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- 136 - The Queen Of Pop
136 - The Queen Of Pop
Plus: the VP who "figured out" remote work and Ireland's first digital nomad conference
Chris Ming
August 01, 2023
The Connection / Date 2023.08.01 / Issue #136
Hello, Connectors 😎
Before we dive in, here are the stats from last week's newsletter about remote job risk reversal:
👋 New readers: 1,618 (+18)
📧 Open rate: 50.4%
🐁 Click rate: 2.5%
🔗 Most popular link: The PM in Argentina
Today in 5 minutes or less, you’ll learn:
👸 Two remote work lessons from the Queen of Pop
♛ How this VP of Strategy "cracked" remote work and being a full-time mom
🇮🇪 Ireland's first digital nomad conference
Let’s jump in:
💰 Have you taken the Net Worth Survey yet? Compare your income against other remote workers. Take the survey 💰
The Queen Of Pop And Her Secret To Success
You can learn about remote work from Taylor Swift.
Last week, she hit 12 No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 — most in the chart's history for a woman artist (Barbra Streisand had 11 No. 1 albums).
Here are just a few of her other records:
Longest No. 1 Hot 100 Song
Most No. 1 Hot 100 Debuts Among Women
Most Top 10 Hot 100 Debuts Among Women
Most Albums to Chart in a Single Week Among Women
Most Songs in the Top 10 of the Hot 100 Simultaneously
What makes Taylor special?
Luck?
Pure talent?
A rabid-fan base?
Yes. All those things.
But most importantly:
She writes music. All the time.
By my count, 11 full-length albums in the last 5 years.
So.
What can we learn from Taylor?
2 things:
1/ We Underestimate The Number Of Reps Required To Succeed
Landing a great remote job takes obsessive focus and research. It can require learning everything about everything. Depth and breadth.
When I tell people this, they sigh.
"I know, I tried that," they say.
"How many times?" I ask.
"Three."
Three?
What if the answer is 30? Or 300?
Are you willing to put in the reps?
2/ There Are No Silver Bullets
What remote job board should I use? What skill should I learn? Can I use AI? Should I update my resume?
No. Just stop.
Stop searching for the:
Perfect resume
Perfect job board
Perfect connection
Perfect cold message
Perfect remote job coach
Perfect hack from the right influencer
No one thing will change everything.
It requires doing all THESE things, consistently, for a long period of time.
That's how you land the opportunity to work from anywhere.
The Connection's Net Worth Survey
I'm excited to share The Connection Net Worth Survey 💰
It should take less than 5 minutes to complete.
This is a quarterly survey to understand the net worth and income levels of remote workers like you.
Responses are completely anonymous.
The results will be published in the newsletter, so you can benchmark your income against other remote workers.
Remote Spotlight: The VP Of Strategy Who "Figured Out" Remote Work, Working In the US Senate, and Being a Full-Time Mom
30-seconds after hearing from Kimberly Pencille Collins, my first thought was, "How does she do it?" Lucky for us, she breaks it down in this week's spotlight. Kimberly is the VP of Strategy at #samsales Consulting, currently living in Hawaii.
Tell us about your remote work journey.
The start of my career was very office-based, with that “office” being the U.S. Capitol Building. For me, the only option for “remote work” seemed to be unemployment.
There was an exceptionally rainy day in DC after my first child was born that turned a one-hour commute into a 4-hour commute. In between questioning my dignity while using my travel handsfree pump, I had a lot of time to think about how working in an office meant cool things like hanging with John McCain and working on important legislation...
But it also meant sad things like the George Washington Memorial Parkway spent more time with me than my own kids did.
An eventual relocation, followed by another one overseas meant that I could escape my unhealthy relationship with Route 1, but it also meant temporary unemployment.
I found contracts here and there, but this was still solidly in the pre-COVID phase of working where anything “from home” was rare. Fast-forward a few years, a few more kids, and a mind that a therapist described as “needing to be used,” I wanted to dive into something full-time, but the options for an American living abroad were pretty slim.
Meanwhile, a good friend felt the same about her life as I did while I was on the Hill, except, for her, it was time logged on an airplane rather than the road.
She left her role at LinkedIn with the hopes of starting her own fully remote/flexible consulting firm.
We connected, I started PT, then FT and now work more hours than I ever did when I was in DC. Funny thing about remote work though, it never feels that way. I can be at every school event for the kids, live anywhere my husband’s job takes us, work from the beach/hotel rooms/family’s houses, and nap when needed -- all with the coolest group of women who are in similar situations. It feel like I almost have it all.
What's your number one piece of advice for someone currently looking for remote work?
LinkedIn, LinkedIn, LinkedIn.
Get on if you aren’t already and build out a solid profile for yourself. Grow your network and your personal brand by commenting and posting regularly. Remote jobs are out there, but they can be competitive. You have to be “different” from your competition to stand out before you can show how you are better. This is how you do that.
How do you manage your work/life balance?
Remote work means I can work, but it also means work is always with me.
It is a huge challenge to shut off completely and ignore the pings of Slack and text messages, especially when you are in a client service role where urgency is key. Working in Hawaii has helped a bit in that there is a core set of hours where most of my clients are asleep. Rather than use that time to “catch-up,” I block it off for focused time with the kids and try to stick to it religiously.
How has remote work changed your life?
It’s the ability to work or not work at all.
There is simply no way that myself or most of my colleagues could work in conventional jobs with children, frequent relocations, and the weird hours that come with having military-based spouses.
We have applicants with PHDs, published books, award-winning careers, that had their options post-kids turn into smoke.
There is a lot of talent out there ready to knock the socks off of employers if only given the opportunity to work remotely.
Looking back, if there's one thing you could have done differently, what would that be?
I would have started writing during the kid’s naps rather than napping myself
Once I made the decision to be primarily a “stay-at-home-mom” it seemed like a temporary decision and one I had to devote my whole self to 24/7.
I’ll never regret that I stayed home, but with every year that passed, “temporary” started to seem permanent and I lost a bit of myself and my personal career goals in the process.
Just as I set aside time now to “mother” I wish I had set aside time to “career” during those early years.
Where can people go to learn more about you and your work?
You can find me on LinkedIn.
Though #samsales are primarily a sales consulting firm, we offer a lot of free leadership sessions and career support for women as well as advice on how to build your network on LinkedIn. Find out more here.
What’s your favorite movie?
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Remote Work Tools
The tools, technology, and guides that enable work from anywhere, living abroad, while accelerating your career.
Today's Remote work tool is NomadEire's Digital Nomad Conference
Learn from pioneers of the remote work movement in Europe and Ireland from August 28-31.
Join us at the Irish Digital Nomad Conference in stunning Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland 🇮🇪
Hear from:
🌎 Dean Kuchel: "The King of Digital Nomads"
🚀 Michelle Coulson: CEO, Remote Rebellion
🤝 Marcel Wijermars: CEO, No More Networking
...and more
Don't miss Ireland's first digital nomad conference. Click here to register today.
Connect The Dots
Remote work news from across the Internet.
🏖️ 8 habits that could add 24 years to your life
💴 Where high earners are moving
🐶 How to travel with your pet — even a big one
🏫 States with the best (and worst) school systems
🏠 The rise of coworking retreats
Conclusion
That’s a wrap.
Next Tuesday, August 8th, here's what we'll cover:
🧑🏫 Remote entry-level jobs you haven't considered
🚀 The best tool on the Internet to 10x your productivity
💰 My favorite money newsletter for remote workers and expats
...and more!
See you next week 👋
How was this newsletter? Any tips or feedback? Send me all the hot goss 🔥 just hit "reply" or DM me here.
When you’re ready, here are 3 more ways I can help you with remote work:
The Remote Life Database. Access the word-for-word scripts and templates that helped me land 5 remote jobs and "go remote" for the last 10 years. All 100% free.
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