How did you get started with remote work?
Interview with Molood, a CEO who shares how minimalism has improved her remote work experience
Technically, when I started working in my first job, I realized that despite everything being designed for collocation, every team I was working with was distributed. My first leadership role was to manage a software integration project in Sweden, Canada, Serbia, China, and the US.
Looking back, even in student projects, I always optimized the work processes to be remote-friendly so that team members who had traveled to their home countries for holidays could continue to contribute to the course projects.
In essence, I think I simply accepted that remote work and remote collaboration was the reality of our world and did not spend much energy resisting it like many others do.
Instead, I embraced it and became very good at it.
As CEO and Founder of Remote Forever, Molood has made a career in teaching individuals and companies how to work remotely effectively. See how embracing a minimalist lifestyle has caused her to excel.
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Interview with Jenna, a freelance writer who works remotely to help manage her health
To be honest, I feel like I was sort of pushed into working remotely as a freelancer because of my health problems. I was getting these stress-induced migraines frequently that made it dangerous to drive and impossible to get work done. And I wasn’t sleeping much either which of course wasn’t helping.
The office was full of migraine triggers like fluorescent lights, perfumes being sprayed indoors, a lot of noise, blue light, and the stress of the job. I got yelled at a lot because one of my main responsibilities was to diffuse difficult situations with customers. I tried to go outside, take frequent breaks, meditate in my car, just anything to get rid of that stress, but it wasn’t enough.
The attendance policy was really strict, and I had no FMLA protection left after a medical leave I’d taken earlier in the year. I was not at all willing to force myself to drive with a migraine – not only was the pain bad, but I get aura, which is severe brain fogginess and problems seeing, or hallucinations that are zigzags of light that go across my vision. Public transportation wasn’t an option and I wasn’t allowed to work from home. So, I kept missing work.
So then I was placed on a warning for missing too much work. I’d been trying to move into a lateral position that would allow me to work remotely – some of the available jobs involved work I’d already been doing in my current position so it should’ve been a no-brainer. But this company took months to fill any openings, and once I was placed on this verbal warning I was no longer allowed to move into other positions. For 6 months, or a year, I forget which, I was totally stuck. And if I’d missed 2 more days of work in that timeframe I’d lose my job.
It was really frustrating at the time because I’d been there for 3 years at this point, and they weren’t wiling to work with me at all or try to keep me employed. I felt disposable and realized that the stress of not having a steady paycheck was not as bad as the stress this job was causing me.
I considered trying to find a new job that was 100% remote but those jobs are few and far between and I know there is a ton of competition for them.
Plus I really wanted to control my hours so that I could rest as much as I needed to recover my health. I’d always wanted to be a writer and I’d been studying marketing for months at that point in the hopes of trying to freelance, and I also really didn’t want to get fired – I wanted to leave while it was still my choice even if it didn’t feel like much of a choice. So after a few attempts to quit and chickening out, I finally gave my notice and took the leap.
It was pretty scary to do that but I’m lucky to have a very supportive partner. And after a few months of rest, my migraines went from 3-4x weekly to 1x monthly or even less! I definitely feel like I made the right choice, and now that I’ve experienced the freedom that comes with working from home as a freelancer I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to a traditional job. I’m still recovering from the burnout I experienced from my old job, but I’m really looking forward to being able to travel and work from anywhere in the world.
I know a lot of employers are resistant to allowing remote work, but I think those types of companies are going to eventually be perceived as old-fashioned.
There’s so many people out there like me who have a hard time being in a regular office whether it’s because they’re introverted or have health problems (or both). Personally, I get way more work done when I’m at home than I ever would in a typical office environment.
Freelancing is hard and definitely not right for everyone, and remote jobs would create a lot of opportunities. I believe a lot of companies would benefit from allowing employees to work from home.
Jenna started working remotely after realizing her office job was causing health problems—now she works as a freelance writer and writes about self-improvement
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Interview with Lily, an entrepreneur building VR conferencing for remote teams
My remote journey all started when I was hired as an IT consultant out of college. My first client requested that I be on site but I saw my senior team members work on-site part-time and work remotely the rest of the time. I learned how to work on teams with people who were out of state and in different time zones.
After I proved I was a trustworthy worker on that project, my boss said I could work from anywhere (as long as I was close to an airport). I decided to move to Detroit, MI to be closer to my family and boyfriend (now husband). I set up my “office” in my one bedroom apartment.
One of my favorite things to do was take my laptop and explore all the different coffee shops in the area.
It felt natural to switch to remote work since that was my company’s culture. People would get online around 8 AM their local time and work until 5 PM their local time. Hours were flexible but I still have a bit of anxiety when I think of my status light going to “away” for too long on IM. We were given tools for success like company phones and instant messenger apps.
Plus, I was still traveling a lot so I saw my team members in person on a regular basis.
Lily has almost a decade of remote work experience, now she's building the team collaboration tool of the future with Virtual Reality
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Interview with Harry, an IT Architect who works from home
I was planning a move from Pennsylvania to South Carolina and began looking for new job opportunities there. After my employer at the time found my active resume on Monster, we had a discussion and they decided to keep me on full time as a remote employee. That was in 2009—I've been working remotely full time ever since.
Harry has worked remotely for almost 10 years as a senior mobile, web and desktop developer—learn how he balances work with family.
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Interview with Laurel about helping companies transition to remote work
I like to say that I was a remote worker before it was cool.
About 12 years ago, I became the operations manager for a very small business in Colorado. I was the first employee, so in order to keep overhead expenses low, I offered to work from home like the business owner had been.
We would conduct our work autonomously throughout the day, have weekly meetings to report, and stay in touch via email in between. We lived in the same city, so if we needed to have an in-person meeting with each other or with a client, we would meet at a rented conference room or a cafe.
That industry had a high-season and a low-season, so during the slow months, I reached out to other entrepreneurs and small business to offer administrative assistance with the same work model.
Fast forward a decade and I am still doing the same work on a much larger scale as an operations consultant for remote-friendly companies around the world.
Laurel is an advocate for remote work and helps companies learn how to work remotely through her consulting and writing.
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Interview with Dani and Luca, digital nomads who have mastered work and travel
We were already both contractors for clients that covered about 80 percent of our income. We were going to their office every day, but it was not essential to our work to be done.
We simply told them we wanted to switch to full remote, and after we guaranteed them our availability in their time zone, regardless of where in the world we’d be, and promised to keep up with the quality of our results, they agreed.
We put our home on rent and bought two tickets to Thailand. No remorse ever.
Dani and Luca have mastered the art of traveling while working—see their hacks & tips for thriving as digital nomads.
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Interview with Patryk, a Front-end Developer & UI Designer
For as long as I can remember, my parents have been running their own business - so to me, working a regular 9 to 5 job felt somehow unnatural.
I started out as a freelancer when I was studying at university.
At first, I mostly wanted to get commercial experience and build up a portfolio. At that time, I was still dreaming about joining a "Mad Men"-like agency and bringing huge campaigns to life.
But after a while, I realized that what I most enjoy is direct contact with customers - briefing them, understanding and solving the problems of their businesses, presenting and defending my work.
I also realized that working as a freelancer allows more freedom - you can work wherever and whenever you want. Since I enjoy traveling, the choice was easy.
I never really worked in an office, so there was no transition to make.
I started getting clients thanks to recommendations from my friends or from people I met during conferences.
Maybe those suited-up businessmen found me, 20-year-old kid in a T-shirt telling them how passionate I am about design & IT, adorable. 🐣
Patryk has learned that there is no reason to wait for the flow - once you start working, it will happen naturally.
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Interview with Liz, a UI/UX designer and cowork advocate
It was a bit of a happy accident! I started to work at a company where my team met a few times of the week outside of the office to cowork in cafes.
We would grab lunch all together as a team, and it created such a relaxed and collaborative environment. I had never worked remotely before, and I loved the balance it struck between office life and remote life.
Liz is a traveling UI/UX designer—see her strategy for thriving as a digital nomad and her efforts to promote coworking.
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Interview with Betsy, a head of content and remote work routine expert
In 2012, I had recently finished grad school and was looking for a new job. I was tired of moving and wanted to stay in the same place, but I knew that I might not find the exact position that I wanted where I was living. Therefore, I started a blog and began researching and looking for work that I could do remotely.
I love the flexibility of remote work and wouldn't change it for anything!
I was also doing a certificate program part-time and knew that I needed a job that could be done flexibly on my own schedule. After a few months of searching, I found a position as a social media manager in the Personal Development space.
Since then, I have worked in many remote teams, primarily in content related roles.
Betsy Ramser is a content manager, blogger, and teacher who helps other remote workers thrive while creating a daily routine that works.
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Interview with Alexandra Cote, a remote digital marketer and freelancer
I just always knew I wanted to work remotely. The thought of spending an extra 2-3 hours on the commute and getting ready for work was just life-draining to me.
So when I was offered a remote position, I had to say yes! I did have an in-office position before, but it was part-time, so it wasn't taking up too much of my time.
I've always heard excuses like "Why would they hire someone remotely?" from non-remote workers.
The reason why I got hired in the first place and why many teams are fully-distributed is because companies need access to the best talent pool out there.
Even if that means you'll be working with people across multiple time zones.
Alexandra juggles freelancing, a full-time remote job, YouTube, and Skillshare instructing. How does she manage it all? Find out in her interview.
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