Flexibility, Give-and-Take, and Digital Nomadism With John O’Donnell

All the things comes with a price. The associated fee for freedom? Flexibility.

To John O’Donnell, Expertise Acquisition Specialist at Kinsta, freedom’s all the pieces, and suppleness is a value he pays with a smile.

We interviewed him on his expertise as a digital nomad neophyte and requested him loads of questions on his means of working whereas on the highway — and he shared his high 4 professional ideas, too.

Q1: John, what was your first step in your path to nomadism?

I’m from Eire. I grew up there, and I began my profession in gross sales. Then I wore the marketing consultant hat, recruiting for plenty of corporations. I then grew to become a Expertise Acquisition Specialist and ultimately discovered my technique to Kinsta.

Q2. Why was Kinsta a match for you?

Final summer time, I knew I wanted to affix a distant firm, however not simply any distant firm.

My earlier employer’s tradition and means of working have been spectacular, and as soon as I acquired uncovered to that, it set the bar for my future expectations.

As I appeared for brand spanking new alternatives, I got down to discover a job at an organization that basically trusted their staff and supplied that flexibility, that work-like steadiness that I used to be used to — the type of tradition that makes you need to give much more again to your employer. I needed it to be an organization that was striving and had good-quality providers as properly.

Whereas loads of organizations declare they’re distant, however then ask you to be certain to a sure nation (and even metropolis), Kinsta units itself aside by strolling the stroll.

A remote-first firm is a rarity (a minimum of, for us Europe-based expertise)! At Kinsta, you possibly can work from nearly anyplace. We don’t even have an workplace.

Inside a month from my beginning date at Kinsta, I went off touring. Kinsta trusted me to behave like an expert. I’ve been on the firm for about six months, out of which nearly 5 have been spent on the highway. How cool is that?

Q3. You joined and nearly instantly went in your journey. How did you strategy such a fragile dialog with a brand new employer?

The digital nomad way of life was truly one thing that I’d needed to expertise for an extended whereas. I used to be initially meant to do that whereas working for my earlier employer, however then issues went south due to the financial system.

After I began interviewing with Kinsta, I used to be sincere about my intentions from the get-go. Setting expectations helps immensely — it makes issues a lot simpler. Ask your questions, discover out the knowledge you want, earlier than becoming a member of an organization and solely then discovering out you possibly can’t stay a life you like.

This autumn. What’s it wish to lastly be working… on the highway?

It’s unreal. It’s good. It’s all that I believed it will be.

I get to drastically change my atmosphere and select precisely the place I work from. After all, I hold it skilled. You may’t dial into a gathering from a waterfall, however getting to select which cafe to work from is already nice.

I normally have all of my calls from my condominium, and people days on which I’ve a number of admin to do or I don’t have as many conferences, it’ll be extra so from completely different cool areas as a lot as doable.

Q5. What challenges have you ever confronted to this point?

I didn’t understand how arduous it was going to be to get right into a wholesome routine.

Again residence, I performed sports activities each week, went to the fitness center, and ate considerably healthily.

Now I’m in Asia, the place there are limitless beautiful dishes I can style for the very first time. I’ve eaten worms, too! I’ll strive any delicacy as soon as. That makes it a lot more durable to get out of vacation mode — once you eat and drink… all the pieces. Throw working and touring into the combo, and it makes issues even more durable.

We’re simply on the highway a lot. We’re transferring from one atmosphere to the opposite. Getting right into a routine is difficult, however I believe I’m getting there.

Q6. What’s one thing you want you’d recognized earlier than turning into a digital nomad?

Planning additional forward will be of profit. As a digital nomad, you’d need to be as versatile as you possibly can and make selections on a whim however that prices considerably extra.

Planning even simply three months forward will prevent a number of cash on flights and lodging.

It additionally ensures that you simply’re by no means stranded upon arrival. Some areas are very talked-about — you don’t need to find yourself being someplace with out a place to remain, particularly not should you’re presupposed to be working.

Q7. How has it been working for Kinsta whereas doing this?

Between the folks being implausible, the corporate being so versatile and well-organized, our top-tier product, and Kinsta’s tradition, I’ve a tough time imagining working some place else and being this joyful.

I joined the corporate, and throughout the month, I had stable plans to go to Thailand. That speaks volumes about how versatile the tradition is.

There’s a studying curve, but it surely’s so motivating! I’ve solely been right here for a number of months, but I’ve discovered a lot greater than I might have at most different workplaces in such a brief span of time.

Lastly, I have to add — everyone seems to be so useful and type. Being good is wildly underrated.

On daily basis, an increasing number of, this firm looks like my best-case situation. I’m undecided what some other firm on the market may do any higher than what Kinsta is doing for its folks. That’s not one thing I’ll ever take without any consideration.

You may inform by skimming by way of our Glassdoor opinions. Persons are actually appreciative when an employer respects and values them, and so they’ll go above and past their responsibility for a company deserving of it.

Q8. How do you handle your workload collectively whereas being to this point aside?

I advised my supervisor that I needed to stay to EMEA hours. That’s the time zone I used to be recruiting in, and having simply had began with Kinsta, I needed to be in the identical time zone as my supervisor whereas I acquired settled.

They’ve been very versatile in that, and Zsofi, my supervisor, has at all times mentioned that we will work round that and alter it if it’s ever wanted.

I normally get began round 2 or 3 p.m. and end round 10 or 11 p.m. I actually don’t thoughts, although! You get a whole lot of solar time within the morning and the early afternoon.

Kinsta’s very versatile, but additionally, there’s flexibility from my finish that comes with that. You may’t ask for one thing you’re not keen to present — that wouldn’t be honest.

Typically we rent in the united statesA. When that’s the case, it helps to have candidates based mostly on the West Coast. Our time zones conflict fairly a bit, however there are workarounds.

When organising interviews, I at all times ship candidates my calendar hyperlink. Based mostly on the place they’re positioned, typically they’ll solely see time slots at 2, 3, even 4 a.m. I can’t hold my calendar open 24 hours a day, however when that occurs, candidates know to succeed in out to me to schedule ad-hoc conferences. That has occurred on quite a few events.

On most days, I do work repeatedly from the early afternoon till the night. Every time wanted, my day’s cut up. It’s necessary to not be too inflexible relating to schedule.

Q9. Do you employ any instruments to coordinate your efforts with the crew?

Slack‘s our crew’s favourite device. It’s fairly good for speaking throughout completely different time zones. We additionally e-mail fairly a bit and make good use of Trello boards.

There’s no micromanagement at Kinsta. No want for it after we talk so properly. Our crew additionally has a customized TA tracker. It makes it very simple to remain aligned on priorities and particular person contributors’ progress.

Q10. Have you ever gotten to satisfy any teammates but?

Sure — I met my colleague Mohit! We acquired to know one another a bit higher. Assembly in actual life sparks completely different conversations, deepens relationships, and facilitates collaboration.

We labored collectively all through the day and made the time for a stunning, genuine Thai meal.

Mohit used the unofficial meetup funds to return meet me on the location I used to be staying. He used it for the journey bills and in addition a few of the meals and coffees that we acquired that day.

This was after work when me and Mohit determined to discover components of Pathong, going for some Genuine Thai meals and trying out the bars.

Q11. Any recommendation for individuals who are contemplating residing the digital nomad way of life?

Undoubtedly do it. It’s invaluable — you’ll get to expertise probably the most stunning locations on the planet up shut. Who wouldn’t need to try this?

When you recover from the preliminary worry and go on the journey, you understand how possible it’s and the way versatile you will be. You may write your personal story, and that features selecting the backdrop to your skilled life.

A bit of recommendation, I might say, is:

• Do your analysis on the world and your lodging. Very secure Wi-Fi’s a non-negotiable. The general location can’t be too noisy. The atmosphere ought to be round like-minded folks which are most likely working such as you. Ensure to do a deep-dive on platforms reminiscent of Tripadvisor, the place you possibly can verify plenty of real opinions and rankings. I take all necessary video calls from my condominium – you need to make first impression with candidates. This can be a technique to positively impression the result of your interplay. It additionally helps me decrease distractions.
• Put money into pair of headphones! Good noise canceling is a game-changer, particularly should you ever find yourself working from a restaurant’.
• Completely analysis visa processes. Some nations provide digital nomad visas – some don’t! Ensure to be on high of every nation’s necessities, as each single one’s completely different.
• Put money into exhaustive well being and journey insurance coverage. I’ve digital nomad insurance coverage that covers me in most nations worldwide. Something can occur, and also you don’t need to have to fret about each little factor whereas in your large, daring journey.

Right here’s a professional tip: You should use this sort of way of life to avoid wasting extra money. There are such a lot of reasonably priced cities which value a lot lower than again residence, the place the price of residing may be very excessive. That’s an enormous profit too, and one other means in which you’ll be able to profit from this way of life.