Freelancing = Beating the 9-5 Gig!

Many of us dream of quitting our 9-5s and traveling the world, but Elise Darma made her dreams a successful reality. After years of placing her true passions on the back-burner, and living in a space of fear, Elise decided it was time to create a better lifestyle and business. This lifestyle gave her the opportunity to travel the world and see 25 cities (and counting), while also balancing a successful, evolving career. The now social media guru and business coach has built quite the following with over 40,000 Instagram followers, and is inspiring people all over the globe to create flexible careers; however, her professional life started in a way that’s familiar to many.

Elise was known as the “Social Media Girl” at her university’s tech incubator where she was working. Even though Elise says she “was pretty much just making it up as [she] went along,” she was able to land social media marketing gigs with a few of the incubator’s startups. However, Elise didn’t even think about pursuing freelancing until a friend asked her for a referral for a social media marketer, and instead, she referred herself. She continued to leverage her warm network over the next nine months and grow her client base by word-of-mouth. By August of 2014, Elise found herself burnt out from working a 9-to-5 and freelancing an additional 20 hours a week. So when a client came to her with a job that would require her to quit her current job, Elise found herself at a crossroad and made the decision to “mentally ready herself to not only leave her 9-to-5, but also take the leap to take on her own business as a freelancer.”

It took a few months of working full-time as a freelancer, a bad breakup, and another friend’s suggestion to realize that she could travel the world while continuing to work as a freelancer. She once again pioneered another venture; spending 3 months in Australia, Bali, and Hawaii, while continuing to grow and operate her business remotely. Even though quitting her secure job and committing to freelancing full-time was a big risk, it allowed for an opportunity for Elise to create a flexible lifestyle business powered by her true passions.       Elise calls herself a travelpreneur- a traveling entrepreneur. When I spoke to Elise, she was at her home-base in Toronto where she spends roughly two-thirds of the year, with the remainder spent traveling (and working). Her entrepreneurial spirit, combined with her lifelong desire to travel, made this transition an obvious next step. That doesn’t mean it didn’t come without its challenges. I asked Elise what advice she would give to anyone who was contemplating making the transition, and it came down to overcoming the challenge of getting out of your own head and quieting your fear. Elise had been researching and talking to friends about starting her own business for almost a year, before actually taking action.

Elise calls herself a travelpreneur- a traveling entrepreneur. When I spoke to Elise, she was at her home-base in Toronto where she spends roughly two-thirds of the year, with the remainder spent traveling (and working). Her entrepreneurial spirit, combined with her lifelong desire to travel, made this transition an obvious next step. That doesn’t mean it didn’t come without its challenges. I asked Elise what advice she would give to anyone who was contemplating making the transition, and it came down to overcoming the challenge of getting out of your own head and quieting your fear. Elise had been researching and talking to friends about starting her own business for almost a year, before actually taking action.

Elise calls herself a travelpreneur- a traveling entrepreneur. When I spoke to Elise, she was at her home-base in Toronto where she spends roughly two-thirds of the year, with the remainder spent traveling (and working). Her entrepreneurial spirit, combined with her lifelong desire to travel, made this transition an obvious next step. That doesn’t mean it didn’t come without its challenges. I asked Elise what advice she would give to anyone who was contemplating making the transition, and it came down to overcoming the challenge of getting out of your own head and quieting your fear. Elise had been researching and talking to friends about starting her own business for almost a year, before actually taking action.

Even after Elise had successfully landed contracts, she felt like she hadn’t earned the title of entrepreneur. It was easy for her to identify other entrepreneurs, but spent so much time in her own head and not “owning the path that [she] chose of this entrepreneurial

Elise calls herself a travelpreneur- a traveling entrepreneur. When I spoke to Elise, she was at her home-base in Toronto where she spends roughly two-thirds of the year, with the remainder spent traveling (and working). Her entrepreneurial spirit, combined with her lifelong desire to travel, made this transition an obvious next step. That doesn’t mean it didn’t come without its challenges. I asked Elise what advice she would give to anyone who was contemplating making the transition, and it came down to overcoming the challenge of getting out of your own head and quieting your fear. Elise had been researching and talking to friends about starting her own business for almost a year, before actually taking action.

Even after Elise had successfully landed contracts, she felt like she hadn’t earned the title of entrepreneur. It was easy for her to identify other entrepreneurs, but spent so much time in her own head and not “owning the path that [she] chose of this entrepreneurial lifesyle.” So what’s the bottom line? Don’t dwell in that space of self-doubt or fear. Elise didn’t start her agency Canupy until about a year after quitting her full-time job. Don’t get stuck on finding a place to start, and you don’t need a perfectly curated brand to begin.

We would be lying if we said the challenges stopped there. When first getting started, Elise never realized how much time would be required to run her own business, time that wasn’t spent on work for clients. Planning has been key to overcoming the biggest challenges of being an entrepreneur. Elise recommends setting goals, and workable plans to obtain them. Owning your own business can feel like a never-ending hustle, which is why it’s important to create digestible tasks to make progress and stay focused. However it is important to realize “your plans are your future,” Elise emphasized, “they will only take you as far as you planned them to go.”

Want to be a travelpreneur? Don’t worry, I asked Elise for advice on this too. Elise uses coworking spaces to choose her destinations. “I didn’t see the value in going to a place where I would be working and living by myself. I’m more of an introvert, so I wanted to be in a position where I could easily meet a lot of people.” Coworking spaces collectively solve the problems of connecting (socially and professionally) and finding reliable wifi. Also, choose somewhere where the cost of living amounts to around $1,000/month (Elise’s blog mentions Bali, Thailand, and Nicaragua), and to clearly communicate expectations with clients. Let them know you’re working remotely and how the time difference may affect your timeline.

Elise is continuing to benefit from the flexibility and freedom of entrepreneurship and has new business goals for 2017. During the previous year, she had shared her personal journey and adventures on Instagram. She received a surge of interest from people who shared her passions and this led to her creating a personal website for blogging, tools/resources, and business coaching opportunities. Now that she has successfully created and reached her goal of being a travelpreneur, Elise aims to transition her lifestyle business into a growth-based business. She plans to bring on a small team of motivated individuals, as well as create and offer products to help other professionals unite the realms of traveling and business.

Find Elise on Instagram (@elisedarma), her website, or on YouTube