency over the years. Global Expansion: Laryssa's commitment to remote work extends to her vision for global expansion, with plans to continue building her remote team across different countries to further serve her clients' needs. Connect with Larissa LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawirstiuk/  Website - https://joyjoya.com/    Here is the full transcript: Paul Urwin  0:00   Welcome to remote business growth, your go to source for all things remote work and business growth. Join us as we delve deep into the strategies, insights and success stories that will help you thrive in the remote work landscape. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a remote team leader, or simply curious about how to grow your business, this podcast is your gateway to unlocking your full potential. So get ready to embark on a journey of innovation and success. Hey there, Paul here and welcome to episode seven of the remote Business Growth podcast. I hope you're having a fantastic week so far today. I've got an amazing interview for you. It is with Larissa Wirstiuk Larissa is a jewelry marketing expert. She has a company that helps jewelry entrepreneurs with their marketing. So she is an entrepreneur helping other entrepreneurs, which I think is absolutely brilliant. We talk about content, we talk about marketing, we talk about running a team of remote workers, and in particular, we talk about some of the benefits of working with part time remote workers. So if you're running a small or medium sized business, if you're an entrepreneur, then stay tuned, I'm sure you'll pick up some very useful insights from this episode. If you'd like to check out all of our episodes, then head on over to remotebusinessgrowth.com. And if you are interested in hiring a virtual assistant or remote worker to grow your business, then check out thereistalent.com. Now I think it's time to hear from Larissa. Larissa Wirstiuk is the founder of Joy Joy is a digital marketing agency that serves the jewelry industry. She's the author of the book, jewelry marketing, joy, and the host of the top rated Joy Joy jewelry Marketing podcast. Larissa has spoken on the topic of jewelry marketing globally, and she frequently contributes to Industry, Trade publications. Learn more at joyjoya.com. Larissa, welcome to the show! Laryssa Wirstiuk  2:00   Thanks, Paul. I'm really excited to be joining you today. Paul Urwin  2:03   Looking forward to talking through your entrepreneurial journey and a little bit about remote work as well. So tell us a little bit about your background, please, Larissa? Laryssa Wirstiuk  2:12   Sure. Well, I'm the founder of Joy Joya. And we're a digital marketing agency that is super niche because we exclusively specialize in serving the jewelry industry. So we only work with jewelry business clients, and I've had my business for almost eight years now. And my entire career has been in marketing since I finished school more than 15 years ago. But I kind of bounced around aimlessly from marketing job to marketing job in a lot of different industries. I did a lot of freelancing. And I was never really in love with any of the industries I worked in. And for some reason, I always had this kind of pull toward jewelry, I've always been really captivated by it. I think there's this emotional element to a jewelry purchase. But it's also adjacent to fashion, which is kind of fun. And I don't know, one day I just decided I want to do marketing for the jewelry industry. I have no idea where this came from. I even remember writing it down like a little napkin or something like this was the thing I wanted to do. And it coincided with a cross country move to Los Angeles for other reasons. And I thought, well, this is a good opportunity, LA's kind of this style capital, there's a really thriving jewelry industry there. So when I moved, I decided to kind of apply to some in house marketing positions at jewelry companies. And I got some experience that way. I also worked part time at a jewelry store in sales and customer service. And so I got to really immerse myself in the industry that way. And eventually I was just able to get some clients on the side while I was gaining this experience. And then I parlayed that into my full time business. Brilliant. Paul Urwin  4:01   And how long have you been going now with that? Eight years now? Right? Yes, amazing. It does sound quite niche. It is very niche. So I guess that would be a concern starting out potentially. But it obviously isn't a concern. Now you've obviously made it work. Laryssa Wirstiuk  4:20   I mean, at the beginning of my business, I had doubts about being that niche, but I think from a marketing perspective, it has a lot of benefits because you know exactly who you're talking to. I could do marketing for any kind of business, but other people don't need to know that. Paul Urwin  4:38   And what type of services do you offer? Is it standardized? Is it different depending on the client, how does that work? Laryssa Wirstiuk  4:45   It's individualized depending on the client because even within jewelry, they're serving different kinds of clients. They have different types of products, but we're primarily doing digital marketing support like email marketing, content, marketing and social media. Yeah. So Paul Urwin  5:00   Tell me a little bit about your team at the moment. So what does your team look like? And where are they based? Sure. Laryssa Wirstiuk  5:07   So it's me and four other people. Two of them are US based and two of them are based in Colombia, everyone's remote. So we all work virtually Paul Urwin  5:18   fantastic. And how do you find that? Has it always been like that? Right from the beginning? I guess, right. The beginning was just you, and then you started to build up. It was Laryssa Wirstiuk  5:27   just me from the beginning, I started with a US based marketing assistant, I did originally just hire within the US. And I think it was about a year ago when I started to branch out to looking outside of the US for team members. Excellent. Paul Urwin  5:45   But even with the first person that you worked with, based in the US, that was still a remote position, right? It's Laryssa Wirstiuk  5:52   always been remote. And that worked out really well in COVID, actually, because that was just what people were doing for like, two years or whatever. Paul Urwin  6:00   So I guess if he's always been like that, you just find it completely normal. And you haven't transitioned from having a small team in an office? Exactly. Laryssa Wirstiuk  6:07   And I think that's been a benefit, because there have been a lot of business owners that have had trouble getting used to that transition from office to remote. And for me, it's just that's what we do. And so it's been totally normal. Paul Urwin  6:20   And do you find any particular challenges? Or do you get together sometimes all get together in one place? Or how do you find that, Laryssa Wirstiuk  6:29   with my first hire, that person was geographically closer to me. So I would meet up with them for lunch every once in a while, but it's kind of hard now. Like, we're all very spread out. I would love it if one day we could get together in person. But it's kind of nice. I don't find any challenges. I work from home, obviously. I love that. I'm a happy camper. Paul Urwin  6:56   That's good. I think one of the challenges that a lot of people face or a lot of people fear, who perhaps haven't ventured into working with Remote Staff is, how are you going to ensure that someone is actually working? How do you manage that? That's Laryssa Wirstiuk  7:14   a great question. It's not a worry that I have a lot....

# Remote Business Growth Podcast - Episode 6 ## Guest: Sharon Kaufman Sharon is a character - just full of beans (and knowledge). Don't miss this one! He loves talking about remote work and is so passionate about what he does. You will definitely learn more about working and hiring remotely by tuning in to this episode. And not only that - he is also very entertaining! Key topics discussed: - The early challenges of selling clients on the concept of remote work 15+ years ago - How Distant Job has grown to over 60 employees, all based on initially working with 1% of the market - Understanding cultural differences in hiring globally and where to look for certain skills - Educating managers to effectively lead remote teams - Building trust and a mistake-friendly culture for remote employees - Trends in asynchronous work and the importance of human connection - Sharon's book "Surviving Remote Work" and resources at ThinkRemote.com - The future of remote work technologies and infrastructure to better support workers Here is the full transcript: RBG Episode 6 Sharon Koifman SUMMARY KEYWORDS remote, remote workers, work, company, office, years, focus, employees, managers, sharon, trust, distant, amazing, book, clients, create, build, business, tech, remote management SPEAKERS Paul Urwin, Sharon Koifman Paul Urwin  00:01 Welcome to remote business growth, your go to source for all things remote work and business growth. Join us as we delve deep into the strategies, insights and success stories that will help you thrive in the remote work landscape. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a remote team leader, or simply curious about how to grow your business, this podcast is your gateway to unlocking your full potential. So get ready to embark on a journey of innovation and success. This is episode six of the remote Business Growth Podcast. I'm Paul Urwin and today I'm talking with Sharon Kaufman are fantastic guest we really have an amazing conversation about remote work sure on is just super enthusiastic, super knowledgeable. A decades of experience, one of the pioneers really off of working in the remote space and definitely within the area of remote recruitment. So that's Sharon coifed coming up in just a second. If you'd like to hire a virtual assistant or remote worker to help grow and scale your business, then check out www.thereistalent.com. Right, let's get on with a conversation with Sharon Sharon Kaufman is all about remote management. He has over two decades of experience running three companies 100% from his computer and at times with two toddlers in the room. He is the president of distant job a remote recruitment agency that focuses on soliciting full time remote workers worldwide. Along with a rapidly expanding new media company think remote. Chevron's organization has also created a successful podcast featuring interviews with tech industry professionals about remote management and leadership. During the wake of the COVID crisis. Shawn wrote a best selling book in multiple Amazon categories, surviving remote work, his goal was to help businesses thrive in this new environment, Kaufman has studied and researched not just how to operate remote companies, but also how to establish an exceptional work culture, one, which people love to work in. Sharon, welcome to the show! Sharon Koifman  02:04 Our pleasure. Thank you for having me, Paul. Really, Paul Urwin  02:08 really looking forward to this really looking forward to talking some more about remote work. What an exciting what an exciting topic. So Shawn, kick us off and tell us a little bit about you, please? Well, Sharon Koifman  02:20 so I have been working from my computer for the past 20 years. But back then it was not considered remote, who was just considered being lonely. But Joke aside, I'm saying 20. But I've been saying for five years. So it's probably 25 years, I rent two companies to run a web hosting company called Empire hosts, which I'd my servers in New Jersey and in Texas and my entire operation in India. So that company did some outsourcing. That was also part of the web hosting. Yeah, I mean, you couldn't do outsourcing back then. If you're when if you had an actual office in India, you had to do some outsourcing. Yeah. But then I realized that there is a little bit of a weakness in the industry and, and there is not enough emphasis on but just finding quality people that want a career that want to focus and become part of the amazing thing. Would it become my clients? Company. So I've decided to start this remote recruitment agency. And while I can't prove it, I believe I am, or distant job is the first remote recruitment agency in the world. And we are today I have a best selling book surviving remote work, and also our media company think remote. So find my life. Paul Urwin  03:40 Fantastic. Fantastic. All right, well take us back to the beginning of distant job. So you'd obviously been in, in business before you were an established entrepreneur. But how did how did distant jobs specifically come about? Sharon Koifman  03:53 So distant job started? As an evolution of my first company Empyreal, like I said, it was it was web hosting and outsourcing. And I, I having two offices in India, kind of managed to provide Mom and Pop solutions. I've noticed that there's a lot of companies that were willing to work with offshore company countries just to save money. That was great. Until I realized that some of this companies were outsourcing me or giving me to take care of some of their core products, the core skills and I said, you know why you're doing this? You're losing a little bit of you're losing a little bit of your, of your company, a company operation and I realized that that instead of taking on taking on projects, I should be able to focus on just producing people the work dedicated for those for those kids. mines. I really liked the model of people just being focused working in one company. You know, this industry, this international offshore industry, there's a lot of freelancers that do a lot of things. I felt that focus is is very important and a very strong component of making remote successful. So I decided to focus on just headhunting amazing people that want a job, a full time character driven job, even if they're remote. That's when we started the distant jump. Okay, Paul Urwin  05:34 fantastic. And so that's is that placing placing experts with clients in the US mostly? Or? Sharon Koifman  05:42 Americans? I'm Canadian myself. So it started a little bit in Canada. But yeah, to be honest, that I mean, that in Canada is, is 10% of the population of the United States. There's clearly love or business there. So we do there and also during the UK. Okay, Paul Urwin  06:01 and does this does this go back to before the pandemic, right, this distant job? How many years 20? Y'all you've been running distant jobs for 20 years now? Yes. Sharon Koifman  06:11 I, without a doubt. The first remote recruitment agency in the world? Yeah, amazing. Paul Urwin  06:18 All right. Well, this is fascinating. Okay, so. So what I'm really interested in right now is how it was back in the old days, if you like, because now, yeah, okay. You say remote recruitment agency, and a lot of people are hiring remotely. And there's lots of things going on online. But you know, 15 years ago, it was a completely different landscape. And I would have thought that there was a, obviously a big tendency to, for people to hire locally for companies to connect with recruitment agencies in London, in New York, etc, etc. So how did you how did you find that market? How did you create a space in that market? back then? Sharon Koifman  06:53 It was incredibly difficult. It was incredibly difficult because before COVID, or even, I mean, I'm talking about 15 years before COVID. The idea of somebody being productive outside the office, made no sense. Yeah, makes no sense. You know, yes, you can find the superstar consultants, because they're so smart. They're able to work from home. And it took many years I was I started before the science before the research before, bunch of researchers have shown that people working from home can be significantly more productive than people in the office, back then the idea that, that you that you can do anything that you can do anything without management was not was not a reasonable concept. And it was, for me, the bigger challenge was not to sell distant job was actually to sell the idea of remote work. This was the challenge. I didn't have much competitors back then. Yeah. It was really Hey, do you want a full time? person from a from another country? And people was like, why? And it's like, and it's and they and I said, first of all, you can save money. It's like, yeah, it's not worth the trouble. Yeah, yeah. Paul Urwin  08:20 So it was tough. So I mean, did you have you obviously had enough clients to keep going? I mean, I'm assuming I can get on to this in a minute. But I'm, I'm guessing you went through some stage of like, massive growth. But is it is it fair to say that back then it was it what you said it was difficult, but how did you get enough? How did you get enough clients to survive? And Sharon Koifman  08:40 yeah, just sell, sell, sell, sell, sell? I mean, I went to every conference, and I would say about 1% of the people got it. Paul Urwin  08:52 Okay. Okay. But, so you were working with that? 1%? That's amazing. I was working Sharon Koifman  08:58 with that. 1%. And we build a beautiful company. Yeah, we are. We're approximately 62 employees at this moment. So but it was just simple sales. I didn't need to sell this job. Like I said, I just needed to sell the idea of remote workers. And once they said, Okay, where do I find this company? I said, Ah, right here, right here....

Introduction: I In this episode, we're joined by Brad Josling, co-founder of MeditateHere.com, who shares his journey from working with iconic bands like NSYNC and Cypress Hill to becoming a meditation expert and entrepreneur. Insights and Discussion: Brad reflects on how Ekhart Tolle and others sparked his interest in mindfulness and wellness. Transitioning from the high-energy world of music to the realm of meditation, Brad recognized the profound impact of mindfulness on mental health and productivity. This realization led him to co-found MeditateHere.com, an innovative platform offering guided meditation sessions and resources for individuals seeking balance in their lives. In our conversation, Brad highlights the importance of micro meditations for remote workers. These short, focused practices provide an opportunity to pause, reset, and cultivate a sense of calm amidst the demands of remote work. By integrating micro meditations into their daily routines, remote teams can enhance their resilience, focus, and overall well-being. Furthermore, Brad shares insights into effective stress management strategies for remote teams. Drawing from his own experiences leading a distributed team of trainers and collaborators, Brad emphasizes the value of mindfulness in navigating challenges and fostering a culture of thoughtful response rather than reactive behavior. Thanks Brad for sharing your journey and expertise in micro meditations and stress management for remote teams! Be sure to check out the MeditateHere.com app for guided meditation sessions and resources to support your well-being. There is a 14-day free trial available to get you started! Direct links to the app- Apple   Google Stay tuned for more episodes where we delve into strategies for thriving in the remote work landscape.   Here is the full transcript: RBG Episode 5 Brad Josling SUMMARY KEYWORDS meditation, working, remote, talking, teachers, stress, meditate, brad, people, app, stress levels, put, developing, brands, entrepreneur, sitting, ideas, life, today, started SPEAKERS Brad Josling, Paul Urwin Paul Urwin  00:01 Welcome to remote business growth, your go to source for all things remote work, and business growth. Join us as we delve deep into the strategies, insights and success stories that will help you thrive in the remote work landscape. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a remote team leader, or simply curious about how to grow your business, this podcast is your gateway to unlocking your full potential. So get ready to embark on a journey of innovation and success. Hey there, Paul here and welcome to episode five of the remote Business Growth Podcast. Today, I'm talking with Brad jostling about micro meditation about stress levels that entrepreneurs and remote workers go through and how to find a solution to that. So how to really focus on your, your health and your wellness and your well being as an entrepreneur as a remote worker or a remote team leader. So a really, really important topic and Yeah, wonderful discussion with Brad that's coming up in just a second. Just a quick reminder that if you would like to hire a virtual assistant or a remote worker to grow your business, then head on over to www.thereistalent.com that's www.thereistalent.com right let's get cracking with Brad Brad Joslin is a Business Development Executive with deep experience in media, and entertainment. His experience spans working with top tier music talent, founding and producing music events, and developing strategic media executions with Fortune 100 brands. He first discovered the power of meditation through readings of Eckhart Tolle, and then attending a sangha in Toronto, struck by the opportunity to make meditation accessible to the everyday person. Brand sees its power as a foundational part of work and personal life. He is one of the co founders of meditate here, Brad, welcome to the show. Brad Josling  01:59 Oh, thanks a lot for having me. I'm excited to be here. Paul Urwin  02:02 Yeah. Great to have you here really looking to talk in a little bit about remote work and, and mental health and, and lots of other great topics as well. So tell me a little bit about your background brand, please. Brad Josling  02:13 Yeah, sure. I'll get started. My career sort of divided fairly neatly in half, but first half of it was in the music industry, actually working for record labels and managing bands and all sorts of fun stuff through my 20s and into my early 30s. And then I shifted gears into Dotto and Paul Urwin  02:33 you can't skip. You can't skip all of that. Come on. Come on. Give us a bit more on that. Yeah. Yeah, of course. That sounds amazing. Brad Josling  02:41 Yeah, I mean, I had like, I had the best time coming out of college. And then I worked for record labels right out of the gates and used to work for I basically represented them and Canada, working for artists like NSYNC and Backstreet Boys, and tulle and Cypress Hill, and wow, I had a wonderful I thought this was like the world. This is great. I get to work in a bar and going to events all the time. Yeah, I really, really enjoyed that. And then, you know, I sort of came through the age when Napster started and started to really tanked the music business. And at that juncture, I realized that needed to get more savvy on digital and I shifted into really sort of digital and brands. And so the second half of my career was really working with brands, programmatic advertising, entertainment, and brands and various startups, leading sales and marketing. And, and that's sort of like, that's been like the journey of my career up until we started the meditation business, which we'll talk about. Paul Urwin  03:49 Brilliant. Brilliant. Yeah. What a career. Fascinating, fascinating. All right. Well, tell us a little bit about the meditation business then. Yeah. Brad Josling  03:56 So I mean, maybe I'll start off just a little bit of the story of sort of how I evolved into it. You know, I've been meditating for probably, gosh, like, 15 plus years or something. Yeah. I discovered it through a variety of different places. But, you know, one writer that I really identified with was Eckhart Tolle, which he wrote The Power of Now and books like that. And that was really sort of eye opening to me of just this idea that, you know, almost like you are not your thoughts and being in the present moment and what that meant. It was kind of like, it's still such a simple idea, but it's quite groundbreaking when you spend time with it. So you know, I got really into meditation and and sat and singers and stuff like that and really kind of dove into it, different retreats and things like that, but it's been a part of my life really from 20 years and it would be a lot to like barely doing any, but it's always been something I could come back to you And then fast forward. I was at a large digital advertising firm, and I met my current business partner, Eric, who we were working together and turned out, we had a common interest in wellness and mental health. And he was just at that time starting to get into meditation and discovering it and really diving pretty deep into it, doing like, you know, 10 day silent meditation retreats. And so one night over beers when all good ideas come. He said, Look, I have this idea of meditation studios, and this is pre COVID. Okay. And, you know, like, I don't jump at ideas very quickly. But I was like, from all my background, I was like, yes, like, from a brand standpoint, no one had really taken a swing at developing meditation studios, lots of yoga studios, obviously, but no videos. So as fast entrepreneurs, we spun one up in about two months, we set up a meditation studio in the city that we live in Victoria, British Columbia, okay, in the nicest office building we could find. And it was through a friend of mine, that it was actually his family owned the office building, he was really into it. And so we set it up, we put together a collective of incredible meditation teachers, and we opened our doors. And the cool thing about it, just that experience to you know, that sort of started the path to where we are today is we had, there was such a high level of curiosity, even though there were apps like calm and headspace meditation was really starting to hit the mainstream, we got a huge amount of interest from HR teams, employees themselves from like tech firms and finance firms that were dealing with high levels of stress, right. And they were so interested in how meditation can help them so they would come down, sit with our teachers and get that experience. And that was like, I think that was sort of like our first sort of aha moment that, you know, in the work world, you know, we're all dealing with immense amounts of stress, and trying to find ways to deal with it. And so that was really the beginning. And then COVID hit, and everything stopped. And what didn't stop, in our opinion was stress. You know, everything sort of ramped up from there, it was already at a high level globally. There's a lot of studies to support that. But with COVID, so much uncertainty entered the world. And we were all isolated, right? Obviously, remote working took off. And we realized that that's where we started to really understand the beginnings of who we wanted to help and how we wanted to help them. We wanted to help people that were having, you know, very, you know, complex, busy lives, integrate meditation into their lives, and help them feel better. Because, you know, my personal, this is sort of my personal core belief is that we can't be at our best unless we feel our best, right. And there's lots of things that contribute to that, like eating well, and exercise and stuff. But certainly, putting focus on our mental state is really, really important. And that's what we're super focused. Yeah, ...

This episode features Ignacio Pinilla, who owns a British Swim School franchise. Ignacio has a wealth of experience in contact centers, communication, and franchise research. Join us as we delve into topics such as offshore and US-based virtual assistants, managing by objectives, the British Swim School franchise, and Ignacio's inspiring journey from corporate life to entrepreneurship. Discussion Highlights: Ignacio shares insights into the world of contact centers, their importance, and how effective communication is vital for success. The pros and cons of hiring offshore and US-based virtual assistants, and tips for choosing the right fit. How "Managing by Objectives" (MBO) can improve productivity and employee engagement. Ignacio's expertise on researching franchises, with a focus on the British Swim School franchise. Discover Ignacio's personal journey from a corporate career to entrepreneurship, including the challenges and rewards. It really is a great episode. Ignacio is so engaging and happy to share his experiences. Don't miss this one! Here is the full transcript: RBG Episode 4 SUMMARY KEYWORDS franchise, people, remote, started, ignacio, stateside, talk, work, contact centers, company, good, create, pandemic, franchisees, customer service representatives, give, technology, franchising, swim, nowadays SPEAKERS Paul Urwin, Ignacio Pinilla   Paul Urwin  00:01 Welcome to Remote Business Growth, your go-to source for all things remote work, and business growth. Join us as we delve deep into the strategies, insights and success stories that will help you thrive in the remote work landscape. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a remote team leader, or simply curious about how to grow your business, this podcast is your gateway to unlocking your full potential. So get ready to embark on a journey of innovation and success. Hey there, Paul, and welcome to episode four of the remote Business Growth podcast. So if you are interested in scaling or growing your business remotely, then well you're in the right place and I've got a fantastic guest for you today Ignacio Pinilla we talk about contact centers about communication about offshore and US based VAs about managing by objectives about investing in a franchise and about Ignatios transition from the corporate environment to becoming an entrepreneur. So it really is an action packed episode and I hope you enjoy it. If you are looking for a virtual assistant or for remote workers to help you grow your business, then check out there is talent.com the best virtual assistants and remote workers in US time zones. You can find out more at www dot there is talent.com right let's get cracking with Ignacio Ignacio Pinilla, who moved from Venezuela to New York and now lives in Barkley with his family brings a wealth of varied experiences to his role as the owner of a British Swim School franchise in Berkeley, California. He excels in building and leading diverse teams using the latest technology for both remote and in person setups. His background has given him valuable insights into creating a safe, enjoyable and educational environment for teaching swimming, and water safety. His franchise is part of the British Swim School Network renowned for their innovative swimming programs that prioritize safety and fun. To learn more about Ignacio has professional journey and his franchise, just search for Ignacio Penida, or British Swim School of Northern East Bay on LinkedIn, where you'll find insights into how franchises like Ignatios contribute to their communities through swimming education. Ignacio, welcome to the show.   Ignacio Pinilla  02:12 Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.   Paul Urwin  02:15 And I'm really excited to talk to you a little bit about your, your history, your your very interesting story, and a little bit about remote work, of course. So Ignacio, tell me a little bit about your background, please.   Ignacio Pinilla  02:27 Well, I'm originally from Venezuela. But I've been a bit of a vagabond throughout my not only my personal life, but also my career. I become interested in technology, which is where it's allowed a lot of the remote work that we see today. Very early on. I also wanted to study in the stage because it has modern management studies versus what I could achieve in Venezuela. So I eventually made my way to New York through brand University in Rhode Island. Started first an import export. But the.com Bubble came and I was hooked. I started selling Voice over IP that got me connected with contact centers. And all that it's involved in the transmission over the Internet Protocol.   Paul Urwin  03:23 You're in you're in contact centers for quite a while Weren't you in that in that area?   Ignacio Pinilla  03:27 Yes. I actually got my first taste of contact centers with the outsourcer for 311. So that showed me two parts of it. It shows me showed me a big scale contact center handling a 24/7 operation for 311 for New York City. That's the non emergency city services phone. And there was the launch we actually were there when the first call came in. And it was literally someone asking if what was that? What was that number for they had to see the billboard you know, nowadays we have a lot of this information. Obviously it's our fingertips. But this was the very beginnings. It says we're what I learned there then I went on to work on different corporations I work in a variety of industries for transportation where speed was key managing contact centers, but for messenger service as well as a long haul transportation. I also worked on employee recognition which also showed me that's when we first started I first really got an A taste of what remote work could be like when we were trying to serve as many industries and one of them was a cruise ship that we were servicing and they had to connect with us through very expensive satellite phones and emails was in its infancy. So we started customer support via via email. This is a little bit when The transformation of from calling them call centers started to be called contact centers become more of a multi channel, chat, they eventually came on board. And this is where the technology we started using to communicate with, with customers that were far away also started translated into the ability of not having to always bring the personnel into the office, I finally saw work with a large coffee manufacturer, that they have to support their large clientele which require the large workforce and we were running out of space in our offices in New York City. And we started using a very rudimentary technology. I mean, it had to be a proprietary app that was installed into computers. And we had to actually send that technician to the person's house to get it set up. Not like nowadays, where zoom has become commonplace and things like, well, we'll record the non now it says everywhere. Yeah, it's   Paul Urwin  06:06 amazing. The change, isn't it. It's just how the technology has facilitated. remote work, basically,   Ignacio Pinilla  06:14 I think also when I think the pandemic really pushed it to the forefront and show that it could be done in a grand scale before that we always did in a small scale. People were always scared ourselves to depart about management. It's like, oh, how do we control that they work and don't do the laundry site? Yeah, you manage by results. I, one of the reasons I wanted to come to the US was because I read Peter F Drucker is work. Management by objectives really resonated with me, not this, oh, you have to be on time, you have to be at work long hours to prove your worth. I believe that the results speak for themselves. And with remote work. That's really what you have to keep in mind, because you're not gonna see the person whether they're doing it at 11 o'clock at night, or 11 o'clock in the morning, you're gonna see the next morning that the study that you requested is absolutely focus on the results. Yeah, exactly. agree with that one. Yeah,   Paul Urwin  07:10 I think that's much better. Also, for the for the worker themselves, it gives them more flexibility. And one thing I've found, as times have gone by and flexibility has become a key component of what employers employees are looking for. Whether it's in the amount of vacation time that they have or PPO, or the ability to do remote work, I really think that pandemic then threw it at the forefront, right before the pandemic, I worked for a deposition company. And we were trying to convince them to people to do depositions via zoom, which are legal here in California. And there was a lot of reluctancy to it, people did not want to do it, which was a big headache, because they knew that we needed to get the physically the deposition the person to take the deposition to the place to do it, versus having them in this environmental switch from the position A to that position, in that position. See, and we were were they able to get more but the reluctancy was there. And there was zoom, which nowadays, we all talk freely about zoom calls and how common are and so on. You know, the technology was there, but it was something grand scale, like the pandemic that really forced people to try it. And they realize, Oh,   Ignacio Pinilla  08:31 crap, absolutely. Yeah, completely. Yeah. Brilliant, brilliant Ignacio, and in your in your career story. There's also this very interesting switch from extensive corporate experience in a number of different industries, a number of different companies over many years to now you you're going back to to entrepreneurship. And you're, you've started the or you're working at the British Swim School of Northern East Bay. So tell us a little bit about how I'm really interested in how that change came about. And then we can talk about it in a little more detail

In this enlightening episode, Paul delves into the world of virtual assistants, offering valuable insights on how to embark on the journey of hiring a virtual assistant (VA). Are you contemplating whether to scout for a VA directly or to engage the services of a virtual assistant agency? Join us as we explore these options and the essential factors to consider when making your choice. The Direct Hire Approach: Paul begins by dissecting the direct hire approach. This approach is not without its challenges. Finding the right VA can be time-consuming, and without the resources and expertise of an agency, you may face hurdles like conducting extensive interviews, assessing qualifications, and dealing with potential turnover. Working with a Virtual Assistant Agency: On the flip side, Paul explores the option of collaborating with a virtual assistant agency. This approach offers a different set of advantages and challenges: Streamlined Process: Virtual assistant agencies have established processes for matching clients with suitable VAs. They can save you time and effort in the recruitment phase. Access to a Talent Pool: Agencies often have a diverse pool of skilled VAs with varying specializations, allowing you to find the perfect fit more quickly. Backed by Expertise: Agencies typically have experience in vetting and training VAs, ensuring that the candidates they provide are qualified and competent. The Dilemma of Going Solo: Paul wraps up the episode by addressing a common dilemma many entrepreneurs face: the urge to do everything themselves. He highlights the pitfalls of trying to handle every task solo, from the risk of burnout to the missed opportunities for growth. By hiring a virtual assistant, whether directly or through an agency, you can offload tasks, gain more time for strategic planning, and ultimately scale your business more effectively. So, whether you opt for the direct hire approach or decide to collaborate with a virtual assistant agency, Paul's comprehensive insights will help you make an informed decision that aligns with your unique needs and goals. Don't miss out on the chance to enhance your productivity, free up your time, and bring balance to your professional life by incorporating a virtual assistant into your business strategy. Tune in now and take the first step towards optimizing your workflow!

In this insightful episode, Paul delves into the art of effectively managing virtual assistants (VAs) and remote teams. With the rise of remote work, this topic has become more critical than ever. Paul shares his extensive knowledge on various aspects of this subject, offering practical advice and valuable insights for listeners at all levels of experience. Paul talks about the fundamental importance of communication in the realm of remote work. He highlights the challenges of maintaining clear communication channels and suggests some of the right (and wrong) ways to go about this. Whether it's overcoming language barriers or addressing cultural differences, Paul emphasizes that effective communication is the cornerstone of a successful virtual team. Training VAs is a crucial component of their success. Paul discusses the importance of training and how to use free content and screenflow videos to get outstanding results. Motivation and engagement are central to the productivity of remote teams. Paul delves into the intricacies of creating a positive virtual team culture, where team members feel a sense of belonging and achievement. He also explores ways to empower VAs, providing them with autonomy while maintaining clear expectations. Paul also highlights the perils of micro-management and offers insights on how to avoid this pitfall. Trusting your team's abilities and expertise, setting key performance indicators (KPIs) for accountability, and finding the right balance between oversight and autonomy are key takeaways in this part of the episode. Shifting the focus from hours worked to results achieved is a mindset shift that Paul encourages. He discusses how tracking outcomes rather than time can promote productivity and work-life balance among remote team members. Tune in next time for more valuable insights on optimizing your business and team dynamics, and be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with your peers who can benefit from this discussion. Thank you for joining us, and until next time, keep leading your virtual team to success!

In today's digital age, remote work has become increasingly common, and building successful remote teams is more important than ever. In this episode, we dive deep into the key strategies and tips for creating a cohesive and productive remote team environment. Paul Urwin explores essential topics such as effective communication, providing constructive feedback, ensuring task clarity, boosting motivation, and providing training opportunities. Tune in to discover actionable advice for optimizing remote team dynamics, fostering collaboration, and achieving exceptional results, no matter where your team members are located. Whether you're a seasoned remote work pro or just starting to embrace this flexible work model, this episode will equip you with the tools and strategies needed to build a successful remote team.   Key Takeaways: The importance of clear and consistent communication in remote teams. Strategies for providing effective feedback to remote team members. Tips for ensuring task clarity and accountability. Motivation techniques to keep remote team members engaged and committed. The role of training and skill development in remote team success.