This is content that I penned during the summer of 2019 while launching my book. It was originally posted on Medium.
In the summer leading up to my senior year at Georgetown, my older brother texted me a CNBC article titled “How to Make Six Figures on Fiverr,” one that I didn’t even open immediately. It’s the kind of article that I’d read if I had time while waiting in my car, standing in line at the grocery store, or sitting in front of the TV scrolling on my phone — it didn’t immediately grab my attention or seem relevant to my life. Yet, I found myself sitting at work, taking one of those all too typical social media breaks in my cubicle. I came across the following quote and something seemed to click:
Being able to set her own hours and schedule, Fasulo says, has “totally revolutionized her life.” As an avid traveler, she can globe-trot as much as she wants (recent trips include Mexico and California), not having to abide by a 9-to-5 schedule or work from an office.
How I Got Here
The above text is an excerpt from page 1 of my book. It was the beginning of my foray into the world of working remotely — a world that I entered entirely by accident. At the beginning of my senior year, I was at a place where most university students find themselves. My major, internships, and hobbies were all supposed to magically fit together to transform themselves into my dream job. And for some people that happens, but the harder I tried to envision myself in someone else’s idea of a dream job or working in an office in a new city, the less and less excited I became about my future.
My venture into freelancing was nothing more than an attempt at a potential hobby that may or may not make me some beer money. In the same way that you can take surveys online to earn some extra side cash, I thought Fiverr may never pan out to earn me even a dollar. Yet, my non-urgency in the process ended up being a blessing. I forgot about my profile until I got my first order and took it slowly while I got my footing.
A Side Hustle Turned Main Hustle
As graduation neared, my beer-money side hustle transformed into a booming business, and I still cringed at the thought of being tied to an office just yet. It wasn’t working itself that deterred me. In fact, I spent far more hours working than I did in a classroom my senior spring. It was the thought of being on someone else’s schedule after having so much independence and self-determination over how, when, and where I was working. I had bosses — many of them. My bosses were my buyers in some ways and in other ways myself. I had to manage my own schedule and collaborate with others to ensure that the final project was managed, not only to satisfaction, but to exceed expectations.
So, why not take a chance and see if I could take what I was already doing and combine it with another thing that I loved? I had already planned two and a half months of post-grad travel with a friend — why not see if I could extend it and try working remotely abroad? It seemed almost too easy when the numbers worked out financially, and it was cheaper to travel full-time than to hold down a full-time residence.
Writing Remotely Exceptional helped me see that I could make it work from around the world with the right skills. While not always easy, the challenge never fails to be fulfilling. I took what I wrote about all senior year and turned it into my reality. Since graduation, I’ve visited 8 countries (New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam) and worked remotely in every single one.
Looking Forward
Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be sharing excerpts, stories from my book, Remotely Exceptional: A Playbook for Companies and their Remote Workers, and anecdotes from life on the road in this blog series. Remotely Exceptional launched on July 27, 2019, on Amazon. You can buy it by clicking here. If you want to connect, you can reach me via email at kelseyurek@gmail.com visit my profile on Fiverr @kelseyyurek or follow my travels on Instagram @kelseyyurek.