S2 Ep1. The Power of Choice: Creating a Life You Love with Digital Nomad Keron Rose

In this engaging episode of ABWilson's Heart of the Matter, host Aderonke Bademosi Wilson welcomes Keron Rose, a digital nomad and lifelong learner. Keron shares his journey of embracing life, fatherhood, and continuous education while exploring the world. This conversation highlights the importance of choice, freedom, and the power of learning in shaping a fulfilling life.

Aderonke introduces Keron, who describes himself as someone who loves life, a father, and a perpetual student. Keron discusses what loving life means to him, emphasizing the freedom to choose where he lives and how he structures his day. 

Currently living in Bangkok, Thailand, he shares how this choice has allowed him to create a life that feels good and fulfilling. Keron explains his decision to move to Bangkok over other cities like Medellín, Colombia. He highlights factors such as lifestyle diversity, cost of living, and the vibrant culture of Thailand that appealed to him as a digital nomad.

As a father of two, Keron reflects on how his lifestyle decisions impact his children. He discusses fostering a sense of adventure in them and encouraging them to explore life beyond their home countries. Keron shares his passion for continuous learning and how he embraces change. He recounts his early experiences in the corporate world that taught him the importance of adapting and growing through new challenges.

Keron reveals three surprising facts about himself: his favorite animal is the honey badger, symbolizing fearlessness and resilience; he has an immense love for technology; and has dedicated countless hours to researching and setting up his podcast studio.

Join Aderonke and Keron in this inspiring conversation about embracing freedom, the joys of fatherhood, and the importance of lifelong learning. Their discussion encourages listeners to explore their own paths and seize opportunities for growth.

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Transcript

Aderonke (00:01.314)

Welcome to another edition of ABWilson's Heart of the Matter, a podcast that uses overwhelmingly positive questions to learn about our guests, where every episode uncovers extraordinary stories of triumph, growth, and empowerment. Hi, I'm Aderonke Bademosi Wilson, and my guest on today's show is Keron Rose.

Now I'm gonna start this interview in a totally unorthodox way because you and I started talking and with it, I got carried away and I totally forgot to ask you, what are your descriptors? And so I'm gonna do it live on air. Keron, welcome to the show. Tell me, what are your three descriptors?

Keron Rose (00:52.481)

My three descriptors. My three descriptors would probably be.

Keron Rose (01:02.965)

I who loves life. I am a father and I would say a student, always learning.

Aderonke (01:18.766)

So tell me about love's life. What does that look like for you?

Keron Rose (01:24.791)

loving life for me is the freedom to be able to do the things I want that interest me.

Keron Rose (01:38.509)

how I've structured my life, especially now as a digital nomad, it's fitting because I like the ability to be able to choose. So now I'm in this space where, you I woke up one day and I was like, you know what? I'd like to change my circumstances. Let me choose a new country to live in and let me choose where I want to live. Let me live in a big city. Let me be in a place that gives me the freedom to

to do a lot more. My profession allows me to work on my time. So I have a lot more freedom in creating the life that feels good to me. So when I wake up, when I go to sleep, I feel good. I'm enjoying every bit of my life. And I mean, you know, once upon a time it wasn't the case, but now that I'm getting up there and I'm learning that I have a lot more, a lot more power to choose and to create the life that I want, I'm enjoying every bit of it.

Aderonke (02:37.08)

So you said you choose where you wanna live. Where do you live?

Keron Rose (02:41.653)

So currently I'm living in Bangkok, Thailand.

Aderonke (02:44.99)

And I have to say, my favorite city in the world. I love Bangkok. Why did you choose Bangkok? Please tell me.

Keron Rose (02:48.131)

Hahaha!

Keron Rose (02:53.123)

So it was a really close decision between Medellín, Colombia. And I had the pleasure to be there for a couple of weeks, twice within the last year. And I was, I love Colombia, I love the culture. I love the greenery of the city, in Medellín in particular. I love the environment, the atmosphere, the people. And when I had left Medellín earlier this year,

before I decided to sign, seal, and stamp my passport to move full-time, I asked a question, and that question online was, you what is the best city for digital nomads to live? And I started to see a lot more cities from around the world, Eastern European countries, Southeast Asian countries. And right around the time of me doing my research, Thailand had announced their new five-year destination Thai visa.

which is pretty much targeted to digital nomads. And then when I started to kind of just see the lifestyle that people had where Thailand in particular gives you multiple different types of lifestyles you could live. If you want big city, you have Bangkok. If you want beach city, you have Pattaya, you have Phuket. If you want mountains, you have Chiang Rai. If you want, you know, a bit more suburban life, you have Chiang Mai.

So the fact that Thailand gave you so many different types of looks, and even when I left Canada and I moved to Trinidad, one of the things that I've always wanted to live in was a modern Caribbean lifestyle. That was always my thing as to what type of environment I'd want to live in. And whilst we have that to an extent in the Caribbean, not to the level of Thailand. Right? So...

It really feels like modern, a modern tropical environment where you could really get whatever you want. And so that was a big thing for me. And then just when we were looking into travel, how easy is it and affordable to travel from Bangkok? Then it's Thai. So when it comes to food, they're typically ranked top five in the world. When it comes to cuisine, I can attest.

Keron Rose (05:15.233)

They're right up there with that. So, and then the cost of living, just being able to, when I was in Trinidad, and we know the cost of living is rising pretty much everywhere, I feel like I work hard and I don't necessarily want to work two times harder or 10 times harder, because when you're in first world countries like Canada, like you have to work a lot harder than you do in the Caribbean.

simply because the cost of living is a lot higher, right? So being in this space that I'm in, looking at Thailand and their cost of living, I was able to look at a situation where everything I'm making right now, especially because I'm a digital nomad, I could just make what I'm making right now and move to a country where now my current earnings is going to go two times farther than if I were to stay right here. And that was another key selling point because now that allows me to

take my time, grow my business and reinvest more money back into my business whilst my basic needs are being taken care of. And I don't have to work even harder to take care of myself. But now I can take that extra resources and money and energy and pour that back into my business. So ultimately, Thailand came out on top.

Aderonke (06:35.986)

And how easy was it to make that decision to say, Thailand, let me go and explore? And had you been there before you made the decision to move there?

Keron Rose (06:49.005)

So when it came down to how easy was the decision, I think it was the timing of everything. Like I had been in Trinidad for 10 years. We're in a situation right now where we have a foreign exchange crisis where there's the environment, the laws are becoming even more constrictive to build anything beyond the shores of Trinidad and Tobago. And if you are building something that needs access to the international markets,

but you have no access to the foreign exchange to be able to build your business, well, you're going to be in a tough situation. So for me, the timing was, the timing was, was, was everything. It really got me thinking that if I had to build my business, I'm probably going to have to spend some time outside of Trinidad to be able to do that. So that got me thinking about moving. How easy was it to pick Thailand? I think,

They came in like a thief in the night and stole my heart from Medellin because Medellin made so much sense. Like good cost of living, the culture, the food, it's still within the region. So it was even cheaper because I travel and I get booked a lot for a variety of different things around the region. Colombia made the most sense because it was cheaper to fly me to other Caribbean countries if I was living in Colombia than it was when I was living in Trinidad.

So it made a lot more sense, but I don't know. think the biggest thing that sealed the deal for me was after being in the Caribbean region where we're not so much forward when it comes to just technology, I wanted to put myself in a situation where the next version of my life, I'm overwhelmed with technology. Like I'm flooded with technology.

So Asia, that really sealed the deal and made the decision to choose Thailand a lot easier.

Aderonke (08:51.0)

Well, thank you for that. And your next descriptor, you said father. What does that look like to you?

Keron Rose (08:57.005)

Mm-hmm.

I'm figuring it out and I'm figuring it out because it's a really interesting time. I have two kids. I have a 16 year old daughter and I have a nine year old son. And my daughter, we talk all the time and she's in the 11th grade right now. And even though she lives back in Toronto and I'm now on the other side of the world, what is...

really interesting that we're kind of figuring this thing out together now is that

The world is so much bigger than Canada and my daughter, my younger brother are both starting to realize that maybe there might be life outside of Canada, but what does that look like? They're kind of scared to just go and take that journey on their own, but being in a situation now where dad's lived in Trinidad, dad now lives in Asia, maybe...

me moving to Asia because she actually wants to go spend some time in Japan. That's not a thought she would have had if she didn't see me doing it. And now that's a reality for her. Her mom is not going to leave Canada. So there's, know, on one side of things, she's like, well, you know, there would be a lot more hesitation because you have one parent who is not going to leave, is not going to leave the home country. But now that you're seeing

Keron Rose (10:33.911)

your dad do it, you know, the conversation now is, well, hey, I can do it too. And hey, maybe I come to Thailand after we graduate because she has one more year left. So being in a situation now, as much as the situation isn't ideal, I like the fact, and I think we're starting to explore this collectively together, is now you have other options because you're seeing somebody do it. And I'm now paving a way for you to come and join me on this side of the world.

give you a different experience. I really find a lot of joy that we get to travel together and experience new places, experience new cultures. And I really believe that the best people that I have met in my life are the people who have lived in multiple countries, seen different walks of life and their experiences are just amazing for them. And whenever you get to talking to somebody,

and they've lived in like five, six, seven countries. And you're thinking, how? I can't even get out of my home city. How are you? What do you mean you could just live in another country? Right. It's unbelievable until you really get to meet people who have actually done it. And so again, this situation with fatherhood now, I'm kind of really looking at how do I pave the way for them to...

to go beyond Canada for my son who's in Trinidad, go beyond Trinidad and start looking to expand in their wings. So yeah, that's part of the puzzle that we're figuring out together. Again, situation isn't the greatest idea, but it's something that we are working on collectively and we're kind of having fun with it right now too.

Aderonke (12:21.952)

Excellent. And then student, what does that look like to you?

Keron Rose (12:26.699)

I'm always learning and I feel like there are days I wake up and I'm like, can nothing change? Can everything just stay the same for a week so we don't have to learn? But that's not the way the world works. That's not the way life is. So I remember when I was my first corporate job at 18 was working on a telecommunications company called TELUS.

And the slogan for TELUS, the employee slogan for TELUS was to embrace change. And I learned that early when you learn all the phones, you learn all the plans, you've memorized everything, you know these things in and out. And you walk into the store one day and all the plans have changed. Half the phone lineup is gone. And I remember complaining to my boss at the time, like, how could they do this?

And he's like, listen, they're gone. Things go obsolete. Brought me to the back. And he's like, what is, what is our slogan? Embrace change. He's like, just embrace it. Things are always changing. All that learning that you did now take that same energy, embrace change and continue learning all the new plans, learn all the new technology. And then things just changed so much in the industry that I just found myself learning 24 seven, but

Finding the things that interested me where I can continue learning, I think was something that I had to learn early because I was one that I hated school, but I love to learn, but I hated school. And once I started to realize coming into my 20s, mid 20s, where there's a lot of learning to be done outside of school and the knowledge that you gain,

can be very helpful to building the life that you want. You're not just limited to what you learn in school for it to be of value. Once I started to see that kind of play out in my life where the more I kept on learning from all these different spaces, and then I found an industry that I really liked. I love technology and where I started off in smartphone technology has now kind of brought me into digital marketing, e-commerce, digital payments. That's still all technology.

Keron Rose (14:52.851)

Once I've started to realize that I can do all this learning, keep studying the industries and taking that information and applying to my life and applying to my craft, I realized that I really do have a love for learning. It was just figuring out that, you know, that space, those things that I like to learn. So I'm always learning. I'm happy. I'm happy to continue to learning. And I'm learning that knowledge is power.

And the implementation of that knowledge is really what brings that knowledge to life. And I'm having fun doing that in the spaces that I've committed myself to.

Aderonke (15:31.32)

Well, thank you. And so let's go to actually our first question.

I'd our listeners to learn a little bit more about you. Please share three interesting things about yourself that our listeners may not know and your friends will be surprised to learn.

Keron Rose (15:54.373)

So in general, I am a lover of animals. anywhere animals can be found, doesn't matter what type of animal it is, I'm probably going to be right there beside it, whatever that animal is, right? What people don't know is my favorite animal is the honey badger. And my favorite animal is the honey badger because it's this small thing in stature.

that is the most fearless animal on the planet. It's small, it will take on anything and everything. And it's built like a tank and it doesn't matter what you throw at it, it's pretty much going to survive. And it's such an amazing creature to just watch. And anytime I think about how we have to, you know, wake up every day and seize the day.

I always think to myself, I need to channel my inner honey badger. Doesn't matter what comes in my way. We are standing our ground. We are attacking it with all ferociousness and nothing is going to stop us from ultimately doing what we have to do. So yeah, that's one interesting thing. Second thing is...

Second thing would be something that people don't know. You know this is hard because I blog so much and I podcast so much.

Aderonke (17:35.277)

Yeah.

Keron Rose (17:39.873)

So I'm trying to think of like, don't people know at this point because I share so much. I think one thing that people don't genuinely know is my love for technology. I'm somebody that when there's no cameras, I spend hours and hours

just learning the technology that I'm interested. So I will spend, like I have, we're doing a podcast right now. I have an entire podcast studio right here. People don't know that it took me over 200 hours to find and analyze all the equipment that I bought. Like everything that I get has a purpose that I've spent an exorbitant amount of time on, learning all about it to see if it fits into my overall jigsaw.

So I don't think, so I think people just genuinely think, well, know, Karen's a tech guy and he's just naturally good at it. But no, I'm not naturally good at it. Like this is something that I really spend an obscene amount of time on just learning so that I can execute what I want to do. So I, that's the second thing I would say. And I think the third thing, the third thing, the third thing, what is something that people don't know?

Keron Rose (19:10.717)

I would say...

Keron Rose (19:15.907)

You might have to come back to me. I'm trying to think of a third thing. I'm trying to think, yeah, you you have to come back to me. I got you too. I'll blur it out.

Aderonke (19:17.354)

Okay, that's fine.

That's fine. When it comes to you, just throw it in, throw it in there. So thank you. Thank you for your two items. And as she said, we'll come back to it. So tell us about a recent accomplishment or success that you're particularly proud of.

Keron Rose (19:44.428)

Hmm.

Keron Rose (19:49.865)

I most recently one of my biggest successes would be

Keron Rose (19:58.427)

joining the faculty for one of our universities as a lecturer. And there's going to be a second university that I'll be starting in as well. So getting to the place where you've learned enough about your craft and you've executed enough that you've built this body of work where I've never had no intention of ever joining university faculty to teach.

But having two universities reach out to say, no, we want you as a lecturer to teach in your field, I think was the two biggest accomplishments. And the accomplishment is even bigger. And me and my mom laugh at this all the time is because I'm a high school dropout. So we sit back and I remember when I got the two, the...

the two offers and I sent it to my mom. I'm like, look at this. And we just had a good laugh because we know I was my mom's problem child. So I didn't graduate high school because I was one credit shy, but I didn't complete the one credit to get my diploma mainly because I had learned you were going to get into university anyway, even without the high school diploma. Once you hit 19.

you'd applied as a mature student and you'd be able to get into university. That's what I ended up doing. I didn't complete my university degree because I had my daughter and I was just focusing on her. So to come full circle now where I've done all of this learning outside of traditional school, built a portfolio, built a reputation for being one of the best digital strategists and e-commerce specialists in the Caribbean.

without traditional, quote unquote, traditional school and building up this big body of work to the point now where the universities now want you to take everything that you've learned and bring all that learning back. Yeah, that was a cause for a little pat on the back.

Aderonke (22:05.336)

Congratulations. And that is wonderful, right? Because there are many young and older people who didn't or haven't followed what is quote unquote the traditional path and right of passage to adulthood, finish high school, get a college degree and go to work. And I think it's really great that there are many, many, many success stories.

of people who don't follow that traditional route, but still get extremely high levels of success and however they define the success.

Keron Rose (22:44.573)

Absolutely. We're taking the scenic route. but you know, those are the ones that you get criticized the most. So it doesn't always feel like it's the right thing. You always feel like you're kind of missing out on something. So when you finally do get to that level of whatever your defined successes through your own scenic route, you know, like I said, definitely a pat on the back. So for me, that was like my biggest accomplishment because I didn't want to ever be in a situation where years down the line.

you know, a regret comes and I'm like, maybe I should have completed this because my life would have turned out. No, I have learned everything that I've learned because I did not go the traditional route. Now they're trying to get me to come into the traditional route to teach all the non-traditional things. So, you know, it's perfect and it's going good. But definitely one of the accomplishments that I'm most proud of.

Aderonke (23:30.402)

Ha

Aderonke (23:40.982)

And so please tell us about a time when you made a difference in another's life. What were the circumstances? Paint a picture for me.

Keron Rose (23:51.299)

I think the work that I'm doing right now in my capacity, I really believe is making a big impact. So when I first moved to Trinidad 10 years ago, was a tech blogger. I wanted to teach more people about smartphone technology. I would be blogging about the smartphone tech, teaching people. And whilst that was cool,

because I had started in the smartphone industry when I was 19. So I still had that fire. I still had that zeal to be in the smartphone space and teach people about it. It didn't really change lives, but in learning all the skills to build this business, to learn how to be a blogger, to learn web development, to build my website, then I ended up learning the skills of e-commerce in order to sell the product. So eventually I started to bring the products in.

and sell the products online. I had to learn all of these skillsets for myself, web development, digital marketing, e-commerce, digital payments. And I was learning this at a time in a country like Trinidad where these are things that are not what the average business is doing. So this is pre-pandemic. This is like 2016, 2017. In learning all of these skills,

and in building my business. So I'm implementing everything that I'm learning. I have now created this business that has a physical store, but also has an online presence where we sell online. I eventually closed my physical store down and I was operating a hundred percent digital from 2018. More people started to reach out to me, more business owners started to reach out to say, Hey, how are you doing these things? How, how did you build your website or who built your website? I'm like, well, I did.

Keron Rose (25:41.773)

But like you're selling online or taking credit card payments, you're taking bank payments. All these things are automated. You know, who did it for you? I'm like, well, I did it. I learned how to do and I did it for myself. Okay. We're Googling things and you're showing up like your website is showing up for all of the information that we're Googling. How are you showing up on Google? I'm like, well, I learned digital marketing and I learned search engine optimization so that I could show up when you're searching for these things. So when

more people started to reach out asking me about how I built the business. That is where my desires to where my desires shift. I lost interest in talking about smartphones and I gained a lot more interest in teaching people about digital strategy, e-commerce, online business because of the impact that it was creating. And to directly answer your question,

In that vein, I remember being in Starbucks and sitting down drinking a hibiscus lemonade. And I remember a gentleman was walking by and he was like, wait a minute, are you Karen Rose? And I'm like, yeah. And he's like, and he just pulled up a seat and he's like, listen to me. You don't know me and you have no idea what you have done for me. And I was like,

what I've done, I have no idea who this person is, right? And he's like, I read your articles that you produce on your website and I watch your videos. And he's like, I was about to file for bankruptcy. Our business has been doing really bad. And a big part of it is that the market to sell our goods in Trinidad has slowly been drying up.

And we had no idea how to do anything else. And he's like, somebody had sent me an article that you had written and you were talking about why you need to have your website, why you need to set up things like PayPal and some of the other e-commerce tools, why you need to have these things in place so that your business could now participate in a global economy and you're no longer limited to the TNT economy. And he was like,

Keron Rose (28:07.465)

in a matter of desperation, they took some of their diminishing funds to have the website built. He's like, we set up PayPal, we set up another payment gateway. And he's like, that has turned our entire business around. And he's like, you have saved my life. We were headed to bankruptcy. And because of the work that you've been putting out with respect to e-commerce,

We now have clients in the other Caribbean islands. We now have clients in the U S they're paying us through all of the mechanisms that you have laid out. We're using the logistics partners to ship our products out that you have laid out. He's like, you gave us the entire blueprint to take our business online and you have no idea who I am. And I just could not walk past you and not say thank you. And this gentleman in his fifties started to tear up.

And I had no idea how to react because I'm like...

I wasn't expecting any of this because again, this we're going from smartphones to now we're just talking about tech to me, I'm just having fun. I'm just having fun putting the information out there, teaching people about, know, how they can expand their business. I was never thinking to myself that there was going to be somebody who was on the verge of bankruptcy. This being the information that saves your life.

and he is now in front of me tearing up holding back tears.

Aderonke (29:45.486)

I do believe that the work that we do, when we put it out there, we don't know where will lead, we don't know who it will touch, we don't know what impact it will have on others. And as long as we're doing work that is meaningful for us, I honestly believe it will have meaning for others.

Keron Rose (30:10.613)

We learned that along the way.

Aderonke (30:12.15)

Yes, yes. And I've said this before to other guests and I'll say it to you. My mother many years ago had said to me when I was going through a personal tragedy, she said, you will use this to help others. And at the time I remember thinking, and I said to her, know, mommy, I can't even help myself. But her words have stayed with me because

things that we do do help others, things that we do impact others in ways we would never imagine. And I'm sure there are two, three, four, 10 other people that you have impacted in similar ways to the gentleman that you just mentioned. And you may never know who they are. And so with that, what...

Keron Rose (31:02.104)

Yeah.

Aderonke (31:09.698)

were the key strengths and qualities you relied on to make a difference.

Keron Rose (31:20.725)

I needed to find something that interested me. Because I think for a long time, growing up especially, I felt like I struggled in school, not with grades. I was the poster child for he's too smart and just doesn't apply himself. I was the poster child for that, right? And I realized...

As an adult, probably in my early 30s, I'm 37 now, but I think right around 30, I realized I was just never interested in the things that were teaching me in school. Like I just had no interest in the things that they were talking about. And I never really cared to apply my, cause I had no interest. So finding and understanding as an adult now that I need to find things that really, really interests me and that's going to hold my attention.

find something that actually has a problem that's good enough that I will be interested in solving, but is also a problem that people are gonna pay you for. Trying to figure out what that problem is going to be was something that I had to learn. And just kind of shut out the noise of anybody else because I'm sure you've gone through this yourself where

You have these ideas, you're trying to figure yourself out, you're going to other people for advice, and you're throwing your ideas out there only for them to shoot it down with a cannon. What are you talking about? That's never going to work. And that's something that had happened to me, especially in earlys. I remember when I first started to formulate the smartphone business that I wanted, and everybody around me said it was a terrible idea. And it's what has gotten me to this.

to where I'm at today. So I had to figure out, know, what is something that's going to interest me one so that I know that I would actually commit myself to it. Then I had to learn to find a problem that somebody is actually going to pay me for because you could solve a problem, but if nobody's going to pay you for it because it's not a problem for enough other people, then you know, it's a hobby. That was something.

Keron Rose (33:47.201)

That was something I had to learn as well. And what keeps me resilient is that I have a mission. And the mission is to get more people in the Caribbean to participate in the global economy. And that mission is what drives me every single day because even though I'm in Bangkok, Bangkok is a pit stop.

Ultimately, I know I want to be back in the Caribbean when it's all said and done. But I want to be able to be comfortable in the Caribbean and where the Caribbean is trending right now, we're not trending in the best of directions. We're seeing a rise in crime. Why are we seeing a rise in crime? Typically because of a lack of opportunities. And that's an area that I know I can directly impact. I can teach more people about digital entrepreneurship.

digital skill sets, not being limited to the opportunities because our countries are small island developing states. They're very small in population. There's only so much you could extract from an island of 80,000 people. Trinidad is 1.2 million people. There's only so much you can do within that country. So being able to teach more people about digital entrepreneurship, digital skill sets, e-commerce.

and to be more digitally driven when they're creating their businesses and to be less buy and sell, less import dependent style types of businesses, being able to teach these people that is allowing me to impact that problem where people feel like there's not enough opportunities in the Caribbean. And now we can teach them how to participate in a global economy. And that is a problem I think, you know, helps me sleep good at night.

Aderonke (35:38.38)

Hmm. And so when you look back over the experiences that you've had, can you recall a situation where you overcame a challenge that led to personal growth? And what did you learn from that experience?

Keron Rose (35:55.485)

Keron Rose (36:01.315)

2018, I remember we had a scenario where there was a technology event. UE was rolling out a new wing in partnership. Go ahead. Yeah, no problem. UE is the University of the West Indies. So the university was doing an event or rolling out a new wing.

Aderonke (36:16.078)

Do you want to explain what UE is just for those who may not?

Keron Rose (36:28.705)

in partnership with Huawei, which is one of the leading technology companies in the entire world, and one of our telecommunications companies in Trinidad and Tobago. And because I was so focused on teaching, putting out content, teaching, it had allowed me to gain partnerships with Huawei, the technology company.

And whenever they were involved in something, they wanted me right there, a part of it so that I can blog about it, talk about it and use my ability to take more complicated technology topics and break it down for the layman people that are consuming the content. So they would always have me in almost all of their events. But one of the three partners, one of their VPs of communications actually tried to have me banned from coming to the event.

Now I had no idea why. There wasn't no reason given, but they had told our mutual partner, Huawei, hey, you can send anybody but him. He is not allowed to come to this event. And I was confused because I'm like, I don't know where this is coming from, right? But it was a test. Because it was a three-way thing,

The partner, Huawei, could have been like, no problem, we won't have him come. Sorry, Mr. Rose, something's come up, the venue's full, something, right? But it was a test in the sense that they stood up for me and they asked, well, why? This is, we are the technology partners for this entire thing.

And this is who we are sending. Why is it that, that did he do something wrong? What, what, what is, what is the issue with him coming? And they never had a reason. So they're like, well, okay, cool. He will be there, ensure that he's on the list and he will be front and center. And these are the interviews that he's going to be conducted. And they had defended me and I was still able to get to do everything that I was scheduled to do. And for me, that was a test to see whether or not your brand has reached a level.

Keron Rose (38:51.607)

where people really believe in you and really see that value in you. Because if you were somebody else, they would have just said, okay, no problem, and kind of toss it aside. But because of what you do, they want you there because your work has value. And that was just one of those kind of, know, markers to me that you're on the right track to keep doing what you're doing in the way that you're doing it. Because I am somebody who is very outspoken as well.

but I'm always outspoken for the things that I believe in. And ultimately everything that I'm trying to teach and trying to put out there and push is to help the Caribbean grow. It's just that a lot of people will, you might not see it at first if you've never been, how should I put it? If you haven't lived outside and you haven't seen how a lot more of the developed societies do things.

When you have this guy preaching technology, technology, technology and, and moving fast and we're trying to keep things at a slower state. I get my pushback, right? So again, it was, was good to just be in a situation where you bring enough value that people see it and know they're defending you and they're ensuring that you are in the room because they believe that you have that value and you need to be in those rooms.

Aderonke (40:10.104)

Hmm.

You are listening to A.B. Wilson's Heart of the Matter podcast.

Welcome back to Heart of the Matter. My guest today is Karen Rose. Karen, thank you so much. I'm learning so much about technology from you and being in the digital space. And so given the work that you do, what self-care practices or strategies help you to sustain your energy and motivation while navigating your journey?

Keron Rose (40:29.443)

You

Keron Rose (40:44.763)

my goodness, you have effectively segued into probably the fifth or sixth reason why I moved to Bangkok. Because now, you know, now that I'm bougie and my money goes further in Bangkok, you know, my nails are kept on a regular basis. Whenever.

Aderonke (40:55.478)

Okay.

Keron Rose (41:12.053)

I feel even the remote slightest feeling of anxiety or stress. I booked myself a massage. We have a private onset in the condo specifically because I chose a condo with a private onset. So again, when I feel like I need to relax or I need to think, I hop in the condo app. I booked myself into the onset and I just go and relax and I go and think, or maybe I do it by the pool.

I have effectively come to a place where self-care is extremely accessible and extremely affordable because when in your life have you just decided to go and get two massages a week at a spa? That's an, I don't know anybody in Canada that does that because the costs are insane. I didn't do it in Trinidad because again,

It's a good bit of money to do these things. So I say we segue perfectly into like the fifth to the sixth reason why I picked Bangkok. When I learned about how they treat self-care in Bangkok, self-care is a part of your day-to-day life. So if you want to spend eight US on a one-hour massage, like you're gonna get that. Like you can access

every single type of self-care routine that you can at an extremely affordable cost, right? So that's a big part of me now, kind of, again, just taking better care of myself. We have a gym in the condo, so I get to be at the gym a lot more without feeling guilty for it because there was a point in time too, where you leave your house, you go get a trainer.

You're in the gym for two hours and I would feel guilty being there for so long because I'm like, I could be doing something else. So now I can go hit the gym and I don't have that guilt because I can get in there 45 minutes, an hour, and I'm get right back to work without feeling like I've wasted a couple of hours, right? And then I think the culture, and we spoke about this offline, I came to a country where

Keron Rose (43:36.995)

The culture is very sabai-sabai. It's very, very relaxing. It's very easygoing. And just being here, I feel at peace. There's a lot of greenery. There's a lot of parks. I go and take more walks. And that was something I remember just walking through Lumpini Park the other day. And I was thinking to myself,

When was the last time I just took a walk in the park? We don't do that in Trinidad because, we don't really have many parks and with the rise in the crime situation, things are happening. Even in Toronto, after hours, you're not really walking through no park because, you know, but here, doesn't matter the day or the time of the day, because it's very low crime, very safe, just the ability.

to get in a grab, jump on a motorcycle, go to a park and just go take a walk. I didn't realize how much I needed it until I got here and I started doing it. And I just started to feel tension just leaving my body.

And I'm becoming more aware of that. I realized that we are in a very charged environment in some of these Caribbean countries, because again, a lot of things are happening and we don't know how much that trauma is impacting us. Even if we're not directly impacted with it, like we're still in this society, the things are happening all around us. And so to be in a society where Thailand's a lot safer than even Canada, to be here and just be amongst the people and just

see everybody, they call it the of smiles for a reason. The culture is very happy here and that all just helps my self care and just putting myself in a better frame of mind. feel like I feel like I am going to become the best version of myself given every single thing that I have access to in Thailand. And even that itself, you know, just makes me feel good because I know

Keron Rose (45:58.327)

you have everything you need. So now it's just to come figure out your routine and, and dive in and watch the growth happen.

Aderonke (46:08.142)

So you said something that you picked the condo where you live because it has an onset. Is that correct? What is that?

Keron Rose (46:17.763)

So when I was looking for condos, I was looking for a couple of different things. So one, as I was telling you offline, you could get condos for as low as 190 US in Thailand, right? Which is insane. Now, I don't know about you, but if my rent for a condo, like a luxury condo is 200 US, there is something that, there's something euphoric.

about spending 200 US for a luxury condo. Talk about at the end of the month when you're tallying up your bills, I only have to spend 800 for all of my expenses? It doesn't get more euphoric than that. So the cost of living in Thailand is one of the reasons why I chose Thailand. The ability to get a luxury condo.

Aderonke (46:51.831)

Mm-hmm.

Aderonke (47:02.817)

Indeed. Indeed.

Keron Rose (47:14.985)

at an extremely affordable price, I started to think about, well, if we can get a condo, a luxury condo for an affordable price, you know, what do I want? I want a view. So I have a view. I lay in my bed, I have a view of the entire city line of Bangkok. The entire city line of, I'll send you a picture after, cause it's nighttime now, so you see all the lights.

But from my bed, I can look out and see the entire skyline of Bangkok. When I get up to the 30th floor, because we have rooftop pools, we have an entire view of the Chao Phraya River because we're right next to it. And we have the city line. So you can go up to the pool, you can go stretch out, relax, watch over the city. We have two gyms inside the condo.

So you have all these additional things and the private onsen is basically a hot tub and a steam room where you book that and it's all private so you have it to yourself. So you have all of these things where as a digital nomad, my entire studio is in my unit. So I have, I'm inside a lot because my workstation is inside. But the fact that I'm in a place where for...

less than a thousand US a month, all of my fixed expenses are taken care of. That does wonders for your mental health because now I know that for one, I don't have to earn as much money for my basic fixed expenses to be taken care of. So the days when I don't want to work, when I just need to Netflix and do nothing and not think of anything,

Aderonke (48:48.782)

Mm-hmm.

Keron Rose (49:06.935)

When I need to go to a walk or when I do take two massages a week, I don't feel guilty for these things because at the end of the day, might've needed a whole lot more money. Actually, no, I would've needed a whole lot more money, 10 times the amount of money to live my current lifestyle if I was living in the States or in Canada or even in Trinidad. But the fact that we're living in a country where the cost of living is this low and...

my quality of life has 10x'd, it helps me mentally, and it's sustainable. it's sustainable. yeah, these are the things I've looked in when I was choosing my condo. View, I want a gym, I want rooftop pool, I started to get greedy. So all of these are things that I was looking for when picking my condo.

Aderonke (49:55.221)

Yeah

Aderonke (50:00.27)

Well, and I got to tell you, as I said earlier, I love Bangkok for many of the reasons that you have laid out. It is truly a modern city. It is a city that is super fast paced and it does afford a lifestyle that is comfortable.

Keron Rose (50:07.533)

You

Keron Rose (50:26.125)

Yes, absolutely.

Aderonke (50:27.818)

and relatively stress free because you have that level of comfort.

Keron Rose (50:32.643)

Yeah. And again, these are things that just impact your mental health at such a tremendous level that when we're coming from the West, we don't know anything. We don't know nothing about that. We don't know nothing about what do you mean a less than a thousand U.S. your fixed expenses. Are you in high schools living at home with your parents? When is the last time a thousand U.S. took care of all of your fixed expenses?

It's never happened for me before. So now that I'm here, I'm enjoying it.

Aderonke (51:04.408)

No.

Aderonke (51:10.926)

So, Karon, how might sharing your experiences of success and growth create a positive ripple effect in your family, community, the world?

Keron Rose (51:12.301)

Mm-hmm.

Keron Rose (51:23.875)

Beautiful question. And I think these last two months, so I moved to Thailand in end of September, I think these last two months has really put a different spotlight on me, where everybody that I've talked to, not just throughout the Caribbean, but also back home in Canada, in the States as well, and people in the UK, I think...

People are now seeing that this guy has been preaching digital for the last God knows how many years now. Pandemic came and he created a 100 % digital business and he's been talking about that from since the pandemic. Now people are seeing that you can build a digital business

and you can have some new freedoms that you might not have had before. You can have location freedom when you have a digital business. You can have time freedom because now you can start to work on the time that you want. And now people are even starting to realize that even though I'm not rich, there's a level of financial freedom because now you're earning a higher currency whilst living in a cheaper economy and that exchange rate is going the distance for you.

where now you don't have to live paycheck to paycheck because you're earning more than enough money to live where you are, to choose your new destination and that cost of living is working in your favor. So I believe that people are now starting to look at me and they're saying that.

We have options. We're no longer limited to the opportunities presented within our home countries. Even if we don't move, we can create a digital business that earns a higher currency that gives us a better quality of life even if we don't intend on moving. And since I've moved to Thailand, three people who have watched my videos and read my articles have also moved to Thailand as well. And they are reporting saying the same things as me.

Keron Rose (53:42.209)

in terms of just how it has impacted their life. And matter of fact, I was blogging about me moving and there was a guy that moved before I got to Thailand. He just seen me put it out there and he beat me to it. So he was able to move here before me, before I actually even got here. So I think getting people to think about how they can use and leverage the technology to enhance their lives.

I think is one of the biggest impacts that I am having and being that I spent the last 10 years in the Caribbean where we are a small, a collection of small island developing states where people look around and they're not seeing the opportunities anymore because we are, we are that small and people are living longer. They're not, they're not retiring.

as early as before, so they're staying in jobs. So the people that are coming up, the younger generation's coming up, the millennials, the Gen Zers, everybody coming up is trying to figure out, our parents told us to become a doctor, lawyer, or engineer, but there's no jobs, there's no opportunities. What do we do? The fact that people are now seeing me live every single thing I've been talking about since I've started way back in 2016.

And now they're seeing me put everything that I've spoken about into practice and people are reaching out and also following my footsteps. I think that's definitely a big impact. And I'm really happy to see it because you don't have to leave the Caribbean. You could stay in the Caribbean and create your own opportunities and participate in the global economy. But unless you have that paradigm shift, you're still going to run down the old traditional routes.

of trying to get into oversaturated markets and you're going to feel like there's no hope. And leveraging that technology gives people that hope. And I'm happy to see people taking everything I've been talking about over the past couple of years and implementing it for themselves.

Aderonke (55:59.896)

So given your focus on technology, digital lifestyles, and this has been your life's work, what exciting opportunities do you see on the horizon and how do these opportunities align with your passions and aspirations?

Keron Rose (56:22.723)

I feel like you've read my diary.

Aderonke (56:30.862)

I think it was because it was online, I don't know.

Keron Rose (56:31.075)

You know, your question is my current struggle. It's my current struggle. I am trying to figure.

The direction that I believe, and I'm giving myself grace, I'll put this out there. I'm giving myself to the end of the year to just kind of take my time and really plan out what this looks like. But the direction that I feel that I will be going towards is, I said earlier that constantly finding things that interest me is the hardest thing for me to do. Because once I find it, I'm good, but.

When I don't have it, I feel like I have no North Star. And I don't feel like I have the direction that we want. So the North Star that I feel like is forming is I blog, I podcast, and I'm gonna start vlogging more. So I have my vlogging camera. I wanna start vlogging more. And what I want to start doing more of

I want to start looking at technology as a lifestyle in Asia and see all of the various ways that the Asian communities leverage technology in everyday life. So it could be something as simple as like I put out a video yesterday of TV screens at the bus stops tracking the buses when the next buses are coming. Simple things like that, right?

I want to start exposing the Caribbean region and not just the Caribbean, but you know, the Caribbean, because again, I'm in that space. I want to start exposing people to technology as a lifestyle and show people how technology is enhancing people's lives. I want to start giving people more ideas because if you've never traveled, typically when Caribbean people leave the Caribbean, we only ever go to the States, Toronto and the UK and that's it.

Aderonke (58:46.382)

Mm-hmm.

Keron Rose (58:47.925)

If we go somewhere else, we're going on a resort, we're not leaving the resort. Right. And we don't think about bettering ourselves when we, when we go on vacation, we're going on vacation to vacation. We're not trying to think about work. We're not trying to think about nothing else. Right. So a lot of times people will go else places, go other places, and they're not kind of looking to see how are these other countries solving their problems within my respective niche. Right.

And so I like the fact that I do a very good job of taking technology and simplifying it for people and it interests me. So being able to vlog and start to meet the people within the Asian community who are building a lot of the technology and start to talk to them and learn more about, hey, you have Grab, you have Lazada, you know, why are these things built?

how do these things work and start to be able to take nuggets from them so that the people that do watch my content, because it's people from all walks of life that consume my content, for me now to disseminate that information back into the Caribbean and the Western countries.

That is, think, where I'm going. But then also, as a digital strategist and e-commerce specialist, the more technology that I learn about when I am working with businesses in a consulting capacity, or even in my lecturing capacity, there's more things that I can teach to people now that I'm exposing myself even more. So I see myself being that

that guide for technology for the West in my own unique way. And I see myself doubling down on being that digital strategist and e-commerce specialist. And the more I'm learning about digital payments and e-commerce in Asia is the more it help me be creative to help with creative solutions for Caribbean businesses. So that's the mishmash of where my North Star is.

Keron Rose (01:01:03.285)

I'll have that figured out to a T, you know, coming into the new year.

Aderonke (01:01:08.246)

And I look forward to seeing how you progress. And so I'll be following your progress and looking at how you are able to get the information out to the rest of the world, because you're right there at the hub, right? You're right there and at the source and you'll be able to really synthesize the information, especially for people like me who

Keron Rose (01:01:15.693)

Thank you.

Aderonke (01:01:36.704)

who are curious about technology and dabble in it enough to stay afloat, but may not necessarily use it to the best advantage possible.

Keron Rose (01:01:44.876)

Yeah.

Keron Rose (01:01:49.485)

There we go, there we go.

Aderonke (01:01:52.544)

And so Kieran, we're almost done. And so I have two more questions for you. What book recommendation do you have? It can be a book you've read recently or something that has stayed with you over the years.

Keron Rose (01:01:55.959)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Aderonke (01:02:12.952)

Day trading attention.

Keron Rose (01:02:16.173)

Gary Vaynerchuk. I believe anybody in business today needs to read this book. This book is better than any marketing degree that you can do right now because it teaches you how to survive in the digital age. It's teaching you how to build your business in a digital space. It's teaching you about the opportunities to create commerce for yourself. And Gary V just...

I read this book and I, all I could say throughout the entire thing is Gary V just gets it. And this is the blueprint. If you consume the book and understand what he is putting out, but also don't just read the words on the page. Look at how he's put the book together. Cause there's lessons there too. For an example, I'm reading a chapter and

he's speaking about a specific piece of content online. So he has an image of the content, he's talking about it, and there's a QR code in the book, right? Now, you don't really have people adding QR codes and stuff to book on a normal basis. When you scan the QR code, it's linking to the video or the post that he is referencing, so now you can actually see the content live.

And then there's a little mini blog below that. So every time you scan the QR code, that QR code is coming with data for him. So he knows where in the world you are. He knows which links have been scanned the most out of all of the books. He knows if you've consumed the entire thing and it's also driving traffic back to his website and YouTube channel. So again, he's not talking about that in the book, but it's one of those things where

Aderonke (01:03:54.926)

Mm.

Keron Rose (01:04:14.815)

I'm looking at how you've put this together. And I'm like, this is brilliant. So now when I write the book and I'm speaking about certain things, I know this is something that I would take. I would take the ability to throw in a snippet, add a QR code, link it to something on my website with an embedded video and a little mini writeup as another way to drive traffic back to the website or to the YouTube channel. So

This book is all about capturing attention and how to do it. And attention is the currency in today's market. Whoever can capture people's attention, whoever can keep people's attention, they're the ones that are going to be able to create a multitude of different revenue sources, but they're also going to be one of the biggest names within their industry. So day trading attention is...

Aderonke (01:04:52.056)

Mm.

Keron Rose (01:05:11.051)

perfectly named for this book and it's one book that I think everybody in business, whether you're marketing or not, as long as you're in business, I think you should read it because when you look around the Caribbean, most businesses don't get digital.

So this is a big step in the right direction for decision makers to understand what they need in order to succeed moving forward.

Aderonke (01:05:37.102)

Mmm.

Kieron, thank you. I've enjoyed our conversation. I've enjoyed really learning from you about being in the digital space. Is there anything else? Do you have any final thoughts?

Keron Rose (01:05:54.657)

Yeah, I'll end on by saying, I implore everybody to want to participate in the global economy. We are in the midst of the greatest shift right now. We have more countries that are rolling out their new digital nomad visas and they're realizing that, we can get these digital nomads because they're coming with currencies.

but they don't take away any of the local resources or not taking away jobs from anybody. They're just coming and dumping their money into our country because they live here. So I think if you start to learn more about digital, you can create more opportunities for yourself. And those opportunities look like if you don't have a market yourself, maybe you land the job that you want. Even if it's in your home country, if you learn digital,

You can now get clients from anywhere in the world where you're no longer limiting yourself to the economy that you are physically in. And if you are somebody who decides, you know what, I need a change. I want to go see the world. I want to go see other countries. I want to go experience other cultures because ultimately that's going to help you become just a better human being. And if you are a better human being, you can create better businesses that solve

relevant problems. Digital comes with so many more benefits because you're somebody that can get on a plane with just your laptop and work from anywhere versus everybody else that reaches out to me right now that says, what's the job market like? I don't know. I'm not trying to get a job in Thailand. I want to live in Thailand. I don't want to work in Thailand. I don't know.

But that's the paradigm shift right there. The people who are digital oriented now have the ability to get location freedom, to get time freedom and financial freedom, and they have more options at their disposal. So I implore everybody to start re-imagining their life from a digital oriented lifestyle that gives you more flexibility because

Aderonke (01:07:54.518)

That's the shift.

Keron Rose (01:08:22.335)

Now you can really create the lifestyle you want as opposed to, know, when I was growing up, it was hard for me to say what I ever wanted to be because things didn't resonate with me. But now I know what I want to be and I'm exploring the things that are resonating with me and being able to share that with everybody else. So they're learning about it, but now you can see somebody that you know doing it. I think is, I think is great. So.

Yeah, that's my that's that's my TEDx talk. Right there.

Aderonke (01:08:54.894)

You

Khera, and thank you for your time today. There are some appreciation nuggets that I'm taking away from our conversation. The first one is that you're, and I'm gonna have to look this up, because I will admit my limited knowledge about honey badges. I don't know what it looks like. So I'm gonna go Google it. I'm gonna go see what it looks like. And.

Keron Rose (01:09:24.501)

Enjoy.

Aderonke (01:09:26.805)

And so your favorite animal is the honey badger because of its fearlessness. It will take on anything at any time and deal with whatever is thrown at it. And you identify with that animal for those characteristics. And the next two, I think are intertwined. And it's basically...

And you've just said it, re-imagine your lifestyle, re-imagine your life and participate in the global economy. And a digital lifestyle affords you a number of freedoms, freedom of location, freedom of time, financial freedom, and hope. It gives you hope. And so those are the nuggets that, amongst many others.

that I'm taking away from our conversation. And actually, as you've been talking, right, I was making notes about our conversation, but a few things fired off for me, for my own life, for my own work that I do. And I need to be able to investigate and spend a little bit more time on my digital presence and what that looks like.

Keron Rose (01:10:25.067)

Yeah

Keron Rose (01:10:33.783)

Yeah.

Keron Rose (01:10:41.347)

Mmm.

Aderonke (01:10:52.8)

and be a little bit more deliberate about it. And I, cause I think, you know, I've done a lot. I can be, you know, global with my laptop at any second, but being a little bit more deliberate. thank you for that. And I may be messaging you to pick your brain a little about my digital presence. So thank you. Thank you so much for your time, for your guidance, your knowledge, your wisdom and your expertise.

Keron Rose (01:11:10.846)

Yeah

Keron Rose (01:11:16.423)

No problem. No problem. I found a third. I found a third. I found a third. I think what a lot of people don't know about me is I do spend as much as people see me online and they think that I am this larger than life person.

Aderonke (01:11:23.19)

wow! Okay, let's hear it, let's hear it, let's hear it!

Keron Rose (01:11:40.573)

Heck, people look at me and are disappointed because I'm short, I'm 5'7". And people see me and they're like, I thought you were like 6'10", with just how big you are online. You're short. But I think what people don't know is as much as you see this larger than life person online, I can give you that because I spend...

majority of my day in solitude. Like I take a lot of time for myself and when I'm not doing all the media lecturing and being you know if I say 10 words for that day you know might be a lot I do take a lot of time to myself just to reflect to relax read a good book watch a good show and that helps me a lot because I'm not an extrovert.

I am very much introverted. am just learning when I'm learning how to manage my energy with giving, giving the energy that I need to give. But after doing what I have to do, I retreat and you might not hear from me, not on the malice, but just understand that I'm a hermit. And when I need to go and run off to my bat cave and relax, that's me. So the people around me know.

when he does take his time, that's just him. Check him back in two days. you know, but that's definitely something that a lot of people don't know. They just see this six foot 10 person online and think that's me 24 seven. Little do they know.

Aderonke (01:13:26.766)

Keron Rose, digital strategist, e-commerce specialist. Thank you for your time today.

Keron Rose (01:13:38.189)

Thank you.