Why Remote Job Hunting Is Rigged Against You and The Fix with Lauren Peikert Remote Growth Marketing & AI Automation Leader | EP 40

What if simple changes to your resume are the only thing standing between you and your dream remote job?

Guest Lauren Peikert was ready to give up. After months of sending perfectly crafted applications, she was getting nothing. With solid marketing skills and years of startup experience, she couldn’t understand why no one was biting.

Turns out, no one was even seeing her resume. Applicant tracking systems, not humans, were silently rejecting her before she ever had a chance. But once she cracked the code, everything changed. Lauren went from radio silence to multiple job offers in one week.

Chapters:
08:45 – Why Barcelona Became Home
14:00 – Remote Work Isn’t That Easy
17:00 – Resume Fix That Changed Everything
24:30 – Being Honest with Your Employer

Remember to Download Your Free Guide: 7 Ways to Become a Digital Nomad
https://www.thedigitalnomadcoach.com/

Now she works remotely for a Canadian startup while living in beautiful Barcelona. And in this episode, she shares how she finally beat the algorithm and why most of what you’ve heard about applying for remote jobs is outdated.

You’ll also hear one of the wildest travel mishaps we’ve had on the podcast: the time Lauren got lost in the mountains of Nepal and ended up sipping tea with a local family and their goats.

Listen and walk away with the exact resume format that works now.

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DISCLAIMER:
Listening to stories of beachside zoom calls, mountainside work views, and island-hopping entrepreneurs may cause severe wanderlust and an irresistible urge to turn your laptop into a passport to freedom. Side effects include daydreaming about tropical coworking spaces, working with Ryan to learn how you can start working and traveling and buying a one-way ticket to Bali. Get ready to start living your dream life today!

Chapters

• 8:45 Why Barcelona Became Home
• 14:00 Why Landing Remote Work Isn’t That Easy
• 17:00 Resume Fix That Changed Everything
• 24:30 Being Honest with Your Employer

Transcript

[00:00:00] Ryan Mellon: Are you sending out dozens of remote job applications, but hearing nothing back or getting ghosted?

[00:00:05] Ryan Mellon: Today I'm talking with Lauren Pickert, who knows that feeling all too well. She had the experience, the skills, and a polished resume, but for months silence. Then she uncovered one thing that changed everything.

[00:00:18] Ryan Mellon: She went from zero responses to multiple job offers in just one week. Now she's working remotely for a Canadian startup, living in Barcelona and traveling freely on her own schedule. You'll also hear about her wild adventure in Nepal. That involved getting completely lost in the mountains, a mysterious child, and somehow ending up sipping tea in a stranger's house.

[00:00:42] Ryan Mellon: Stay until the end. As Lauren shares what was blocking her applications, why the usual job advice no longer works in the resume fix that. Finally got her notice. If you're starting to think remote work might just be a dream for other people, this conversation will change our mind. [00:01:00] Let's jump in.

[00:01:00] ​

[00:01:08] Ryan Mellon: Hey guys. Welcome to Digital Nomad Nation, where we inspire and empower you to achieve location independence and live life on your own terms. Today we have Lauren Picker. Welcome Lauren. How are you today?

[00:01:20] Lauren Peikert: Doing all right. How are you?

[00:01:22] Ryan Mellon: Doing great. So we were just talking before I hit recording. You were talking about, hiking in, the mountains in Nepal.

[00:01:29] Ryan Mellon: Tell us some, tell us a little bit about that story. I'm curious to hear more.

[00:01:33] Lauren Peikert: Yeah. I guess on digital nomad podcasts like this, you're always talking about how to find the best wifi, but on on one of my trips. My goal was to get as far away from wifi as possible, so no internet on my phone, no service, and I decided to go to a, an Airbnb in the middle of the mountains in a tiny town in Nepal. It was raining very hard, all of my stuff on my back. Luckily, the electronics stayed safe, but I could not find the Airbnb. The map [00:02:00] did not show all of the routes. I had no idea where I was at one point. This little boy appeared out of nowhere and said hello, like, okay, this kid speaks English. And he said, come with me, chase this kid through the corn fields. I had no idea where I was going lugging my giant backpack until I was sitting at the house, which I thought was my Airbnb with the kid asking, are you hungry? Like, yeah. I wondered why they didn't give me a place to change out of my wet clothes. I was sitting there petting their goats. They brought me some nice tea with milk, and then about. 30 minutes later, I saw my recognized from the photo, an Airbnb host coming over the peak of the mountain looking for the lost foreigner who was bothering the neighboring town, like found my way there without wifi and without a functional map. Got some nice tea along the way, made some friends with, with, locals and their goats and survive to tell the tale.

[00:02:49] Ryan Mellon: Wow, that's a pretty amazing,Story. And so like how are you feeling? Like when you got in the stranger's house, like you originally thought this might be your Airbnb [00:03:00] host.

[00:03:00] Lauren Peikert: Yeah, I mean with limited language, language in common. I thought, well, maybe, maybe this is it. They're,

[00:03:05] Lauren Peikert: they're offering me something to drink and didn't seem to question too much why I was in their house. But, uh, yeah, the hospitality of the locals is, was unmatched there.

[00:03:14] Ryan Mellon: That's amazing. So how did that end up the, so your Airbnb host kind of found you and they were just like, thanks for stopping by.

[00:03:24] Lauren Peikert: Pretty much they, they were very hospitable said whatever they said in their language that I did not understand and, uh, wished me well on, on the journey. I guess

[00:03:35] Lauren Peikert: it was, it was, could have. Getting lost in those adventures where things seem to go wrong, usually turn out to be the best stories and the best memories.

[00:03:43] Lauren Peikert: So I'm, I'm happy that happened.

[00:03:45] Ryan Mellon: Yeah, I'm sure, you're feeling a little bit like, you know, out of, out of your element and a little bit of fear, you know, like in the, in the pouring rain in a place you don't know and like trying to figure out where you're supposed to be. I've definitely been there before, but yeah, [00:04:00] in hindsight, they always make good stories.

[00:04:01] Lauren Peikert: Yeah. Yeah, definitely uncertainty along the way, but I survived and now it's a beautiful story, so.

[00:04:07] Ryan Mellon: So what else did you do while you were in Nepal? Like,I've always heard amazing things. What did you do some good hiking? Was, what was Nepal like for you?

[00:04:18] Lauren Peikert: Yeah, I mean, first of all, the thing I do in every country I go to, I ate a lot of really good food and tried every local dish, the, the, and enjoyed myself fully. Um, I'm a huge foodie. I did some light hiking other than the four hour trek up the mountain getting lost that day, and uh, and also explored Katmandu in the city and ra and, and, uh, also got attacked by a monkey and had to get rabies shots in like four different countries.

[00:04:43] Lauren Peikert: But that's a story for another day maybe.

[00:04:45] Ryan Mellon: Oh, wow. Okay. All right. Yeah, we'll save that for another one. But um,

[00:04:50] Lauren Peikert: we always have travel insurance because I knew that that one time rabies can be expensive.

[00:04:56] Ryan Mellon: and I've heard that one's like super, like, uh, [00:05:00] that's a rough one to go through. 

[00:05:01] Lauren Peikert: no. it was, the attack was minor. Lots of shots and figuring out where to get them in different countries. That was the 

[00:05:07] Lauren Peikert: the real challenge 

[00:05:08] Ryan Mellon: No. Yeah, no, that's what I was talking about. I heard it's like 13 different shots over a time period or something, and they're super painful. So luckily I've dodged, uh, I got cornered by three dogs in Bali, three very angry dogs in Bali at like two in the morning, one, one night. And, uh. I was like on the phone with my mom 'cause it's like 2:00 PM in the states and I'm like getting cornered by these three really pissed off dogs that I'm like on their street.

[00:05:34] Ryan Mellon: And I just like kept, you know, my eyes on 'em and like just was yelling at them and eventually they finally lost interest in me and started peeling off one at a time. But the whole thing was like 10 minutes and pretty scary. And the, and the dogs have. Are kind of known for having rabies there in Bali. So like, I was just like thinking that in the back of my mind, like, oh man, like if I get bit gonna have to go through [00:06:00] this.

[00:06:00] Ryan Mellon: I've also been stuck at like a top of a cliff side in, in the Komodo islands with monkeys surrounding us that were very angry. So I've had a lot of close calls, but never been bit so. It's never, it's always an adventure,

[00:06:15] Lauren Peikert: Definitely never boring.

[00:06:17] Ryan Mellon: that's for sure. so where are you from and where, where are you at right now?

[00:06:21] Lauren Peikert: I am from California, from Santa Barbara, California, and I. Currently, I have a home base here in Barcelona, so that's where I am right now

[00:06:30] Lauren Peikert: Pretty spoiled with the weather my entire life. I always like to live in warm places.

[00:06:35] Ryan Mellon: Yeah. Two, two good places to have, but like, so tell us why Barcelona? Why are you there?

[00:06:41] Lauren Peikert: I came here originally to take a quick career break and, and get my master's degree. I just, I, I had lived and traveled to so many places and I thought when I wanted to study again, I. I really just looked worldwide for, for the program that felt like the right fit for me. And I, I, I liked the one here. Got in and turned out I [00:07:00] really liked Barcelona too, so I ended up sticking around and, and having, building Barcelonas as my home base here.

[00:07:08] Ryan Mellon: Okay, so what is it that you love about Barcelona? Sell it to us.

[00:07:12] Lauren Peikert: I mean, there's the obvious, there's the, the ocean, the mountains, the, the. Outdoor dining and the plazas and just the community here. I, I like the community. I like to have my local community here where I do, I do collaborative art projects with the neighborhood and build events together, and I, I've built a stable community of friends and, and people. That I can rely on and connect with and, and I really like that. For me, it's important to me to have, have that, and that's also why I like to have, have a stable home base while, while I travel and work location independently.

[00:07:48] Ryan Mellon: I love it. Yeah, I mean, I have own base as well six months outta the year, and I think it works well for having that stability when. You know, when you're traveling so much you, [00:08:00] you don't really have that stability, so it kind of brings back a little stability in your life. So when you're traveling, are you slow-madding Are you going on short trips now and then back to your base in Barcelona? What does it look like for you?

[00:08:13] Lauren Peikert: Yeah, I didn't, for the past decade, I spent, I've lived in a lot of different countries, but I, I don't know what you would call it, super slow, mad serial, expat, what, whatever it is. I've, I've stayed in places for a year, three years, two years at a time. With a local visa living and, and moving more slowly like that while also traveling along the way. Uh, now I've, I've had a home base in Barcelona for four years and I travel from here, so I would never give up my, my remote flexibility. I use that to visit my family twice a year back in the States. I'm going to Canada next week. I was in Mexico for a month in May. And Bulgaria, of course, a couple weeks ago for Bansko Nomad Fest.

[00:08:53] Lauren Peikert: And, and yeah, so I, I come back home in between, there's something really beautiful about coming back to my own pillow and my own bed [00:09:00] between trips. But, but I, I, I travel often and, and don't need to take time off work to do so.

[00:09:06] Ryan Mellon: Awesome. Awesome. So was there like a time or a place that you knew like, that you wanted to be a digital nomad, or how did that, how did that work? Because you were working in, in an office at one point, right?

[00:09:19] Lauren Peikert: Yeah, I guess it goes back pretty far. I think I remember when I was a kid, like 12 years old, I met a man who said he'd been to every country in the world, and I thought that was the coolest thing I'd ever heard. And I thought, when I'm older, I'm gonna do that same thing. I wanna go to every country in the world. I chose my university program based on which one would let me study abroad for the longest, and that's the first time I, I lived out of my, my hometown, out of my, out of my country. And then moving forward into the future, I explored different career paths. I did different things along the way, and once I started my marketing career and realized that it's a job I can do fully remotely in the right company, I mean, it's a non-negotiable. I would, the, [00:10:00] the benefit of working remotely and being able to be wherever I want to be while doing my job is that's the most valuable benefit a company can offer.

[00:10:09] Ryan Mellon: Okay, so now are you working for a company as an employee doing marketing, or do you do some freelance stuff?

[00:10:16] Lauren Peikert: I have consulted in the past. I, I work for startups. I've worked in startups my entire career. So anyone in deep into the startup world knows it's not always the most stable career path in that way. Um, things happen, funding changes, so I have spent time in between where I've been doing a lot of consulting and freelancing, but. I do prefer the stability of a full-time job, a team that I work with regularly, and now I've, I've been working for the same company for over a year now. I work for, for a startup in Canada. And, and of course the time zone from Barcelona can, can be a little tricky sometimes, but it's, I'm, I'm really happy with where I am.

[00:10:50] Ryan Mellon: So if there was someone looking to do what you do, which is online marketing, What would you say? Like, would be like starting salary [00:11:00] for someone who's just like getting into it, the college education, um, and wants to work remotely and do some marketing and do you, do you know what that, what might be

[00:11:10] Lauren Peikert: I honestly have no idea. Now, it depends so much on location. My first marketing job was in Taiwan, so my starting salary would be nothing near what you would start in North America or something

[00:11:21] Lauren Peikert: like that. So I honestly, it's hard to say, but. Definitely like working for a North American company and even starting off in marketing it, it can be a pretty well paying career and, and as you build up your experience and reach higher management levels, it's, it's, it can be a lucrative, lucrative job to have.

[00:11:40] Okay, cool. so how's like the cost of living there in Barcelona versus back home in California? they're both expensive places. They're, I mean, clearly they're beautiful. Everyone wants to be by the sea and by the mountains like this with nice weather year round. Uh, California is very expensive. I'm from Santa Barbara. It's extremely expensive city. [00:12:00] I know friends who pay $5,000 in rent there just for a two bedroom place, and you know, there's five, $500 a month extra for healthcare. Owning a vehicle where you need a car in California, and there's so many, so many expenses here, here in Barcelona, it's definitely a lot cheaper. And also just in a city, I don't need a car. I, I walk everywhere. Take public transport, save the money for those nice trips and working holidays and, and make it work.

[00:12:26] Lauren Peikert: But it's, it's not as cheap as some places. But within Europe, Barcelona is relatively affordable.

[00:12:32] Ryan Mellon: What does a two bedroom in Barcelona, similar kind of vibes and location go for?

[00:12:38] Lauren Peikert: I think a two bedroom, probably around 1500 USD depending on the location. Um,

[00:12:45] Lauren Peikert: and if you live, live alone, like in a studio or one bedroom, it usually starts at around a thousand too. So, 

[00:12:51] Lauren Peikert: yeah. 

[00:12:51] Ryan Mellon: so significantly lower.

[00:12:53] Lauren Peikert: It's a lot lower.

[00:12:54] Ryan Mellon: Okay. what about like, um, just like eating out and groceries and kind of day to day stuff, [00:13:00] would you say that's similar to back home or

[00:13:03] Lauren Peikert: A lot cheaper. Groceries are, are much cheaper here. I, I do eat out a lot and that's a big part of my budget and it's

[00:13:10] Lauren Peikert: not super cheap, but still cheaper than California. Like, I'll go back and hang out with my friends and we'll go out and I'll like, oh, let's have tacos and a margarita.

[00:13:17] Lauren Peikert: And I'm like, how did I just spend $55? That's insane. But yeah, it's, it's comparing to California, everything feels affordable.

[00:13:25] Lauren Peikert: Yeah, well, yeah, coming from there, like, you've got a good pretty much everywhere, you know, unless you're going to New York or London or Paris or somewhere like crazy.Yeah, it's nice to when you have, well, I mean, I'm, I work for a Toronto based company, so it's, it's nice when you work for a North American company and you get the more local salaries there and can live somewhere more affordable. It's, it's much easier to, to save money and in the future, buy a home and, and do things that. Most people in their local city can't do. Like no matter where you are in the world, like the local salaries in Barcelona barely [00:14:00] match the cost of living. Same in California, everyone seems to be struggling. Same in Toronto. It's,

[00:14:05] Lauren Peikert: it's tough. It's tough, I think see a lot of nomads hacking that system by 

[00:14:09] Lauren Peikert: living elsewhere. And in Asia where it's really cheap.

[00:14:12] Ryan Mellon: yeah. Geo arbitrage is what they call that. So. Earning in high, higher income countries and spending it in lower cost of living. Um, I, I definitely do it in Asia, you know, like Southeast Asia. It's so much more affordable and, and the vibes are just so different. It's amazing there as well. what is something that you wish you knew before starting this journey?

[00:14:35] Lauren Peikert: I think I started this journey right before COVID hit. So what I saw at the beginning of my career, as I started in the office at my first marketing job, working full-time in an office, I happened to be working for remote recruitment agency. So I was very involved in the remote world, the digital nomad world, just. As a marketer who was actually working in an office at the time, but then we saw the shift with the pandemic where [00:15:00] everyone went remote, and I truly believed it would stay that way. I, I felt like it was a huge shift moving toward the future of work where people would be able to work remotely much in as a norm.

[00:15:09] Lauren Peikert: You know, if you can do your job on a computer, why do you have to go to an office? Why would a company waste money on the rent at an office? I have seen a lot of companies pulling back from that since then, and I really didn't, I wish I had known how hard it would be now to get a full-time remote job compared to before because I have lost jobs and I've, every time I've looked for a remote job that let me live wherever I want to live and give me the freedom I want, it's been really, it's tough.

[00:15:32] Lauren Peikert: It's taken a lot of time and a lot of applications to get there, and I thought companies would, I had higher hopes for the world to be more flexible and continue that flexibility post COVID.

[00:15:42] Ryan Mellon: For a listener who wants to get a remote job and, and they have something, they have skills that are, are, can be done purely on the computer. Like, tell us about your experience. Like what, where have you been going to look for jobs and like what, what has been your experience trying to, to, uh, [00:16:00] secure something that allows you to work anywhere?

[00:16:04] Lauren Peikert: I think my advice has changed a lot. From this, back when I worked for that recruitment company, I was teaching courses on how to get a remote job. I was teaching people how to get them, and when I've been searching for my job in recent years, I break every single rule that I ever taught anyone. I feel like a hypocrite here going completely backwards on my advice,

[00:16:21] Lauren Peikert: but things have changed with technology, especially, I think first of all, remote jobs have a huge volume of applicants way higher than an in-person role. It's always been that way, but even more now, especially since a lot of people got a taste of the freedom of remote work, and now a lot of companies are going back, the demand is so much higher than the supply of remote jobs. So there's that, and then that combined with AI and new technologies that are becoming more advanced for applicant screening.

[00:16:49] Lauren Peikert: So these applicant tracking systems, humans don't really read resumes anymore when they first come in. So I was struggling to find a job for a while. I realized when I ran some tests, my resume [00:17:00] wasn't readable by these technologies. So not a single person ever saw my resume because they would go to the bottom first.

[00:17:05] Lauren Peikert: They're screened by robots, basically. So if you're not, if a robot can't even see what your resume says, you won't. You'll just always come out on the bottom. So for me, the resume to be readable by robots as number one, and then not look weird when a human sees it too. So you have to balance that. And then instead of the way I used to tell people quality over quantity. Apply, put your effort in, tailor your CV to every single job. I found it to be the exact opposite. I would spend days and days feeling like this job description is perfect for me. I'm exactly what they want, and not getting a single response or just pure

[00:17:41] Lauren Peikert: rejections. I tailored my resume to the robots. I went on LinkedIn. Easy apply. I tried all the remote job websites, wasn't getting results. I went on LinkedIn. Easy apply, put filters for the kind of job I wanted. To have to admit, I was really burnt out and tired of applying at that point, and I just started clicking send on every single job that came through my filters. [00:18:00] 

[00:18:00] Lauren Peikert: And within a month of fixing my resume for the robots and doing that, I had a couple job offers in one week. So

[00:18:07] Lauren Peikert: That's my new advice. 

[00:18:09] Ryan Mellon: All right.

[00:18:09] Lauren Peikert: Quantity and built for robots is the way to get a job with the mass applicants

[00:18:14] Ryan Mellon: Okay, so talk, let's talk more about building the, the resume or the CV for robots. Like how did you figure that out? What did that look like? How did you come up with that?

[00:18:24] Lauren Peikert: well, first I started to wonder why mine wasn't coming through, so I googled like how many companies are using these systems to track applicants, and it said like 85% and that was. Over a year ago, so I'm sure it's more now with new AI tools coming out as well. Um, so I, I figured out how to test mine and not a single word came through. So the problem that I had created was I used Canva to create my resume.

[00:18:48] Ryan Mellon: Okay.

[00:18:48] Lauren Peikert: this, this design program that was more image-based. And then if you, the fancy resumes where you have like one column here, nice fancy design here, different sections, [00:19:00] multiple columns. None of that works. None of it comes through the right way. Simple text, and I did some basic formatting. I put it straight into Google Docs, just regular kind of word style formatting and line by line some night, maybe a little font tweak on my name at the top, A different color for section titles and a couple lines to divide just to keep it looking clean and. My secret trick, you can't fit everything on a one page resume. People don't like to read multiple page resumes. Humans like single page, but robots like to see all of the keywords they're searching for.

[00:19:34] Lauren Peikert: So I had a secret section on my resume that was just teeny tiny white text. Still honest, they were real tools and skills that I had, but not to overwhelm the humans.

[00:19:44] Lauren Peikert: I put it just readable by the robots. So formatting wise, it fit. Humans couldn't see it, but it would, the keywords would be detected by these systems.

[00:19:52] Ryan Mellon: And these are key words that are in the job listing itself. Right? Exactly what they're, they're looking for. [00:20:00] And so you have these skills and so to keep it to one page. You just kind of put it at the bottom. I think that's genius. That's really

[00:20:08] Lauren Peikert: Yeah, 

[00:20:08] Ryan Mellon: Never heard of that. Heard of that. 

[00:20:10] Lauren Peikert: like I use, I use the most important ones first that I want people to see, but then anything extra that I also know how to do, I, I

[00:20:16] Lauren Peikert: tuck it in there, so,

[00:20:17] Lauren Peikert: so 

[00:20:18] Ryan Mellon: It's like s it's like SEO for, you know, search engine optimization, but for your resume, um, 

[00:20:26] Lauren Peikert: Exactly. 

[00:20:27] Ryan Mellon: you, you, really have to get smarter because, because you're right. Um. All the companies are using big systems to like just filter out 80% of people and then the humans only see maybe 20% that come through after, after the the robot.

[00:20:43] Lauren Peikert: Yeah. Yeah. It's a new world out there, just like. The people who were doing their jobs were kind of half chat, GBT, half human now, especially in marketing and same, same goes the way the way you wanna present yourself. You have to be presentable to both robots and humans. I guess they're both the AI and humans,[00:21:00] 

[00:21:00] Ryan Mellon: Yeah, and just and embracing that change of AI and using it and learning how to work with it because you know, it's really important like. If you don't learn how to use it and, and how have the tools help you be a better employee or worker or business owner, then you'll just be replaced by it. So it's always good to, to keep up on it.

[00:21:23] Lauren Peikert: Yep. 

[00:21:24] Ryan Mellon: so can you, can you describe like a typical work day for us when you're traveling and managing work?

[00:21:31] Lauren Peikert: It depends on where I am here. Here in Barcelona. I am working to overlap with Toronto time, so as our team is all based in Canada, I'm a bit of an outlier. I try to respect that and and have a solid amount of overlap. It's not full schedule flexibility, so I work about one to 10:00 PM Barcelona. So

[00:21:50] Lauren Peikert: it does, does affect the social life a little bit here, but I'm a night owl.

[00:21:55] Lauren Peikert: It, it works for me.

[00:21:57] Ryan Mellon: Okay, that's cool. And do, and they know [00:22:00] you're out of the country.

[00:22:01] Lauren Peikert: yeah, yeah. They, they know where I am and, and they, you know, they don't book meetings with me at midnight, so they, they respect that as well and give me my, my flexibility to, to live my life nicely.

[00:22:12] Lauren Peikert: But I mean, when I move around to, I, I was in Mexico for. For almost a month, went there on a little mother-daughter trip and, uh, so I was working remotely the entire time from Mexico. I actually kept my Barcelona schedule and was working from 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM there so I could go to the beach after work. So I, I kept that, that time, timing, flexibility to enjoy some sun and, and enjoyed being in a place more than, than I would if I was working into the, during all of the daylight hours.

[00:22:41] Ryan Mellon: Yeah, that's perfect. It's, it's great when you change locations and it works in a better way for your job, you know, you get a little bonus. I do like being in Asia when it's like night in, in the States because like my days are quiet. No one is after me for anything. But when I wake up and before I go to bed, I [00:23:00] have to like make sure everyone has everything they need.

[00:23:02] Ryan Mellon: Nothing's burning down, you know, stuff like that. But like I have my whole day like silent 'cause everyone's in bed, which is, it's nice.

[00:23:11] Lauren Peikert: It's nice. It gives you real focus time. I like starting my day where the Toronto team is asleep because I can get. Get my work done uninterrupted, and then we have our time together afterward. And, and I've, I've worked like that before. I worked for a while during the pandemic remotely from California with my job in Taiwan and, and it's, it's kind of nice to have just partial overlap time with your teammates because you can focus more on, on getting stuff done in between.

[00:23:34] Ryan Mellon: Yeah, you're not so distracted. So when you got that job, did you tell them, Hey, I will be traveling around, or, Hey, I'm gonna be in Barcelona, or did you kind of like get the job first and then ease them into that?

[00:23:47] Lauren Peikert: Yeah, I remember when I was applying for jobs, my LinkedIn said Barcelona, and I was worried that I wouldn't. Be taken seriously as a, an American or American Canadian as a legal applicant to work for [00:24:00] countries in that region. So I, I, I changed my profile back to back to California during that period. Um, and if I wasn't asked, I wouldn't say it, maybe in the first stages, let you know, get to know people first.

[00:24:11] Lauren Peikert: But I, I was pretty transparent with the job that I'm working at now. They knew I was in Barcelona. They did tell me close to the end of the interviews. That their biggest concern was my time difference. And

[00:24:22] Lauren Peikert: I said, I swear you won't notice the difference at all. And so when I started, I was working until almost 

[00:24:26] Lauren Peikert: midnight, and then after a couple months, I, you know, they'll understand if I need to shift it just a little bit and, and kind of sl slid into the flexibility over time after I got a sense of how things worked.

[00:24:37] Lauren Peikert: And after I was trained. It's, it's hard when you're at a new job to not have full overlap with your teammates, especially when you have a lot of questions and you're still in the training phase.

[00:24:45] Ryan Mellon: Yeah, no, that's really smart. And it's so critical, those first 30, 60, 90 days, right? You gotta prove yourself. Um, you wanna be extra on top of it, especially if it's a golden job. Like all remote like that you've been [00:25:00] searching for and spent all the time to get. So that's, it's really good advice. 

[00:25:03] Ryan Mellon: you know, there are some people that I help coach and sometimes we just decide not to tell the employer at all. You know, if you've been remote for a while and some people, some people do that and they just. Keep it, stay under the radar for forever, you know, and, and that works. So it's something that's new Digital nomads have to figure out for themselves, like what feels right and what they think they can make happen with their job.

[00:25:30] Lauren Peikert: Yeah, like in some ways what they don't know can't hurt them, but in other ways I think it's, I think it's important to be honest, and I think. it's a good sign if your employer knows that you can get your job done and doesn't mind where you are when you do it. I think that's, that's also a really healthy mindset for the company too.

[00:25:45] Lauren Peikert: They care about the results, the work that gets done. They don't need to micromanage where you are and where your laptop happens to be located. I think,

[00:25:52] Lauren Peikert: it's good to tell them, it could make it tougher to get a job, maybe wait until you get through the first stage and then then talk more openly.

[00:25:59] Lauren Peikert: [00:26:00] But, I think being honest is important and just ensuring them that you'll make sure that you have the right level of overlap and, and be flexible as well with with the time zone that you work in.

[00:26:09] Ryan Mellon: What other, um, pieces of advice would you have someone who wants to start the digital nomad lifestyle?

[00:26:16] Lauren Peikert: I think just. Cheesy. I was gonna say believe in yourself, but I, I believe that it's very possible you don't, I know a lot of nomads are, are freelancers or entrepreneurs, but it is possible to work full-time for a company remotely. I know I was the first hire outside of Canada at my company and or outside of North America at my company, and they were willing to be open to the flexibility of this new thing.

[00:26:40] Lauren Peikert: I think. A lot of companies are, even though some are moving back to being in the office and strict, but the, they're truly good companies with great managers, great management style and, and a healthy mindset for business. Those are the kinds of places where they, they should understand flexibility, and I think you should be. Keep trying. Don't give up. Even if you do, I probably did thousands of easy applies on LinkedIn [00:27:00] and hundreds of, of hard, hard, written applications to get my job, but I didn't give up, didn't I burnt out, but I kept going and, and, yeah, just keep trying and, and it's definitely possible.

[00:27:12] Ryan Mellon: No, I think that's a good one. I think a lot of people are, you know, just. They have some limiting beliefs and, and mindset that, you know, they're not gonna be able to find what they're looking for. But like, if you really have good skills and you're, you're a good employee and you do good work and you bring results no matter where you are, um, you can definitely make it happen and it's totally worth it.

[00:27:38] Ryan Mellon: And you can always change to freelancing at, at any point, you know, a lot of, a lot of the skills that you have even in a job can easily transitioned into the freelancing side of things. So I tell people that's really like the, the easiest way you got, you know, you could build a business super hard, you could find a remote job pretty hard.

[00:27:59] Ryan Mellon: [00:28:00] But freelancing is like, in my opinion, like the quickest way to become a digital nomad. Use all those skills from all your past experiences, school work, to all the different jobs we, you know, come up with all those skills and okay, what can you, you know, turn that into and even just start on Fiverr and Upwork and get some jobs done and build up a portfolio.

[00:28:23] Ryan Mellon: So.

[00:28:23] Lauren Peikert: In some ways freelancing made it possible for me too because I, I was able to be more patient while looking for, for the right fit at a job that would let me work remotely. Because I, I had another way to, to make an income without a full-time job at that time. So I was, I was freelancing while searching, and it gave me more freedom to, to not panic, be able to just slowly wait and for the right opportunity to hit. Yeah.

[00:28:46] Ryan Mellon: Right. Kind of giving yourself supplemental income just while the, while you're waiting, so let's. That's also good advice.

[00:28:53] Ryan Mellon: So do you tend to travel solo or are you traveling with a, with anyone else?

[00:28:59] Lauren Peikert: I, I [00:29:00] love traveling alone.

[00:29:01] Lauren Peikert: I like, no matter what kind of amazing travel buddies I, I have in life, I do enjoy traveling alone sometimes, or when I went to Mexico, I brought my mom with me. So that was really nice too, to spend, spend more time with family that I don't see every day like I'd like to and. I, I think in Barcelona, most of my friends here work in jobs where they need to be in the country or in an office.

[00:29:22] Lauren Peikert: So. If anyone's a digital nomad in Barcelona and wants to, to meet a travel buddy friend, I'd, I'd love to connect as well because I, I think it would be fun to do these longer trips with friends and you can rent a place together for a month, wherever you want. And I do have a couple of friends I've talked about doing this with, but I haven't, I, I usually just plan it solo.

[00:29:39] Lauren Peikert: It's so easy to plan a trip by yourself that I, I don't always have the patience to plan it with someone else and like, Hey, I'm going to Mexico, who wants to come with me? But, um, yeah, it's, it's fun to travel

[00:29:49] Lauren Peikert: alone, but it would be nice with.

[00:29:51] Ryan Mellon: I totally know that feeling. I'm like waiting on a friend to book a flight now, and I'm just like, anxious about it. Like, I just wanna book it and like, get it done and like, [00:30:00] have it locked in and ready to go and like, you know, waiting on other people can be like a little bit, it's a, it's harder, like you have to be more flexible and you guys gotta agree on things, but 

[00:30:12] Lauren Peikert: Or it never happens because you take too long to decide. But

[00:30:15] Ryan Mellon: Yeah. Or yeah, analysis paralysis. And not nothing ever actually happens. So like, you know, give your friend a couple weeks and if that doesn't happen, book that blank. Do it on your own. 

[00:30:27] Lauren Peikert: Yeah, I just book a bunch of trips and say, say to all your good friends, Hey, I'm doing all these things. Does anyone want to join me? And I did that. Remember, in my twenties, I wanted to backpack everywhere in Latin America when I was studying abroad and had never really traveled alone before, but I booked the entire thing and then just. Sent it to my closest friends and I had travel buddies in almost every country after all.

[00:30:47] Ryan Mellon: Ooh, I like that. So like just booking things ahead, having an itinerary, and then they can, now your friends can look at the menu basically and say, this place sounds good. [00:31:00] Those dates work for me, and then they can figure it out from there. I love that. That's really, that's a good one.When I, when I'm in like, like I'm in Bali, you know, six months last year. I always just tell friends and family like, come hang out at any time. Right. I'm gonna be there no matter what. I'll show you around like a local, because I've been there so many times, I've spent so much time there. So I've had family and friends come in and fly in and hang out for weeks at a time.

[00:31:29] Ryan Mellon: And so that's really fun to be able to be like in another country and be showing them around the country like you're the local, you know, it's like, and, 

[00:31:38] Lauren Peikert: Yeah, well my parents have gotten so many trips and just because of the places I've lived and, and ended up in, so they've, yeah, they're very well traveled as well, just kind of popping in and following me around to some places.

[00:31:50] Lauren Peikert: It's been 

[00:31:50] Ryan Mellon: That's awesome. They're lucky. They're lucky you're out traveling. 'cause it gives them just a reason to like get out the door and go do it, you know? That's awesome. [00:32:00] Alright, so as we wrap up, I'll ask a couple rapid fire questions. So what is your number one go-to app for either working remotely or travel?

[00:32:11] Lauren Peikert: Feel like my whole life lives on Notion. That's the one app I really use for, I actually use it as my calendar, as my to-do list. I, I also love Canva. I make calendars for like the entire year, and I'll put little. One's like, here's a little flag for Bulgaria. Each night I'm in Bulgaria, and here this air airplane icon is when I fly.

[00:32:29] Lauren Peikert: And then at the end of the dock I'll have screenshots of all my flight, flight times and numbers. And so notion for my plan, organizing my life in Canva for planning, kind of the big picture of trips and, and then ChatGPT

[00:32:40] Ryan Mellon: Okay.

[00:32:41] Lauren Peikert: I

[00:32:41] Lauren Peikert: ask it for help with everything along the way.

[00:32:43] Ryan Mellon: Yeah. It's like a daily thing for me as well now, like just brainstorming things or like, you know, like I'm even fixing things on my boat now. I'm taking photos of stuff that are broken, like help and [00:33:00] like, it's so surprising how much it knows. It just. Can tell you about whatever problem I'm having and the possible ways to fix it.

[00:33:07] Ryan Mellon: I'm like, thank God. Like I want to search YouTube and listen to these old guys rant for hours

[00:33:13] Ryan Mellon: before they, before they actually fix the show you how to fix something. They're like, just talking about the old days. It's, I've done it so many times on YouTube.

[00:33:25] Lauren Peikert: Yeah. Yeah. I love it. I, when I'm frustrated trying to learn how to new, do a thing on with a new tool or something, I'll just say, help chat GPT and send it screenshots of what's going wrong and have it tell me what to do. And it's, it's super helpful. I mean,

[00:33:38] Lauren Peikert: trip plannings everything too. I, I plan to, to walk the Camino, they Santiago. Like three days before I had my flight to get there and I, I asked chat, GPT to plan the route for me. Didn't get lost, didn't die, and I trusted it fully even though I knew I shouldn't have. So I did a good job. You never

[00:33:55] Lauren Peikert: know. 

[00:33:56] Ryan Mellon: I I love it. I love it. That sounds great. I'm gonna [00:34:00] have to try that. all right. This is right up your alley 'cause you're a foodie. Tell me a place in your opinion that has the best food.

[00:34:08] Lauren Peikert: That's such a hard question for me. I love so, so many foods in so many countries, and I did go when I was in Peru to what, at that time, was the best restaurant on that official top 50 list in the world. And at that time it was the year where it moved from number 15 to number one. So it was. Not expensive yet.

[00:34:28] Lauren Peikert: I spent like $60 and had the most incredible meal of my entire life. But honestly, every single country has something amazing to eat and I will find it everywhere is my answer. I guess

[00:34:40] Ryan Mellon: Okay. All right. So Peru, what part of Peru was it

[00:34:43] Lauren Peikert: it was in Lima. It's called

[00:34:45] Lauren Peikert: Centron. 

[00:34:45] Ryan Mellon: The

[00:34:46] Ryan Mellon: central is the restaurant.

[00:34:48] Lauren Peikert: It's probably three times, four times as expensive as it used to be 10 years ago

[00:34:51] Lauren Peikert: before it was. So famous, but it, it was amazing. But I, Peru has incredible food. Um,

[00:34:56] Ryan Mellon: Yeah,

[00:34:57] Ryan Mellon: no, absolutely.

[00:34:58] Lauren Peikert: it's a top,

[00:34:59] Ryan Mellon: I spent a couple [00:35:00] weeks in Cusco and uh, and saw a little bit of time in in Lima as well. So it's a, it's a cool place. Awesome. Well thank you for taking the time today. Uh, it was really good conversation. So where can people find you?

[00:35:14] Lauren Peikert: Feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn and touch base travel buddies in Barcelona or. Any advice? Marketing, finding marketing job remotely? Um, happy to, to connect and, and chat.

[00:35:26] Ryan Mellon: Awesome. All right, well thanks again and I hope you have a great rest of your day there and we'll talk soon.

[00:35:33] Lauren Peikert: Great. Thank you.

[00:35:34] Ryan Mellon: Thanks for listening to another episode of Digital Nomad Nation. I hope today's stories have inspired you to take the next step towards location independence. If you've enjoyed the show, please share it with a friend and leave a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app. Your support fuels our mission to inspire the digital nomad lifestyle.

[00:35:56] Ryan Mellon: Before you go, don't forget to grab your free copy of my [00:36:00] guide, Seven Ways to Become a Digital Nomad. It's packed with practical tips to kickstart your nomadic journey. You can find the link in the episode description. And remember, the life you've always dreamed of is just one bold decision away. Until next time, this is the Digital Nomad Coach, Ryan Mellon, signing off.