The Entrepreneur Story Of The Nomad Soulmates Community With Aline

“This entire entrepreneurial journey started because of the community.”

Aline’s digital nomad journey: from VA to community leader to co-founder of the Nomad Soulmates App

Seven years ago, Aline’s life changed completely after reading an article about remote work. Aline quickly realized that she could travel and make money online. So she quit her training and pursued the digital nomad lifestyle. Her first step was looking into becoming a Virtual Assistant (VA) because she didn’t feel entirely ready to own her business yet. Becoming a VA was a smart move because she could see how others were running their business and succeeding.

Aline met many single travelers and she started her community Nomad Soulmates to help others make meaningful connections. Now six years later, the group is still thriving with over 17K members.

It’s a global community for single remote workers and kindness is at the heart of this group. Aline and her team are doing an incredible job at maintaining the kindness and positive vibes in the group even though it’s been growing rapidly.

Aline shares the different ways of making money and during the pandemic, she explored new paths. Her main income streams are freelance social media and marketing for small business owners. Learn more about this topic in episode 17 with digital nomad and social media expert Tiff where she shares the ins and outs of her business and how she started.
Aline also invests in cryptocurrencies and of course, Nomad Soulmates is also part of her income streams.

The biggest challenges she has encountered leading the Nomad Soulmates community

Through all the years in the community of Nomad Soulmates, Aline bumped into many challenges. She admits that one of the worst experiences was when she had to kick people out of the group due to inappropriate behavior among other group members. Eventually, Aline affirms that it is something you grow out of but always hurts the first time.

Aline shares that when she started the community, her main intention was that everyone needed to respect each other. She set some rules and boundaries expecting everyone to follow them. Of course, minor issues occur and this is where she had to learn to step up as a community leader while remaining kind and respectful.

If she could give a bit of advice to someone who wants to build a community would be to have a clear goal in mind. Set your intentions for what you want your community to look and feel like and act on that from the very beginning.

One tip she would give to digital nomads looking for love

Nienke Nina calls Aline the Mother Teresa of the nomad dating world and Aline has one tip she always shares with digital nomad when it comes to dating:

‘‘Try to take the pressure of dating and maybe even quit dating.’’

Dating by itself comes with a lot of pressure, which is why many people feel like it’s just too overwhelming. If you switch that mentality to just meeting someone and seeing where it goes, dating becomes much easier.

Aline also shares that dating for digital nomads has a negative impression because people tend to find it hard to meet people. While she acknowledges this struggle, she also saw many digital nomad dating success stories in her community. Some couples have met through the community who are still in touch, dating and some are even married. So don’t give up just yet, digital nomads and make sure to join the Nomad Soulmates Facebook Group.

Enjoying digital nomad dating stories? Digital nomad Anne shares how she met her boyfriend while traveling in episode #05 and digital nomad Jordan shares his dating experiences in episode #03 on The Digital Nomads Daily Podcast

Download the newest dating app for single digital nomads and remote workers Nomad Soulmates App

For six years, digital nomad Aline has been building an incredible community. Her next idea was to build an app and she did this together with two other co-founders. Before they started building the app Aline and her other co-founders had no background in building apps. So they all had to learn from scratch and finally, all their hard work has paid off. After a lot of work and rough patches, the app is finally available in your app store.

Connect with our Nienke Nina and our guests

Your host Nienke Nina

More digital nomad tips and life advice via instagram @digitalnomadsdaily

Connect with Nienke Nina on LinkedIn @Nienke Nina Keizer

Find Nienke Nina on Instagram @nienkeninatravels

Meet digital nomad Aline

Find her on Instagram @nomadsoulmates 

NomadSoulmates Facebook community 

Download the App here 

Other episodes you might like:

🎧  Episode #30: Distraction-Free Productivity For Digital Nomads With Taylor

🎧  Episode #26: Digital Nomad Introverts Never Need To Be Lonely With Marcel

🎧  Episode #23: The Power Of Open-Mindedness In The Digital Nomad Lifestyle With Elle

The 5 Key Ingredients To Work Remotely Effectively with Anna Maria

“The most important skill I believe in working remotely effectively is mastering communication. People in general could improve their communication skills.”

Remote communication is visual:

The communication needs to be more visual. Instead of writing long emails, you will use screenshots and screen recordings to share your thoughts with colleagues and clients.

Remote work requires self-motivation:

As a remote worker, you become in charge of taking the initiative and action to complete tasks and pursue your goals. Organizations can support this by providing workshops and training, but this is very challenging for the entrepreneurial folks.

The remote global workforce has to master time zones

As a global organization or business, mastering time zones is a top skill that comes to life in how you organize your work for yourself and others.

Organization and planning

Your online work hub needs to be accessible from anywhere and make it easy to collaborate with others. Using work management and collaboration tools will empower your work and eventually give you more freedom.

Remote needs more explicit boundaries:

When you work in the office, your schedule is more defined by when you show up at work. It doesn’t work like that in the remote work world so you need to set clear boundaries when you work and when you’re unavailable.

How to set boundaries so you can work remotely effectively

Everyone needs boundaries and it is merely a way to maintain the health of any relationship. We set boundaries with our family members, friends, and partner but you also need to do this for co-workers and clients. It sounds pretty easy; however, this can be extremely uncomfortable. Anna Maria shares her tips about this in the episode, so make sure to listen. We listed some of the highlights for you below:

🌟 Try to always set boundaries at the beginning of your relationship. For example when you’re working with a new client or a new team member.
🌟 Be kind and delicate in your communication when you are re-establishing boundaries.
🌟 Avoid talking negatively or in a restrictive way. Show positively the way you want to work and be very clear.
🌟 There will be people that won’t respect this boundary at first. Make sure you stick to your boundaries and stay kind.

Connect with our Nienke Nina and our guests

Your host Nienke Nina

More digital nomad tips and life advice via instagram @digitalnomadsdaily

Connect with Nienke Nina on LinkedIn @Nienke Nina Keizer

Find Nienke Nina on Instagram @nienkeninatravels

Meet digital nomad Anna Maria

Find her on Instagram @amkochanska

and LinkedIn Anna Maria Kochanska

For consultancy on remote work skills or digital nomadism contact me on anna@kochanska.com

Other episodes you might like:

🎧  Episode #07: Overcoming Fears and Building Community with Digital Nomad Magali

🎧 Episode #18: Selling Sheep To Start A Travel Lifestyle with Micaela

🎧 Episode #25: How To Optimize Your Brain To Increase Performance With Angela

40: Understanding Digital Nomad Visas with Tim Marting from Citizen Remote

“I definitely prefer slowmadding. It gives you a chance to really understand a bit more cultures, people, how systems operate, the ins and outs, the hidden gems of places like you would do in your own hometown.”

Slomadding while building Citizen Remote

At Digital Nomads Daily, we love connecting with digital nomad-friendly companies. One of the most annoying challenges we face as digital nomads are visas. Anything related to visas is either very frustrating all the way to extremely painful, mostly depending on your passport. Some people need piles of paperwork and go through very stressful moments to just get the visa. You may think, why even bother if you can just enter the country with a tourist visa?
Well, like Tim and Nienke Nina, some digital nomads prefer to travel slow and those nomads are often called slomads. It basically means that instead of hopping countries at a fast pace, you stick around for a couple of months. Some of the benefits of slomadding are:
👉🏽 Get to enjoy the country and culture better
👉🏽 Waste less time on travel arrangements
👉🏽 Higher productivity
👉🏽 Create more meaningful connections
👉🏽 Opportunity to better rental prices

The problem with digital nomad visas

Slomadding isn’t always easy though because of the visa options. The digital nomad visa seems like a great option but as countries are developing and announcing their new visas for digital nomads, we don’t see a clear and positive change. Why is this?
For starters, the digital nomad visa is a very brought term and it depends on the country offering the visa. Secondly, a digital nomad visa isn’t for everyone as there are specific requirements not everyone can meet. Thirdly we see a lack of transparency and practical information that is trustworthy and easily accessible. So the complexity varies from country to country.
Digital nomad visas are also very popular and these days, pretty clickbait. While some websites claim that there are over 60 digital nomad visas, the reality is very different. This leads to confusion and frustration in the digital nomad community. So why is this number so high?
🌟 Some of these visas are announced but haven’t been developed so the digital nomad visa doesn’t exist yet.
🌟 The requirements don’t seem to be very digital nomad friendly. For example, having a rental contract, monthly income above 2.5K, or other paperwork is hard to access.
🌟 Official recourses aren’t correctly updated and people aren’t informed so getting the right information is challenging and frustrating.
So in essence, the digital nomad visa still has a long way to go but luckily the space is moving and governments are responding in some way.

How Citizen Remote helps our community with the digital nomad visas

Okay, so the digital nomad visa isn’t always the best solution but luckily there is light at the end of the tunnel. At Digital Nomads Daily, we team up with companies with the most accurate information so keep an eye out for our content. Tim and his team at Citizen Remote alleviate all the planning that goes behind going to a new destination. They help digital nomads with their visa-related questions and provide helpful recourses for digital nomads. Citizen Remote also works with governments to build competitive digital nomad visas and intelligent digital nomad visas that aren’t set up backward or confusing.

Connect with our Nienke Nina and our guests

Your host Nienke Nina

More digital nomad tips and life advice via instagram @digitalnomadsdaily

Connect with Nienke Nina on LinkedIn @Nienke Nina Keizer

Find Nienke Nina on Instagram @nienkeninatravels

Meet digital nomad Tim

Find his App: CitizenRemote

Find him through his LinkedIn: Tim Marting

Other episodes you might like:

🎧  Episode #33: How Digital Nomad Families Can Live A Boundless Life With Marcos

🎧  Episode #41: The 5 Key Ingredients To Work Remotely Effectively with Anna Maria

🎧  Episode #48How To Set Boundaries and Why You Want to Go Slomad with Kristin 

The 5 misconceptions of the digital nomad lifestyle with Charlie

“It’s very up and down, and I want to highlight this to people because you get into it thinking, “oh my get I get to travel, I get to work from my laptop, and I can work from an island, and I can work anywhere…” You do have times like that but it’s not like that all the time. So to be honest it’s just a snippet of the day.”

The journey of a newbie digital nomad

There are different ways to make money online, and some digital nomads prefer to become a freelancer while others enjoy having a remote job. Each of them comes with its own challenges and newbie digital nomad Charlie experienced these in her first 3 months of nomadding. She started her digital nomad journey with a job and went to Bali. Shortly after she arrived, Charlie quit her job to become a freelancer and while it was a freeing experience, she definitely had to overcome typical challenges.

Misconception #01: Freelancing gives you more freedom than a remote job

One of the reasons Charlie decided to go freelancing was because she struggled a lot with the time zones. Her working hours were not during the day so she had to work at night and early mornings. This not only affected her well-being but she didn’t get to enjoy Bali as much because her hours were really tough. So it seems like she had more freedom and just looking on WHEN she can work, she definitely has more flexibility, but it’s not total freedom.

Many people don’t realize that as a freelancer, you are a business owner, which entails more responsibilities. Think about admin tasks, finding clients, promoting your business, getting work done, and figuring everything out yourself.

Misconception #02: When you start working for yourself, you make more money than in a remote job and it will flow

Freelancers are business owners who exchange their time for services. Some freelancers are very successful and have built a career with high-paying clients. That sounds dream and it’s definitely within reach, but it requires hard work, discipline and time. So when Charlie quit her job, she got more flexibility but she also had to get used to not having a steady income anymore.

Also her freelance career that she had just started didn’t find clients on day one so bear in mind that whenever you decide to quit your job or start a freelance business, you have a financial buffer to avoid financial stress.

Misconception #03: balancing productivity and travel isn’t easy

When we describe some of the important skills to become a successful digital nomad discipline is on top of the list. With so many distractions around us and fun to do, you cannot forget that you still need to work. So finding the balance between productive days and taking time for adventures is not easy at all.

It’s not all about working hard though. Many freelancers and entrepreneurs actually work way more than remote workers so it’s also important to have the discipline to take time off and not think about work. Charlie is still mastering this and it will take time before you get the hang of things.

In our book Digital Nomads With Confidence, we give helpful tips shared by experienced digital nomads about productivity and creating me-time. The book answers 101 questions so if you want to learn more, make sure to get a copy. Click here to buy Digital Nomads With Confidence.

Misconception #04: everything takes time and there is no abundance of time

One of the biggest challenges of the digital nomad lifestyle is the time spent traveling and preparing for your travels. So Charlie noticed that everything took more time than expected after she left Bali and continued her travels. Her desire to explore while she also had to be responsible at work showed her that everything takes time and it’s something to consider when you want to travel a lot.

For this reason, many digital nomads prefer to slowmad and stay longer in places. Digital nomad entrepreneur Kristina shares her tips in the episode exactly about this. Click here to check out the episode.

Misconception #05: Wi-Fi is still a luxury

‘”You can work from anywhere as long as you have a decent internet connection”

That sounds easy right?! Charlie went to the Gili islands which are 3 closely-knit islands north of Lombok in Indonesia. You can find accommodation with Wi-Fi on the island but the bandwidth is very low so hopping on meetings with colleagues was hard due to the bad connection. On top of that, she dealt with cultural differences, and the prayers were pretty loud and often during her meetings.

So the statement that you can work isn’t the reality as long as you have an internet connection. It sounds sexy, and we get it, but if you wanna get work done, you need to have more than a little bit of Wi-Fi.

The digital nomad lifestyle knows more misconceptions, and it’s good to be aware of this before you start your journey so you feel more prepared when stuff happens. The key to a successful digital nomad life is to be open-minded, have a lot of patience, and take things step by step.

Charlie isn’t thrown off at all by these misconceptions but recognizes that it’s part of the lifestyle. She sees it as a learning curve and with the right mindset, taking small risks, and taking good care of herself she will get there.

We absolutely love the realness of this episode and wish Charlie an amazing digital nomad journey! And suppose you’re reading this and struggling with making money online or finding a remote job. In that case, our team at DND is creating an exclusive group program. It’s only for 15 people and together, we will create your action plan and work on building your dream career with podcast host and founder Nienke Nina.

Connect with our Nienke Nina and our guests

Your host Nienke Nina

More digital nomad tips and life advice via instagram @digitalnomadsdaily

Connect with Nienke Nina on LinkedIn @Nienke Nina Keizer

Find Nienke Nina on Instagram @nienkeninatravels

Meet digital nomad Charlie

Find her on Instagram @_travelaffair

Find her on her Youtube channel: Char Johnson

Other episodes you might like:

🎧  Episode #02 : From a Stolen Passport to Almost Being Deported. Horror Nomad Stories with Saurav

🎧  Episode #07: Overcoming Fears and Building Community with Digital Nomad Magali 

🎧  Episode #11 : Overcoming The First Obstacles In The Digital Nomad Lifestyle With MS

How Leaders Can Strengthen Remote Company Culture With Jürgen

“Many of the things that you shouldd be doing if you are leading a remote team are things that should be already doing anyway even in an office team.”

Digital nomad startup founder

Creating a digital nomad-friendly work environment

Tips for remote workers and digital nomads

🌟 Respect the trust your company has in you and don’t just go remote without letting them know. It’s bad for the organization, for yourself and puts a bad label on other digital nomads in the community.
🌟 With so many changes, habits are a powerful tool to nurture your well-being. Find out things that work for you and make them part of your day-to-day life.
🌟 Mirco-management can happen anywhere and also in work environments. So if you feel uncomfortable with the management style ask questions about why this is and what they want to get out of this. Perhaps there is a reason or they are not noticing it. If you cannot communicate this, then it’s probably best to find another job.

Tips for organizations who have (aspiring) digital nomads on their team

🌟 Stop talking about your people but focus on having conversations with your employees and co-create a remote work environment. Ask your people how remote looks and feels to them and see how your company can reshape its culture.
🌟 Adapt a startup mentality where you experiment with different ideas. If your organization is new to remote work, get tools and recourses to help you become successful so your organization and people can thrive.
🌟 Focus on the results and what people deliver instead of controlling how many hours someone is online. Controlling work environments isn’t pleasant and by giving people autonomy, they become more engaged and committed to giving their best work.

Connect with our Nienke Nina and our guests

Your host Nienke Nina

More digital nomad tips and life advice via instagram @digitalnomadsdaily

Connect with Nienke Nina on LinkedIn @Nienke Nina Keizer

Find Nienke Nina on Instagram @nienkeninatravels

Meet digital nomad Jürgen

Find him on LinkedIn: Jürgen Pretsch

Find his App: www.shap.market.com

Instagram: @shapmarketplace

Other episodes you might like:

🎧  Episode #16: The Future Of The Digital Nomads With Pat 

🎧  Episode #41: The 5 Key Ingredients To Work Remotely Effectively with Anna Maria

🎧  Episode #54: What Makes a Remote-First Company Culture with Chase

How To Find A Remote Job And Take Ownership Of Your Career With Juliana

“Remote work for me is about making better choices in general.”

From recruiter to remote career coach

Juliana has been working fully remotely since 2019 and is tuning in from Tirana in Albania. While this isn’t a digital nomad hub yet, the city is working on this to facilitate more digital nomads in the future. She has a long career as a recruiter, where she helped companies to find talent. Her work experience helped her understand what companies are looking for and how candidates can present themselves better online and during interviews. Her goal is to help individuals get more clarity about their careers and land jobs faster. She follows a six-step process and works 1:1 with people.

Searching for a remote job feels like a job

Looking for any job, remote or in an office, takes a lot of time and often feels like a job in itself. Juliana shares some common mistakes job seekers make when searching for a remote job. By changing the way you look for a job, you can increase your chances of landing the desired job. Let’s look at the common mistakes and how to avoid them.

Looking for ANY remote job

Remote work is popular and many job seekers look for any job as long as it’s remote. Juliana shares that this is a mistake because you will not find the right job if you haven’t clearly defined what type of job or company interests you. So stop looking for any remote job.

Lack of research

This may sound boring but research is part of the job hunt. When you apply for just anything and everything, you may waste your time, energy and perhaps even money on things that aren’t a good fit. You can research company values, previous employees’ work experiences, etc.

Unclear message

A clear message always sells better and this starts by creating clarity for yourself about the type of job you’re looking to land. Make sure that this message is shown on all the necessary places like LinkedIn, your resume and other content interesting for companies to check out.

Creating an action plan

Randomly looking for jobs sounds like hoping to find the right job. Hope is not a strategy in business and the same goes for landing your ideal job. So creating an action plan that specifies how you’re going to get this job and the different tasks help you land a job faster.

Losing confidence

Well, first of all, this makes sense because not everyone deals well with receiving a cold, harsh NO. Rejection is part of the process; if you’re being rejected repeatedly, this could put a dent in your confidence.

While it makes sense, it doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about it. Taking care of the previous common mistakes is the first step and accepting that you can get rejected is the other important step in the job-hunting process.

Losing confidence

Juliana often says that not the best candidate will get the job but the candidate who sells her/himself best lands the job. So while you’re busy job hunting don’t forget to pay attention to how you sell yourself. Presenting yourself in the best way already starts with how you present yourself online. So make sure your online resume and LinkedIn have a clear message and show your important skills and interests.

You are never to old to switch careers

These tips are super helpful; we hope they will help you find your job faster. Juliana also shares that many people are looking for a remote job or thinking about switching careers.

For the career switchers among us, the first thing to remember is that you’re never too old to switch careers. These days it’s pretty normal but somehow the “feeling of being too old” always pops up. The truth is that you are never too old to change careers and she even hears people in their early thirties saying they are too old. This mindset isn’t very positive and thinking this way will hold you back from actually shifting careers. So please don’t think you are too old to do anything. Make your peace with it and whenever you think it’s time to have a career change, it’s probably the best time to act.

Secondly, always take into consideration what you already know. Skills and experiences gained in previous jobs are often transferable skills and relevant for your next job. Try to find companies that are open to hiring people who don’t have direct experience in that area to increase your chances. You don’t need to start from scratch or take up a junior position when you have skills. Of course, also here, it’s important to learn how to sell yourself.

Connect with our Nienke Nina and our guests

Your host Nienke Nina

More digital nomad tips and life advice via instagram @digitalnomadsdaily

Connect with Nienke Nina on LinkedIn @Nienke Nina Keizer

Find Nienke Nina on Instagram @nienkeninatravels

Meet digital nomad Juliana

Follow Juliana on LinkedIn

Check out her Instagram @juliana.rabbi

Watch helpful videos on YouTube

Other episodes you might like:

🎧  Episode #12: The Secret Of Finding A Remote Job With Jordan Carroll 

🎧  Episode #41: The 5 Key Ingredients To Work Remotely Effectively with Anna Maria

🎧  Episode #53: Must-Know Resume Tips To Land A Remote Job with Michelle