61) How a Lawyer/Electrician Couple Become Digital Nomads: David & Georgia' Story

Dave and Georgia used to work very traditional careers as a lawyer and electrician in New Zealand with a house and everybody’s dream of a white picket fence life, until they decided they wanted more. 

In today’s episode, I am interviewing my client Dave, and his wife Georgia on how they took challenges and seized them as life’s opportunities to become digital nomads. Dave thought his only way to travel and remote work was to become an English teacher until he found my program, while Georgia was laid off from her job. Now Dave transformed from a locked-in place electrician job to founding a marketing agency letting him and his wife travel the world and even meet me here in Bali for this live recording!

In this episode, we will also cover:

• How you can work full time and still pursue your dream of becoming a digital nomad 
• How to learn a new skill and create your dream digital nomad job from scratch 
• Why you shouldn’t settle for any career that doesn’t bring you joy  ( even for travel!) 
• Why TEFL isn’t your only option to travel the world and work 
• Dave and Georgia’s best advice for anyone wanting to leave their traditional jobs and travel the world as digital nomads 

Message me on Instagram: @christabellatravels
CODEWORD:  New Zealand Podcast

Chapters

• 0:07 Leaving the traditional careers behind // Georgia taking opportunity in being laid off
• 8:04 Why you shouldn't settle for a job you don't love ( even for travel!)
• 9:54 What is your Ikigai? // What is the career assessment?
• 15:57 How to learn a completely new skill and build your digital nomad dream job
• 21:21 Understanding the life you want does exist and that it is possible
• 29:26 Life now as digital nomads // The reality of being a digital nomad no one tells you
• 42:36 Dave and Georgia's best advice for anyone wanting to become digital nomads

Transcript

Christa: [00:00:00] Hey there and welcome to the Digital Nomad Life podcast. I'm your host Christa, also known as @christabellatravels on social media. And today I am in a live recording studio with one of my clients that I have worked with in my Digital Nomad coaching business. His name is Dave, and we are also here joined by his wife, Georgia.

Christa: And these two have come to Bali all the way from New Zealand, leaving some very traditional, and when I say traditional, I mean electrician and lawyer. Traditional kinds of lives sell your stuff for a bunch of your stuff, right? Like the house, everything, everything, uh, like revoked your residency. Only, only the cat is left behind.

Christa: So today, um, So excited to have you learn about their stories. It's so inspiring. We just got back from a couple, a few hours long, uh, lunch. And I just think [00:01:00] that their stories are really going to support some people out there, show you that the Digital Nomad lifestyle, no matter what kind of background you come from, is so possible.

Christa: So with that being said, um, I would love for each of you to do a little. Let's just do a brief introduction. I mean, I kind of already introduced you, but, uh, yeah, like what's, what's your deal, Dave? 

Christa: 

Dave: I'm Dave being an electrician and now I'm a Marketing expert for tradies 

Georgia: whoo hoo Hi, my name's Georgia. I am Dave's wife. Um, and I am a legal contract assistant. I help lawyers, um, with any extra workloads they have.

Georgia: Um, I was previously a lawyer. Um, and I also run a website that reviews video games for parents and caregivers. So just to help them understand what video games their kids are playing and whether they're safe and kind of look past the traditional ratings and see what, you know, they know their kids best.

Georgia: So they should have all the [00:02:00] information and then make a decision as to whether a game's appropriate for their kid. 

Christa: But yeah. So cool. Okay. So yeah, as I said in the intro, you both come from super traditional. Kind of, uh, yeah, professional backgrounds. And somehow now here you are as a digital nomads living in Bali.

Christa: And, uh, on our lunch, you were just telling me that you've got some big plans to travel around for the rest of the year before, before Christmas. So where else are you planning on going? 

Dave: we're planning to go to Malaysia and then Thailand, um, for this year. And then after that, Maybe Japan and we'll see where we go from there.

Georgia: Yeah, we certainly don't have a set destination, but we are really keen just to, you know, take this opportunity to travel the world, work in our businesses and kind of find our home, our new home together. 

Christa: Yes. Okay. So I want to zoom into a little word that you just said there was this opportunity because I have a suspicion that there are a lot of people out there listening, [00:03:00] listening to this podcast being like, wow, the digital nomad life is so cool.

Christa: And I would love to have that, but like, when will my opportunity. Come up. So I would love to hear the story. Um, and maybe you guys can tell the story together. I don't know if you're married. I'm sure you have your way of communicating and telling stories together, or maybe just, it'll be one of you either way.

Christa: I would love to hear. The story from the very, very beginning of how did you transition from these super traditional careers into digital nomads living wherever the hell you want? 

Georgia: It's definitely a pretty loaded question. Let's hear it. Yeah. But, um, yeah, we. We've always loved to travel. That's been one of our biggest common shared loves.

Georgia: We'll travel as much as we can. Unfortunately with COVID we had to kind of settle down. We bought the house, we had our jobs, you know, it was all good. Um, but you know, [00:04:00] you don't really want to live life just good. You want to explore it and try new things. That's what I think. Absolutely. And it just came to a kind of a breaking point.

Georgia: Um, you know, I guess for you, your job wasn't really. improving much. Um, I unfortunately got made redundant. and Dave is very supportive and said, Hey, take this opportunity to try something different, build a business. I don't know, do something. 

Christa: Okay. So an opportunity, the opportunity was actually losing your job.

Georgia: Yeah. Which is just crazy. Cause you wouldn't think about losing your job. Something so positive and amazing could come out of it. Um, you know, and I got a call the next day being like, Hey, do you want to, do you want to be a lawyer again? Um, we can sit down at lunch. And I talked to Dave about it and just said, no, that was crazy.

Georgia: Cause you know, you think, Oh, I need money. I need stability. But when the opportunity comes up and everything feels like it's lined up and you feel like you've hit that [00:05:00] wall And you finally that walls come down you just go, you know, screw it Yeah, just try something new that we know we both want to do.

Dave: Mm hmm. Yeah, 

Christa: cool So, um, so basically I talk about the universe a lot. By the way, I also lost my job a long time ago. And for me, it was, I can look back and be like, the day that I lost my job was the day that all my angels were like, we got you girl. Like, we're getting you out of here. Like, screw the system.

Christa: Um, so I can see that maybe your, the universe was like really having your back in that moment being like, I know that you think that you want this lawyer job, but like, trust us, we've got better. Bigger plans for you. and then luckily you have a super supportive husband who's like, yeah, babe, go for it.

Christa: Um, Dave though, that wasn't really your situation, right? You actually kind of had to make your own opportunity. So can you tell me a little bit about how you went from being an electrician to having a marketing agency? 

Dave: [00:06:00] So Georgia said, let's go traveling. And I said, Whoa, don't just go traveling and, you know, have thousands and thousands of dollars, just to spend, you know, like people do it in a way that they are able to earn money and travel it.

Dave: And I knew sort of that, like some people did it, but I didn't know really anyone personally that did do it. So I thought, well, like how. How do people travel to places like Southeast Asia and earn money while they travel? I thought, oh, English teachers were one of it. so I signed up to a TEFL, TEFL degree.

Dave: And so we started with that. And, um, then I thought, oh, okay. Well, there's also another opportunity for me to do electrical engineering degree within capable NZ, which is like a New Zealand government run agency. 

Christa: But that wouldn't have been remote, right? 

Dave: That was not remote. That only, a part of the reason was because that was to benefit my [00:07:00] electrical career and also to supplement my English teaching because I needed a university degree to become an English, to be an English teacher.

Dave: and then after that I thought, well, now I've got my English teaching degree with my university. Is there any other way that, you know, I, I see heaps of people, you know, like YouTubers and all these other people that, um, earn thousands of dollars. How do they do it? Like, how, like, how do they do it?

Dave: So I thought, listen to a few podcasts here and there. And then we sort of stumbled upon Krista and, yeah, I signed up to your course and, um, 

Christa: Love it. Um, okay. So just a few little golden nuggets that I want to draw out of that story. So, I too, also at the beginning of my nomad journey was like, Oh, I'll just be an English teacher. Like it just, it almost felt like this  boom. Like this is, this is the answer. The 

Georgia: easiest thing to kind of quickly get done and you can go.

Georgia: Yes. And it's not too [00:08:00] difficult. It's almost a guaranteed job. Totally. There's so many opportunities there. 

Christa: Yes. that was for sure my, uh, logic thinking about it too. And I think a lot of people, and I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with English teaching, but I didn't want to be an English teacher because I wanted to be an English teacher.

Christa: Did you want to be a teacher? 

Dave: No. 

Christa: No. Okay. So, um, yeah, we're, I think this podcast and like everything that I talk about is really like that. Your career. Is such a huge part of your life. And we deserve to be doing work that we're good at, that we like doing, that we feel like we're really contributing in the way that makes the most sense for us, not just like making money.

Christa: And I think that, we were kind of talking about this at lunch a little bit, just about the difference between being an entrepreneur and an employee. And I think the English teaching concept, maybe the reason why so many people just immediately think about it is because it's like, oh, I can see. Stay in my little employee vibe.

Christa: like to stay in the employee [00:09:00] mindset while also traveling and doing, doing the thing. Um, so, you know, I think that's good. It's like a good segue, like a good bridge to be like, okay, I am this person doing the employee thing and I want to be there. So what's the fastest way?

Christa: Then we think about English teaching, but then ultimately we realize, or at least you and I both realize, all of us realized that actually English teaching really isn't the vibe. So, so yeah, so you got your TEFL, so did I. And then you were like, actually, no, I want to do something else. Um, so did you know what you wanted to do when, we first started working together?

Christa: I know the answer, but I just want to hear you say it. 

Dave: Um, I was sort of like a deep dark pit. I knew I was going to leave. I knew I was going to hand my resignation to work, um, within a few months. I had my English teaching there, but I just, there was, I just didn't really, I knew there was something [00:10:00] else I could do and I knew there was something else that was sort of aligned with what was sort of my core, core beliefs and what my purpose was, but I didn't know what it was.

Dave: So then that's what I felt like Chris really, really helped me with was understanding. What are my skill sets? Like, what am I good at? And, ultimately, like, what is my, what is my ikigai? and that, your ikigai is basically, like, your life's goal. purpose in a way. Oh, nice. Purpose. What? How would you explain it?

Dave: Good guy. 

Christa: So, um, it could got IKIGAI maybe is how you spell it. If anybody isn't familiar with the concept. but basically there's these four circles that intersect to make like a Quadruple Venn diagrams kind of thing, and it's what you're good at, what you can be paid for, what the world needs, and what I think makes you happy.

Christa: Um, what, like what you enjoy. And if you can somehow combine all of those things, then you end up with this [00:11:00] thing called Ikigai, which is kind of, I think I, I see it as a harmonious, meaningful life. so For both of us, as an English teacher, it's like we could do it. The world needs it. So check, check, but then what about the other ones?

Christa: Like, are we going to enjoy it? And is it something that's like bringing meaning to our lives? And maybe, maybe not. So, um, yeah, I talk about Ikigai a lot in my teachings as a digital nomad coach. By the way, if this is the first time you're ever hearing my voice or learning about me or the Digital Nomad Life Academy, I help people become digital nomads.

Christa: Obviously that's what we're talking about here. Um, so I talk about the ikigai a lot in my teachings. And, uh, yeah, Dave, it sounds like you were maybe familiar with the concept of ikigai and you knew that English teaching wasn't going to quite hit it. but then it's like, if you don't know the What you can do or what the, or what you could be paid for, then it's [00:12:00] kind of hard to achieve.

Christa: It could guy, because you just don't know what your options are. Um, so actually, could you just share a little bit with the audience about what that process was like? So coming into the program, not knowing what you were going to do, having an electrician background. And then ultimately landing on what you have now, a marketing agency.

Dave: I had no idea what sort of what to expect, coming into the course. Um, obviously we had a few, I had a few meetings with Krista and then got. Somewhere down the track in the course and then boom, all this homework. And, 

Georgia: um, but 

Dave: no, that was, I would actually say that was probably one of the, one of the best parts of part of the courses was that just going through and, and diving deep into my past and, and what, what skills that I have.

Dave: And I'm going to say skills, not just like. Oh, maybe like a video editor or like web designer or anything like that. But these can be like soft [00:13:00] skills whether or not you're a good speaker or public speaking or anything like that And diving deep into what you're good at.

Dave: and what you're not good at so doing that really really helped find My sort of ICA guy was, and I think we sort of came down to, I was doing, I started off doing video editing, and going down that path, and I sort of chose a niche which was tradies, which I, I'm an altritian, I come from a tradie background, and I wanted to help tradies with, sort of like, their video editing, to help improve their image online.

Dave: And then I sort of went down the course a bit further on and I found that That wasn't quite what tradies Needed so much. It went more down to the web design and marketing side of things that That they needed and there was competition there. And one thing that you will say is that If there's competition there in the market It's a [00:14:00] viable solution.

Dave: You can make money from it. don't try to reinvent the wheel and come up with this brand new thing. Um, yes, you can choose maybe a different niche or something along the lines of that, but, yeah, go with something that works and improve it. 

Christa: Okay. So again, pulling out the golden nuggets from what you just said.

Christa: basically came into the program and if anybody doesn't know how I work, the process that Dave is talking about. offer something called a career assessment and I'm asking you so many questions like Dave said, so many of your soft skills. Like, how do you feel about public speaking?

Christa: Or do you prefer to be behind, behind the scenes? Are you a right brain person? A left brain person? Do you like math and spreadsheets or do you prefer art and whatever? So you, we do a full inventory of your soft skills. I. take a full inventory of your career history. I ask you about your major life stories and like what you learned from them.

Christa: And like, we're really, really, really going deep. So that [00:15:00] is why when people come to me and they even have an electrician background or whatever, something that you would never think could be relevant. I just, I just really hold the belief that Everybody has something. And even if, you already had some video editing skills, I remember.

Christa: And I remember pulling that out and being like, oh yeah, I can see that you're interested in this and you like it and whatever. I know that you might not have had a full stack marketing knowledge at the time, but what I could see in the career assessment was that you had the qualities of being interested in learning it.

Christa: Um, and you had this really interesting background of. working as an electrician and, if you're American, you might not know the term tradies. So it's just basically like, like, uh, like anything kind of blue collar sort of 

Dave: electrician plumber. 

Christa: Yeah. Like all that, all that stuff. Um, so that is such an interesting niche.

Christa: So basically what we did was we took some skills that you did have with some things that you were [00:16:00] interested in learning with a network that you had access to. And pulled it all together. And now, uh, your shirt has a great little logo on it. Trade vision media with the coolest logo that I know you designed so creative.

Christa: Um, and yeah, now you've got this marketing agency for tradies and I know you've had to fill in some knowledge gaps. But can you tell me a little bit about this process? Because I'm guessing that if there's an electrician out there and you're like, okay, well, yeah, he probably already knew something about marketing and whatever, like, can you talk to this person and just tell them what they need to hear?

Dave: I think the hardest part for me was just not knowing, like, obviously If you're a guy, you probably think of like, ah, crypto and, um, like investing into shares and, and all of that, but if you just choose something and go deep into it, it could just be video editing, it could be, marketing for whoever, it could be, anything out there, if you just [00:17:00] choose something and go for it, Your eyes will open to so many possibilities, which is out there.

Dave: Like, let's take for instance, marketing online, there's things like SEO. Okay, what, what entails SEO? There's things like backlink, citations, on pages, uh, copywriting. You go further down, down the chain into things and you can become an expert in that particular realm. And you don't have to know everything about marketing.

Dave: You just need to know that one particular thing and become an expert. Because, let's take, for instance, um, you know, SEO Backlinks. you just become an expert in that one area. Where as a business owner. Who's, who's running like a multi million dollar business. They don't have six months to learn the SEO backlinks.

Dave: They don't have time for that. Whereas you do and you can create a business on that. Then that's just, one of the million ideas out there. and obviously if you come from a tradie background, You, you know, you only see what's right in front of you. [00:18:00] Which is the tools and digging the trench and climbing through the roofs.

Dave: And, 

Christa: I love what you just said about 

Dave: opening your third eye. 

Christa: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh my God. The explosion of like, there are literally a million things it's such a powerful, powerful, powerful mindset shift to have as a business owner, and especially as a remote business owner, because when you do think about remote business in this way, now.

Christa: If for whatever reason you don't want to have a marketing agency or whatever, like now that you have this perspective, this is literally the most valuable thing when you can actually just see the opportunities and understand the concept of niching, then it's like you actually now are empowered to create Any, any one of the billion possible businesses that are out there.

Christa: So Georgia, you also have a very niche business as well. 

Christa: Very kind of similar scenarios. You were made redundant, did the TEFL. So I really connected with you and what you [00:19:00] were saying. And it was really nice.

Georgia: I just sit there listening, you know, even kind of, living vicariously through you. That's what I'm trying to say, you know Even down to liking your podcast and what you pack. I'm like, oh, yes, I'd pack that and yes I wouldn't pack that. I remember the little black dress.

Georgia: You've got a little black wrap dress. You've always got a pack So I still have that dress. Yeah And yeah, just living vicariously through you and going. Oh, that's so cool And then showing it to Dave and saying like, look, she did it. Like she did it. So why is she teaching? And then she fell into, you know, you worked hard and to your current role.

Georgia: I'm like, well, she can do it. Can we? Yes. You know, and Dave's like, why not? I support this. Let's go. Like, so it, yeah, it's fully opened my eyes to it. Just a different way of living. And it was just, yeah. Yeah. Why not? What have we got? There was a lot to lose, but there [00:20:00] wasn't as well, because there was everything to gain.

Dave: You know, 

Georgia: We had to sell a house. We had to get rid of a lot of stuff. But when you go into this, you know, this lifestyle, we don't even say experience because we're not finished. We're continuing this, this is our lifestyle. It's just, it's so different and eye opening and amazing. And, yeah. Limitless opportunities.

Georgia: I like squirreling anyway. Love it. Yeah, and it was awesome because, you know, again, I got to kind of experience your program even though I wasn't signed up for it, you know. I was sitting there, you know, listening in and, you know, helping Dave with his worksheets and homework and going, Oh, that's so cool.

Georgia: Oh, I'd be this. And, you know, so I learnt a lot just being right next to Dave. You know, he'd be excited and be like, Oh, I like this today. And yeah, I had a really great conversation with Krista about this. So it was just, yeah, it was really nice. [00:21:00] 

Christa: Yeah. You were basically in the program by proxy. Yeah. Yeah.

Christa: That's why I was like, when we were at lunch, I was like, you have to be in the podcast too. Like you can't, you're, you're like everything in this, in this story. cause the idea initially sparked with you. Right. So, you know, obviously you have a super supportive and very receptive husband, but ultimately it was this moment when you were like, Oh shit, like, okay, lost my job.

Christa: And okay, we're going to look at this as an opportunity. So I love the whole concept. First of all, you need to understand that the life you want is like a thing. Yeah, it's possible. Like that it even exists. Basically when you travel, you become more creative because humans basically our whole life and all of our knowledge is based on Our ancestors, like what they learned and what they were taught.

Christa: And so everything that we know, we're never reinventing the wheel. We're always just building upon what already exists. So when we have a lot of, uh, [00:22:00] vision as to what already exists. It allows us to just add a little bit more. And I think that's why just knowing the term digital nomad just opens up your eyes so much to what could even be possible.

Christa: We were talking about this at lunch as well, where I was like, Oh yeah, I met these people that are raising their kids on a boat and this and that. And then it's like, wow, that's a great idea. I'm like, let me expand on that. Okay. So anyway, I'm ranting, back to your story. So there was this moment where you were like, okay, this is an opportunity and I am a lawyer living in New Zealand.

Christa: Then what, what happened 

Georgia: next? I definitely had a different story today of how, you know, actively sought out, how do I make this work? For me, it was, you know, I had my month off. I played a lot of video games, far too many. And then, uh, you know, Dave and I kind of sat down and we were just like, what do I do?

Georgia: You know, like, I've got to make some [00:23:00] money, I want to contribute, but what can I do? I can go back to law. I can, I can do whatever really, but what kind of, should I be doing or what do I feel is right? And Dave was just like, you should start your own business. And I was like, what, like, where, what, how, what, like, where do I even start?

Georgia: and again, just getting out and about, enjoying my hikes, listening to my podcasts. And it just kind of clicked one day, and I was like, I really like playing video games. And, you know, I had a conversation with a co-worker once, and she's got two beautiful daughters. And she just was like, I have no idea what they should be doing.

Georgia: And I thought of that moment and I was like, oh, why don't I help educate? Other parents and to make their own decisions about this stuff. 

Dave: Hmm. 

Georgia: And so yeah, my website game on GG was born What is it game on GG game on GG go check it out, 

Christa: folks 

Georgia: And then a couple months, yeah, I've worked [00:24:00] really hard on that really kind of slogging away building that up slowly and then a couple months later Some of my old law colleagues reached out to me.

Georgia: They go We've just on our own. It's chaotic. Can we please have some help? Is there any chance you could come into the office? Or if I send you some things, we could really use the help. And I was like, oh, okay, um, sure. And then I did that for about a week. And then they were like, oh, so where do we pay you?

Georgia: And I was like, Oh, um, uh, okay. Yeah. This, this bank account. Yep. Okay. And they're like, Oh, cool. And is there GST? And I was like, uh, no, and it just opened up a whole new side of it. Cause I've always been an employee and never been self employed. So I was like, Oh my gosh, I've got to think about tax. I've got to think about all this stuff.

Georgia: So I was like, uh, give me one week, uh, just to sort it out. So quickly [00:25:00] I booked an appointment with an accountant. And What do I do? And it wasn't even that in the back of my mind, I was also going, but I also kind of want to travel. So can I do this stuff overseas? you know, what's going on? so I got all the answers, set everything up within a week and I'm like, cool, I'm a contractor now, um, that just happened.

Georgia: So that really kind of just, yeah, it literally just happened. And I was like, okay, cool. And then we finally went on a big trip and I was like. I was focusing a lot on my website and the contracting was just kind of, just a nice income coming in. And then I kind of, Dave and I were talking, we're like, Oh, we should probably push something, get a bit more money coming in.

Georgia: And I literally went to Dave, I'm like, well, if I was Krista looking at my business, she would say, Thank you. You've got something that works. Why not just move that forward? Yeah, so I had that, you know, what would Krista do at that moment? [00:26:00] Okay, I'm gonna invest more time and energy into that and yeah now I'm in that process of really trying to upscale 

Dave: That 

Georgia: and it's going really well so far so still lots of room for improvement, but that's nothing bad I think that's Hell yeah.

Christa: Hell yeah. 

Dave: I 

Christa: feel like it's so depressing when we're in a corporate environment and then we feel like we don't have any room for improvement. It feels so bad. You're just like, it's so long until I retire. Like what am I supposed to do? Like just stay stuck. Um, so yeah, I have this concept that I think about all the time now of the corporate ladder versus the entrepreneur jungle gym.

Christa: So like the corporate ladder is like. You just literally one rung at a time. And it's a straight up vertical, like you just keep going. And then sometimes you hit a plateau or a glass ceiling. And if you hit it, then. You either fall off the ladder by quitting or, or getting fired or whatever. and then you [00:27:00] have to start on a new ladder if you want to progress.

Christa: But when you're an entrepreneur, and I think this is true for all of us, right, it's like, as long as you just kind of get started, which is what you both did, so you took different routes. Like, um, I feel like, yeah, Georgia, your, your path was kind of, It's a very, very intuitively built business, actually.

Christa: It's kind of like listening to the universe. You very much, yeah. The universe tells me what to do. Yeah. Yeah, like, you're like, the universe says, Okay, no more being a lawyer. Okay, the universe says, Hey, some of these people need this thing. The universe says whatever. Yeah, very. So, like, love that, like, really just, like, receiving guidance.

Christa: Dave, your approach is totally different. It's like, okay, what is my objective and what is my desired outcome? Okay. How do I go from here to there? Okay. Here's the fastest path, hire a coach, just get the support and just like light speed. Like literally you, you built your business so fast.

Christa: So yeah, just very different, uh, approaches to changing your life. but for both of you, it's like, [00:28:00] just because you started a business as a contractor, for lawyers, just because you're starting a business as doing marketing for tradies. It doesn't mean that you can't pivot or scale or even phase yourself out of the business.

Christa: Like you could even sell your business someday. Like there's so many places and opportunities and ways to market and just like. The whole world is your oyster within your career and now literally in your lives. Love that. 

Georgia: Yeah. And I always think Dave is just absolutely incredible for what he's done because he's given me the time to work on the things that I've ended up doing.

Georgia: I've been really fortunate that I've had that. break at that time. Dave worked a full time job with, you know, just completing TFL and working full time to do a degree and still working full time to then doing a coaching business and still working full time. So he's, you know, saying, Oh, but I need money.

Georgia: I need to work full [00:29:00] time, you can still make it happen. That's, and that's what Dave's just absolutely incredible for. Like he did everything. Like, It's insane to me. I don't know how he did it. Like he did so well, but 

Dave: lots of sleep.

Christa: Love it. Well, great job, Dave. Great job to both of you. wow. Yeah. So cool. So guys, the world is your oyster now, so you're free. And, um, we talked a little bit about this at lunch, but I think Maybe the people listening will be curious. Like, what was that? Like, did you have a moment or if you can just like roll back the clock, like a few months previously to this moment when you were like, what are we going to do with this now? Like now that we've, we're kind of set ourselves free or like, you know, your business is established enough that you feel safe enough to quit the job and sell the house. And yeah. Can you just tell me a little bit about what that experience [00:30:00] was like of just really kicking off this nomad life?

Christa: Like, it's crazy. No,

Georgia: it took a lot to get to that moment. You know, I think we'd planned to leave a year earlier than we, you know, Okay, actually ended up doing um, but when we finally booked that plane ticket, we were just going oh my god What have we done? Yeah 

Dave: You always feel that sense of being afraid and up until that point for me, I would say when I took on a few of my clients and you know started doing some work for them.

Dave: Obviously I was doing it for free because I needed to build up that skill set, but once you've completed You know one or two of your clients. you go. Oh this thing can actually actually work and Now you've got some experience behind you And then that's when you go when you start charging for some of it you go Oh, this thing's actually starting to gain some traction, and then you go Oh but to get to that point, there is [00:31:00] a lot of work to get to that point.

Dave: Um, and I would say having a coach like Krista just helps fast track that and Krista's not gonna do the work for you. she's not gonna hold your hand and pull you over the finish line. It's more gonna be, she's gonna be cheering from the sides. A lot of it's a mental game as well. Like it's not just putting in the work. A lot of it's the mental game because some days you'd be gone, you feel like, why did I leave my job? This is the worst decision ever. And then the next day you'd go, this is amazing. Then the next day you go, Oh my God.

Dave: Like, so it's a, it's a mental game. 

Georgia: And you do get very mixed reviews when you tell people what you're doing. So a lot of the time you want to keep quiet because it's, You just don't get the kind of feedback you're hoping for. And you know, people go, Oh yeah, we'll see you in six months. Or, you know, it's, it's very mixed.

Georgia: You know, while we did get love and support, a lot of us still think, Oh, how's your trip going? It's like, it's not a trip. Um, we literally renounced [00:32:00] our

Georgia: very mixed reviews. Some people are super supportive. Some people are like, Oh, okay. You're in crazy land thinking you can work from your computer, and they don't realize it's actually, like, it's doable. And it 

Dave: is doable, because you come over to a place like, in Bali, just one location, there's, like, so many other places in the world, and you just go to a cafe, and you see people, and you go, Look at all these people working on their laptops and you go, this is, it's real.

Dave: Like did we miss 

Christa: the boat? Like how long has this been around for? Yeah. You guys were telling me about a moment that you had in a cafe. Can you just tell that little story? 

Dave: Oh yeah. We were here for like two weeks and we went to the gym. And then after that we decided to do some, cause we got a little work schedule.

Dave: So we decided to do some work at a cafe and we're sitting down there. Again. Look at all these people, like 

Christa: Like how many people? Probably 

Dave: like 50, 50 to 60 people just sitting 

Georgia: It was [00:33:00] packed, like 

Dave: And 

Georgia: we're just like, oh, what? We've 

Dave: missed the boat, like, like But, you know 

Georgia: Better late than never Yeah, yeah, better late than never is what we say, but we're just like How did all these people know about this?

Georgia: And we didn't, like Did we get everything late because we're in the corner of the world or? Yeah, it was very eye opening because you're like, oh my gosh, and it just further helps you affirm that this is a real thing. You know, this is an actual thing. Lifestyle you can live. Look at all these people doing it.

Georgia: If they can do it, why can't, why 

Christa: can't we, 

Dave: You know? 

Christa: Yeah, I think that, um, myself and I know both of you like to use the word black sheep earlier when we were talking earlier today. and probably whoever you are listening to this too, like maybe you also kind of identify as a black sheep in your family or in your friend group or in your society or whatever.

Christa: And so when you are this like. Quote, black sheep, maybe in your herd of sheep, then [00:34:00] you're looking around you and you're just like, Oh, I guess I'm, I'm a weirdo and I'm, I'm different and I don't fit in here. And everybody else is kind of like, yeah, dude, like you don't fit in. Like this is, that's weird of you to want that.

Christa: Or that's crazy of you to think that, or that's unrealistic of you to believe that you could have this. Like what you were saying, the way that everybody's responding to you, but then you. When you actually exit from your little sheep herd and then you just go find other pastures Then you see all of these black sheep and like yeah It's just it's a little sad that we don't have access to that at home like Where we are literally like one out of maybe one in a million, maybe one in a hundred million, I don't know what the statistics are ratio is for like digital nomads to regular people, but it's little.

Christa: Um, but then yeah, when you can see that actually just because you're one in a million in your hometown, you're not one in a million in the world. And then [00:35:00] just when you see that other people are really doing it and that's why I'm so passionate about this podcast and like, just. It just makes me so happy when I see the numbers go up and when I'm like, yes, people are learning, like they're realizing that it's possible.

Christa: And it's not just me. It's like, you guys are 

Georgia: like thinking about it. It sounds crazy, right? You've, you know, he was a senior electrician. I was a lawyer. We've both done great at our jobs. And suddenly we're like, nah, you know, like, especially at our ages, you know, like. Just to step away from that, people do think you're actually crazy.

Georgia: They're like, why you've got a stable income, you've got a house, you've got everything, and you're just gonna kind of throw it away. And it's like, well, you're not throwing it away, you're kind of converting it to something that will make you happier because you're doing what you want to do. Um, but yeah, you definitely get some crazy looks and they go, really?

Dave: Yeah, 

Georgia: It made us really happy. And so. See the rest of the world [00:36:00] and go, Ooh, we might live here now, you know, we've just started, but yeah, there's so much to learn so much to see. And yeah. 

Christa: Yeah. You were telling me a little bit about, uh, you didn't use this word, but let's say like a five year plan, for example.

Christa: Probably. Yeah, probably. Yeah. 

Georgia: Like, can you tell me a little bit about that? Yeah. So we're going to, like Dave was saying, we're going to travel a bit more, say in Malaysia, Thailand, And possibly South Korea, Japan, haven't quite decided yet. But, yeah, we're really wanting to kind of have maybe kids within the next couple of years.

Georgia: And, you know, with that adds another layer of, you know, where can we keep doing what we're doing, but we can afford it, and we're safe for kids, or great for kids to grow up. And, you do have to be realistic as well. And while we're bringing in incomes, it's not, you know, A significant amount, you know, um, so sometimes we've got backup plans to make sure, you know, if it doesn't go great, you know, [00:37:00] can we do something in the meantime to supplement?

Georgia: So we've been talking a lot about that. 

Dave: Yeah, I think, I think like, you know, just everyone on social media and the like, um, they make it out like being a digital nomad is you just. Leave your job and then tomorrow you're taking a plane ticket to somewhere.

Dave: That's the reality. That's not reality. No, it's not reality. There's a process to getting to that stage where you leave your job and You don't have to be earning like a ton of money to be able to do this traveling It's just you've got something there that's working and then you can always You Improve on that and also for us having sort of some backup plans With me being an electrician.

Dave: I can always That's that's my backup plan B. So having a backup plan I hope I don't have to use a backup plan, but as it helps the mental game Moving forward with my business 

Georgia: and even with our [00:38:00] backup plans. We still want to keep moving forward with our remote Businesses, you know, it's not like oh, we'll give it all up and go back to being an electrician and a lawyer. We definitely don't want that.

Christa: so To summarize, it sounds like you're just all in fully committed.

Christa: This is the plan. This is what you're doing. And you've really taken action on this commitment. Like I think anybody can see that you literally sold your house. Like you, um, renounced your residency in New Zealand and you've just done all these things where it's like. You're just only moving ahead.

Christa: And yeah, maybe there are some plan B's where you can like to take a little rest along the path and build some extra income if, if you really need to. But, um, I just love to ask the listeners actually, what you think the success rate would be for Georgia and Dave, if they were all in. Knowing that, yeah, maybe we have to take a break once in a while.

Christa: Like maybe [00:39:00] we'll go back and, you know, work for a few months or something while we continue to continue building our business, what the success of them would be making this a thing where they're actually making like great money abroad or from anywhere versus being like, yeah, let's just try this for a year.

Christa: If it works great. If it doesn't work, doesn't work. Like, obviously you're gonna have more success with the first one with that mentality and, um, something, I think there's this belief that people have a misconception that people have that digital nomads have a fear of commitment. But I actually believe that commitment is, commitment is freedom.

Christa: Like if you are not committed, you're not going to have the freedom. It's when you're half assing something, which is when you're like allowing yourself to be. To not have that freedom. So I just love that you both are all in. And to me, like, that's all, that's all I need to know to know [00:40:00] that we're probably going to end up having an episode too, like in a year from now, uh, where we're like, okay, let's recap, like episodes, whatever.

Christa: I think this will be episode 60. This might be 63 or 65, whatever, somewhere in the sixties. Uh, maybe we'll be on episode one, something, and we'll be like, yeah, little benchmark, what, what's happened since. And, uh, I just feel so, so confident that both your businesses are going to take off. Like what we were talking about earlier at lunch too, which by the way, Dave, you mentioned something where you were like, yeah, I'm not making amazing money right now, but you also only had the idea of your business for like a month.

Christa: Six months, let alone having anything built, let alone having any, having the skills, let alone having any kind, just anything at all, like it literally didn't even exist as a thought. That long ago. So already, I, I mean, I think that you've come so, so, so far. [00:41:00] And, um, what we were talking about earlier is just the scalability of both of these businesses.

Christa: and yeah, just like what the future holds. And I did make a comment earlier where I was like, yeah, in a few years, like you, you just be making millions and you're like, Oh, maybe, but I mean it like, like for reals, both of you are kind of doing this thing where you're Well, I guess you're kind of contracting right now in Georgia, but, both of them are highly suitable for an agency model.

Christa: And if you're totally booked out with clients, you also can just keep raising your prices and raising your prices. And as you keep, you know, developing your skillset in marketing, Dave, you can just keep adding higher and higher, quality skills and just, you can, both of these things can be scaled to the moon.

Christa: Scale and adapt and just. 

Georgia: Revise what's happening and build from there, you know, it's not stagnant. It's always moving. It's always growing. So yeah, we always check in with each other, check in with the businesses, bounce ideas off each other and just go, Oh, what can make it better? You know, either financially or [00:42:00] productivity wise and yeah, just scale and grow.

Georgia: Love it. 

Dave: And that's one thing as well. Like when you're an employee, if you're, you know, pumping out 110 percent every day, you're improving processes here, here and there. You're just pumping out more work. You're not, you're not, gaining anything. Whereas running your own business, being an entrepreneur or even a freelancer, improving a process cuts down on time, which is inadvertently to a pay rise.

Dave: So it's, it, there's a lot of benefits to being like a freelancer entrepreneur. you just gotta put in the work if you're a freelancer. You're used to being an employee, that's, just super lazy at work, you know, if you're wanting to transition into this, you've got to put in, put in the work.

Dave: But in saying that, if you do find your, your ikigai, your, your true life's meaning, you're going to put in the work anyway, because it's, it's what you're meant to do. 

Christa: Yeah. cause you like it. 

Dave: Cause you like it. For sure. 

Christa: So for both of you, do you have any words of wisdom [00:43:00] to somebody who's listening that is working in a very traditional role? Maybe they're, you know, 10 years into their career, and they're thinking, wow, they're so cool that they did that. And what would you say?

Georgia: It's easy to say just do it, but it's the mentality of just do it. You know, you don't have to physically go and quit your job. You don't have to sign up for all these programs. You just need to mentally decide. Just do it. Why not? 

Dave: And just, just start somewhere. it doesn't have to be the perfect business model.

Dave: It doesn't have to be the perfect thing for you to go into. Just start somewhere and do it. further down the track your eyes will open as to all the possibilities that are out there, so just 

Christa: Just 

Dave: start See where it goes. Yes, you don't have anything to lose 

Christa: You really don't but this kind of You know what?

Christa: I'm going to coin another term, the business, the business awakening, which is sort of what we were talking about earlier when, when you joked, like, open up your third eye, but, but it's not really a joke. It [00:44:00] kind of is this new way of seeing the world and just seeing like, what is possible for you. And, um, you know, whoever you are listening to this, if you have not yet had this kind of awakening, you might be listening to these stories.

Christa: Dave and Georgia being like, yeah, anybody can do it, but you still might not believe that it's possible for you, but that's just because you haven't been awakened yet to this concept, but once you are literally your whole life can change so fast, just like both of yours have changed. So very, very quickly.

Georgia: Yeah, I'm here. I never would have thought that, you know, I didn't know what a digital mermaid was. A year ago. And now I'm here. You know this. Like I said, very quick things can change. Um, but it's, it's good. You just gotta, yeah, commit to it and get that business awakening. 

Christa: Yeah. Yeah, it is it is a process like you said Dave and also it can happen so quickly I feel like you guys both [00:45:00] have this great yin yang sort of energy and like approach to everything.

Christa: I love I love it But yeah, so for anybody listening I really hope that you can Receive the transmission of this podcast. Like we are here three random people from wherever, like the three of us only met recently, like within the last year and now here we are. And, it just literally all.

Christa: started with ideas. For me, my whole lifestyle has been created out of an idea, out of a moment. And for you to like Georgia, this, this moment where you chose to see losing your job as an opportunity. And for Dave, when you were like, yes, I support my wife. I think I want to do it too.

Christa: And just making that decision Not really knowing the path, not really being able to see exactly what was going to unfold before you, but just trusting the process, trusting yourself that, you know, as long as you just keep Putting one foot in front of the other and, just keeping your eye on the prize, being committed [00:46:00] to the vision just can change everything.

Christa: So, if you are open minded to the idea that you could have a business awakening and that there could be a business idea out there that is perfect for you, or at least something that could get you started, just, I really encourage you to slide into my DMS on Instagram. and send me the keyword, New Zealand podcast, uh, in honor of Dave and Georgia coming all the way from New Zealand. Send me the keyword, New Zealand Podcast on Instagram, on my profile, @christabellatravels And, um, if you send that keyword, you will get some automated, uh, Messages from me that are just like, Oh, cool.

Christa: You listen to the podcast, like, tell me a little bit about yourself. Tell me about your, you know, your career history or whatever. And, um, Just give me as many details. I love to hear your story and I will respond to you with my thoughts on how you personally could take your situation, [00:47:00] whether you're a lawyer, whether you're an electrician, whether you're a doctor, whether you're a waitress, or whether you're 10 years into your corporate career, doesn't really matter.

Christa: I know that there's something out there for everybody. So just let me poke through your personality and, uh, help reveal to you how possible this lifestyle really is. So again, that keyword is New Zealand Podcast. You can also scroll below in the show notes to just see exactly what that is and what my profile is.

Christa: And, uh, yeah, I really hope to connect with some of you and maybe, maybe whoever you are listening to this one day. One day you will be on this podcast. Maybe you could have this full circle moment where, you know, you're, you're listening to this on, on your hike or on your commute to work, or you're sitting at the beach or whatever it is, the hell that you're doing right now.

Christa: Like, actually, I just encourage you listeners to just imagine one year in the future that [00:48:00] you could be being interviewed on this podcast. Just saying, you never know, you never know. Um, so thank you both so much for being here. It's such a pleasure to have you. Love meeting you in real life. So fine. And, uh, yeah, I really look forward to our second take of this episode someday next year, maybe.

Christa: The return. Check it out guys, Trade Vision Media. All right. Well, thank you guys. And we'll see you all in the next episode. Bye.