Transience

November 23, 2011 5 Comments

There is nothing permanent except change. ~ Heraclitus

I’ve been meaning to write a post about location independence for a while now… mainly discussing how I’ve been combining work with travel in the last two years and how a PO Box is now my official residence in Australia after recently selling a lot of my stuff. However, I’m going to focus on transience and impermanence, rather than the resulting actions.

You see, I’ve been pondering about how my life has been evolving and the role of the digital world in facilitating this change. I’ve noticed my outer world isn’t as simple or straightforward as it once was – I don’t have a well documented formula to replicate (hello 9-5) and I can’t look around me for guidance. After all, I only know a handful of people able to freely choose their current location, especially at short notice. In a way, it feels those of us experimenting with these shifts are pioneers – prototyping plausible existences in public forums for what’s hopefully the benefit of others. And don’t get me wrong, I understand this position is a rarity and somewhat idealistic in approach – I certainly won’t crave this lifestyle if and when I’m a mother!

Firstly, I believe transience is coming about due to changes in our work, which are largely a result of advances in technology. As soon as flexibility and freedom from a physical world arrive, we are given the opportunity to decide on location for ourselves. I first got a taste for this flexibility when I started connecting with web developers – specifically the Ruby on Rails community. Here, these well-paid, mostly-male, mid-20′s programmers were deciding when and where they wanted to work. They seemingly had no problem travelling all over the world for some boutique conference or camp to enjoy some in-person time and global learning. While I wasn’t about to run away, clock up activity on my GitHub account and learn a cucumber isn’t just a vegetable – I was wondering how I could hack my life to make something similar work for me.

Working in a progressive area and on the web, I was fortunate to mash up a situation that’s allowed me to increase my awareness of the globe by seeing more of it. Working with companies that get it (especially travel-related) and creating something yourself has helped me to sustain my activities. Through these endeavours, I’ve journeyed through North America, Europe, Asia and Australasia in the past 12 months. I’m writing this post from a peaceful and tropical Port Douglas in Far North Queensland, before heading back to Melbourne via a Brisbane Fetch-launching stopover. I doubt I’d have seen as much as I have without having to quit everything to take time out for purely travelling.

One of the things I love about transience is it allows me to change and be agile in my existence. I feel like I’ve been growing so much as an individual in recent times, that having the freedom to take opportunities as they come or just be has allowed me to live more authentically in time and space. One of the things I don’t love so much is the impact of transience on relationships. I’m a fierce loyalist to my friends and circle, and it saddens me when I have to let go of a relationship. In my ideal world, we could all nurture each other and give attention to every connection. However when you’re on the go, the cherished face-to-face interaction dwindles and people soon forget about those not close by. In our often status-update-focused worlds, it’s now easy to have ambient awareness without ever having to ask a “How are you?”.

Above all, transience is about having no fear about what the future may hold. I understand what I am subject to now can change and change quickly, and what I thought were anchors and stability, gone. We’re all a target of this and even a 15-year commitment to one company doesn’t offer much security in the current economy. It seems I’m able to still arrive at the place I wanted to be though – with thanks to a vision and a rough plan. My energy and motivation levels flourish without having to fight an alternate path too.

The next steps for me involve embodying inner impermanence as a lifelong concept while returning to longer stints with my outer location. Thank you for listening and here’s to upcoming adventures and explorative living!

Kate

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Half-yearly review

July 22, 2011 13 Comments

In Vancouver, June 2011

I’ve been wanting to reflect on the past six months for a few weeks now. To share how life is going on my little space on the web. I’ve duly titled it “Half-yearly review” and with the absence of a outside ‘boss’, it’s almost a performance review. As with a case of a lot of things on this blog, it’s more for me than you. Rude, I know! It’s a summary of what’s been going on and what needs to go on in the next half. One of the biggest changes in productivity this year was moving to Things as my task manager of choice. Here I was able to track multiple projects, both personal and client-related (when not in-house), large and small, while on the go on my iPhone and on my Mac. Before this, believe it or not, I was mainly running via my memory which only scaled so far! I also cut out the majority of coffee meetings and catchups – it’s amazing how much time goes simply commuting and talking about what you’re going to do. Now I kick the first action off in the initial email. So, without further ado, here are some highlights of 2011:
  • Launching The Fetch and building a community of ~ 1400 subscribers (and the same again in the social channels) in a few months has been up there. It’s my first project (I wouldn’t really call #socialmelb a project!) so I’m glad to see it’s been received well. I’d like to thank some of the innovative brands such as Ninefold and Eventarc who’ve partnered with us to date, making it a sustainable endeavour.
  • Working regularly with Travellerspoint has also been rewarding – it’s one of the biggest sites I’ve been across with over million UVs per month and has an active community to manage. Cofounders Peter and Sam have great business and technical nous, and have really been open to suggestions and feedback. Plus there’s lots to do. They’re also partly the reason why I’m currently overseas, after sending me to TBEX in Vancouver last month.
  • I enjoyed doing the launch communications and social media for popular news and analysis media startup, The Conversation. In a short space of time, they’re now flying through Twitter and Facebook and growing quickly.
  • Revitalising the Silicon Beach community in Melbourne this year with Roy Hui (and now Adventure Capital) has also been fun. I recall rallying the masses back in February one by one, so it’s great to see 321 ‘Beachers’ now attending the drinks!
  • The longstanding Socialmelb community has also had a few updates. At the start of the year, I moved the breakfast over to the current venue 1000 £ Bend and in the summer months (when people got out of bed early!) we had a crowd of over 60 at one event. I also ran two events – a sold-out one at Earl Canteen in February and another in support of social entreprise Scarf Community in April, but have put future after-hour events on the back-burner while I travel and focus elsewhere.
  • Giving Australians a first taste of Women2 in the form of a Melbourne Founder Friday event was nice for the small but growing female entrepreneurship community. I’d still like to bring it all together regularly in the Women Hack initiative.
  • Other event and community involvements included bringing together over 40 Instagrammers and iPhoneographers in Melbourne for a CBD May photowalk #instameet (check out the photo on the IG blog here). There was also a small part played in organising the Melbourne Travel Massive meetup.
  • I also graduated from my Masters in Business (Marketing) with a 14,000-word thesis in ‘The knowledge and practice of professional marketers in relation to strategy formation and planning in social media marketing’. It feels great to have this wrapped up and although I don’t think it counts for much in my field of work, it’s a solid tick to have a postgraduate qualification under my belt.
  • I’ve often noticed a lack of support and role models throughout my career, so I decided to change this by not waiting to give back and mentoring early. Therefore, I brought on two interns earlier this year to see if I could help them by them helping me. Jonathan is the reliable super-smiling face in the Travellerspoint office and the amazingly-talented Liz keeps me on my toes at The Fetch and is someone I’d love to work with well into the future.
  • I tried to keep some speaking engagements active to ward off the skills rust and as a result particularly enjoyed doing the IABC debate on what each generation brings to the communication profession (speech available here).
  • There’s obviously other projects, radio and writing gigs in there but I don’t want to bore you too much – and I’m assuming you’ve not made it this far!
  • Regarding the financial front, while I generally follow the old-school etiquette of being reserved – I’m pleased to say that since going out on my own, the income of two to three days a week equates to what I was making fulltime before. But that’s not to say I get to work less, as other independents will agree, you end up working more!
  • On the home front, I did something I wanted to do for a while: sell my car. I’m now a proud one-bike and two legs show.
  • I also dug away at my sentimental accumulative tendencies and donated eight bags of material goods (clothes, shoes, bags) to charity.
  • A huge part of my current existence is engrained in the digital nomad life. I’m now travelling around the world for a large part of the year and am happy with the lifestyle I’ve designed for myself – it’s certainly not easy to create. I’m meeting inspirational people everyday, seeing friends and family (a global bunch), checking out the digital and creative scenes in various cities, enjoying an immense amount of freedom while working and chipping away at some new endeavours. Photos here. At the moment, I’m in rainy London with Edinburgh, Glasgow, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Berlin and Prague some of the next places on the list. My rough itinerary’s mapped here. Although I can’t tell you how much I’m missing Rex!
  • And most importantly and on the personal front – I had a pleasant, dream-inducing surprise at the start of the year. I am lucky enough to have met a partner in crime, a best friend, a fellow journeyer… an equal. Someone who I share everything with – including outlook on life, interests and a zany sense of humour. Thanks Mat. I hope you challenge me for years to come. :)
Well, I must stop indulging in the past and get back to the present. Have a lovely weekend and hope we meet again soon.

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You were just as I left you

June 12, 2011 Leave a Comment

Here’s a photo snapshot of the week I just spent in San Francisco:

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How I dress

April 11, 2011 4 Comments

A girlfriend made a remark about the way I dressed today. It was in relation to the casual attire I frequent. The succinct comment left numerous thoughts whooshing in my head – a micro-awakening to a forgotten place.

You see, I haven’t really judged or evaluated myself via my appearance for a long time. My aesthetics seem to have stopped being a way I represent myself to the world, or one of my priorities in life. I rarely spend more than fifteen minutes getting ready in the morning. I don’t pick out outfits, I don’t wear makeup, I don’t straighten or really blow-dry my hair, and I don’t adorn myself with uncomfortable items. A lot of this has to do with practicality and utility – I’ve been riding my bike (the manual kind) around Melbourne for seven years and flimsy heels and pretty handbags don’t cut it. In fact, you’re more likely to see me with my Chrome or Crumpler laptop bag, a waterproof jacket and some Birkenstocks. Yes, Birkenstocks. I’ve been informed these are a fashion crime to humanity – even though I think I look like a cute import from Holland in my suede clogs.

This wasn’t always the case though, turn back to 2005 and you’d find me in fashion school for a year – on respite from my science bachelors. I used to spend my Saturdays pouring my attention over many magazine subscriptions including Vogue Australia, Vogue UK, Marie Claire, ELLE, Ruush and the rest. I could tell you what piece of clothing was from what designer, what collection, what year and who wore it. People still get surprised when I correctly guess the fabric blend of their jumper.

After a while I suppose I grew bored of it all and began to find the subject matter rather intellectually dull. Achieving and conforming to a certain look became tiring. Fashion began to no longer rhyme with passion for me.

In the past few years, I stopped consuming mainstream female-focused media altogether. I also found myself without a TV to watch. As a result, I wasn’t subject to advertising or supposed societal norms via the glossy photoshopped pages or slick ads. I forgot women were under pressure to continually lose weight. I forgot women were directed to alter their skin or hair colour to become more attractive. I forgot women needed to buy more things to make their lives better. I forgot women were told they needed to continually change to feel good. I forgot to dedicate the time and focus needed to keep up with the media’s message. I progressively stopped blowing a chunk of my pay check on clothes, cosmetics or beauty treatments. I started buying books, experiences and the odd tech treat – with most of my money going into savings. I was exposed to a more-democratic new media world – where real, diverse voices from around the globe could be heard first hand.

Don’t get me wrong, I never let my general presentation falter – rather, I began to feel better by being natural. I know that you can have fun with fashion and style – many of my friends do a brilliant job. It’s just I prefer to limit my time and attention on it – and direct more to decorating my mind and soul instead.

It wasn’t until today that I was reminded I’m judged on my appearance… that it meant something.

It’s a shame because I don’t need a floral dress to feel feminine, makeup to feel attractive or a black suit to feel professional, so why does society?

Isn’t it refreshing when people don’t try to make themselves a certain way in order to justify the expectations of others.

So, fellow human. Don’t go changing – unless of course, it’s for you.

~

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Your feet tell your story

February 10, 2011 3 Comments

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Five-year plans are cute

January 31, 2011 4 Comments

I was sorting through one of my anti-minimalist memento boxes the other day and came across a mind map of an old five-year plan. A wave of nostalgia came over me and I was transported back to myself at that stage. It really is remarkable how paths change. At that time I was preparing for a career in the life sciences and was aiming to do a PhD in genetics, immunology or molecular biology. (I ended up completing my undergraduate degree in biotechnology and microbiology before being allured to the broader business worlds and leaving research be.) I was also thinking about investing in property, something which I’ve put on hold for now. And it’s humorously interesting to see the opening of the Australian Synchrotron factored into my life!

Nowadays, I don’t make five-year plans. Even two-year plans for that matter. I have a rough idea of of where I’d like to be, and prefer to navigate opportunities and choices as they arise. I am yet to decipher if this is indicative of the pace and structure of society today, or merely representative of my life stage. Financial planning is obviously an important activity, but career planning? If the average length of time a person spends at one employer is on a steady decline, do we need to adopt a more agile approach? Will leave that thought with you…

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21st birthday nostalgia

December 16, 2010 Leave a Comment

I keep everything. Well, anything sentimental. You could call me a maximalist. I have too many memento boxes to count. Old cards, letters, event tickets, photographs, small gifts, buttons, name tags, conference lanyards and so forth. Every year or so, I love opening these boxes up to rediscover what lies within – they’re treasure chests that take me into other worlds. Some people are of the mindset you shouldn’t reconnect to your past – be free, let go. I agree, but sometimes we need to look back to see how far we’ve come. Sentimental objects ground me – they give me perspective on my evolution. They remind me of my roots.

So, while I was clearing out my study a couple of weeks ago, I came across a speech that one of my great friends delivered at my 21st birthday. I’ve been lucky enough to know Jessie since 1995, and recently celebrated her wedding with her. The speech is KK-focused, inflating and personal, but hey it’s to be expected in such a format, right?

Anyway, keeping with the internet’s sharing compulsion – I thought I would include it below. Enjoy the insight…

(I’ve added in some annotations in the square brackets.)

Kate’s been a busy girl over her 21 years. I’ve witnessed her “Australian Years” [I was born in the UK.], during which she has thrived in academic, social, sporting and home-making pursuits. These were as varied as irritating Ms Black in chemistry class, dominating the field in way too many sports and throwing some infamous parties at Bazza.

We all know she’s a smart cookie but Kate was also able to maintain her own amusement, as well as that of those around her, during the educational process. I think Kate’s antics will outlive the chemical structure of Nylon and the role of women in WW2 in our memories. Chemistry was never the same with Kate in the class.

Kate was also entertainment out of the classroom. She was accused of being a serial flirt during primary years because she preferred kicking the boy’s arses at handball to gossiping with the girls. Among Kate’s other playground pastimes were: matchmaking, teacher-impersonating, begging for chewing gum and student verse teacher soccer matches.

Though we were all proud of Kate’s deserved ascension to “Prefect Status”, it was a bit of a shame she had to exercise just enough restraint to stay on the good side of the powers that be.

I’d love to run you through Kate’s great sporting triumphs, but I was probably at home on the couch during the real shining moments. Kate was an inspiration (and a bloody psycho) on the hockey field, tennis court and soccer pitch. She was also an expert at delegating tasks during interhouse sport carnivals. Year after year I would be surprised to see my name listed for athletic and swimming events I didn’t recall volunteering for.

Other memorable moments include the time Kate requested early dismissal from class and when questioned by the teacher as to why, casually replied “Tuba lesson”– and got away with it! Must have been the natural charm.

To my knowledge Kate has aspired to enter such professions as dentistry, forensic pathology, tennis, medicine, fashion marketing and career eBayer. But I believe she’s really wrapped up in homewares at present. [I used to work at retail head office.] Borderline obsessive? Though I do enjoy discussing the threadcount of my sheets…

It may seem that Kate spends a lot on shopping, not only in her own workplace – love those employee discounts! – but where and whenever she gets the chance. However, Kate is actually quite a discerning shopper and has two fail-safe procedures to ensure she hasn’t wasted her hard-earned dosh on something she doesn’t actually want:

1) eBay resale  and
2) return

Anyway, enough about Kate’s quirks. She’s a genuine, often brutally honest, caring and motivated person. I’d call her an over-achiever but she doesn’t have that annoying personality to complete the image.

I’d like to say thanks for all the good times and generous gestures. And wish Kate all the very best of everything.

Happy 21st Katya! [Jessie's Russian nickname for me.]

Do you have any speeches recorded on file? Or are they safely locked away in memories?

I’d love to venture back and be a fly on the wall at a special event in your life.

Happy Thursday,

Kate

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More inspiration

December 13, 2010 1 Comment

Thanks wordboner.com.

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On the go

November 26, 2010 4 Comments

I thought I would do a quick update about what’s been happening in the world of Kate. I’ve got a few posts saved in draft but want to give them more attention before publishing, and it’s been difficult  at the moment to find that attention time.

So, I’m currently in the Golden Bay region on the South Island of New Zealand with the team at Adioso. We’re here on a 10-day productivity sprint. Think beautiful weather, amazing valley views, hearty home cooked meals, pristine air, flowing creative energy and… cider in plastic bottles. Yes, they have beer in them too!

Before coming to NZ, I was in Sydney for the weekend. In fact, I’ve nearly been up to Sydney every week for the past month. When I get back to Melbourne, I’ll be there for two weeks before heading away to Fiji with a group of friends for 10 days around Christmas. Confused? My iCal is too.

By the end of 2010, I will have spent a third of it travelling and working remotely, both domestically and internationally. I want 2011 to pretty much look the same. In rough chronological order, the plan is to get to Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand), the US again (LA, SF and Austin), India and UK/Europe for the majority of the Northern Hemisphere’s summer. I’m at a stage in life where I have the opportunity to do as much ‘digital nomading’ as possible and naturally, I want to take it.

Anyway, what posts have I got in the works for the oft-neglected blog? Here’s the list below:

  • Escaping the digital ratrace, which encompasses thoughts on my one-week silent Twitter retreat,
  • The beauty and simplicity of food featuring my balanced and courageous housemate Tresna Lee,
  • Experiencing a year’s worth of writer’s block and what that means for creative expression,
  • A list of female founders and influencers of the Australian tech scene (I’ll then do media), and
  • Closing thoughts on 2010 – areas of change, growth and evolution.

Take care and hope we meet again soon,

KK

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Update on the journey

October 1, 2010 15 Comments

Dear compassionate and caring individuals who give a crap what I’m up to,

You might have been confused about where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing. Well, after eight weeks in the US and two back in Melbourne – I thought it was time to post an update. The post to read for background info is the one duly-titled ‘New adventures‘ – it covers quitting my job in May and “chasing a dream”. You can also read a statistical summary of my trip here.

So, it all starts back in November 2009 when I woke up one morning and all I could think of was that I wanted to go to San Francisco. From then, until the day I departed from Melbourne, I literally had this thought in my head. Purring away. Consuming me. “Kate, go to San Francisco, go to San Francisco.” You can imagine with this occupying my mind – being settled in the moment was difficult. I felt as though my feet were firmly on the ground but my head was in tomorrow’s clouds. Stretched.

I wanted to not only visit San Francisco and the Bay Area, but if I liked it – consider staying to work and play. I started asking questions back in January and got some great insight on life in SF from the likes of Aussie expats such as Cathy Edwards and Wade Millican. I started researching. I accrued information guides, I bookmarked links and I liked all the Facebook pages possible. What would I need to do to make this happen?

What is it about the San Francisco Bay Area I prematurely fell in love with? Well, instead of me reciting cliché Twain quotes to you – I guess Paul Kantner’s quote from 2000 sums it up best: “San Francisco is 49 square miles surrounded by reality”. To say the least, San Francisco is progressive. It has the will to constantly change and evolve. Its people continually strive to create an incredibly-liveable ecosystem and multi-faceted community. It is arguably the world’s innovation hub and testing hotbed where anyone who has an idea or a vision is encouraged to make it become possible. Sure, you can say these things are available anywhere in the world but if you look at the support system and success (and failure) rates – you realise it’s special. Not to forget, it has bikes. And food. Oh, the food – how I miss thee!

I must credit Edward Harran for providing the dynamite for me to book my tickets and finally go. Eddie had just got back himself and as we sat conversing at the pub one night, I kept listing the limitations of me going. He responded: “You’ll never know, if you never go” and don’t suffer from “paralysis by analysis”. He was right, I could find solutions to any issues that arose. The next day I booked my flights.

I had an amazing two months away. I met so many people. I saw so many things. I had some fantastic conversations about technology, startups and people making stuff happen. I got lots of inspiration and many ideas that I am motivated to act upon.

It wasn’t all roses though. I spent a lot of time exploring the next steps with my career and I found I had a problem… too much choice. An embarrassment of riches. Choice is a weird phenomenon. It seems it never reaches equilibrium. On one hand, you have many desperately in need of choice to better their lives and on the other, you have those too-fortunate individuals perplexed by the excess. Before I left, I was getting calls here and there about social media roles – mainly at digital or creative agencies and also consulting contracts. It was six-figure salary city. However, I wasn’t certain this path was for me. I view social media in a holistic way and have since come to the conclusion that the term is almost redundant and better encompassed under a broader digital marketing strategy. So, I decided to leave it to Tom, Dick and Harry.

While in the US, I started chatting to upcoming startups. I also started looking around at larger tech companies, but out of all the monoliths – Google was the only one I resonated with workwise. I was greatly appreciative when a friend put my resume forward. I had an interview for a communications manager position in Mountain View and did a second round, which included a follow up writing task. It was quite surreal as if you’d asked me a couple of months earlier what the dream was, I would have definitely replied: “Google” but going through the process, I wasn’t so sure. Around the same time, I was catching up with a couple of Melbourne friends from Y Combinator funded travel startup Adioso. The guys were in San Francisco finalising the features on version three of the search engine in preparation for their global launch. At first the conversation revolved around engaging me to do media relations for the launch, but it then turned into scoping if the fit was right for a longer-term gig.

The more I thought about working with Adioso, the more I started getting excited. A forgotten sensation. A small, incredibly smart, experienced and agile team capable of having a real impact on the industry and the world. If I wanted to be at the cutting edge of technology and startup land – this was it. I couldn’t resist – I joined Tom, Fenn and Andrew. Other opportunities could wait. You can read the introduction post here. The next three to four months are going to be an interesting time for the business and the plan is to open a San Francisco office in the not too distant future.

But, alas, the career decision doesn’t provide the ending to this update. I would like to share some of the lessons learnt along the way:

  • You have to take risks to get what you want. And sometimes that involves risking everything. You’ve got to be prepared for nothing to get the something.
  • Don’t try to change everything at once. I was experimenting with changing my home life, country and career all in one go and it was stressful!
  • Don’t expect answers at the end. You find insights through the pursuit of answers. More questions are better than answers and it’s the quest, not the treasure chest that matters.
  • Listen to and work with yourself. You are unique and thus operate uniquely.
  • Appreciate and explore the lows – I find I’m at my most creative while there.
  • Don’t make the rookie mistake of externalising happiness.
  • You can read as many books, blogs and tweets but you have to experience things for yourself to understand and absorb a message.
  • Get uncomfortable – challenge yourself. This is how you grow.
  • Find the big league of your industry, go play in it and surprise yourself when you realise it’s not so big.
  • Do things differently and see how you go. E.g. I’m incredibly organised/planned so I let go and tried drifting.
  • Spend the majority of your social time with people who really care about you.
  • Your connections help but your smartness and determination are what get you there.
  • If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will.
  • Don’t define yourself by what you do. Do nothing and define yourself then.
  • Don’t ask yourself what you want to do, ask what you need to do.

In summary, just be… and go.

Thanks for reading.

Kate

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