It’s not as world-changing as Dr Kings (obviously) but it is mine and I’m going to make it happen.

In the spirit of “putting it out there” I’m going to share a secret with you that I’ve held for 14 years.

I want to explore the world while working for myself and running a profitable business.

I’ve dreamt about it since the first time I logged on to the Internet in 1995 and visited the website of the the Musee d’Orsay (which I visited in Paris for the first time in Jan ’09 and it was INCREDIBLE).

Inspired by the fact that I had found a way to feed my thirst for knowledge about the world – at 14 I decided to take IT and Art as electives at High School so that I could work in the Internet/Design industry.

My dream was one of the reasons that I choose my university degree – Communication Design in 1998. It was only the second round of this new degree focusing on communicating through new media – Multimedia and the Internet.

I imagined living my dream would be like being a nomad or a gypsy – but with money. It turns out I wasn’t the only one with that dream and there are people everyday living this work/life mesh while exploring the world. They call themselves digital nomads or location independent.

Back then I figured there were a couple of ways to do this:

• Get a good job with a successful business and get sent around the world on business trips.
• Get a good job, save up every cent, go away for a while, come back – repeat.
• Move somewhere  more central – e.g. London, get a good job there, save up, go on shorter more frequent trips.

I soon realised there were a couple of problems with these solutions.

I left Brisbane and went travelling the day after my final Uni exhibition – to the usual suspects – Europe and the U.K. I had a brilliant time but returned with – you guessed it – zero money.

I did get a good job after Uni and within 6 months of working I was on a plane to Boston to attend a Search Engine Strategies conference (in 2001). Again, I had a great time – a 21 year old girl travelling alone to Boston working in online gaming – I met some interesting characters and fell in love with the city.

However, the trip was short and yes – I got paid when I was over there but one essential element was missing – freedom.

I had decided I didn’t want to move to London after seeing it after Uni and not loving it (although it was mid-winter).

I decided I was happy just working away in a full time job – I was still employed in the Internet industry and deep down I knew that I always wanted my own business one day so I was happy with my 5 day a week job.

I held on to the dream by spending that time observing what worked in these businesses and what didn’t and getting as much experience in as many facets of online business and marketing as possible.

After 7 years I’d had enough of working for “The Man” (literally).

It was time to go for it.

I left my job and started working for the family business as their Marketing Manager. I never thought I’d work for the family business – being quite determined to “do it all” on my own – however the opportunity to work four days a week while I was setting up my business was too good to pass up.

It turns out to be the best thing I could have done – I got to see the real behind the scenes of how business works and be involved with it. That experience has been priceless.

So here I am now.

My consultancy is up and running and doing well – so well I’ve had to pass on new inquiries and/or refer jobs to other people but what’s got me really excited is two projects I’m working on – and when* they succeed I can start living out my dream.

Ever since I’ve had the consultancy I’ve also had internal projects to test out different online business models – the results are in and I’m placing my bets on two new ventures.

The first (which will be released very soon) is a business model that is not location dependent and draws on my 9 years of commercial online experience – tick.

The second (still very much in dev) again, is not a business model that requires me to stay in Brisbane and is based on an issue I’m passionate about – tick.

Exciting times here – exciting times indeedy!

What’s your dream?

*If you don’t believe you can do it, you won’t.

P.S. If this type of thing interests you – I thought I’d share this practical and inspirational website that I’m loving at the moment – The Art of Non Conformity - Unconventional Strategies for Life, Work and Travel.

Related posts:

1. What is a dream hunter?
2. Whatever your dream is you should go for it
3. One Day I Want to Work in a House Full of Creative Entrepreneurs
4. Jo Klima from The Darling Tree
5. While I’m waiting for our first profile here’s a bit about me

Filed under: Behind the Scenes