IAM1728 – Creators Helps Millennials Design a Freedom Lifestyle

Why it was selected for “CBNation Architects”: Anastasia & Tomer have a unique perspective on life and it's awesome. We think it was such a powerful conversation because often we don't realize what is possible until we hear someone “doing it.” Their methodology and approach to being “freedompreneurs” is so powerful. Many people are leaving and resigning because they are looking to be “free” and it's awesome that Anastasia & Tomer are dialed into this.

Transcription:

Anastasia Schmalz Teaser 00:00

I love this phrase, the marathon mindset. And just to remember, as a nugget, every entrepreneur, every aspiring entrepreneur that might be listening to this episode, that they can achieve anything they want in any given amount of time.

Intro 00:14

Are you ready to hear business stories, and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders, without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of.

This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:41

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I appreciate you listening to this episode. If you've been listening this year, you know that we hit 1600 episodes at the beginning of this year. We're doing something a little bit different where we're repurposing our favorite episodes around certain categories or topics or as I like to call them, the business pillars that we think are going to be extremely impactful for CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners, and what I like to call the CB nation architects who are looking to level up their organizations.

This month we are focused on our greatest asset, talent management and hiring. Think from great resignation to great renovation. And if you disagree with me, maybe these episodes might be especially for you. Life and especially business has changed. It has forced those that are within organizations to look differently at talent, and how it's being managed. When we talk about change, think about it, we have to realize that business as usual is no longer here, and that's evident  in attracting and retaining clients, but also in setting up people within organizations to succeed. Think onboarding, think DEI- diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. How it is working from home and even going back into the office.

Things are different this month, we are going to explore these topics by featuring CEO hacks and CEO Nuggets but also interviews that focus on these changes and how organizations can make sure they care for and attract the most valuable asset, their people. Sit back and enjoy this special episode of the I AM CEO podcast.

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have two very special guests on the show today. I have Anastasia and Tomer of Generation Nomads. Anastasia and Tome is great to have you on the show.

Anastasia Schmalz and Tomer Arwas 02:13

Thank you. So great to be here. Yeah. Thank you for having us.

Gresham Harkless 02:16

Yeah. Super excited to have you both on and before we jumped into the interview, I wanted to read a little bit more about Anastasia and Tomer so you can hear about all the awesome things that they're doing.

Anastasia and Tomer are money mindset and startup coaches in the creators of the blog, generationnomads.com. Having reached financial independence under 30 through real estate and stock investments, they left their cushy corporate careers to travel the world for 18 months without working or touching their savings. Before founding Generation Nomads, Anastasia worked as a new product development consultant, and Tomer worked as an IT project manager at Fortune 500 companies. Combined, Anastasia and Tomer have over 10 years of experience in mentoring startups and scale-ups in various industries in managing over USD $1 million in digital innovation and IT implementation products.

On Generation Nomads, they have garnered a monthly readership of 15,000 from over 170 countries. And their Freedom Framework is used to teach millennials how to design and reach a freedom lifestyle. In the nine-to-five Escape Plan program, they help their clients create and acquire passive income assets. They live in one of their favorite cities in the world, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. From Amsterdam they work with aspiring entrepreneurs in the nine-to-five escape plan coaching program.

Anastasia and Tomer great to have you on the show. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Anastasia Schmalz and Tomer Arwas 03:29

Absolutely. We're super excited. Thanks for introducing us.

Gresham Harkless 03:32

Yes, absolutely. Thank you for doing all the great work. That makes it a lot easier. So, I know I touched on it a little bit, but I wanted to hear a little bit more on what I call your CEO story. We'll let to get started with all the awesome work you're doing.

Anastasia Schmalz 03:41

Thanks. Yeah, absolutely. I think our story is from our personal transformation, but also our story as new entrepreneurs started three years ago, it was approximately on the day I actually quit my job when I got my biggest promotion yet. So it was something that started the doors to our dreams that we have been postponing for quite a while.

So at that moment in time, you were mentioning it a little bit in your introduction, I was working in innovation at a Fortune 500 company. I was working with startups. Tomer was an IT project manager also in innovation spaces. And at that moment in time, we felt like we have been really working on the dreams of others, so we have been putting our own dreams a little bit further down the bucket list and the to-do list. So we always wanted to travel, we wanted to be entrepreneurs, do our own thing, be our own bosses, and follow our passions and creative ideas. But there was always something that seemed to get in the way, whether it was a promotion, whether it was things going on in work or life. That felt like it was never the right time.

At some point, we really sat down with ourselves and we thought about if not now when would be the right moment to do all those amazing things that we wanted to do, like travel, we always wanted to write, to start our own online business. And we just couldn't figure out when would be the next better moment to really pursue all those things. So, again I take you back to the day that I quit my job. The day I got my biggest promotion yet, we left both of our corporate careers, so, our six-figure income and we went traveling.

We went on a one-way ticket to Singapore. And for the next 18 months, we've been traveling to over 25 countries and at the same time we've been building up our online business and yeah, our blog, which then evolved into our coaching program, et cetera. So this is a little bit of our story, and I think it comes down to really finally going after our passions.

Gresham Harkless 05:43

Yeah. That makes so much sense. They always say it's there, there's never a perfect time to do anything. So once you realize that you can get those balls rolling and just take the bull by the horn, so to speak.

Tomer Arwas 05:51

Yeah, exactly. That's something we totally believe in. If you wait for the right timing, you might wait forever.

Gresham Harkless 05:59

Awesome, awesome, awesome. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more here, a little bit more about your coaching program. All the awesome things you're doing at the blog and everything. Could you take us through a little bit more on how you're working with the clients you serve?

Tomer Arwas 06:07

So when we set ourselves for our business it evolved over time. So from the moment when Anastasia was mentioning when we left, we did not have exactly our mission in mind, but it took us some time during the travel and everything. So our mission now is to help aspiring digital nomad entrepreneurs to turn their ideas, dreams into reality. So how do we do that?

We have our blog where we of course share a lot of information, a lot of our experiences, a lot of our tips, and things that we have learned both in our experience working in corporate and in our experience working with clients, now working on our own business, so we share all that on our blog.

Next to that we have our book, the Freedom Project which walks through how to look inside of yourself, find out what you have inside of you that you can use in order to create your business, and then coming up with an idea and validating it to find your first customer. So that's like a journey that we walk through in a book with exercises and templates and so forth.

On top of that, we have our program the nine-to-five escape plan, and that's where we go with the group. So it's a group program. There we, similarly to the book, walk from looking inside and creating your idea and launching your idea, but also we look also into passive income opportunities which is something that we are very passionate about to have multiple sources of income.

Finally, we also have one-on-one coaching that we also do and that's more custom per the situation of each person.

Gresham Harkless 07:46

I love the full lay of the land that you have with everything that you can do to serve the clients you work with.

Tomer Arwas 07:51

Yeah, exactly. That's something that we've developed of course over time, so it's not something we did on day one, but it's something that we also noticed because our mission again is to help aspiring digital nomads live their freedom lifestyle, as we call it.

So to really be able to do the things that they want, we want to be able to serve as many people as possible and to just provide that value. So therefore we also have different options and different ways, and of course reading a book is different than having a one-on-one person looking with you and working together with you, but still you can get started with it. So that's indeed to be able to serve more people.

Gresham Harkless 08:29

Yeah, absolutely. And I love the alignment of everything too and how that gets to that word freedom, which is such a powerful word. And I think especially when you have gifts, you have skills, you have talents, you talked about in the beginning of being able to use those talents to propel whatever your mission and vision is.

It's absolutely huge. And having the freedom and the tools by which to do that just takes everything to the next level it sounds like.

[00:08:48] Anastasia Schmalz:

Yeah. So I think that's also what makes us and what we're offering unique because we're not only helping people to become entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs, but we actually put that word of freedom before that.

So we help them to become freedompreneurs. What that means is we're looking at the different assets that you have within you and have available to your disposal, which are your time, your ideas, your superpowers that you have within you, but maybe also the salary that you currently have in your nine to five income that you want to replace with your own passion business.

But how to use that in order to create more freedom in your life? So how to accelerate your path to freedom, how to really set up your business in a way that feels aligned with your personal ambitions, with your creativity, with your passions? And how you can get started with what you already have. So how can you do that in small, consistent steps that you can take already from today? And not only wait until you have X, Y, Z figured out until you can take the first step, but really use what you already have to take the next right step in the right direction.

So it's really about working towards or walking in the right direction versus waiting for the best moment that you can suddenly have it all magically figured out. So we're saying, no, there are already ways to create freedom in your life right now, and you can leverage that to also embed freedom in the business that you're building up.

Gresham Harkless 10:08

Yeah, that's huge. I love that word, freedompreneurs, and that secret sauce, because I think so many times, as you said so well that we're always looking outward to try to figure out what do we need to add so that we can get to that next level? But realizing that you already have gifts, opportunities, or things that you can leverage within is so huge and empowering and freeing as well too, because you get to say, okay, what can I do and how can I take one step towards where I ultimately want to be?

And it starts to become more of a marathon than just like a frivolous switch and then you have everything in place, which rarely ever happens.

Anastasia Schmalz 10:37

Exactly. Yeah.

Gresham Harkless 10:39

Nice. And so, I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Tomer Arwas 10:50

Yeah, so maybe to build upon the notion of freedom and something that we have realized for ourselves and then we also see with some of our clients is very often people pursue entrepreneurship or pursue starting their own business because they want to have this freedom. They want to be their own boss. They want to do what they want on their own schedule. But what very often happens is that you get so sucked up into your business. You end up working so hard and working every time towards the next goal that you lose that initial thing that you actually were seeking more freedom and freedom to spend more time with your family or have some hobbies and things like this.

So what we realized is that the focus is to have multiple sources of income. So it's great that you to start your own business, online business, but also know what to do with the income that you're getting there or even before then, as Anastasia mentioned before. So the income that you're getting from there, how can you use that in order to create more sources of income?

Gresham Harkless 11:53

I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO Nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client or if you hopped into a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

Anastasia Schmalz 12:03

Yeah. So I think here we would love to pick up again what you were calling, and I love this phrase, the marathon mindset. And just to remember, as a nugget, every entrepreneur, every aspiring entrepreneur that might be listening to this episode, that they can achieve anything they want in any given amount of time.

Gresham Harkless 12:21

Yeah, absolutely. And it might be just because it's around lunchtime for me too, so that, that's probably what it is too. So, I wanted to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote CEOs on the show. So what does being a CEO mean to you?

Anastasia Schmalz and Tomer Arwas 12:35

So. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah. Being a CEO for us is, we've been talking a lot about freedom, right? And for us being a CEO is having the freedom of choice and that comes in two different things that we like to distinguish.

One thing is the freedom to design your life and business in a way that feels aligned with you. So really do the things, work on things that you're passionate about. Define your schedule in a way that feels most aligned with what gives you energy or in a way that you can work in the most productive and energized, and motivated way.

The second part of freedom is choosing how you can share your unique superpowers with the world. That will create the biggest impact. Because for us being a CEO or being CEOs means really choosing how we want to contribute with our own talents, unique strengths, with our knowledge, experience, skill, and interests to create this value in the world. So for us, Being CEO means creating freedom for us and creating value for others in a way that will also create freedom for them.

Gresham Harkless 13:42

Truly appreciate that definition and perspective, and of course, all the awesome work that you do. What I wanted to do now was just pass the mic to you, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know, and of course, how best they can get ahold of you and find about all the awesome things you're working on.

Tomer Arwas 13:56

Yeah. So we have on our blog actually a self-assessment which we called the Freedom Business Quiz. So that's a short quiz that you go through, and then we tell you, we assess based on your answer, the three steps that you need to take in order to build your freedom business. So, really based on your answer.

So there's a couple of different ways or a couple of different answers that you can fall on, and then we explain step by step the things that you can do. So that's something that might be interesting and we can share the link in the show notes. And besides that, we are active on our Instagram at Generation Nomads.

Yeah, in our blog, we mentioned generationnomads.com and we have also a Facebook group where people can also join.

Anastasia Schmalz 14:38

Yeah, so the Facebook group is called Freedom Lifestyle Entrepreneurs. And if you are interested and excited to find out, yeah, as Tomer was describing the three next steps to up-level your Freedom business if you're listening and wondering, how to get started or maybe how to get your passion project, your site project to the next level.

Then you can find it in the links, so generationnomads.com/My-Freedom-Business-quiz. And between every word you have a minus sign. But yeah, as mentioned, and Gresham you will probably include that in the show notes. And yeah, so we're excited to connect with any aspiring freedompreneurs, and thank you so much for giving us the space to share about our mission and yeah, what we're working on.

Gresham Harkless 15:20

Yeah, absolutely. I appreciate you for creating this space for so many people to inspire and to achieve that freedom. And we will definitely have the links and information in the show notes as well too, just like you mentioned, so that everybody can click through and take the quiz. I think knowledge of self is one of the most important knowledges, so to be able to take those quizzes, pushes you in that opportunity to be successful.

But appreciate you so much for the time and the work that you do. I think it's so freeing and empowering to know that you don't have to go outside of yourself or do this or do that to really take that freedom and lean into your gifts and your talents and your skills. So appreciate you so much for the work you do, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Outro 15:55

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast, powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Don't forget to schedule your complimentary digital marketing consultation at bluesixteenmedia.com.

This has been the I AM CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless, Jr. Thank you for listening.

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