Episode 285: How to Build a Freedom-Focused Life and Remote Business | Michelle Garabito | Founder Lux Nomad
Michelle Garabito was stuck in burnout until one bold decision changed everything. Today she runs a travel business from wherever she wants and helps other women do the same. In this episode, Kara and Michelle talk about building a freedom-based business, what it really means to leave corporate, and how to design a life around joy, rest, and curiosity. They also get into solo travel, self-worth, and why community is everything when you’re forging your own path.
“It’s not all about more, more, more. It’s about living freely. We call it currency hacking. It’s how you can drastically change your life. ”
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Time Stamps:
00:00 – Michelle Garabito’s Digital Nomad Journey03:00 – How Losing Her Job Led to Remote Entrepreneurship
07:00 – Building an Online Business from Anywhere
11:00 – Time Management and Boundaries as a Digital Nomad
15:00 – Travel Tips for Women Working Abroad
20:00 – How Luxe Nomads Helps You Work from Anywhere
24:00 – The Best Countries for Remote Entrepreneurs
28:00 – Lifestyle Design and Building a Freedom-Based Career
32:00 – Investing in Women and Creating Wealth with Purpose
Follow along using the Transcript
And I recommend doing one to three months in a country that you've maybe have visited before and just do one month, book a Airbnb, 30 day rental, and just do one month and bring the same habits and routine that you've had in the U S or in your home country and bring it to this new country.
That's Michelle Garabito. I'm Kara Duffy, and this is the Powerful Ladies Podcast.
Welcome to the powerful ladies podcast.
Thank you so much, Kara. How are you?
Am doing very well. Thank you. I'm very excited to talk to you. You lead a very interesting and what looks like fun life. Yeah, super fun. Let's tell everyone your name, where you are in the world today anyway, and what you're up to.
So my name is Michelle Garavito. I'm currently in Paris, France. And what I'm up to these days, I'm traveling the world full time. I just got my visa out in Spain, which also allows me to live anywhere in the eu. So that's basically what I'm doing right now is just hopping around different European countries to find my next home base.
I just wrapped up my first Olympic experience here in Paris, and I also run three different remote companies in real estate and our personal brand deluxe nomads. So it's, I keep busy, but it's fun because I do run it remotely. So I can travel, which is my passion and still run all my companies, which is also my passion. So it's really fun.
I want to go back to the beginning. Where were you when you decided I need to be nomadic? I need to be traveling the world. This isn't working for me anymore. Bring us back to what life used to be like and where you were in the world then.
Yeah. So I was actually born and raised in the Bronx.
My family came from the Dominican Republic to chase the American dream. And unfortunately, you know, it didn't really work out for them. They did not get the big house and the big cars and the fancy Corporate careers, you know, they didn't speak English and then my mom had me young. And so, you know, growing up on section eight housing and food stamps and just such humble beginnings, I've always dreamed about just traveling the world and making money remotely even back then, even as like a young girl, I always just envisioned it.
And so I just remember. Being in high school and trying to figure out what my major was going to be and I didn't really know what I wanted to do. All I knew was I wanted to be an entrepreneur because I did not want to work for anybody and I wanted to travel the world. And so with that mindset, it did suck me into different like businesses like network marketing and things like that.
Because I was just so desperate to like build something for myself that gave me the freedom to travel. And so there's so many different opportunities that sell you that dream. And as a 17 year old at the time I got, you know, sucked into so many different like business opportunities. But I did gain a lot of skill cause I have been building businesses since I was 17, I'm 32 now.
And so I've been able to. just like grow different companies. But you know, as entrepreneurs, not all of them did very well. And so it was 2019 when I left one of the businesses that I was building as a young girl, and I had to go back to a corporate job. And although I loved it, I lived my New York city dreams.
COVID happened just nine months later, and I had to apply for unemployment. And that was such a huge blow. I just felt like I was going backwards in life. Not only did I have to apply for unemployment, now I'm getting quarantined in my apartment in New Jersey. And, you know, at the time I, I hadn't left the country.
I, the last time I had left the country at the time, it was eight years old visiting my family, the Dominican Republic, my passport had expired. And all I had was vision boards and screen and screen templates and Pinterest photos of just like all these beautiful countries. And I remember being quarantined in my room for six months.
I was living with my roommate at the time and just dreaming about traveling. to different parts of the world. And that's when I just took that time that I was collecting unemployment to really figure out how to make remote income. So that way I can travel the world. And so my boyfriend, and now we actually have reconnected during COVID and he was already living a digital nomad lifestyle, but he was doing it within the U S.
So when we were courting, we always talked about like, Oh my gosh, I would love to just like live in Thailand for six months and just make money remotely. And then we can hop over to Italy and hop over here. And we just always talked about it. And so that was when we decided to come together. We started dating.
We started living a little bit of a digital nomad lifestyle. out in the U. S. So he invited me out to Colorado is my first time in Colorado. And then from there, three months after dating, we moved to Mexico and we love this so much. We stay there for a year and it's been four years of traveling full time now.
And I've been to over 20 plus countries. I've lived in maybe 10 of them. And last year we committed to living in Europe full time. So we did get the digital on my visa out in Spain. And so, yeah, now we are European citizens and it's been phenomenal to just leave the American lifestyle and just live a more stress free, low budget life, you know, and just have just like a great work life balance.
It's been really awesome.
Feel really lucky that I got to live in Europe for four years and had a great time doing it. I love traveling the world. I also am keeping my country count. Like I did the 30 by 30 challenge and It's a different experience when you know that you can show up anywhere because it seems so intimidating at first to say what you like, you went to Mexico and just stayed what?
So when you're your business is helping people figure out how to do this for themselves and a lot of people want it. There's definitely pros and cons, things you need to be aware of. But when people are daydreaming, like you were in COVID. Where do you tell people to start when they're in that daydreaming phase?
Like, how do they get a little bit closer to reality?
Yeah, that's such a great question. So I actually have a free playbook where I talk about this and I always tell people that before you look into visas and the legality of visas, and taxes and like buying you do any of that, I thin for everyone who has an a really understand the pow are so many countries that for up to a year just bec passport, Albania being o could do six months, Domi You could stay there for life.
They don't even look at that, you know, so there's so many countries. And so I always talk about that. There's four phases to living the digital nomadic lifestyle. And in my free playbook, I talk about phase one, which is just called the trial run. And I recommend doing one to three months in a country that you've maybe have visited before.
And you maybe just did two weeks there on a vacation. and just do one month, book a Airbnb 30 day rental and just do one month and bring the same habits and routine that you've had in the U. S. Or in your home country and bring it to this new country. And so I always recommend that people just go live in countries that allow them to do a month.
And if you love it, go on to phase two and do an extended stay. three months and if you love that, hop on over to another country and do the same thing and then hop on over and just keep hopping around until you find your soul's home. And once you find your soul's home and you just know that this is where you want to be, then you can look into things like the digital nomad visas, the D seven and all the pieces that are available.
But I, I, I mean, for us, we just have commitment issues, even though we have the digital aim, like, you know, I've been in Paris for the past month and I'm going to live in Croatia for two months. So it's just, there's no commitment to like living this lifestyle. You can truly bounce around and see the world and take away like that, I guess, like that mindset of that Americans have where you have to like buy a house and commit to, you know, this one state and plant roots.
And it's just like, you can plant roots all over the world. It's okay to be free and have fun, you know? So yeah.
Part of my. Business coaching pillars is more freedom, and I think it's so important to really look at time, freedom, location, freedom, client, freedom, like there's lots of ways we could evaluate freedom.
How have you stepped into freedom in ways that you didn't even know you were looking for when you first started?
Wow, that's such a great question. You have some good questions, girl. I think the first freedom that I experienced was when I started making my own income, like my actual companies, like my LLC, my clients, money coming into my accounts and now like client to my account, you know that was really the first freedom that I felt.
And When I hit my first six figures and I was not in the United States, I was in Mexico and I was making us dollars in Mexico. And I'm like on the beach and just living my best life. And with my new boyfriend, where we're about to hit one year together. And that's really where I, I experienced that first true freedom was when I was out of the United States making us dollars with my own company. There was, there was just so much power in that, especially coming from someone who's always had a job, had just wrapped up my unemployment checks, you know, and I was so nervous, like, I don't know where my next paycheck is going to come, but you know, I bet it on myself. I bet it on my skills.
I And I, I showed, I taught myself that I can do this, you know, and that I can have the freedom that I've always dreamed about. And it just, it's just all about taking action and just following your intuition, you know, and I've always wanted to live this lifestyle. I followed through and I'm able to live it, you know?
So that's really when I experienced it was, I was in Mexico and sort of seeing money coming into my account while I'm in Mexico is wild.
Yeah. I purposely built my business such that I can do it from anywhere.
And it's been interesting because there's been, especially since post COVID, I started pre 2020, but 2020, everyone of course had to go remote, but then there's been such a request to be back in person.
And typically I'm kind of traveling around doing in person events in New York and over here in Portland and other places, but there's been such a demand for me to do and kind of ground and root into. Consistent in person events where I am right now. And it's so interesting because I'm fighting it, but like my business coach, my team are like, maybe this isn't a thing to fight.
I'm like, no, you don't understand. I cannot commit to being in person consistently. Like there's, it has to be fixed and. I think my ultimate dream would be a home here in California, one in New York and one in Rome, most likely, that's where I've been looking to buy something, but to be able to jump around at will, and of course use all those, each of those cities is a great place to go for everywhere else from, as you know, from Spain to Paris.
Yes, for sure.
When you're looking at how digital companies can so quickly ask for in person experiences,
Yeah.
How have you dealt with that yourself? I'm sure everyone in your community is like, let's meet. Let's have a retreat. Let's do things.
Oh my gosh. Yeah. I always tell people if, if it's in person, I'm not going, that's just my boundary that I've set for my company.
And so I feel like when, when you set those boundaries, when I set those boundaries, I really have actually attracted opportunities that just come to me that are virtual. So like podcasts are virtual, different business opportunities where we can collaborate on a virtual basis, you know, do webinars and masterclasses and events, you know, all on zoom or, you know, webinar jam and things like that.
And so I think it's, it's really important that I set those boundaries high, you know, because, you know, People want to pay us to speak at these events. And I just, I feel like I already did that. Like all of my teenage years, I went to like four or five conferences a year. I went to meetings every week and I've been there, done that.
We're living in a different world. If it cannot be done through zoom or a loom, I'm not going. So it's setting those boundaries is really important for me for sure.
When you look at how you're balancing the different businesses you have, how many hours a week are you working now based on, cause I know you've gotten into an automated place, but so, so people know the reality of it.
How many hours a week are you working now? Most likely.
Yeah. So, you know, our businesses are different. So with the Lux Nomads, which is our brand, we do have, you know, our social media is automated and we have a virtual assistant that really like checks in and things like that. And then I also do about an hour a day with the DMs and things like that.
So I honestly, manage about four to five hours a day on running all three companies. So two hours a day on the Lux Nomads and that's usually answering emails, you know setting out email campaigns, building funnels, you know outsourcing different things, come sometimes we even come up with different ideas.
So I'm like building out digital products. We also have a private community, so I'm nurturing the audience. I'm researching, I'm educating myself, looking for different partnerships. That usually takes about two hours a day. And then we have our virtual real estate business where I basically manage the team and I hire and I make sure that the transactions are doing well and the contracts and I kind of just hover and help.
But my boyfriend really leads like the phone calls and the communication where I lead, like making sure our system is automated so we can continue to have that time freedom. So four to five hours a day is definitely like My max. So what is that? And I work Monday through Friday. Friday is like a half day.
But you know, there, there are months where we, where we have five digital products launching and a webinar and there's days where I do. Well, those eight hour days, but you know, there's, it's different. And I think for me too, is like every 90 days I have to take like two or three weeks off, you know? So that way I don't get burnt out because entrepreneurship is not for everybody, you know?
But yeah, four to five days, four to five hours a day is like my max. And I feel really good about that. I do my best to keep my to do list at just six to do the day. And I always have to remind myself like Rome wasn't built in a day. Do not try to. Build everything in one day because, you know, being in the European time zone is, it's a benefit, right?
Because like, I'm at 9 a. m. European time, but that's like 2 a. m. Eastern. And so I'm like, you know, nobody's answering me. Nobody's emailing me. This is like my time. This is my focus. And so sometimes like I can catch myself wanting to work like 2 a. m. Eastern to like 2 a. m. The next day and it's just too much, but for our 4 to 5 hours a day is when I'm active.
I'm so glad that you were willing to share that because clients will fight me about how many hours they have to work to build their business. And I'm like, no, we got to throw away 80 percent that's on your to do list because it's so not important. And I have some clients who have gotten to the, what we call the TT schedule, Tuesday to Thursday, 10 to 2.
Oh, I love that.
And people are like, it's not possible. You can't grow a business and only work, you know, those few hours. I'm like, you can, but you can't do it by yourself. Like you mentioned your virtual assistant. You can't do it when you are constantly trying to try and do new things in the same velocity.
Right.
And I also battle clients about how many new things they need to be making. I'm like, the chorus company sells two things. They make billions of dollars. Like they have not made something new in hundreds of years at this point. So like, I think we get so into this more and more and more perspective.
And I really think in what you're sharing with everybody. It's about being selective and choosing.
Exactly.
Like, when you're looking at the clientele you're working with, what are some funny stories about what they were, like, fighting you about having to give up or were afraid to step into?
So with like my clients?
Or you can use yourself as examples too, if you want to.
So our private community you know, we teach them how to live the digital nomad lifestyle.
And one of the biggest things that I noticed is that people always try to push their deadlines, like two years. So like, you know, one of the things we teach inside of the community is, you know, What is the date? Like, when are we going to get out of the lease? When are we going to book that one way ticket?
What are we doing? And a lot of my clients are like, January 2026. And I'm like,
2026. What if that doesn't happen? Like you just never know. And so I always, I'm always like, why not in the next 90 days? Why not six months? Like what is truly stopping you? And so when we really provide them with the resources that they need, whatever it is that's stopping them. So for this particular client, it was that her rent was 5, 000 a month and she was in debt and she didn't really know where to go.
And, you know, we provided her with so many resources. We provided her with the rent free You know, living trusted house sitters with, you know, doing houses for free. So we provided her with that resource. We showed her how to make remote income. So now we were able to remove her rent. remove the boundary of like, or, or the, the problem of like, not knowing how to make money.
And now she went from like two years from now, I'm gonna live with the journal, my lifestyle to now she's done 10 house sits in, in the California area. So she started local. And then in January, she'll expand to Mexico. And so I just always think it's funny when people are just like, You know, they push past their, their goals and dreams because they don't realize that there's so many opportunities, so many resources, especially in this time frame where it can happen so quickly.
So I think that's really funny.
I know a lot of people get stopped with this nomadic lifestyle as well because they look around and they have. All these things and things that they are attached to books and art and family heirlooms and their plants. And you're like, well, can I take all my stuff? Would I go with me?
How have you gone through that process yourself of choosing what things you're taking with you and how do you work walk your clients through that as well?
Yeah, that's a great question. So one of the things when I first started my digital nomad journey, my luggage was light. the biggest you would that they have.
And because the thing is, we're just so attached to material things. And I feel like it's because all of our life, whatever we own is a core part of our identity. And so like, if you have the nice watch, if you have this, you know, or these core memories with, you know, my plants or whatever, it's like, it's a part of who we are, but I've learned with this lifestyle, when you actually let things go and surrender, it's You actually open up space for so many more beautiful things.
And so the first thing I teach them is start with a large suitcase just so it's not a crazy culture shock, put everything in storage and the things that you are that are valuable to you that are sentimental, put it in storage and sell things that you haven't used in the past six months. So that's how I started.
That's how I teach my clients. And then even finally after three years, I just got so tired of this big ass luggage that I recently just downsized and I use my, my luggage cubes and I have like 10 dresses, a couple pants, a ton of underwear, and I'm just happy with that. And then like, you just notice like, You, you start to realize like what is it that you really like need versus what is it that you want.
And you know what this lifestyle you really start to realize that you less but less time at home and more time outside. And so you really start to think about how can, what can I pack? That allows me to spend more time outside. So you really just start investing into things that make sense, like better sneakers, you know, flowy dresses.
So it's just easy, boom, put it on and you're done. Right. You know, even keeping my hair natural, so I don't have to worry about, you know, salons and things like that, getting my nails, I'll ask the month. So I don't have to constantly worry about that. And so you really start to plan your life around things that actually matter, you know, and things that are not.
are that cost money or things that are not physical. So you really start to see that. So I teach them to start with one, something big, and then you'll eventually downsize. And it's just so much easier to travel with a small suitcase, a backpack, and that's it. You know.
Yeah, I carry on challenge. My friends and I, I worked in foreign apparel for 20 years and the first trip we did, that was the game.
It was like, okay, carry on challenge. And ever since then. I have anxiety if someone's showing up with me and they have a checked bag. I'm like, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. I don't know who you've traveled with. We don't do this.
Yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh. I'm working towards my, my carry on. I'm working towards that, but right now I just down size.
But it's your, it's also your whole life in a bag.
It's different when I'm going. Yeah. But I've done up, I've done a month. Of around the world with carry on and backpack.
Oh, I love it. And how was that?
It was fine.
Yeah, yeah.
There was a couple like halfway through I was staying at a hotel. So I just had them do all my laundry Came back. It was all done.
You know, you don't need to your point. You don't need that much stuff and even When you look at wardrobes, I was just talking to the founder of foragers goods last week and In the 1950s, women had, I think, something like 50 items in their closet, including accessories.
Wow.
And today we have, like, 250.
That's wild.
But we only wear, like, 30 pieces. Come on. Ever. Come on. So you actually pulled the 30 pieces you really wear, if it's a carry on. Or if it's in a small suitcase, right? So from a wardrobe perspective, I think that's actually the easiest place that most of us could scale back. When I moved to Germany, I sold everything.
I just brought my books, my art, and the clothes I wanted to bring. And of course my dog. And like, that's all I came with.
Yeah.
And it was so freeing. And In Europe, there isn't the same credit card system. So I spent, I had like just a bed and a wardrobe for a long time. And it was so exciting. I was like, Ooh, I can buy a couch.
Yeah. Yeah. You start to really appreciate little things like even living here. Like I don't really shop on Amazon much anymore. I buy everything locally. I go to the little boutiques and the little shops and like, yeah, I haven't done an Amazon order in months, but like when I would live in the U S it was like Every day there were packages in the front door, you know and none of, none of that made it here.
So yeah, it's just very interesting thought processes.
So you guys have landed in Spain and now you're evaluating kind of what's next. Where have been some of your favorite places? Which are ones that you would go back to? What are you leaning towards next?
So we have, we have fallen in love with Croatia.
Yeah. So we just booked a one month rental in Croatia, 1, 500 for the month. And it's a luxury apartment. Everything is modern AC, like. I couldn't even, I mean, I believed it because we have stayed in Airbnbs in Croatia for like 50 to 60 a night and everything is modern and beautiful. So we just booked a one month stay in Croatia.
We have been loving Croatia. I really enjoy Paris just because, you know, you want to live your Paris dreams. I think everybody should do a month in Paris some part in their life, but I wouldn't live here full time. No apartments have a C. It's just like the little things. So that was been a struggle.
But Croatia has been the top of our list. And we honestly have been also looking at doing like maybe 90 days in Southeast Asia next year, like Thailand, Bali, Japan. We, we did Thailand last year for six weeks and it completely changed our life. The only reason why we wouldn't live there full time is because the food kind of like messed me up, but because I've been doing a lot of healing here in Europe with transitioning from the American food to here, I feel like I should be good if I give Thailand one more shot.
So we do want to do like three months in Southeast Asia, but in the European Schengen zone, we have been really looking and considering Croatia as like, Maybe three to six months out of the year.
It's beautiful. And, and people don't, I've only been into northern Croatia, but it's beautiful because it's right on the Italian border.
It was so dreamy and amazing. And You, I remember turning a hill and just seeing this beautiful ocean view. Like you couldn't have drawn a more beautiful picture and then you drop in and it was so charming. The food was so good. My friend and I were doing a Eastern Europe road trip and I was like, I don't know if we're going to leave.
Can we stay longer?
Yeah, that's literally me all the time. Yeah, so we've been this will be our third time in Croatia this year That's how we obsessed we are And the first time we did a month and we did like four different islands And then the second time Paul my boyfriend Paul's parents met us in Croatia because they were like Travelers and they're retired and they had never been to Croatia.
We're like, you must come. So we show them. And then every time we are in Croatia for a month, or we, I think we did two weeks with them. We're like, why are we not living here? Why don't we have a prop property here? Like, what is wrong with us? So we're just like, forget everybody else. We just wrapped up a month hosting our family here in Europe.
Goodbye. Everybody living Croatia. If anybody wants to know where I'm at. I'm there.
In regard for your Southeast Asia trip. I really love Vietnam too.
Oh, did you? Oh my gosh. We just ate some Vietnam food and I'm like, boy, we better go.
It's very, it's really light and really fresh and good for you. I spent a lot of time.
I used to go two to four times a year to Ho Chi Minh, Saigon. And it's, it's. I can send you some food recommendation places there for sure, but it's just everyone's so nice. The beaches there are beautiful. It's super affordable. I have, I know friends who have moved there too. They've moved with work to, to be there.
Oh, cool. Is this super close to the Philippines as well?
Well, the Philippines is kind of out in no man's land just because of how much closer it is to the U S than Asia. But It's right next to, it's like Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam. So they're all right there. And it's a good inner, like if you were going to do Thailand to Vietnam, to Hong Kong, for example, like it's a good stepping stone or even to Japan, it's a good way to go across.
But never thought that I would, mean, Thailand, Thailand was amazing. I wasn't, I haven't been there as much, but from a city perspective, like I would trade, you know, I don't need to go back to Bangkok, but I would love to go back to Vietnam.
Really? Oh, that's good to know.
I also really recommend doing a road trip in Mongolia. It was amazing. One of the best, most epic trips I've ever been on. Again, it was like six dollars a day for a driver and a place to stay and they would feed us two meals. Yeah. Ah, six.
Oh yeah. You see, I'm looking there. You see, when I hear these prices, I'm, that's why I left the U. S. What's the point? You know, we were making multi six figures in the U. S. living the American lifestyle. We had the home, we had the cars, we had the chef, we had the gym memberships, like all this stuff. And we were home. We were prisoners of our own home. And Every month we were just like barely making it and like it literally made no sense to me How is it that we're multi six figure entrepreneurs?
We are following this american lifestyle and we could barely like pay our credit card, but like it made no sense And that's the reason why I always tell people like go live six months in, in a, in a country where the U. S. dollar is strong, like Mexico, like Belize, you know, like the Philippines, like Vietnam, like these countries.
So you can really see that it's not about making more money and hustle culture and like more, more, more, more. It's all about changing your environment and lowering your expenses so you can pay off that debt and just live freely. And that has been like the biggest change. Like we call it currency hacking, right?
Just make good income and go live in Mexico for six months. You will pay off your debt. You no longer have to worry about grocery bills or credit card bills. You will drastically change your life. And it's just been like, when I hear these prices, I'm like, yeah, I'm there.
When you hear the words powerful and ladies, what do they mean to you?
And do their definitions change when they're next to each other?
Oh, girl, these are fire. Oh my gosh. Okay. So powerful ladies. So start with them together, however you want. Yeah. Okay. So when I hear powerful ladies, I envision like a group of women who just broke free from their circumstances, broke free from any generational trauma, whether it came from like, you know, physical generational trauma or financial generational trauma, which is what I had to overcome.
And I just see. Those ladies coming together and just sharing, just sharing their voice and sharing their story to prove to other women that they too can do the same. And just, and I just, just see a bunch of powerful ladies just coming together. And then when I hear them separately powerful, You know, you know, when you hear the word powerful, I immediately you turn into like masculine energy, but I feel like the word powerful has become more feminine, especially in like recently, like every time, you know, I increase my income.
Every time I pay off my debt, every time I get a stamp in my passport, like this is all part of power. I think Before, when you hear powerful, you, you, you think of like alpha males and like, you know these men in suits and like overpowering. But when I hear powerful just by itself, I really see femininity.
And then ladies separately, I just really do feel like we're living in a time where women are truly like becoming the leaders of this world really needs. I think that people are really starting to see women step up. We, I think we're all really realizing that we don't really. Need a husband or a spouse or we don't really need corporate careers anymore.
We truly can create our own power. We can create what we've always dreamed about. And I think that's, that's just amazing.
We also have been asking everyone, like, what do you need? What do you want? This is a powerful connected community. I really believe you never know who has the next key that you're looking for.
So what do you, what's on your to manifest list or your to do list that we can help you with?
Oh man. So right now I am manifesting partnership partnership that can bless my future. My finances. So that way I can become an angel investor into other women owned companies. And so I'm just, instead of looking for like loans and things like that, I'm, I'm looking for like partnership.
Like I want to partner up with other women. I want to become partners with women with great ideas, women that have already amazing businesses and that can fit our brand so we can kind of collaborate and work together. And, you know, I just really want to attract Great partnerships, great investment opportunities great trips.
And right now, like the number on my mind is six figure months. That's just like when I'm manifesting right now and we've come close and then we stop and then we come close and then it's just not there. And so instead of working harder, I'm just thinking about who can I partner that I can bless with my skills and they can bless me with their skills and we can come together and like manifest that together with our skills together. And so that's what I really want to manifest in these days, just powerful partnerships.
I love that. Well, I just got to see a screening of the documentary show her the money and it's all about women and VC funding because only 2 percent of all VC funding goes to women owned businesses. And it's showcasing all of these female Funded VCs that are looking for women people in the BIPOC community, LGBTQ plus, and I have a, a friend who's actually starting her own VC fund. So I'll definitely connect you with her, but all of these women owned funds getting involved starts way lower than people think it does.
You can be a part, you can be a, Partner within them for as low as 10 K to start making a difference and be in this investment group. And these women funds are seeing four times the growth than the typical male owned funds. Wow. So it's, it's, yeah. So definitely look at up that video. I'll definitely do an intro to you and my friend Shaheen.
There's so much happening in that space. And this is really amazing. BC founder out of Vancouver, who's doing amazing things. Her name is pocket, like the best name ever.
Oh my God.
And so there's just so much happening in that space. And so I think you're right. It's perfect timing for you to be one of the manifesting that.
Absolutely. What was the name of the documentary?
Show her the money. And they're doing like a world tour, taking it different places, but you can also go to their website and already connect with them and participate and get involved.
Yeah. Yeah. I would love that. That'd be amazing.
Yeah. Yeah. I also think that it would be, I want to connect you with my friend KJ Atlas as well, because she does location and business based astrology, but she has people coming here all the time saying like, where should I go?
And she's like, Oh, well, based on your chart, this line says you'll probably make a lot of money if you go to. X, Y, and Z country or city. And I think there's some really interesting overlap of like how you're helping people get there. And she's like, Oh, well, here's what I'd probably recommend going first.
If you based on what you want, love connection money. Yeah.
Oh, that's amazing. Yeah. Because I always tell people that every time I'm in a new country, I either create a new business or an idea comes up or like something, right? Like my first book. Six figure business. I built it in Mexico and then the Lux Nomad brand that has brought me all these opportunities and another stream of income.
I built it while I was living in Spain. And ever since I've been in Paris, I've just been like really growing and sustaining the business. So that would be an amazing connection because that's all about it.
Have you gone to places and felt like, Nope, this is not for me.
Oh yeah. Oh yeah. And, and sometimes it doesn't happen right away.
You know, like for us, Spain was actually that, that, and it didn't happen right away though. It actually lived in Spain for nine months. We lived in Palma de Mallorca, which is like a beautiful island next to Ibiza. It was our dream. It was our, our escape out of the American lifestyle. We got our digital on my visa there.
So we were like living life. But once we've wrapped up our last lease in Spain and they asked us if we wanted to renew, like something in me was just like, no, I actually don't want to renew. Like I'm done, you know? And I feel like You start to see a difference in like your energy, you know, like when I moved to Spain every day, I was so excited and I was ready to be outside.
And then like, towards the end of it, like, I just didn't want to be outside. I didn't want to leave my apartment. I just, I just wanted to stay home. And usually when I feel that way, I know that it's time to go. So that's when we went to Croatia and I realized like, Whoa. How people treated us was so kind.
I also travel with my dog. And everybody treated him so nicely. Spain wasn't really too dog friendly. The food was incredible. There's the ocean, the beaches. And like every day I would wake up much earlier than what I was waking up in Spain, which was interesting. And I would immediately run to the gym and like, go to the beach and like, be so motivated to work.
And I'm just like, Oh, I'm not going back to Spain. Like now it makes so much sense. So, so yeah, I mean, of course I, I have my visa there, so I do have to be there a couple of times out of the year, but I wouldn't do longer than a month there. So that was definitely one of the places for sure. And also like before we committed to Europe, We were doing six months in the U.
S. Six months abroad, so we never really stayed more than six months in the U. S. And every time we were out abroad and we would come back to the U. S. It was depression mode, and that's also when we knew it was time to go. So
Yeah, it's so interesting. And there's, I think you have to listen to yourself at a higher level than you normally would when you're choosing a nomadic lifestyle because anytime you're carving your own path, you have to keep coming back to like, what do you really know?
What are you really feeling? And you see also, I think in the U S how often we're not taking that time to listen to ourselves because there's no breathing room. Truly there's no breathing room.
Yeah, it's always like, go, go, go, you know, and constantly worrying about your next paychecks so you can pay your rent and pay your mortgage and it's like, you never have time to really just enjoy the free things in life, like the sunrise, the sunset, the, the change in seasons, if that's where you live, you know, rain, you know, just like my first sunset ever was when I actually started dating my boyfriend, I always thought that the sunset was When the sky was pink, like that, that's what I thought the sunset was.
And I would never forget. I booked my one way ticket to San Diego. That was my first like nomadic spot. My boyfriend met me in San Diego and we started our life. That's when I left New York and New Jersey for good. And he took me to the beach. And that was the first time that I saw the sun go down and kiss the ocean.
And he was like, this is the sunset. I was like, wait, this is a sunset. I thought that the sun was on the sky was pink and I'm 26 years old. And it was my first time seeing the sunset because I lived in New York and I was hustling and bustling and waking up in the morning, going to the gym, grabbing my Tupperware, running to the office, working nine hours, running to do client meetings.
And then. It'll be 11 p. m. And I just got home and then doing it again, doing it. I never saw a sunset. That's insane. And now it's just like literally part of our life. It's going to see the sunset. We're going to see the sunset. We do not miss the sunset. We will cancel meetings if it's in sunset time, you know, and it's just so beautiful and powerful when you really start to see like the other side of what life is truly meant to be.
We ask everyone on the podcast where you put yourself on the powerful ladies scale. If zero is average everyday human and 10 is the most powerful lady you can imagine, how would you rank yourself today and on an average day?
Okay. Right now I am, right now I'm feeling like a, like an eight. I feel like an eight.
And I think it's because like today was been a really great day. Like we've been really manifesting on a high level. Especially today, like just so many beautiful opportunities came my way. So I feel really powerful in like my manifestations and just like being a magnet to great things. But on an average day, I would give myself a six or seven.
Like there's just days where I don't. Want to do anything. I'm going to be a potato and I'm just going to go and that's okay. Like there's power in that too. There's power in knowing how to rest and not feeling guilty about it. It took me years to be able to like be okay with watching a Netflix show, not answering emails or text messages or anything and just not, not feeling bad about it.
And so a six or seven on an average day. But today I'm feeling like an eight.
I love it. For everybody who wants to follow you, find you, work with you, allow you to be their nomadic guru, where can they go to find all of those things?
Yeah, you can follow me on Instagram and Tick Tock Michelle at Michelle the Luxe L U X.
Nomad. In there you will, you go to the link of my bio, can get my free ebook. So you can learn on how to live the digital nomad lifestyle. You can also learn about my private community, where is a step by step guide on how to live the digital nomad lifestyles, Ryan and the school platform. We have a beautiful community of people living rent free already living in different countries.
And we teach you how to, you know, You know, get 50 percent off Airbnb stays. We show you how to live rent free, how to get a remote job, how to start your own online business. We show you about the European digital nomad visas. So Instagram is always my go to. And then we can just, you know, there's many opportunities as well.
Once you follow me there.
Well, it has been such a pleasure to meet you. I am so excited to see where you're going next and keep following where you are around the world. Yeah. Hopefully one day we will cross paths and be in the same place at the same time.
That would be amazing. Yeah, let me know.
I will. But just really thank you for being a yes to me, the powerful ladies and sharing your story. This is so inspiring for so many people. So just thank you so much.
Thank you, Kara. Your questions were awesome. I appreciate you reaching out and I'm so excited to see you grow and see the powerful ladies grow and connect with many powerful ladies around the world.
All the links to connect with Michelle, the Luxe Nomad and get access to her community. Or in our show notes at the powerful ladies. com. Please subscribe to this podcast, wherever you're listening and leave us a rating and review. Join us on Instagram at powerful ladies, and you can connect directly with me at Kara Duffy. com or Kara underscore Duffy on Instagram. I'll be back next week with a brand new episode until then. I hope you're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love.
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Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
