Ditching Your 9-to-5, Living Your Bucket List and Creating Work-Life Balance That Lasts with Dina Ramadan

What if your bucket list could guide your entire career - and help you build the work-life balance you've always wanted?

In this episode of The Remote CEO Life, I chat with Dina Ramadhan, a digital nomad coach who's been helping people design location-independent careers for over a decade. Dina shares how she turned her personal bucket list into a roadmap for building a freedom-based business, and how you can do the same.

We dive into how she helps people transition out of the 9 to 5, the truth about what it really takes to be a digital nomad, and how to create true work-life balance without burning out. If you're dreaming of working remotely and living life on your terms, this episode is a must-listen.

In this episode, we talk about (digital nomad, work-life balance, bucket list):

- Leaving the corporate world to become a digital nomad
- How creating a values-aligned bucket list changed her life
- The realities (and myths) of the digital nomad lifestyle
- What you actually need to leave your 9 to 5 and go remote
- The mindset shifts required to build work-life balance as an entrepreneur
- Practical advice for building a business that aligns with your goals

If you're ready to stop putting your dreams on hold and start living your bucket list, this episode will give you the clarity and confidence to take the first step.

Connect with Dina Ramadhan:

🌐 Website

📸 Instagram

💼 LinkedIn

#digitalnomad #bucketlistlife #worklifebalance #locationindependent #careerchange #remoteworklife #freedomlifestyle #digitalnomadcoach

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Digital Nomad Coaching
• 1:47 Dina's Journey to Becoming a Nomad Coach
• 8:45 The Importance of a Bucket List
• 11:20 Aligning Business with Lifestyle Goals
• 17:17 Starting the Digital Nomad Lifestyle
• 21:38 Misconceptions About Nomad Life
• 32:49 Practical Advice for Transitioning to Remote Work

Transcript

Sophie Biggerstaff (00:00)
Hello and welcome back to the Remote CEO Life podcast. Today I am joined by Dina, who is a digital nomad coach that empowers women. Sorry, let me start that again because I read the wrong thing. Hello and welcome back to the Remote CEO Life podcast. Today I am joined by a lovely guest who is Dina and she is a digital nomad coach who empowers people to design careers that align with their personal goals and bucket lists.

With a background in organizational psychology and life coaching, Dina has guided countless clients to transition from the traditional nine to five life to fulfilling location independent lifestyles. Her approach emphasizes the importance of autonomy over one's time and the belief that professional success doesn't have to come at the expense of personal freedom. So welcome Dina, it's lovely to have you. share some very aligned goals.

Dina (00:47)
Yes, hey Sophie,

so lovely to be here today and thanks for the introduction. It was very detailed, I love it.

Sophie Biggerstaff (00:54)
You're welcome. Thanks so much for coming on. Do you want to go into a little bit more detail? Tell me a little bit more about you, where you've kind of come from your traditional career and then becoming a Nomad coach.

Dina (01:00)
Yeah.

So yeah, I started, well, I'll go from the very beginning. A bit like Sophie, I realized I wanted to travel from the age of eight, which when I was listening to your podcast, I was just like, oh my God, you get me. My sister, who's 12 years older than me, she left university to do a sabbatical and go and travel the world. And this was before like mobiles were really a thing. And like everyone just used internet cafes.

to contact their family and then she would just show me pictures and tell me her stories and I was like my god I need to go and travel the world when I'm older so that was always like a really strong goal for me just because living vicariously through her I was just like there's so much of the world I want to see.

Then fast forward to 16, I saw how hard my parents were working when I was studying for my A levels. Well, like just finished GCSEs and sorting out my A levels in the UK. And I realized I didn't want to be a doctor like my parents because they work too hard. And I really wanted to be a business owner so I could...

you know, make my own decisions and not have to work as hard and generally just live like a life that I would enjoy more than working like a nine to five or in some cases, 12, 15 hour days, sometimes on calls like my parents did. So I kind of made like a bucket list where I was just like, I want to have a PA.

personal assistant now a VA and I want to travel the world and I also want to study like something about how the mind works, psychology so and philosophy as well that was another one on my bucket list. So then I kind of like studied those in college while I was getting my A levels and then when I joined university I did psychology which was aligned to my goals.

And I started up my own charity fundraising business where I would host like club night events to try and raise money for charity charities. And that was my first taste of entrepreneurship. So I kind of grew the business. kept putting on events and we ended up like raising 10,000 for charity for different charities in the UK, which was pretty cool. I was really chuffed with that.

Then when I left uni, I obviously didn't, closed the business because it was a university like event and I wanted to move to London. So I became a freelance event manager where I learned how to manage my own income, manage my time, talk to clients. So I had all of this business knowledge already and I was doing my own taxes. you know, I was doing everything myself.

But I wasn't making that much money because a lot of people in the event industry really undercharge you and they sometimes even expect you to work for free. So I ended up going into my first corporate role at like 23, 24. And I did that for six months, which was a corporate events business where we would host events for like oil and gas and pharmaceutical companies.

And that is so unaligned to me. It's ridiculous. I don't really like those industries. don't think, I think there's a purpose to them and there's obviously a need for them, but it's just not a business that I enjoy being a part of. And my boss picked up on that and kind of took me to one side and said, Dina, I don't think this job is for you. And I was like, my God, I'm going to get fired. But I do think that you would be a really good coach.

I think you've got it in you to talk to people and really understand people and you should read the four hour work week. And I was like, four hour work week, that sounds incredible. That is definitely a business that a book that I want to read and definitely a type of business that I want. So yeah, I obviously bought that book. I left the company and then I went and I,

I went and I did a training on how to become a coach. It was a free two-day training in London. I went there and I was the youngest person in the room. This was before coaching was even a thing and you had to explain what coaching was to people because nobody knew what a coach was, especially no one my age. So I went to the two days and I was like, you know what? This is actually pretty cool. Like, and it reminded me of my

my wishes to travel. reminded me of why I wanted to start my own business and it gave me an like a way of doing it online so I could finally go and travel and make an income while I'm traveling and this was before even digital nomad was a thing it was like in 2014. So I yeah I decided to sign up and use my savings towards that.

And then a revelation in that coaching training was to go and travel. So I went to Thailand. did five weeks, ended up staying longer. Absolutely loved it. Felt like I'd met my people, had experienced a climate that was so much better than the UK and generally just had everything that I wanted in my life. I just felt happy. I felt free. And I already had an idea that I wanted to.

become a coach and I would start it when I came home. So although I didn't want to leave Thailand, I knew it was the right thing to do because I had bigger goals, which was to become a coach. And I decided at the same time that for, you know, for security reasons, I would do a master's in organizational psychology, which is business psychology, helping people be more productive in the workplace. So I, after that, I ended up

Going back to the UK really kept my head down, started up my coaching business, up my masters, completed my masters a year and a half later. And I had finished my coaching qualification as well. Started coaching people in career transitions. And then I noticed that a lot of people who were coming to me were like creatives and people who wanted to learn how to make money.

And obviously I'd worked in event sales, I'd worked in freelancing and I had created my own charity fundraising event business. So I was like, I could help people with this. So I kind of became a business coach and then I started up a corporate wellbeing business where we would go into organizations and help people. But then I realized I was getting myself stuck in London again and I really wanted to go back to Thailand and I wanted to travel the world. So I let that business go, I carried on coaching.

then it kind of morphed into digital nomad coaching and 10, 11 years after I'm still doing it and I still love helping people become digital nomads. Sorry, that was really long, but yeah, that's everything.

Sophie Biggerstaff (08:01)
Amazing. No, that's okay. It's great.

It's a very good overview and you said some really cool stuff there. And it's so interesting to me because my whole entrepreneurial journey also started for the four hour work week. I went on a holiday. Where was I? I think I went on a holiday during, was it during COVID? It must have been the year before COVID. I really can't remember. But.

Dina (08:13)
Yeah.

Sophie Biggerstaff (08:23)
I had the book, The Four Hour Workweek, and that suddenly sparked all of these ideas. And I was like, well, if this guy can make this happen, surely I can. But I think I was maybe in the process of setting up my business at that point. I was still trying to figure out exactly what I was going to do. But it's interesting you brought that up. Because I think that's generally a point of quite a lot of entrepreneurs' journeys is reading that book and being like, well, that's the expansion that you needed into this world to say,

Dina (08:46)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Sophie Biggerstaff (08:52)
if he can

do that, then so can I. So that's amazing you brought that up. And you've obviously started so many different ventures. How did you know each time you then like kind of decided that it wasn't for you? Like at what point during that process did you say, right, I need to switch this up, I need to change so that you can live the lifestyle that you want to live.

Dina (09:12)
It's just survival really. It's like, if you run a retail shop, if something sells more, then you buy more of it so you can sell more of it. So it's a bit like that. When I was doing the event fundraising business, like the first event was a huge success. So then I put on another event and then I kept putting on events, just raising money for charities and having a team who were great, who all volunteered.

And then when I was working in freelancing, I was just taking whatever came my way. And then when I got, when I got really good at it, then I was able to like charge my worth, but I still wasn't making enough money because a lot of event companies, they weren't giving me, they would just say, we'll find someone else. If I was giving them my day rate as an example. So then I ended up in event, event sales, did that was making okay money, but my boss was like, this job isn't right for you.

Then coaching, I was like, this is going consistently well. I'm really happy about this. I'll open up a corporate wellbeing business as well so I can put on yoga and massage and like art classes and organizations. That was going okay, but I got stuck in London. So I was like, fuck it, you I'm just going to be a coach.

and then I'm going to be a really good coach and help people live their best life so I can live my best life and then we can live our best life together in this beautiful world.

Sophie Biggerstaff (10:36)
amazing and that all stemmed from you I guess having this bucket list which I believe is something you probably use now in your in your client coaching and talk me through a little bit more about that like concept of having a bucket list.

Dina (10:41)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, so my bucket list is a bit different to the standard one that everyone tells you to make. I like to try and help people align their values and who they are and what they want from life. So, freedom is a core value to you, if being loved is a core value to you, if honesty is a core value to you, like understanding who you are and what you find most important in your life.

and then creating a bucket list from that. So you can really create goals from the soul that aren't necessarily around just travel or just work or just family and friends. It's about everything and it's holistically you. And then I like to give people the opportunity to write a deadline. Like do they want to do it before they're 30, 40, 50, 60? And then you can start making the goals a bit more achievable.

So instead of having like a hundred things on your bucket list and you're like, my God, I don't know which to do first. can strategically go, before I'm 30, I'm going to travel to 30 countries. Before I'm 30, I'm going to have my own small business making 80k a year. And then when I'm 40, I want to have a business that makes 60k a year, you know, and then you can start really trying to map out a guideline for your life.

Sophie Biggerstaff (12:11)
That's a really good approach to it. I'd say that's definitely something that I try and adopt as well. It's like, okay, well, what lifestyle do you want to live and then kind of work backwards from there? Because I think a lot of you, you're an example of this as well. So am I, like where we found ourselves in a business that maybe wasn't actually supporting the lifestyle that we wanted to live. Like you say, you had a business that tied you to London. I had a business that very much allowed, had made, made me have to be online all the time to be able to.

Dina (12:21)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Sophie Biggerstaff (12:41)
respond to clients and things like that. And it just didn't work. Like it doesn't work for the last time that I actually wanted to live when I took a step back and I was like, well, this is actually how I want to feel every day. This is how I want to incorporate my day to day life. The way that I set my business didn't work for me. And I think so many people don't realize that they have a choice on how they set up their business and it can be catered to their lifestyle. think a lot of people go into entrepreneurship thinking, I'm just going to make loads of money and this is in my control now. But what they don't also realize is that they have a choice on what business

Dina (12:51)
Yeah.

Sophie Biggerstaff (13:10)
business

to start.

based on how they want to live. doesn't just have to be this amazing idea that's going to make them millions of dollars. It can just be something as simple as like, do you actually need the millions of dollars or would you rather wake up happy and content and fulfilled by the things that you're doing every single day, knowing that you are in full alignment? I think people get a bit lost with that concept and I've seen it happen so much throughout my travels. I'm sure you've seen it as well. Like where somebody has started that business in one place of their life and maybe that aligned with them at that point.

Dina (13:13)
Yeah.

Exactly that.

Yeah.

Sophie Biggerstaff (13:40)
but then they have to pivot and change and as I've said so many times and that's how businesses end. That's how people decide they don't want to start continue working on their business because they think that it doesn't align with them anymore when actually they just need to pivot in a different direction to align better with the lifestyle goals that they actually have. So I think that's a really great tool that you're giving clients that with the bucket list idea.

Dina (14:04)
That's why I feel like everybody should at least try coaching, for example, because then you have someone who can help you like overlook your business from a helicopter view and just be like, okay, if I just change this, I can do this and then I can have more of my life, the life that I want.

Sophie Biggerstaff (14:22)
Yeah, no, I fully agree. think it sometimes does really take an external perspective to get that insight into like which direction you could take because it can feel very overwhelming and isolating when you are working on your own business just in isolation. And there's so many ideas that maybe you're not even aware of because you're just in your own little bubble. So I think it's really important to get external perspectives as well. Good point there. And how has that changed for you then, like in terms of like your

Dina (14:28)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Sophie Biggerstaff (14:51)
So they still look the same, like obviously you're still a nomad, you're still travelling. Has that bucket list evolved as you've experienced more and grown in yourself and in your business?

Dina (15:01)
Yeah, definitely. I'll tell you my age. It's always a thing not to tell people, but I'm 35. So when I was in my 20s, when I created this bucket list.

It was, you know, or even when I was 16, it was to have my own business. was to create something where I can make an income for myself. That's still my goal. And that's something that I would never, I would never give up on. That's something that I love doing and I get so much reward from. And, but now my goal has changed. So I'm, I want to...

Sophie Biggerstaff (15:32)
Yeah, that makes sense.

Dina (15:38)
create more, I want to build up my businesses. At the moment, I'm building my photography business, my travel photography business. I'm selling prints online. I've created some e-books that I am looking to publish in the next couple of months. These are e-books that I've had over the years and I'm just growing them and expanding them and then putting them on Amazon. I'm still coaching. People have...

said to me that they would like to use my organizational psychology work to create a remote-first business, for example, so helping companies look after their remote workers. So, I don't know, everything is on my bucket list and it's growing and expanding and morphing into even bigger and better things. So what I try and do is quarterly just write things down and then see how they manifest.

Sophie Biggerstaff (16:28)
Nice, yeah, that's a good way to do it and keep track of it over that period of time. And obviously you've been nomading for a while. How, and then you're obviously coaching people to become nomads. Like what's the best advice that you kind of give people to start this lifestyle? Is it to start with that bucket list or is there something else that you suggest as well?

Dina (16:33)
Yeah.

So I do suggest starting with the bucket list. I do think that's a really good idea because it'll give you more motivation and incentive because you'll want it more if you know what you're trying to attract. I would say that you have to be motivated and have a good work ethic.

because especially when you're traveling the world, there will always be distractions. And if you want to run a business, you've got to be disciplined and you've got to be able to show up on time and not let people down. Otherwise your reputation is going to go down the drain. So yeah, I would say have a good work ethic. And if you want to start, would, this is what I tend to advise my clients.

Don't leave your job too quickly. Stay in your job until you're making at least some money from your business and you can see where it's going to grow. This could take three to six months, this could take a year. But I would say, you know, focus like I did, focus on your work first and then make sure that you are getting the results that you want so you can travel and have all the fun later.

Sophie Biggerstaff (17:58)
agree with that advice. I spent at least, I think I was about 15, 16 months starting my business before I decided to then say it was in a position for me to go away and move to Bali and become this nomad, do this stuff, start doing this nomad life. And I would also say that I'm also in this big...

business pivot at the moment. closed down my first business last year and then I'm restarting, rebuilding. And what I've needed in that time and what I have given myself is stability because I've been traveling so fast over the past few years. And that was great because my business was fully established. But where I'm now pivoting and rebuilding, it's impossible to do that on the move when you then got to think about your travel plans, your survival skills, like finding the wifi, making friends, all of the things that would have been way too difficult for me to do had I have continued to live in.

Dina (18:39)
Yeah.

Sophie Biggerstaff (18:45)
to

live this fast-paced nomad life. And whilst I love that lifestyle, it wasn't right for me at this moment in time. And I couldn't agree more with what you're saying in terms of like, don't quit the thing too early, set yourself up, because it is near impossible to start something whilst you're on the move. And I don't think I would have been able to maintain this level of, like a lot of people say to me, well, you've been traveling for four years, like something must be working, you must be making money. And I'm like, well, yeah, it was because I said,

Dina (18:48)
Yeah.

Yes.

Yeah.

Sophie Biggerstaff (19:15)
it up before I left. think I meet a lot of nomads that haven't set their thing up before they leave and then they run into so many roadblocks and it really sets up quite a lot of barriers and quite a lot of them end up going home and having to get a job and working in a way that they didn't necessarily want to work or live because they didn't have that foundations and I think having that foundations whilst you have a level of stability and security is super super important for then setting yourself up for like long-term nomad life or like

whatever lifestyle you want to live.

Dina (19:44)
Yeah.

And also you don't have to travel fast. Like one of my hacks when I was traveling, I lived out my suitcase for four years before COVID and I just slow traveled. So I would spend like four months, six months in one place. And then I would get my work done and go and explore and have a community and meet locals and have that full experience. So.

You're never going to be successful in your business if you're moving every week because it's just going to be a whole new environment and you have to figure out all the things like you said, Sophie.

Sophie Biggerstaff (20:26)
No, agree. It's, I think the fast travel works if you have something established and it's easy to manage and maintain. Fast travel does not work if you are starting something from the ground up. Like I can fully vouch for that. Like it was a nightmare last year when I was trying to build my second business whilst moving a million miles an hour. It was really hard and I wouldn't recommend it. And I would say that I'm quite a seasoned nomad and I wouldn't recommend that. So I think.

Dina (20:31)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Sophie Biggerstaff (20:54)
Definitely if you're a beginner, don't do that. Take our advice. It will save you a lot of hassle along the way. But that's really smart advice. And what do you think some of the, like I hear a lot of like obviously people's expectations or misconceptions around nomad life. What are some of the ones that you've heard around like remote work and nomad life that you encounter in terms of misconceptions and things that you don't think are actually true that people think about this lifestyle?

Dina (21:00)
Yeah.

So a lot of people, I speak to a lot of people who are curious about this lifestyle, but they just don't feel like it's feasible. They don't think that they could ever achieve it, because they're just like, only really smart people can do it, or only really adventurous people can do it, or people who aren't me can do it, but I can't do it. So there's like a limited.

belief around, I enough? And am I worthy of this life? So that's why coaches have businesses because a lot of people, just need to have that support and have that accountability to help them get there and learn what they need to learn. So yeah, but that's what I would say the biggest problem is people just thinking that they're not enough and anyone's enough and

Running a business isn't as hard as you think it is. It's just, you've got to be visible. You've got to have a clear idea of what you offer and who you offer it to. And you have to have a good work ethic. Visible just means being able to tell people, hi, this is what I do. This is who I am. These are the skills I have. If you're interested, let me know. We can work together. If you're not interested, no worries. Maybe next time.

Sophie Biggerstaff (22:36)
Yeah, definitely. That makes a lot of sense.

Um, and I think, yeah, I've seen that also. Like I remember when I first went home from my first trip away as the no man, they're like, Oh, you're so lucky. I was like, this wasn't luck. There was a whole element of like my, so much mindset work that had to go into it. So much like foundational set up, so many actions and risks that I had to actually take to make this happen for myself. And I really, really strongly believe that anyway, if you really want to live in this way, you can make it happen for yourself.

But you have to cut through all of those beliefs the things that holding you back because if you don't it's not gonna happen But it is possible. I really do truly believe that it's possible I've seen so many people even from like the the most unfortunate of backgrounds Be able to live this lifestyle and I think it's I think it's really important to surround yourself with people or like

Dina (23:25)
Yeah.

Sophie Biggerstaff (23:30)
bring people into your world that are already living this lifestyle. Like both of us, for example, if you want to start living a nomad life, follow both of us on Instagram. I'm sure you'll see part of our lifestyle, for example, in which case that might resonate with you. might be like, well, she's from the same place as me, or, she's the same age as me, or whatever is, we've got to set a career, whatever. It might be that you just find that little bit of resonance, which then gives you the belief to be like, well, if she can do it and she came from the same place as me, then so can I. And I think you really do need that.

Dina (23:39)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Sophie Biggerstaff (23:59)
Like you said, you had that book for our work week, so did I. I started, think, like, I've already seen it prior to that, because I'd been to Bali a few years before I read that book. And I started seeing people working online, and I was like, oh, hold on a minute, what the hell? Like, how are they doing this? And that was my first part of expansion. And actually, one of my friends at the time was living in Bali.

Dina (24:15)
Yeah.

Sophie Biggerstaff (24:20)
And I was like, well, if she can do that, surely I can do that. But I just didn't quite know the route to get there. And that's when I started doing my research. And that's when at the time, had I had the knowledge about coaching or mentoring, I probably would have invested in a coach at that point to say, well, actually, this is something that I want. So I'm going to invest money to be able to get it.

Dina (24:28)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I totally agree with everything you just said.

Sophie Biggerstaff (24:42)
Yeah, nice. And obviously, in terms of your own mindset, then, have you had any work that you've had to do to overcome to get yourself into this? Obviously, you've been doing coaching for a long time, but you're still you're still nomad in like how many times have you had to work through a block to get you onto that like next level?

Dina (24:52)
yeah.

God, when I first started coaching, I had this massive limiting belief that I was too young and nobody would listen to anything that I had to say. And I also, at one point, thought coaching was a scam and I was a coach and I was just like, is it a scam? Everyone keeps saying it's a scam. Why would anyone listen to me? Hang on a second. No one listens to me because I'm a coach. I'm just there as a sounding board to help them get there.

So I've had to like go through so many limiting beliefs over the years where I was like, I'm too young. No one's gonna, no one's gonna listen to me. No one's gonna hire me because they all want somebody who is an retired CEO or like somebody who's got wisdom behind them. And then I realized, hang on a second. I do have wisdom. It's all in freelancing and building up businesses. And then I tweaked my coaching to match who I am. And that...

came from working with a coach and that worked. That came from working on myself and realizing what my strengths are, like what my experience is, how I can help people. And then when I started getting more coaching clients, I realized it's not a scam. What I do is really life-changing for people.

And then I've coached hundreds of people now. So it's, yeah, it's, it's a journey. And, you know, I still occasionally have imposter syndrome where I feel like, you know, am I actually going to...

I don't know, like be able to answer the questions that I need to answer when I'm asked questions and I'm like, hang on a second, I've done this for 10, 11 years. I know exactly what I'm doing and I've done it for so long. I'm a good coach, but you always have, with everything that you do, you always have like a belief, am I good enough, am I worthy, et cetera.

Sophie Biggerstaff (26:50)
Yeah, 100%. I don't know many people that have gone into running their own business that haven't had some kind of limiting belief holding them back. And it's super interesting to me to say about the age one, because I've had that my whole life, honestly, because I had it in my career, because I didn't go to university. And I went straight into work when I was 16, 17, and worked my way up a career. So by the time that I was 20,

Dina (26:57)
Yeah.

Sophie Biggerstaff (27:14)
I was already like having the career of like a 30 year old because I hadn't, I skipped that like university step. So people were always like, how are you in this position? Like you're so young, da da da. So was, actually was ingrained in me for a really long time. And even when I then now, because I look a lot younger than I am, I'm 33, but people are very confused by my age when they meet me. And it's when I start really off a list of all the things that I've done in my life, they're like.

Dina (27:18)
Yeah.

Yeah!

Sophie Biggerstaff (27:41)
they're like, I can see it in their face. They're like so confused by how old I am. And I then get a bit insecure about it. So I'm like, like I'm way older than you think I am. I've actually started because I recently did a talk. I did a conference.

Dina (27:53)
Yeah.

Sophie Biggerstaff (27:57)
And before I even started the presentation, I actually led with that because I just knew that if I was gonna start presenting all of these things that I was about to present, I was gonna look at like a 40 people's really confused faces trying to do the maths. So was like, I'm gonna save you some maths before I even start this presentation and address this thing that I know is gonna be a question. But it is, it's a limiting belief. And I don't think I've ever had it like.

Dina (27:57)
Okay.

Yeah.

Sophie Biggerstaff (28:25)
properly hold me back. think if anything is giving me fuel to be like, well, yeah, I am young, but I've experienced all of these things and I've got all of these, this knowledge, wisdom from all of these experiences that I've had. I'm fully able to do that, but I can totally resonate with like that narrative of like, am I too young to be doing this? Like it definitely plays a big part in my conscious daily decision-making, I'd say.

Dina (28:37)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, you have the fear and you do it anyway. That's how I've always lived as well. Age did play a part when I was in my twenties, but I was just like, I have so much to give. So then I always ended up like over giving and just being like, look, this is how I can help you. And then, you know, they respect me even more. it has its own strange way of being a strength.

Sophie Biggerstaff (28:56)
Yeah.

Yeah, and I also think like with with a like I've actually had quite a lot of clients. think most of my clients actually have been like way older than me. And I would say that they sometimes need that perspective of somebody that is a little bit younger anyway, because we are from like maybe a different generation where in their world, they didn't grow up around smartphones, they didn't grow up around like social media.

Dina (29:29)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Sophie Biggerstaff (29:44)
It came into my life halfway through my life. I kind of got, same as you probably, we've got the best of kind of both worlds. We saw like analog and then we saw digital. ⁓ So we understand, but from a both side perspective. So if you are working with older clients, it's actually really useful because you can understand them and like where they're coming from and like why they don't get certain parts of their business because they weren't, they didn't grow up with laptops. didn't grow up with systems, automated systems, AI, all of this stuff. But then we are also part of this new generation that does understand all

Dina (29:49)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Sophie Biggerstaff (30:14)
these things. actually I think it has a massive benefit to people that you're working with that are older than you to be slightly younger in the things you're doing.

Dina (30:22)
Yeah, I feel like you can help anyone just by listening to what they they need to say and giving them a permission to speak and also like asking the right questions. That's that's what it takes to be a good coach, like knowing how to guide people and ask asking them the right questions, help them find the answers for themselves. And you don't it doesn't matter what age you are. You can do that. You can be really wise at 16. You can be really wise at 60.

Sophie Biggerstaff (30:42)
Yeah, exactly.

for sure. I actually met a 22 year old yesterday and he was reading off some historical facts that I had absolutely no clue about. I was like wow, actually I'm learning from you. So definitely proof that age is not a barrier. So that's really good to hear somebody else that understands that block as well. And obviously you're working with a lot of people that probably are also struggling with that same block alongside others to get them out of that nine to five world and their job life into

Dina (30:58)
Hahaha

Yeah

Yeah.

Sophie Biggerstaff (31:21)
remote work life, what is some of the most practical advice that you would give someone that is in that current situation where they want to leave but maybe they've got some limiting release holding them back.

Dina (31:32)
Okay, so yeah, I think we've gone over a few, I would say you need to understand what skill you want to learn and what you can give. And you can have a skill from maybe your, your, what you've studied, or potentially what you've been working as or whatever, or you could potentially learn like a new skill from YouTube or Udemy or online in some form. And

then once you have an idea of what skill you want, oh, I also offer a career questionnaire to help you figure out what skill would be right for you. If you're interested in it, just send me a DM. And once you know the right skill, build the business.

and let go of any fears that you have about being visible. So you need to embody who you are or who you are becoming and tell people what you do. They'll 95 % of the time be impressed that you're starting up something new. And if they're in that 5%, then they don't even matter anyway, because they're not your tribe.

I would also say work with a coach because you can build your business faster and get better results just because they've been through it all. They know what it's like. They can help you, you know, if you're starting to feel shaky about your, your confidence is shaky. So yeah, they would be my tips.

Sophie Biggerstaff (32:58)
amazing and very very good advice there. So if somebody is interested in finding themselves a digital nomad approach and getting into this world of nomad life, where can they find you and get in touch with you?

Dina (33:10)
So my website is digitalnomad.coach, very easy to remember. And you can find me there. I personally take all the calls that come through and qualify. So yeah, you can get in touch with me there, or you can contact me on Instagram. That's Pyramidina, P-Y-R-A-M-I-D-I-N-A. Or you could contact me on LinkedIn, Dina Ramadhan.

Sophie Biggerstaff (33:34)
Amazing. Well, thank you so much for sharing some of your knowledge with us today and telling us a little bit more about your journey to becoming a nomad. I'm sure it's very helpful to hear, like you say, people need expansion to know that it's possible for them as well. So if this is the lifestyle you're wanting to live, like definitely check out David's Instagram and also follow mine because I do share some more about nomad life on there as well. But yeah, thank you so much for joining me. It was lovely to this chat with you.

Dina (34:01)
No worries, thanks for having me. Cheers Sophie.

Sophie Biggerstaff (34:03)
Thank you.