Like most xennials, most of my life, I expected I would fall into the American Dream. We’d have 2 cars, a house, a successful career, 2.5 children, you know, the whole package. Minus the kids, for many years this is exactly what I did. We got up, we went to work, I as the Director of Sales & Marketing for a high end hotel and my husband Ben as a supervisor. Every day, we came home exhausted and feeling unfulfilled.
What is a Xennial?
As a member of the Xennial generation (aka the Oregon Trail Generation according to Wikipedia), I am part of the tribe born between 1977 and 1985. Depending on where you are looking, I could be considered generation x or a Millennial . The problem? I don’t completely identify with either. Instead I fall somewhere in between. Xennials remember life before cell phones and the internet. I am also tech savvy and consider myself an early adopter of new technologies
My Journey. How to Reinvent Yourself at Any Age.
…and just like that I was living my dream in the islands..NOT!
If there is anyone that truly understands the meaning of “plot twist,” it is me. A short travel stint during a much needed vacation convinced my husband and I that it was time for us to divorce our 9-to-5 corporate life. However, a long grind trying to make our dream happen taught me what it takes to make that a reality.
Picture it! My husband and I were living in Wisconsin, and though we had a great living with a nice house, good credit, and a great bunch of friends, we were not living our dream. We were stuck in a mundane corporate cycle when what we really wanted was full command over our time and our location! What was the purpose of success if we couldn’t have it on our own terms? We did some research (by research I mean extremely vigorous Googling, book buying, and House Hunters International watching ) and found a lifestyle that really honed in on what we wanted out of life – digital nomads! We could travel the world, make money, and do it all on our own terms.
We moved on this new-found zeal quickly if for no other reason than to keep the fear of this massive decision at bay. So, after 15+ years as an executive…we boldly packed up what we could, sold the non-essentials, and within 3 months moved out to St. Croix with the goal of making our digital nomad dream a reality! I wish I would say that immediately everything worked out and we sailed off into the Caribbean sunset in our banana boat. Not by a long shot! There were no Mai Tai’s on the beach waiting for us. Although we moved to paradise, we still had bills. After a while of trying unsuccessfully to scale our new businesses, we found ourselves outmatched with our bills pulled higher than our business income. We reverted right back to being tied down to one location and making income by working for someone else. Talk about a downer, huh?
It was a long, hard grind for a while there but we kept our goal ahead of us at all times. After over a year of on-and-off jobs, tears, traveling back to the states, and re-re-re-drafting our business plans, the light bulb went off. We found a model that began to work for us…and I mean really work! Our bills no longer overshadowed our earnings and began to gain that freedom of mobility we were looking for in the first place.
Fast-forward to today:
Four successful businesses later, we are not just financial success stories. We are also free to be successful anywhere in the world! I’m here to tell you that if I can do this, so can you! Just because it didn’t work for you the first time (or first couple of times) that doesn’t mean it is out of reach. Take me for example: From my own experience I have been able to coach hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners on how to create a thriving business model that can support their lifestyle from anywhere in the world! A model that works! Their results have been amazing, and have allowed them to build profitable businesses, gain freedom to travel, and of course fire their 9-5 jobs.
If I can do it, and they can do it, then with my help you can do it too!
With that being said, let me give you an early welcome to Xennial Travelers, where I help you make your dream of success a reality.
And don’t you worry. I’ll have your Mai Tai here ready for you!
