024: Finding Community as a Digital Nomad with Shay Brown of Bucketlist Bombshells

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I'm your host Kelly Tolliday, and it's my mission to inspire you to live life to its fullest, travel with an open mind and heart, and let the world show you a new perspective. I'm so grateful you're here with us today, so let's dive right in. Happy exploring!

the world course way back in: 2015

Kelly: And I was really one of the beta. program. Students there. And I did the course. It changed my life. And then we were able to actually meet up in Bali in 2018 and have sent a couple weeks kind of bopping around cafes and going to dinner. They got to meet my husband, Sam. And so it's been really fun to watch your journey over the last Eight years unfold and really grow fro this thriving free community o women trying to learn how to b their skills as a freelancer and build an online business all the way to what it is now, which is a multimillion dollar business impacting hundreds of thousands of women around the So thank you.

Kelly: Thank you so much for being here. Yes,

Shay: thank you for having me. I'm so excited and I just think it's so cool when there was so many moments we got to meet our OG and even current students and in person and sort of transcend that boundary of. Student teacher into friendship into, you know, that's why we built the community.

e more female friends on the [: 00:02:00

Shay: I can't wait to dive in today. Yeah, it's gonna be so

Kelly: fun. For those who don't know who Shea Brown is, she's the COO and co founder of the Bucketlist Bombshells, a multi million dollar online educational community that equips women with the confidence and business foundation to launch, grow, and scale a remote service based online business.

d love to hear what we met in: 2015

Shay: of course. [00:03:00] So yeah, going back to 2015, Cassie and I actually met here in Playa del Carmen.

Shay: And I say here because I just landed here back in Playa del Carmen coming down from wintry or cold. Cold Canada to be, to spend some time here. And it has such a special place in my heart because we met here. We also built our first business, our first separate service based businesses here, as well as later on.

hay: And when we came back in: 2015

Shay: And we came to Mexico individually because we both had this [00:04:00] passion for travel and for experiencing new cultures. And we thought, well, let's, Try and take it on the road. And so we did. And then while On the road is kind of where bucket list bombshells was formed. We were running our service based businesses Both of us well into two into about five years within those businesses and and on the side as a passion project We were building this community around supporting women who wanted to get into the service space based world, and we it kind of just happened that we fell into serving women.

Shay: Although it became more intentional as we developed the actual products of the business, but that intentionality or that falling into place that sort of was this beautiful experience was really because we, as we were traveling, we were in a very male dominated space. I think a lot of the people at that time now post pandemic, it's just so so easy to work online.

you were a freelancer and it [: 00:05:00

Shay: So most of the men we were meeting. all had jobs usually in the digital nomad space then, and they were already like established. But then we were finding ourselves in community of expats, of women who were either taking a gap year were the girlfriend of the partner who was making the money.

Shay: And they were asking us, Hey, like we would love to, you know, I don't know what I want to do for my career. How are you guys working online? Like I want to do something with more, maybe more purpose, more one on one work, more something in alignment with the skills that they had from the corporate job that they kept going back to making money and then coming back on the road, make going back, making money, coming back on the road.

Shay: And they saw us doing it.

these coffee chats meetups, [: 00:06:00

Shay: They felt like their skills didn't translate online. So that was the first thing we started teaching, you know, how to translate your skills into online services. And then from there it was, well, I don't know how to set up a business. I've never done it before, you know, how do I invoice clients, how do I How do I market myself?

Shay: How do I manage clients? How do I produce work? And Cassie and I had already been doing that in our service based businesses. And we both had like marketing, communications, and business backgrounds as well from school. So we started teaching that aspect as well. We started a free community on Facebook, in a Facebook group.

able to reach as many of the [: 00:07:00

Shay: It was like the best for SEO, I will say and it was such a fun name. So we were actually teaching skills. That you could sell as services and then how to do that through creating, launching and growing a service based online business. And yeah, I feel like I kind of got off topic there. But that's the story of how I met Cassie and how Bucket List Bombshells was formed.

Airbnb in Rome while eating [: 00:08:00

Shay: And that's really how we got into the niche of serving women.

Kelly: Yeah, I mean, I was a student, so I can totally attest to the fact that it was so easy to follow that course. And you guys were really like the pioneers before online courses became everywhere. That was like the first that I had heard of, of actually following module by module and learning the basics.

Kelly: And you really empowered so many women to take skills that they already have and turn it into a viable business to travel. It funded my travels for a year, so it was amazing. And so I love, I mean, I know, I know part of some of the places that you guys took your brand to, but you guys lived, you know, a couple months in Chiang Mai and a couple months in Bali, and you kind of picked places to, to cement yourselves for a couple months or even a year and really feel like you're inserting yourself in the culture and in the community rather than bopping around to city, city, city, city.

f that mindset of wanting to [: 00:09:00

Shay: absolutely. And so we really saw people doing the backpacking lifestyle, like you're saying, bopping around. A lot of the people, a lot of the friends we had at the time, a lot of people in the digital nomad communities were traveling here and there, like two weeks at a time, less than a month, that kind of thing.

Shay: When Cass and I started traveling and we, we really started placing ourselves in places for about two to three months. And like you said, some places up to a year or more, because what we found was we needed that stability. To a really, we really wanted to dive into the culture, really experience the cities that we were choosing, and sort of be a part more of the expat.

. So we were really building [: 00:10:00

Shay: You can leave your nine to five and build a career that's fulfilling, sustainable and can grow with you over the longterm. And the way that to do that, even for us, for our business was needing that stability of time. It's very hard. I mean, I wouldn't say very hard cause I know lots of people do it, but I think for my personality type and maybe even for Cassie's was that it was Easier and more stable for us to stay somewhere longer term to be able to really produce the level of content, the level of engagement, the level of business strategy taking something from idea to execution to, you know, results.

s anybody who runs an online [: 00:11:00

Shay: It's like, It's the mental capacity, the mental weight of that fun, exciting, nothing wrong with that, but it does take away from being able to build that business. And so we really juggled that stability for us so that we could, A, practice what we preach, you know, build a career on the road. And then the second half of that would be the community aspect, really integrating ourselves into co working spaces or the cafes that the expats and the digital nomads were working at and being able to build friendships and connections that way.

cide and choose and that has [: 00:12:00

Shay: But. You're working a full plate load, let's say. So you're not on vacation. You're not waking up and taking a tour every single day or going and experiencing what the city or the town has to offer. So you have to juggle and balance that. And we found that if we stayed somewhere too short of a time, it really didn't allow for us to do any of the You know, we the fun stuff.

Shay: We didn't want to just come in and do all the tourist stuff. We wanted to go and see, you know, the the speakeasy that's hidden that you only know about because you talk to like an expat at co working space and they're like, this is like such an amazing restaurant. Or this is a really cool. This is a really cool local activity to do or, or this is, you know, whatever it is.

amount of work that you have [: 00:13:00

Shay: So that was, that was another piece of slow travel.

Kelly: Yeah. Yeah, a hundred percent. I, I agree. Being able to really feel like the depth of the place that you're staying in or feel, get, get a really good sense of like the rhythm of the, of the way of life there. Yes. And it sounds like. To me, the, this idea of community was really important to you.

Kelly: Even before you guys hit the road together, you were building an online community of women who wanted that support for someone listening, who has this freedom of choice to choose where they're working. Perhaps it's for a corporate job, but it's remote. Perhaps they have their own business, whatever their living situation is.

Kelly: Perhaps they have the choice of living. Anywhere around the world that they want. What would be some tips that you have for someone on how to make friends in a new country or a new city or how to build that sense of

Shay: community? Yeah, yeah, that's such a fun and great question and one that we get often.

say that some of the advice [: 00:14:00

Shay: We would go to some of them, but until we experienced, and I think you experienced this one too, Dojo in Bali. Yeah. Yeah. So

Kelly: Dojo coworking. It's a whole vibe there. It's a whole vibe. Yes.

Shay: I'm actually not a hundred percent sure on this, but I don't think it's there anymore. So for those of you listening Look it up, Dojo Coworking Space, but I'm not sure if it's there.

Shay: And so we, we found this, and this was such a special community. So they had every night there was a networking event, there was speaker series, there was, you'd walk in and it had cafe vibes, but coworking, there was a pool, there was different kind of spaces you can sit in different areas. And then the culture that was cultivated by the owner of and creator of this, Co working space was all about connecting.

Shay: [: 00:15:00

Shay: did close as well because obviously during a certain period of time travel has picked up now, but in those first few years of the pandemic, it was so slow, right? It was so hard to travel. It was so unknown, so uncertain. And people were also, I noticed not going as far. So for example, you know, I'm from Canada and being close to family, I think, you know, the pandemic brings up stuff like [00:16:00] that.

Shay: And I, and I had talked to other friends about this. People weren't traveling Back to Bali, back to Thailand for like extended periods of time. And that was just sort of right in the beginning. I don't think that's the case anymore. But that was an interesting conversation shift that I noticed as well.

Shay: People wanting to stay a little bit closer to family or a little bit closer to their home country. And I can't speak for all digital meds, of course, but that was in my community, a conversation I noticed happening there. And so I think maybe A lot of co working spaces couldn't survive. The ones who did, I think that maybe the, they need to work on their community aspect because it was really interesting.

Shay: I ran a poll in our community and our community still has a vast majority of our women and I from our Facebook group, the Bucket List Bombshells community is what I'm, I'm referencing. Large majority of them are still working online and traveling and even traveling like the two weeks, the, the four weeks, like the quick travel as well as the slow travel.

the poll and said, you know, [: 00:17:00

Shay: It was the lowest one was the coworking space, let's say 15% coworking. Oh, wow. Yeah. Coworking space was like 15, 16%. The next one was cafes and the top one was from an Airbnb because a lot of the Airbnbs have now positioned themselves to have workspaces or wherever you're, you know, wherever you're renting from, they have the, it's like advertised now.

Shay: And I think because a lot of people also are doing remote corporate work, you need more of the stability. You're probably on meetings a lot more, you need the internet stability a lot more. And, and so I'm not sure what, but I mean, you could get that from a co working space. But it was so interesting to me.

as a co working space. space [: 00:18:00

Shay: So I have, I'm going to go out and see if there is some, because there is that community aspect. I don't, I'm work alone. Like I don't want to be in my apartment working by myself. So. My advice, you know, is to look for a co working space that has the community built in, and when I say that, look at like, what are the events that they're hosting?

Shay: Are they, like, what is the vibe, and if you can, if they're allowed to be in a Facebook group or any sort of community, what are people saying about it? You can get kind of the vibe of, you know, what type of people are at these co working spaces, like, do they, do you feel like they're, you know, on the same, Length is, wavelength is you, that kind of thing, but I will say that it seems like co working spaces are not as highly sought after for working at anymore.

at. So, I would say that the [: 00:19:00

Shay: You have to have, I've done it. I did it once years ago in Vancouver because I overheard him talking about online courses and traveling to Bali. And it was in between when I was half living in Bali, half living in Canada. And I just went up to him after he got off his call. And I basically was like, I was eavesdropping on you.

Shay: I actually have a similar business model. Like I'm, you know, can I buy you a coffee or something like that? And so we ended up striking up a friendship. He had a, he was, he went to Bali, introduced him to Cass and all of his friends. And so that was really cool. So it did work. So you can do it, but you kind of had, I had that in because I had overheard cause I'm an eavesdropper.

Shay: Sounds

nd the right, like there are [: 00:20:00

Kelly: Like, where should I go? Because there are cafes in the right areas of the world that would allow for that kind of conversation. And I think like utilizing, like Chiang Mai has a digital nomads community Facebook group. You can utilize Facebook groups to kind of like, yeah, ask around and talk to people.

Kelly: But I do agree post pandemic when people were in lockdown, they were used to just working in the four corners of their home and that safety net. And like you said, there probably might still be working corporate jobs where they need to have it to be quiet and they can't be on, you know, in a cafe with the barista brewing in the background.

Kelly: So it is slightly different, but it's definitely possible. And with communities like yours, it's definitely easy to find people around the world that are willing to meet up. And, you know, share stories and stuff

Shay: like [: 00:21:00

Shay: And then put, and then You could have a meetup. You could say, Hey, I'm new. Like people, digital nomads and expats are so so open and friendly because everybody is trying to meet, meet, make community. So what I've done in the past as well as we, we post in there and we ask, you know where is, where are people going tonight?

it has that vibe already set [: 00:22:00

Shay: So I'd say like utilize a Facebook group and then find a meetup. That's really what you have to do now. Like I said, because co working spaces, I don't feel like are curating the community that they used to curate. At least, again, I haven't been to a lot, so I don't want to really put that out and discourage anybody.

Shay: But I would say, look for a co working space with the community. But the other thing that I think people do now, because everybody's working from home, they utilize a Facebook group and they're just like, Hey, where is everybody going tonight? I'm new, what should I do? This and that. And people are like, come here, come this, do this.

Shay: And that works. Yeah.

Kelly: Absolutely. And another, I don't know if, if other countries use Eventbrite, but I know in the U. S. the, the website Eventbrite, it's almost like, like the old school meetup. com where you can look for cool events that are interesting to you. Like I'm interested in yoga and I'm in Austin.

brite is an awesome resource.[: 00:23:00

Kelly: And so I'd love for you to explain, I know we've, we've, you could hear it woven in the stories that you've told, but can you just explain what is The Freedom Filled Life and what it means to you?

Shay: Yeah I love this question. I I love asking this question to other people on the on our podcast

Shay: But the freedom filled life to me really means having the time freedom and the money freedom But more so the time freedom in my life to really do whatever I want when I want and to also have that The freedom filled is also the fulfillment side, which is like kind of a secondary thing.

and being able to create my [: 00:24:00

Shay: I feel like I've said the word freedom like a bunch of times. I love it. It's

Kelly: my core value. It's my core value. I love freedom.

Shay: And yeah, I just like to, I don't know how, I wish I had a more articulate way of saying like, do what I want when I want. And I don't mean that in this like frivolous sense. I mean this in this asking myself and from an intuitive place and from a purpose driven place, you know, what are my gifts that I can bring into the world that can serve others?

Shay: That's something that's fairly important to me, and I think as women, I find that that's a really deep and important conversation that we tend to have around, you know, what is our purpose here? How can I serve others? How can I help others achieve what they want to achieve? And that's something that's really core, a core value of mine.

that's something I've wanted [: 00:25:00

Shay: It was really hard for me to work for companies where my values didn't align with theirs, or you know, everything is just so based on, like, productivity, and, you know, do do do, and, and you're working towards someone else's vision and goal, and that's, there's, we need those people. We need people that want to help.

sonal life has Changed and I [: 00:26:00

Shay: It always has been i've never put my business above those And I encourage and teach and mentor women to also not Put their business above the connections with humans with their, that's not so dramatic, connections with their loved ones, I should say. I'm like, connections? No,

Kelly: it makes sense. I, as a business owner, I can relate to that so much because it is very easy to just keep working, keep working, keep working.

Kelly: And sometimes, you know, I have my three year old is tugging at me like, Mommy, pay attention to me. I'm like, one more email. Let me just finish this Instagram post. And it is such an important lesson. to like you have to come first as a well rounded person and the business is an aspect of you, but it's not the whole of you.

ou. It's a, it's a one facet [: 00:27:00

Shay: And, you know, you, so I'm not saying that you will be balanced all the time, especially when you are juggling a family, a, you know, travel, when you're maybe you want to launch something new, or like, there's seasons, there's seasonality to life, something I had to learn because I would try and do it All, 24 7, all of the things, have it all, as they say.

at. So so if you are, let me [: 00:28:00

Shay: Send me an email. You can have Whatever you want. You can have your desires. But I think that we're been misinformed in terms of like this dream of quote unquote Having it all and looking perfect in every aspect being like super well oiled and I think that from my experience It's having the freedom to have a business that I, that can cater to giving me time and space when I need a mental health day, when I need or a month off, you know, of mental health time or, or downtime, I wouldn't even say off, I would just say, you know, the space to maybe not be creative this month and to just have a maintenance mode style business and still do, you know, what I love.

ll be areas of focus Usually [: 00:29:00

Shay: And you're able to structure it and create a company culture around that, that allows for things that are going to get thrown at you in life, the unknowns of life, and being able to have that support from your own business is, is so, so great. And it's just, that's the freedom that I always craved and I love.

and you can't have them all. [: 00:30:00

Kelly: So when I was getting ready to launch this podcast and I'm working late nights and I'm prioritizing getting this up and running and editing. I'm like, in my head, I'm like, this is a building phase. This is a building phase and stay in the excitement and, and eventually it's going to come into a maintenance phase.

Kelly: And then who knows, and the destruction phase, it doesn't mean that this is going to get canceled. It just means sometimes you pivot in life. Sometimes things change and knowing what. allows you to kind of be like, okay, you know what? This is just a phase of my business to allow me to up level to the next step.

Kelly: And that's something that I'd love to talk to you about because you've mentioned that freedom to be able to pivot and choose and change how you show up for your business, what you launch, what you do. And recently you and your business partner had decided to make a little bit of a pivot in your work week and move to a four day work week because of some personal things that you were going through and the way in which you wanted to feel every day.

what that process was like, [: 00:31:00

Shay: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So it was I guess a couple years now. I feel like the years are blending together, but it's been like a couple years ago where I got really burnt out.

Shay: I felt really, I felt really disconnected. When you grow, a business to a certain level. As the COO, you end up doing everything behind the scenes, right? Everything I was doing was very internal. I had a lot of contact with my team, which was great. I love my team. But I wasn't having as much contact, I would say with our community, with our audience, with the way that we were, that I was serving was no longer felt in connection with.

, but it was that one on one [: 00:32:00

Shay: and what you've been able to do from, say, starting out in my, my courses years and years ago. And that is so fulfilling to me, and I wasn't really having those conversations, and I was just feeling really disconnected in, in, or, sorry, so I was feeling disconnected in that aspect. And then I was also, it was, you know, the pandemic time we were all going through emotions, and I think a lot of us had stuff come up, and so I think there was just a lot going on.

list was basically my, like, [: 00:33:00

Shay: I'm good. I'm, I'm is probably maybe the core messaging there. I'm also, you know, we were so passionate about supporting the women in our community that it was like, I, we just, I wanted to be at this really high level of producing so much for them, just constantly, we were constantly producing something new every month.

Shay: At one point, and it just felt it was too much. I was taking on too much, even with a large team, my team was taking on too much. My expectations started getting really unrealistic with both myself and the team. And it led to a burnout moment, led to a moment of frustration. I was not living in alignment.

, especially when we were at [: 00:34:00

Shay: At the time. And so that disconnection led to a burnout moment where something had to change. And so we really scaled back what we were doing and, and we took a hard look at, like, what do we want whatever this season of life. We've also grown so much since we first launched, you know, we're in our, we launched in our early twenties.

Shay: We're now in our early thirties. That's like a decade of, what we had built. We had changed our audience, our community had changed. And so, that's what we started doing. We just, we scaled back like how, how much output was going on. And we scaled back the amount of workload on our team and ourselves.

Shay: And, We haven't, we didn't switch yet to the, to the four day work week. I promise I will get there. And so we, we totally scaled back our, our output, I would say, and kind of came down to like a normal level of output while still making sure that we were serving the way that we needed to be serving.

k to like our community, our [: 00:35:00

Shay: And so we started over the course of about a year, we started having these conversations. We launched a membership community and we were able to serve in a more one on one manner to do live events like that became so fulfilling.

Shay: But it was there for almost two years and we were doing live components. I was able to do one on one components and I realized, Oh my gosh, this. is so much more fulfilling. This is so much more purpose driven. This is so much more where I wanted to spend my time. So on the front end, we, we started changing and pivoting the products and services that we offer.

s a six month group coaching [: 00:36:00

Shay: and money freedom. And these women are mostly the main thing is they want to start families. They want more time with their husbands, their, their parents, their sisters, their friends, their community. They want to travel on a vacation mode and not have to work while traveling. So that's a big shift. I, you know, was we, As millennials, where we changing and shifting.

Shay: We want that more a lot more time freedom. So this is where we started. We started listening to these women. We started creating new products and services for them. That was meeting them where they were at, but also meeting us where we were at. We've grown and changed. And we needed that one on one connection.

lly pivoted from externally. [: 00:37:00

Shay: Absolutely incredible woman. And she wrote the book Run Like Clockwork, or I think it's just called Clockwork. Her program is Run Like Clockwork. And it's a fantastic book and there's in there it talks about Trash, trim transfer. And so that's where trash, you know, obviously you just get rid of it.

Shay: It's like, is it, what, how is this task contributing basically to the bottom line? So we get really nitty gritty with like our profits. We basically trashed things and we were like, these are not important. These are not serving anybody in our community.

vering perfectionist. And so [: 00:38:00

Shay: It's not contributing to more time in our business, serving our community or more profits. Those are the three things that we like to look at. And so, and then trim trim was simplifying, sorry. Trash is just completely get rid of, and then transfer would be, can we, can we hand this off to another team member and put instead of having a huge team sort of wearing a singular hat, we went back to almost like what we used to do in the beginning is have less team members and we used to be one of these team members wearing multiple hats and we talked to our team about this and how they comfortable they would feel with this and what that would look like and you know, you have those conversations.

ied. This allowed us then we [: 00:39:00

Shay: And we're very mindful of capacity. We're very realistic now with our turnaround times. And that took a while, I will say. So it's become a really nice oiled machine right now where we look at our calendars and the first half of the day or the best time of day that you work. So for me, it's the first half of the day.

Shay: About four hours blocked off for what I call MIT, most important tasks. And I don't open my email, I don't open Slack, I don't open, I'm like, everybody knows we can, we'll touch in afternoon or whatever person's best time, but we make sure there's overlap. So you just, you work that out. But that's what I focus on.

ultiple times throughout the [: 00:40:00

Shay: So because, again, we simplified everything, we're just doing what is best to move something forward and then of course I get to my emails and slack and whatever needs to get done.

Shay: And this is something that we did so that we could move to the four day work week because there was so much amazing research done now on this, both in the corporate world and in the online business. You know, run your own business world, like Amy Porterfield. She went down and I had listened to a lot of her experience of how she did it.

esearch around how the first [: 00:41:00

Shay: Kind of switching your brain into relaxation mode, so to speak. And then, you're usually doing your er kind of like your errand y stuff. You kind of get that stuff out of the way. Then you have like, Saturday. For like just free and clear fun. I don't know if I'm explaining this exactly how the research was But it was like you basically that day is like the mental weight there That's like genuinely where your nervous system is like really resting and then Sunday you're sort of prepping For the week to come like naturally we sort of start to not it depends on like what your routine is But mentally I guess you start to sort of think about the week prep for the week It doesn't have the same vibe as a Saturday in a three day weekend In a two day weekend, you're trying to do all of your errands on the Saturday, you're kind of decompressing, you don't have a full, decompressed nervous system rest.

nd so that's why long winded [: 00:42:00

Shay: But it also is not stressful because there's less time because of the new company culture that we have.

Kelly: Yeah. I know. I think that's so powerful because one, it shows. To everyone who's been following you, especially as an O. G. since day one, that you can pivot your business, that you can change, that your priorities change as your life changes and grows, as your family grows, as whatever it is, that it's okay to say, you know what, we're going to take a little bit of a step back.

. Because. I am prioritizing [: 00:43:00

Kelly: I think people pandemic who weren't used to working remote were then all of a sudden working. The moment they woke up at eight a. m. all the way to eight p. m. and there was no balance in between. So I think you guys are doing such bucketless bombshells. You guys are doing such an amazing job at bringing up such an important conversation about burnout in business, burnout in life, pivot.

Kelly: If you need to pivot, make the changes, trash, trim, transfer. I love that. I'm about to go like, do that in my own business. I love that so much. I guess one of the last things I kind of want to touch on is this idea of burning out, but also in travel. So as someone who has, I've traveled backpacks, I've done slow travel, I've lived in different countries.

fted your lifestyles to even [: 00:44:00

Kelly: Now in your thirties, how have you found this, this awareness of burnout in your own travels? The thing that lit you up and started this business in the first place. How has that changed for you?

Shay: Yeah, it's such an interesting question because I think it was. You know, it was forced upon everybody to stop traveling in a sense and then when travel started opening up We were at a stage in our lives where we now had the stability That we didn't have before because we were in the same place for about I think a year and a half in Vancouver together and we started You know, we just started reevaluating, like, what did we want out of, what does stability look like for us, and what did travel look like for us?

Shay: And so I think that [: 00:45:00

Shay: And so now, so what I've taken from that, is that now, we have home bases. That's, Our stability. We did have, I felt like Bali was a home base. We were there for so long, especially Cass more than me was there and we had a place and that was a lot of stability, I would say, but we did travel a lot from that home base.

lding a community around one [: 00:46:00

Shay: C. and go and see my friends as well, and so that's more what travel looks like, is I'm really picking places now based off of my current community, I would say. I still have lots [00:47:00] of, of, you know, I'd love to go to Ireland, it's totally on my heart, but now when I think about travel, I actually think about not working, if that makes sense.

Shay: Like, I think about, I have a home base now. So I'm like, I have a home base. I have my stability. I have my routine. I have my, you know work that I do. And now for me, travel has actually become more like a vacation, which is really interesting. That shift for me personally, when I go to travel. I am thinking about not working, which is the complete opposite from like in our 20s.

Shay: It was like, this is so cool. I'm going to work and travel and I get the best of both worlds and this is awesome. And it is, and you can still do that. And I, I still do it. I'm working and traveling in Mexico. I'll be working while I'm in Panama. When I was in London, I took that time fully off. A lot of the times when I was visiting friends throughout Canada, totally took that time off.

out trips that we want to go [: 00:48:00

Shay: That's why I would say it's changed for me.

Kelly: And I think that's, I mean, that's just, it's like it's a progression, right? It's a progression and it's also a reflection of where you're at in your life. And I, yeah, I was just laughing because it was just like, literally your course was work and travel, but also you're at a stage of awareness within your own well being and within your own.

Kelly: You know, state of mind where you want your business, where you are prioritizing your mental health and your well being and and you're recognizing that at the level of business that you're at, you do need those spaces to reset and reconnect. And so I think that's really a cool level of progression within your own.

isodes with quick rapid fire [: 00:49:00

Kelly: And why

ortugal Yeah We were there in: 2019

Shay: I liked the. We would wander the little streets, the creativity There was just something about Lisbon that really drew me in. I liked the co working space that was there. And I would say that Instinct Rapid Fire, that's where I would go back.

to Portugal next June for a [: 00:50:00

Shay: I would love to. Yay.

Kelly: Alright, you're invited. Okay, perfect. Okay. Alright, number two is what's next on your bucket list? What's number one on your bucket list? Oh,

Shay: oh, oh, okay. My bucket list. I

Kelly: Bucket list bombshell over here, doesn't know number

Shay: one on your bucket list. I'm like, I'm just such a creature of habit and routine now and stability that I'm like, and I'm kind of in an adventurous mode again.

Shay: So I like this question. I'm just struggling because I don't really have a list of things because I feel like I just sort of reawakened my adventurous side. And so and I've done so many things that there's, what I'm really craving is, To, well, I'm going to Panama to visit one of my friends, one of my OG friends from Bali, and I would just, I've never been there.

ist is to really just go and [: 00:51:00

Kelly: Like, well, that's so funny. So, you know, it's also like, it doesn't have to be a place. It could also be like a part of your life. And it seems like a part of your life is your bucket list is deepening connections with people. And like entering that phase. So that's awesome. I love that. Okay. Number three is what's the biggest lesson that you've learned, like the biggest life lesson that you've learned through traveling?

Shay: The biggest life lesson I've learned through traveling is you cannot control anything. So

Kelly: true.

Shay: When you are traveling there was just I was before I started traveling even during I wouldn't I would say it took me a long time to learn this lesson is Things are not going to go according to plan. I really don't like surprises.

Shay: I don't like [: 00:52:00

Shay: That happen and you see them and you're like, Oh my gosh, this is a failure, this is a terrible obstacle, or this is a situation that I wish didn't happen. There, what I have learned is there's always a silver lining. I know that can be very cliche, but it has happened to me time and time again. It shows me that that was supposed to happen, happen for a reason, and that the end result ended up, if I, when I let go, when I didn't try to hold on and control it, when I genuinely was like, Okay, let's roll with it.

times. And the times that I [: 00:53:00

Shay: But when I was able to just say, Okay, let's do this, or life happens, or it's okay, like, This is just, it's, I'm safe, I'm alive, like, that's all that matters, right? I have a roof over my head and food in my stomach, great. Like, tell me, like, let's get through this. Or let's, you know, this challenge, or, or whatever.

Shay: And I just let it go and I said, okay, bring it on, let's do it. It was just Such an easier, like, flow to, and move through the thing, and then the end result ended up being something better, and I was able to celebrate, and I was able to embrace it, and say, oh my gosh, this is so awesome. That's what travel did for me.

Kelly: Amazing. I love that. And then the last question is, if you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring explorer, what would it be?

ll you to listen to what you [: 00:54:00

Shay: I've seen this happen where you will be so excited about doing something, going somewhere, and then they will pull up and say, Well, did you see this news article? Or, That's not for everybody. Or, that won't work. Or, whatever it is. A negative Nancy in, that comes in. And says something, and then I see it deter or deflate someone from doing something that they want to do.

Shay: Whether that's go to another country, or just go to the city, or move from one city to another. Do it for you. Don't do it for anybody else, but you and as long as it feels like, you know, a heck yes, this is something that you want. If you share it with someone and they don't have the response that you're looking for Just let that go.

, and don't let anybody else [: 00:55:00

Kelly: That's beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing. So I'm going to leave this space for you to share how people can connect with you online, or anything upcoming, offerings wise, that you want to share with people.

Shay: Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so we're most active on Instagram. So, at Bucket List Bombshells. Come on over.

freebies that are for you at [: 00:56:00

Shay: So it's a group coaching program, but it's a tailored program. Aspect of we really look at what your specific goals are as well as what are your desires to have outside of your business And we do business coaching. So we give you the strategy to accomplish those and we also do mindset coaching as well So we give you the mental health tools to also accomplish The things that might be holding you back or the things that are going to support you In addition, so we do kind of have that balanced approach and we take an anti hustle culture.

fun flowing and is very much [: 00:57:00

Shay: That's amazing.

Kelly: Thank you so much. I am so stoked to have this conversation to be able to connect with you again. And I know this won't be the last time that our paths will cross. Maybe you can deepen our friendship and come on over to Florida sometime.

Shay: Hey, if you put it out there, I told everybody I said, You want me to come somewhere?

Shay: Just tell me because that is the vibe. I mean, going back to the buck. That's that's my bucket list this year is I told everybody beginning of the year, or throughout the year. Where are you? I'm going to come see you. Let's do this. And that's what I did. That's what I've been doing all year.

Kelly: That's amazing.

are. I love it. And Portugal: 2024

Shay: Amazing. Thank you for having me.

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