May 20, 2025 • 29 mins
In this episode, Carly and Joe chat with Karen King, aka The Escapepreneur, about what it really takes to build a business that lets you work from anywhere.
From discovering your true passions to keeping things ridiculously simple (think: Facebook group + PayPal), Karen shares her journey from burnout to freedom and how you can do the same.
Whether you're craving more flexibility, family time, or just want out of your Groundhog Day routine, this conversation will have you rethinking what’s possible, and maybe even booking a one-way ticket.
Being a solopreneur is awesome but it’s not easy. It's hard to get noticed. Most business advice is for bigger companies, and you're all alone...until now. LifeStarr's SoloSuite Intro gives you free education, community, and tools to build a thriving one-person business. So, if you are lacking direction, having a hard time generating leads, or are having trouble keeping up with everything you have to do, or even just lonely running a company of one, be sure to check out LifeStarr Intro!
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Episode Transcript
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Carly Ries (00:00):
What if your next big business move came with a
(00:02):
passport stamp? In this episode,we sit down with Karen King, aka
the escapreneur, who ditched thenine to five grind for business
that works from anywhere. Fromtime blocking naps to launching
summits mid air, Karen shareshow to build a business that
supports your dream lifestyle,and we talk mindset shifts,
simple tech setups, and how tofigure out what you actually
(00:26):
want out of life. So be sure totune in. You're listening to The
Aspiring Solopreneur, thepodcast for those just taking
the bold step or even justthinking about taking that step
into the world of soloentrepreneurship.
My name is Carly Ries, and mycohost, Joe Rando, and I are
your guides navigating thiscrazy but awesome journey as a
(00:47):
company of one. We take pride inbeing part of LifeStarr, a
digital hub dedicated to allaspects of solopreneurship that
has empowered and educatedcountless solopreneurs looking
to build a business thatresonates with their life's
ambitions. We help people workto live, not live to work. And
if you're looking for a get richquick scheme, this is not the
show for you. So if you're eagerto gain valuable insights from
(01:10):
industry experts on running abusiness the right way the first
time around or want to learnfrom the missteps of
solopreneurs who paved the waybefore you, then stick around.
We've got your back becauseflying solo in business doesn't
mean you're alone. Karen, wewere talking offline and I was
saying that I partially wantedto have you on the show for
(01:30):
strategic purposes and partiallyfor selfish purposes. And it's
just because I think what you dois just so so cool. So welcome
to the show, first of all.
Karen King (01:40):
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to
be here.
Carly Ries (01:44):
Likewise, obviously based off what I just said. But
you've built a business thatruns from anywhere in the world.
And I just wanna know, because Ifeel like some people have
different definitions of this,but what in your opinion is
freedom first? What does thatmean, and what does it look like
in practice for solopreneurs?
Karen King (02:03):
Mhmm. Freedom is having the choice to decide what
you do, how you live, how youspend your time. And so, yes, of
course, that's money and all ofthese sorts of things. But for
us, it was about settingourselves up so that we could
choose how we live. We couldchoose which country we're in.
We could choose, you know,whether I sleep in tomorrow or
(02:26):
I, get up and do work or it'shaving the freedom to choose,
not being forced to live a sortof Groundhog Day existence, is
what we were doing.
Carly Ries (02:35):
You can choose when you wake up in the morning?
Karen King (02:38):
Most days. I've got full control over my schedule.
At the moment, I'm workingreally hard. So I've chosen to
work really hard. I've chosenthat I have to have my calendar
open from 8AM.
But you know what? There's beena couple days this week. I'm
like, you know what? I need tosleep in. So I just blocked my
calendar for that time.
Carly Ries (02:56):
That's amazing. And I mean, we talk a lot about
building a business thatsupports your life. And you talk
a lot about building a businessaround your ideal lifestyle like
this. You can work if youchoose. I feel like when people
think of ideal lifestyle, thatdoesn't always mean like, I just
wanna sip pina coladas on thebeach all day every day.
It can include working. So howdo you help solopreneurs figure
(03:17):
out what that lifestyle lookslike for them in the first
place?
Karen King (03:23):
So the last sort of four and a half years for us has
all been about the tech side ofpeople running a business. So
that's been about helping them,you know, create the freedom of
not being trapped in a business.Now with the launch of the
escapepreneur, this is abouthelping people really tap into
what is it they want.
(03:44):
well, let's go back eleven yearsago now, I was working too hard.
I had two kids that I justwasn't seeing very much of.
And I had a massive wake up callone day and thought, you know
what? This is not how I want tolive. There's gotta be more to
life than this. And so westopped and said, you know what?
(04:04):
What do we really want?
And that's what I think I sooften hear people say, oh, I
just want more out of life.Surely, that this isn't all
there is. So it's about helpingpeople stop for a second and
think, what do I truly love todo? And then how can I make
money out of that? Because toooften in life, we do what we do
because we need the money.
(04:25):
And it's not necessarily alwaysthat fun, whereas if you build a
business around something thatyou're truly passionate about,
then it's okay to get out of bedat 8AM because you want to get
out of bed, versus, you know,the alarm goes off and you go
into a job that you don't love.
Joe Rando (04:40):
I have a question. So I hear you. I get it, and I
agree with it, but I just,wonder when you talk about that,
what did you call it, afreedompreneur, what?
Karen King (04:52):
Escapreneur.
Joe Rando (04:53):
Escapreneur. And the idea of being an escapreneur,
which is very cool, and I thinkvery appealing to a lot of
people, but what about theconcept of saying, gee, in order
for me, in my situation, myskill set, my opportunities to
be have that freedom of life, Ihave to do a business I'm not
passionate about. I don't hateit. I'm okay with it, but it's
(05:14):
not the reason I would get outof bed. But I'll certainly get
out of bed and do it if I canthen, I don't know, go surfing
whenever the waves are up orwhatever it is that I want out
of life.
I mean, how do you feel aboutthat?
Karen King (05:26):
Absolutely. I've done that over the last nine and
a half years of travel. I'vedone so many different things.
And, you know, it's a fact oflife that we don't always get to
do what we love all the time.
But I think when you've got thatbalance so, like, for me, it was
about, well, look. You know,this is gonna pay the bills.
It's gonna allow me to travelthe world. And so traveling the
(05:47):
world was my priority, and youknow, I had to balance the two
against each other. The endgoal, you know, this is what we
try to help people get to iswhat do you love to do and how
can we turn that into somethingthat people will pay you for. I
had a conversation with mydaughter yesterday. We're
working on a summit at themoment, and she's doing all of
(06:08):
my video editing for me. And Isaid to her, you know what? you
could literally start a businessaround this. And she said, well,
mom, I've been watching all ofyour summit interviews, and they
say you should be doing what youlove.
And I said, well, yes. Butyou've also gotta earn some
money in the meantime. So if youhave an opportunity that gives
you the income, doing somethingthat you at least enjoy, and
(06:29):
it's gonna get you where youwanna go, it's a stepping stone.
Joe Rando (06:32):
Got it. Thank you.
Carly Ries (06:33):
Of course. I imagine there are a few stepping stones
to get to where you want. So howdo you help people identify what
their passions are? Because asmuch as people are like, oh, I
have a passion for this andthat, sometimes they don't know.
Like they just, they want thatlifestyle but they don't know
what will really feed them.
So how do you help them identifywhat their passion is and then
(06:53):
actually figure out a businessaround that?
Karen King (06:57):
It's a really good question actually. Because when
I first went through thisexercise myself, I literally
stared at a blank page. I wasreading The Four Hour Workweek
by Tim Ferriss. And one of thefirst questions he asked is, if
money was no object, what wouldyou do with the rest of your
life? And I was sitting on aplane halfway from Bolivia to
The US, and I sat there lookingat this piece of paper.
(07:19):
I wrote down travel, and Ithought, yeah. Right. As if that
could happen. And then I wrotedown help people. Beyond that
though, I had no idea.
I literally was so out of touchwith what I enjoyed doing that I
stared at a blank page. And ittook me it actually took me
considerable amount of time,even a couple of months to
really just let that sort ofpercolate until I sort of
(07:42):
started coming up with things.And it's not something that you
don't come up with the endresult right now, you know,
really, really quickly. It'sabout just looking at those
things that, if you were askedto jump up on stage and talk
about something, what could youjump up on stage and talk about
without any preparation? For meat that time, it was helping
(08:02):
people build websites, helpingbusinesses create websites to,
you know, get themselves online.
Now did I absolutely love doingthat at the time? I loved the
money and the fact that it gaveme the freedom. But, you know,
after a couple years of doingthat, I really didn't enjoy it
anymore. But what I discoveredin doing it was that I love
(08:23):
teaching it. And so that evolvedinto teaching people how to
build websites.
And so it's a naturalprogression like that. But I
think you've gotta startsomewhere. And so what we talk
to people about is what do youenjoy doing? Now that might be
knitting. It might be, you know,could be anything, baking.
You know, there are so manydifferent things that you could
(08:43):
do. It might be what do peoplecome to you and ask your advice
for. Like I said, what could youget up on stage and talk about?
So those sort of things,essentially, what we're doing is
sort of packaging up yourknowledge with what you enjoy
doing. And if you can find abalance of the two I mean, in
(09:06):
the world that we live in now,coaching is is such a big
industry.
If you're a couple of stepsahead of someone else,
especially in this world wherewe're looking for connection,
there's so much noise. If youcan find somebody that's gonna
teach you what you wanna knowand, have that connection with
them, people will pay thatmoney. You know? I built a cake
(09:28):
decorating business when mydaughter was eight weeks of old
eight eight weeks of age, and Ilearned from YouTube. So
there are so many differentthings you can do, but it really
is about tapping into those sortof core fundamentals and then
looking at how do I make money.
A lot of people start with themoney first. I need to make
money. Oh, this is a good idea.I could do this. But ultimately,
(09:49):
they get a couple years down thetrack and they're not enjoying
it and it's mundane and it's,you know, it's like you've
locked yourself into a nine tofive again.
Carly Ries (09:55):
If a person is like, I am so passionate about travel
like you said. So they're like,oh, well maybe I'll start a
travel blog or a travel orYouTube channel or an Instagram.
These markets can be sosaturated though because so many
people have that passion. Somany people I mean, on
Instagram, anybody can be a showof travel these days. So what do
(10:16):
you recommend they do to standout when they might be
passionate about it, but it'sgonna be hard to make money off
of it.
Karen King (10:24):
Yes and no. I'm not a big believer in competition.
And the reason I say that isbecause, again, going back to
the personal connection, we'reall searching for that personal
connection, and we're not gonnaconnect with everybody. So a
really good example of, what,five, six years ago, I joined a
five day challenge, and itturned out to be two five day
(10:45):
challenges covering the sametopic running at the same time.
Now one was a guy, one was agirl, not that that really
matters.
But in their messaging, itbecame very obvious very quickly
that I was more connected withthe female more than I did the
male. Not because of the gender,just, her messaging and the way
(11:07):
that she sort of put herselfacross. And so I naturally went
that way. Not to say that hisinformation wasn't any good, but
that was the connection I made.So what I would say, and, in all
of these interviews I've beendoing lately, this has come out
time and time again, just beyourself.
There is absolutely no need topretend to be somebody. And in
(11:30):
this world where, we'resurrounded by all these perfect
images and, you know, perfectYouTube videos and all of this,
again, going back to that desirefor connection, people want that
authentic connection. And so beyourself. And you know, that's
something I'm really trying toembrace myself these days. I've
really sort of held back fromsocial media because I'm like,
oh, you know, I felt so muchpressure for my online presence
(11:54):
to be perfect.
And then, in doing all of theseinterviews lately, I thought,
you know what? People just needto get to know me. And my
customers, for example, thosethat do know me love what we do.
And so by not just being outthere and being myself, I'm
kinda hiding away from people.They're not getting to meet me.
But I'm also avoiding meeting myideal client. I wanna work with
(12:16):
people that absolutely love meand, you know, love the gray
hair and the wrinkles and, allof that sort of stuff. And so by
being yourself, you're gonnaattract the people that want
that connection with you andwould love to work with you.
Joe Rando (12:29):
I have a question. I get what you're saying. This
idea of being authentic, Itotally agree. Even though it
doesn't always feel good,especially in the beginning. But
one thing that I'm wonderingwhen we talk about, you know,
Carly mentioned the saturatedmarkets.
It seems to me that, doing whatyou said, being a coach, finding
(12:49):
your people, your audience is away to build a pretty viable
business. But when people thinkabout maybe doing a podcast or
doing a YouTube channel wherethey're making money off of the
advertising, That seems like aharder lift to me these days.
It's very saturated and it takesan awful lot of engagement to
(13:12):
really make enough money tosurvive. And I don't think very
many people are doing it unlessthey have a lot of engagement
because it's just, you know, itjust isn't feasible to get
enough revenue out of the adspend. do you have any opinion
on that?
Am I wrong?
Karen King (13:29):
No. I think there are certainly ways that
are going to earn income faster.And, yeah, I think there's
certainly, you know, blogging. Ithe first eighteen months of our
travels, I blogged all the time,and we had a YouTube channel.
And while I regret stopping thatbecause I wish that I could look
back now and watch those videos,It took me eighteen months to
(13:51):
earn my first first dollar outof it, and it wasn't even a
dollar.
Amazon sent me a check for, Ithink, was 56¢ or something like
that. So, you know, I was reallyconsistent. But, yes, I needed a
big following. On the otherhand, you can you know, VA work
is a really, really easy way toget yourself out there. You only
need you know, it might bebookkeeping.
(14:12):
It might be, I'll organize youremail inbox. I literally when I
first got one of my team now,the first task I got her to do
and the first reason I employedher, I just needed my inbox
sorted. I was so sick of all thespam and blah blah blah blah
blah. And so I just brought heron to just look after that. Now
she could have taken that.
Maybe it's not something sheloves to do, but she could have
(14:32):
taken that and turned that intoan offer that, you know, she
could do for other people. So,yeah, there are lots of
different ways of doing it, andthere's certainly different time
frames on how long it's gonnatake you. But for me, as an
example, I'm really keen in thefuture to start a podcast. But,
I've also got a following now aswell. So, I think it's something
that you can add to it down theline.
Joe Rando (15:00):
I mean, for us, the podcast serves the business
LifeStarr. Right? we don'treally run ads. and if we were
running ads, even though we'rein the top two and a half
percent of all podcasts in theworld, I don't think we'd be
making a ton of money.
I haven't really looked into it,but I doubt it would pay the
bills in any meaningful way,because you have to be at that
(15:21):
upper upper echelon. So I justalways think it's important for
people not to kind of set outwith with a vision that isn't
necessarily gonna hold watertoday, even though it might have
been a good idea ten years ago.
Karen King (15:33):
I had a really good conversation with someone the
other day specifically aboutpodcasting because one of the
questions that I had was exactlythat. How do you make money out
of it? And what they've done isall of the extra stuff, so not
the ads, but it's been an avenuefor lead generation, which has
then led into other things. Sothey have courses and things
(15:55):
like that. So the podcast itselfis really, the top of funnel, so
to speak, attracting people thatcan come into your world.
Joe Rando (16:03):
That's how I view it. Definitely.
Carly Ries (16:06):
Yeah. well, so let's say there's this guy Frank
hanging out in his cubicle rightnow, listening to this show, and
he's like, man, I wanna do that.I wanna travel the world. But
you kinda get into the like,you're conditioned to be the
nine to five. Like when yousaid, well I just time blocked
sleeping in.
It's like, oh my gosh, you cando that. So my first question
(16:26):
is, what kind of mindset shiftsdoes he need to make? But also
what should be that first stepinto getting to be an
escapreneur?
Karen King (16:35):
It's a really, really good question. I think
the first mindset shift is thatit is possible. And knowing what
is possible is massive. Youknow, I'd been working online
for years. I'd been buildingwebsites for myself.
I'd been doing all of thesesorts of things. But what I
didn't understand was that ifyou've got a laptop, you can
(16:58):
literally you know, if you'vegot a business online, you can
literally work from anywhere.And it never occurred to me that
I could leave those four walls.You know, society teaches us how
we're, you know, meant to live.the cars, the kids, the house,
all the things that we're meantto have to live the American
(17:18):
dream or the Australian dream orwhatever it might be.
And we grow up with that modelto us, and we kinda just don't
know what we don't know. And sorealizing what is possible. We
have a community of familiesthat travel the world, either
full time, part time, or, youknow, just on vacation. And
there are 14,000 families inthere that sort of all have sort
(17:42):
of learned about this concept.We call it world schooling,
learning from the world,educating through from the
world.
And I launched that communitybecause I wish I'd known about
this ten years earlier becausethere's a whole lot of choices
I'd have made in my life that Iprobably would have made very
differently if I knew that thiswas an option. So understanding
(18:04):
and being around people that areliving a different way of life
is a huge thing. Because ifyou're surrounded by people that
are doing the the normal life,it's really hard to break
outside of that mindset. So thatwould be the mindset, but also
the first step that I wouldrecommend people do is just get
into that sort of space, digitalnomad groups are very popular as
(18:27):
well. Just see what is possible.
And then from there, part ofthat and as I said, part of what
we do is about helping peopleidentify their passions and then
helping them identify what theycan do with that to make money.
Because, again, you don't knowwhat you don't know. So it's all
good and well to say, oh, well,you know what? I'm really good
at, knitting or whatever thecase may be, but that doesn't
(18:51):
mean you've got any clue whatyou could do with it. But when
you're surrounded by people thatnot only know, but have been
there and done that, then youget the support and the answers
to the questions that you mighthave.
Carly Ries (19:05):
So let's say a person is really good at
knitting, and they're like, Iwant to and I love knitting and
I wanna live in Fiji. But let'ssay they're not tech savvy
because they like knitting.What's one thing they could do
today to educate themselves inor, an automation or something
to get a business going thatcould help with the tech side of
things if that's kind of theirhang up?
Karen King (19:26):
Well, I'm a little bit biased because, as the
founder of Gold Star Pro, Ibuilt the platform entirely
because this was a massive issuefor people. I'd been on the
other side, a coach, coursecreator. And typically, we all
need, you know, 53 differentplatforms, and we need to learn
them all, and we need to pay forthem all. And it was just too
much. Most business owners arenot techie.
(19:48):
And I would say 80 to 90% of thepeople I speak to are not
techie. They got into theirbusiness because they love what
they do. But then all of asudden, they sit there and they
find themselves in front of alaptop trying to figure out the
tech stuff. So what I would sayis if you wanna make that move
into maybe it's a course orwhatever whatever the case may
be, there are lots of ways thatyou can do it without
(20:09):
complicated tech. You canliterally set up a Facebook
group, send someone a PayPallink, they pay you, you let them
into the group, And, you know,maybe send them a Zoom link so
that you can get on a calltogether.
It doesn't have to be supercomplicated. But when you get to
the stage, if you wanna step itup, then looking for a software
platform that simplifies it asmuch as possible. So ours is an
(20:32):
all in one with a massive focuson people and support and that
it's okay to not know theanswer. We have a rule that
there's no such thing as a dumbquestion. We want people to ask
those those questions becauseit's the only way that they can
learn.
So, yeah, realize that itdoesn't have to be complicated.
But when you do want to growthat or advance it, do it with
(20:55):
the right support.
Carly Ries (20:56):
That's so funny you said Facebook with a PayPal link
because it really can be thatsimple. But nobody like, people
are like, okay. Well, whatsystems can I get in place? And
it's like, Facebook, PayPal,done.
Karen King (21:08):
And my brain immediately goes to, oh,
because, you know, you can builda website and you can do that,
but that's what I do. And sothat's easy for me. And,
whenever I build something, Iwant it to look super
professional and all of thissort of stuff, but we're just
setting ourselves up to fail. Ifyou're not techy, just keep it
(21:28):
simple. You can make it very,very easy, and it can still look
very professional.
You can jump on Fiverr and get alogo made for $5. You can create
a page on Facebook which hasmessenger so you can
communicate. There's so manydifferent ways you can do it
without it being complicated.
Carly Ries (21:45):
I feel like there are some people listening to
this right now. They're justlike, oh my gosh. I could do
this. It seems attainable. But Ithink there's also kind of a
sense of overwhelm.
Once they realize they can doit, there's also the decision.
And you have kids. You weretalking about world schooling
and I think it's like, yeah,have to run a business but I
(22:06):
also have to book my travel. Ihave to schedule things for the
kids. I do this. And it's a lot.So do you have any tips for
people that are trying to kindof do it all while running a
business if they want to be anescapreneur?
Karen King (22:19):
Yeah. Probably just slow down. I guess one of the
things that I would say is thatwhen you are living a life that
you really enjoy, when you'vebuilt a business that you really
enjoy, it becomes easier. itbecomes instead of, work and
home life. Or for our kids whenwe started world schooling, you
(22:39):
know, pre world schooling, itwas I have to go to school and
learn, and then I get to comehome.
Whereas world schooling was,well, let's just live our lives
and we'll just learn as part ofit. So there wasn't this sort of
negative connotation versus the,you know, I can relax now
because I'm at home. And I thinkthe same goes when it comes to
your business. But what I woulddo is just keep it as simple as
(23:00):
you can. Block out time.
Get the family involved. we do alot with our kids, and quite
often, we get to a new city, andI'm like, okay. So we need to do
something next weekend. You guysgo plan that because I've got
interviews to do this week orwhatever the case may be. I
still do a lot of it because Ireally, really enjoy it.
So for me, the travel part of itand booking flights, that's my,
(23:22):
relaxation, which sounds a bitweird. But, I can spend hours
just sitting there looking atcomparisons and all of these
sorts of things. So get helpwith the things that you don't
need or don't enjoy, and really,lean into the things that you do
enjoy because it gives you moreenergy when you're doing the
things that you love.
Carly Ries (23:40):
We always say flying solo in business doesn't mean
you're alone. And I think that'sanother thing people need to
remember that just becausethey're, like, jet setting and
traveling the world, thatdoesn't mean that they have to
still be doing everything. Theycan have somebody do that, like
help with taxes and accountingand everything.
Joe Rando (23:56):
I like that you said that if you like doing it, even
if it's not something thatnecessarily every other measure
would say to outsource it, do itif you like it. You know what
mean? It's like it's alwaysthis, you know, there's always
this, I don't know, this maththat just says, oh, you
shouldn't be doing that, sothat's not a good use of your
(24:16):
time. But, you know, hey. Youlike booking flight. I kinda get
it too. I kinda like bookingflights as well. I never have
anybody book my flights.
Karen King (24:23):
Yeah.
Joe Rando (24:25):
I always do it myself.
Karen King (24:26):
At the moment, we're building out this summit. And
building these pages, forexample, I so enjoy it. And I
love the creativity of designingit and mapping it out and then
creating the automations in theback end. And I can sit for
hours doing that, but Iabsolutely love it. And you
know, there's that that part ofme, like you said, that people
(24:47):
are saying, oh, it's not a gooduse of your time, but it is
because I really enjoy it. I'dmuch rather have someone else do
other things. You know, I'mpaying my daughter to edit the
videos. I brought a team memberon to find the speakers for our
summit. Do the things that youreally enjoy and find support
for those that don't. I read abook recently, Buy Back Your
(25:09):
Time, by Dan Martell.
And, honestly, it was really eyeopening. Like, it really sort of
talked about everything you kindof know already. But when he
puts it down and says, you don'tneed to be the person cleaning
up your inbox. If you enjoy it,great. If you don't, you can
have somebody for, half theamount that you're worth or a
(25:31):
quarter of the amount thatyou're worth do it for you, and
they'll probably do a better jobof it than you.
So, yeah, do the things youenjoy and let someone else do
the others.
Carly Ries (25:39):
Oh, I feel like that's the perfect place to end
this show. Such great advice.And Karen, you help people find
success in being an escapreneur,whatever version of that is for
that person. So we always askour guests this question, what
is your favorite quote aboutsuccess?
Karen King (25:59):
That's a really good question. I keep circling back
to something that popped into myhead when I first started
traveling, and that was thatlife's too short for ordinary
when extraordinary is an option.And that's kind of the motto I
live by. I didn't wanna wake upat 80 and look back and regret
the way that I'd lived my life.I didn't want the kids to get to
(26:21):
18 and suddenly look back andsay, you know what?
I missed out on all of thattime. success for me is beyond
just the work that I do.Obviously, that's a big part of
what we do, and we need themoney and all of those sorts of
things. But success for me isliving a life that I enjoy and
that, I'm having an impact onother people. So if you can
(26:42):
create a life that'sextraordinary, then I think
you're super successful.
Carly Ries (26:48):
so I'm not gonna show my phone, but I saw this
quote on Instagram, you know,where everything is real? And
it's now my screen saver, but itsays this is the new 1%. It's
waking up early, putting yourfamily first, pursuing their
passions. They don't wait untilretirement to travel. They're
grateful.
(27:08):
They work out. They eat wholenatural foods. Teach their kids
and teach their kids propervalues. I saw that and I was
like, screenshot, save. Becausethat is success now.
I mean to a lot of people,especially solopreneurs. It's
not the big paycheck. It's thelifestyle.
Karen King (27:26):
Yeah. I remember having a conversation years ago.
And, when we first startedtraveling, there wasn't a lot of
money because we made themistake of starting to build the
business after we startedtraveling. I don't recommend
that. But, yeah, there wasn't alot of money, but we didn't have
a lot of money when we wereliving an ordinary life in
Australia.
And I said to my husband, I'dmuch rather be traveling the
(27:47):
world full time doing what we doon not a lot of money than,
being stuck in a nine to fiveliving in the same four walls
with not a lot of money. Sochoice is yours.
Carly Ries (27:58):
Well, Karen, this has been wonderful. Where can
people find you if they want tolearn more?
Karen King (28:04):
Theescapepreneur.com is probably the easiest place.
Easy enough. And we will havethat link in our show notes. But
thank you so so much for comingon the show today. It is very
inspiring.
Thank you for having me. I lovetalking about this stuff.
Carly Ries (28:17):
Great. Well, you're good at it. And listeners, thank
you so much for tuning in. Asalways, we really would love
that five star review. it meansthe world to us.
We love that boost in thealgorithm. So please be sure to
do that. Share this episode witha friend. Subscribe on your
favorite podcast platformincluding YouTube. And we will
see you next time on TheAspiring Solopreneur.
(28:40):
You may be going solo inbusiness, but that doesn't mean
you're alone. In fact, millionsof people are in your shoes,
running a one person businessand figuring it out as they go.
So why not connect with them andlearn from each other's
successes and failures? AtLifeStarr, we're creating a one
person business community whereyou can go to meet and get
advice from other solopreneurs.Be sure to join in on the
(29:01):
conversations atcommunity.lifestarr.com.
What if your next big business move came with a
(00:02):
passport stamp? In this episode,we sit down with Karen King, aka
the escapreneur, who ditched thenine to five grind for business
that works from anywhere. Fromtime blocking naps to launching
summits mid air, Karen shareshow to build a business that
supports your dream lifestyle,and we talk mindset shifts,
simple tech setups, and how tofigure out what you actually
(00:26):
want out of life. So be sure totune in. You're listening to The
Aspiring Solopreneur, thepodcast for those just taking
the bold step or even justthinking about taking that step
into the world of soloentrepreneurship.
My name is Carly Ries, and mycohost, Joe Rando, and I are
your guides navigating thiscrazy but awesome journey as a
(00:47):
company of one. We take pride inbeing part of LifeStarr, a
digital hub dedicated to allaspects of solopreneurship that
has empowered and educatedcountless solopreneurs looking
to build a business thatresonates with their life's
ambitions. We help people workto live, not live to work. And
if you're looking for a get richquick scheme, this is not the
show for you. So if you're eagerto gain valuable insights from
(01:10):
industry experts on running abusiness the right way the first
time around or want to learnfrom the missteps of
solopreneurs who paved the waybefore you, then stick around.
We've got your back becauseflying solo in business doesn't
mean you're alone. Karen, wewere talking offline and I was
saying that I partially wantedto have you on the show for
(01:30):
strategic purposes and partiallyfor selfish purposes. And it's
just because I think what you dois just so so cool. So welcome
to the show, first of all.
Karen King (01:40):
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to
be here.
Carly Ries (01:44):
Likewise, obviously based off what I just said. But
you've built a business thatruns from anywhere in the world.
And I just wanna know, because Ifeel like some people have
different definitions of this,but what in your opinion is
freedom first? What does thatmean, and what does it look like
in practice for solopreneurs?
Karen King (02:03):
Mhmm. Freedom is having the choice to decide what
you do, how you live, how youspend your time. And so, yes, of
course, that's money and all ofthese sorts of things. But for
us, it was about settingourselves up so that we could
choose how we live. We couldchoose which country we're in.
We could choose, you know,whether I sleep in tomorrow or
(02:26):
I, get up and do work or it'shaving the freedom to choose,
not being forced to live a sortof Groundhog Day existence, is
what we were doing.
Carly Ries (02:35):
You can choose when you wake up in the morning?
Karen King (02:38):
Most days. I've got full control over my schedule.
At the moment, I'm workingreally hard. So I've chosen to
work really hard. I've chosenthat I have to have my calendar
open from 8AM.
But you know what? There's beena couple days this week. I'm
like, you know what? I need tosleep in. So I just blocked my
calendar for that time.
Carly Ries (02:56):
That's amazing. And I mean, we talk a lot about
building a business thatsupports your life. And you talk
a lot about building a businessaround your ideal lifestyle like
this. You can work if youchoose. I feel like when people
think of ideal lifestyle, thatdoesn't always mean like, I just
wanna sip pina coladas on thebeach all day every day.
It can include working. So howdo you help solopreneurs figure
(03:17):
out what that lifestyle lookslike for them in the first
place?
Karen King (03:23):
So the last sort of four and a half years for us has
all been about the tech side ofpeople running a business. So
that's been about helping them,you know, create the freedom of
not being trapped in a business.Now with the launch of the
escapepreneur, this is abouthelping people really tap into
what is it they want.
(03:44):
well, let's go back eleven yearsago now, I was working too hard.
I had two kids that I justwasn't seeing very much of.
And I had a massive wake up callone day and thought, you know
what? This is not how I want tolive. There's gotta be more to
life than this. And so westopped and said, you know what?
(04:04):
What do we really want?
And that's what I think I sooften hear people say, oh, I
just want more out of life.Surely, that this isn't all
there is. So it's about helpingpeople stop for a second and
think, what do I truly love todo? And then how can I make
money out of that? Because toooften in life, we do what we do
because we need the money.
(04:25):
And it's not necessarily alwaysthat fun, whereas if you build a
business around something thatyou're truly passionate about,
then it's okay to get out of bedat 8AM because you want to get
out of bed, versus, you know,the alarm goes off and you go
into a job that you don't love.
Joe Rando (04:40):
I have a question. So I hear you. I get it, and I
agree with it, but I just,wonder when you talk about that,
what did you call it, afreedompreneur, what?
Karen King (04:52):
Escapreneur.
Joe Rando (04:53):
Escapreneur. And the idea of being an escapreneur,
which is very cool, and I thinkvery appealing to a lot of
people, but what about theconcept of saying, gee, in order
for me, in my situation, myskill set, my opportunities to
be have that freedom of life, Ihave to do a business I'm not
passionate about. I don't hateit. I'm okay with it, but it's
(05:14):
not the reason I would get outof bed. But I'll certainly get
out of bed and do it if I canthen, I don't know, go surfing
whenever the waves are up orwhatever it is that I want out
of life.
I mean, how do you feel aboutthat?
Karen King (05:26):
Absolutely. I've done that over the last nine and
a half years of travel. I'vedone so many different things.
And, you know, it's a fact oflife that we don't always get to
do what we love all the time.
But I think when you've got thatbalance so, like, for me, it was
about, well, look. You know,this is gonna pay the bills.
It's gonna allow me to travelthe world. And so traveling the
(05:47):
world was my priority, and youknow, I had to balance the two
against each other. The endgoal, you know, this is what we
try to help people get to iswhat do you love to do and how
can we turn that into somethingthat people will pay you for. I
had a conversation with mydaughter yesterday. We're
working on a summit at themoment, and she's doing all of
(06:08):
my video editing for me. And Isaid to her, you know what? you
could literally start a businessaround this. And she said, well,
mom, I've been watching all ofyour summit interviews, and they
say you should be doing what youlove.
And I said, well, yes. Butyou've also gotta earn some
money in the meantime. So if youhave an opportunity that gives
you the income, doing somethingthat you at least enjoy, and
(06:29):
it's gonna get you where youwanna go, it's a stepping stone.
Joe Rando (06:32):
Got it. Thank you.
Carly Ries (06:33):
Of course. I imagine there are a few stepping stones
to get to where you want. So howdo you help people identify what
their passions are? Because asmuch as people are like, oh, I
have a passion for this andthat, sometimes they don't know.
Like they just, they want thatlifestyle but they don't know
what will really feed them.
So how do you help them identifywhat their passion is and then
(06:53):
actually figure out a businessaround that?
Karen King (06:57):
It's a really good question actually. Because when
I first went through thisexercise myself, I literally
stared at a blank page. I wasreading The Four Hour Workweek
by Tim Ferriss. And one of thefirst questions he asked is, if
money was no object, what wouldyou do with the rest of your
life? And I was sitting on aplane halfway from Bolivia to
The US, and I sat there lookingat this piece of paper.
(07:19):
I wrote down travel, and Ithought, yeah. Right. As if that
could happen. And then I wrotedown help people. Beyond that
though, I had no idea.
I literally was so out of touchwith what I enjoyed doing that I
stared at a blank page. And ittook me it actually took me
considerable amount of time,even a couple of months to
really just let that sort ofpercolate until I sort of
(07:42):
started coming up with things.And it's not something that you
don't come up with the endresult right now, you know,
really, really quickly. It'sabout just looking at those
things that, if you were askedto jump up on stage and talk
about something, what could youjump up on stage and talk about
without any preparation? For meat that time, it was helping
(08:02):
people build websites, helpingbusinesses create websites to,
you know, get themselves online.
Now did I absolutely love doingthat at the time? I loved the
money and the fact that it gaveme the freedom. But, you know,
after a couple years of doingthat, I really didn't enjoy it
anymore. But what I discoveredin doing it was that I love
(08:23):
teaching it. And so that evolvedinto teaching people how to
build websites.
And so it's a naturalprogression like that. But I
think you've gotta startsomewhere. And so what we talk
to people about is what do youenjoy doing? Now that might be
knitting. It might be, you know,could be anything, baking.
You know, there are so manydifferent things that you could
(08:43):
do. It might be what do peoplecome to you and ask your advice
for. Like I said, what could youget up on stage and talk about?
So those sort of things,essentially, what we're doing is
sort of packaging up yourknowledge with what you enjoy
doing. And if you can find abalance of the two I mean, in
(09:06):
the world that we live in now,coaching is is such a big
industry.
If you're a couple of stepsahead of someone else,
especially in this world wherewe're looking for connection,
there's so much noise. If youcan find somebody that's gonna
teach you what you wanna knowand, have that connection with
them, people will pay thatmoney. You know? I built a cake
(09:28):
decorating business when mydaughter was eight weeks of old
eight eight weeks of age, and Ilearned from YouTube. So
there are so many differentthings you can do, but it really
is about tapping into those sortof core fundamentals and then
looking at how do I make money.
A lot of people start with themoney first. I need to make
money. Oh, this is a good idea.I could do this. But ultimately,
(09:49):
they get a couple years down thetrack and they're not enjoying
it and it's mundane and it's,you know, it's like you've
locked yourself into a nine tofive again.
Carly Ries (09:55):
If a person is like, I am so passionate about travel
like you said. So they're like,oh, well maybe I'll start a
travel blog or a travel orYouTube channel or an Instagram.
These markets can be sosaturated though because so many
people have that passion. Somany people I mean, on
Instagram, anybody can be a showof travel these days. So what do
(10:16):
you recommend they do to standout when they might be
passionate about it, but it'sgonna be hard to make money off
of it.
Karen King (10:24):
Yes and no. I'm not a big believer in competition.
And the reason I say that isbecause, again, going back to
the personal connection, we'reall searching for that personal
connection, and we're not gonnaconnect with everybody. So a
really good example of, what,five, six years ago, I joined a
five day challenge, and itturned out to be two five day
(10:45):
challenges covering the sametopic running at the same time.
Now one was a guy, one was agirl, not that that really
matters.
But in their messaging, itbecame very obvious very quickly
that I was more connected withthe female more than I did the
male. Not because of the gender,just, her messaging and the way
(11:07):
that she sort of put herselfacross. And so I naturally went
that way. Not to say that hisinformation wasn't any good, but
that was the connection I made.So what I would say, and, in all
of these interviews I've beendoing lately, this has come out
time and time again, just beyourself.
There is absolutely no need topretend to be somebody. And in
(11:30):
this world where, we'resurrounded by all these perfect
images and, you know, perfectYouTube videos and all of this,
again, going back to that desirefor connection, people want that
authentic connection. And so beyourself. And you know, that's
something I'm really trying toembrace myself these days. I've
really sort of held back fromsocial media because I'm like,
oh, you know, I felt so muchpressure for my online presence
(11:54):
to be perfect.
And then, in doing all of theseinterviews lately, I thought,
you know what? People just needto get to know me. And my
customers, for example, thosethat do know me love what we do.
And so by not just being outthere and being myself, I'm
kinda hiding away from people.They're not getting to meet me.
But I'm also avoiding meeting myideal client. I wanna work with
(12:16):
people that absolutely love meand, you know, love the gray
hair and the wrinkles and, allof that sort of stuff. And so by
being yourself, you're gonnaattract the people that want
that connection with you andwould love to work with you.
Joe Rando (12:29):
I have a question. I get what you're saying. This
idea of being authentic, Itotally agree. Even though it
doesn't always feel good,especially in the beginning. But
one thing that I'm wonderingwhen we talk about, you know,
Carly mentioned the saturatedmarkets.
It seems to me that, doing whatyou said, being a coach, finding
(12:49):
your people, your audience is away to build a pretty viable
business. But when people thinkabout maybe doing a podcast or
doing a YouTube channel wherethey're making money off of the
advertising, That seems like aharder lift to me these days.
It's very saturated and it takesan awful lot of engagement to
(13:12):
really make enough money tosurvive. And I don't think very
many people are doing it unlessthey have a lot of engagement
because it's just, you know, itjust isn't feasible to get
enough revenue out of the adspend. do you have any opinion
on that?
Am I wrong?
Karen King (13:29):
No. I think there are certainly ways that
are going to earn income faster.And, yeah, I think there's
certainly, you know, blogging. Ithe first eighteen months of our
travels, I blogged all the time,and we had a YouTube channel.
And while I regret stopping thatbecause I wish that I could look
back now and watch those videos,It took me eighteen months to
(13:51):
earn my first first dollar outof it, and it wasn't even a
dollar.
Amazon sent me a check for, Ithink, was 56¢ or something like
that. So, you know, I was reallyconsistent. But, yes, I needed a
big following. On the otherhand, you can you know, VA work
is a really, really easy way toget yourself out there. You only
need you know, it might bebookkeeping.
(14:12):
It might be, I'll organize youremail inbox. I literally when I
first got one of my team now,the first task I got her to do
and the first reason I employedher, I just needed my inbox
sorted. I was so sick of all thespam and blah blah blah blah
blah. And so I just brought heron to just look after that. Now
she could have taken that.
Maybe it's not something sheloves to do, but she could have
(14:32):
taken that and turned that intoan offer that, you know, she
could do for other people. So,yeah, there are lots of
different ways of doing it, andthere's certainly different time
frames on how long it's gonnatake you. But for me, as an
example, I'm really keen in thefuture to start a podcast. But,
I've also got a following now aswell. So, I think it's something
that you can add to it down theline.
Joe Rando (15:00):
I mean, for us, the podcast serves the business
LifeStarr. Right? we don'treally run ads. and if we were
running ads, even though we'rein the top two and a half
percent of all podcasts in theworld, I don't think we'd be
making a ton of money.
I haven't really looked into it,but I doubt it would pay the
bills in any meaningful way,because you have to be at that
(15:21):
upper upper echelon. So I justalways think it's important for
people not to kind of set outwith with a vision that isn't
necessarily gonna hold watertoday, even though it might have
been a good idea ten years ago.
Karen King (15:33):
I had a really good conversation with someone the
other day specifically aboutpodcasting because one of the
questions that I had was exactlythat. How do you make money out
of it? And what they've done isall of the extra stuff, so not
the ads, but it's been an avenuefor lead generation, which has
then led into other things. Sothey have courses and things
(15:55):
like that. So the podcast itselfis really, the top of funnel, so
to speak, attracting people thatcan come into your world.
Joe Rando (16:03):
That's how I view it. Definitely.
Carly Ries (16:06):
Yeah. well, so let's say there's this guy Frank
hanging out in his cubicle rightnow, listening to this show, and
he's like, man, I wanna do that.I wanna travel the world. But
you kinda get into the like,you're conditioned to be the
nine to five. Like when yousaid, well I just time blocked
sleeping in.
It's like, oh my gosh, you cando that. So my first question
(16:26):
is, what kind of mindset shiftsdoes he need to make? But also
what should be that first stepinto getting to be an
escapreneur?
Karen King (16:35):
It's a really, really good question. I think
the first mindset shift is thatit is possible. And knowing what
is possible is massive. Youknow, I'd been working online
for years. I'd been buildingwebsites for myself.
I'd been doing all of thesesorts of things. But what I
didn't understand was that ifyou've got a laptop, you can
(16:58):
literally you know, if you'vegot a business online, you can
literally work from anywhere.And it never occurred to me that
I could leave those four walls.You know, society teaches us how
we're, you know, meant to live.the cars, the kids, the house,
all the things that we're meantto have to live the American
(17:18):
dream or the Australian dream orwhatever it might be.
And we grow up with that modelto us, and we kinda just don't
know what we don't know. And sorealizing what is possible. We
have a community of familiesthat travel the world, either
full time, part time, or, youknow, just on vacation. And
there are 14,000 families inthere that sort of all have sort
(17:42):
of learned about this concept.We call it world schooling,
learning from the world,educating through from the
world.
And I launched that communitybecause I wish I'd known about
this ten years earlier becausethere's a whole lot of choices
I'd have made in my life that Iprobably would have made very
differently if I knew that thiswas an option. So understanding
(18:04):
and being around people that areliving a different way of life
is a huge thing. Because ifyou're surrounded by people that
are doing the the normal life,it's really hard to break
outside of that mindset. So thatwould be the mindset, but also
the first step that I wouldrecommend people do is just get
into that sort of space, digitalnomad groups are very popular as
(18:27):
well. Just see what is possible.
And then from there, part ofthat and as I said, part of what
we do is about helping peopleidentify their passions and then
helping them identify what theycan do with that to make money.
Because, again, you don't knowwhat you don't know. So it's all
good and well to say, oh, well,you know what? I'm really good
at, knitting or whatever thecase may be, but that doesn't
(18:51):
mean you've got any clue whatyou could do with it. But when
you're surrounded by people thatnot only know, but have been
there and done that, then youget the support and the answers
to the questions that you mighthave.
Carly Ries (19:05):
So let's say a person is really good at
knitting, and they're like, Iwant to and I love knitting and
I wanna live in Fiji. But let'ssay they're not tech savvy
because they like knitting.What's one thing they could do
today to educate themselves inor, an automation or something
to get a business going thatcould help with the tech side of
things if that's kind of theirhang up?
Karen King (19:26):
Well, I'm a little bit biased because, as the
founder of Gold Star Pro, Ibuilt the platform entirely
because this was a massive issuefor people. I'd been on the
other side, a coach, coursecreator. And typically, we all
need, you know, 53 differentplatforms, and we need to learn
them all, and we need to pay forthem all. And it was just too
much. Most business owners arenot techie.
(19:48):
And I would say 80 to 90% of thepeople I speak to are not
techie. They got into theirbusiness because they love what
they do. But then all of asudden, they sit there and they
find themselves in front of alaptop trying to figure out the
tech stuff. So what I would sayis if you wanna make that move
into maybe it's a course orwhatever whatever the case may
be, there are lots of ways thatyou can do it without
(20:09):
complicated tech. You canliterally set up a Facebook
group, send someone a PayPallink, they pay you, you let them
into the group, And, you know,maybe send them a Zoom link so
that you can get on a calltogether.
It doesn't have to be supercomplicated. But when you get to
the stage, if you wanna step itup, then looking for a software
platform that simplifies it asmuch as possible. So ours is an
(20:32):
all in one with a massive focuson people and support and that
it's okay to not know theanswer. We have a rule that
there's no such thing as a dumbquestion. We want people to ask
those those questions becauseit's the only way that they can
learn.
So, yeah, realize that itdoesn't have to be complicated.
But when you do want to growthat or advance it, do it with
(20:55):
the right support.
Carly Ries (20:56):
That's so funny you said Facebook with a PayPal link
because it really can be thatsimple. But nobody like, people
are like, okay. Well, whatsystems can I get in place? And
it's like, Facebook, PayPal,done.
Karen King (21:08):
And my brain immediately goes to, oh,
because, you know, you can builda website and you can do that,
but that's what I do. And sothat's easy for me. And,
whenever I build something, Iwant it to look super
professional and all of thissort of stuff, but we're just
setting ourselves up to fail. Ifyou're not techy, just keep it
(21:28):
simple. You can make it very,very easy, and it can still look
very professional.
You can jump on Fiverr and get alogo made for $5. You can create
a page on Facebook which hasmessenger so you can
communicate. There's so manydifferent ways you can do it
without it being complicated.
Carly Ries (21:45):
I feel like there are some people listening to
this right now. They're justlike, oh my gosh. I could do
this. It seems attainable. But Ithink there's also kind of a
sense of overwhelm.
Once they realize they can doit, there's also the decision.
And you have kids. You weretalking about world schooling
and I think it's like, yeah,have to run a business but I
(22:06):
also have to book my travel. Ihave to schedule things for the
kids. I do this. And it's a lot.So do you have any tips for
people that are trying to kindof do it all while running a
business if they want to be anescapreneur?
Karen King (22:19):
Yeah. Probably just slow down. I guess one of the
things that I would say is thatwhen you are living a life that
you really enjoy, when you'vebuilt a business that you really
enjoy, it becomes easier. itbecomes instead of, work and
home life. Or for our kids whenwe started world schooling, you
(22:39):
know, pre world schooling, itwas I have to go to school and
learn, and then I get to comehome.
Whereas world schooling was,well, let's just live our lives
and we'll just learn as part ofit. So there wasn't this sort of
negative connotation versus the,you know, I can relax now
because I'm at home. And I thinkthe same goes when it comes to
your business. But what I woulddo is just keep it as simple as
(23:00):
you can. Block out time.
Get the family involved. we do alot with our kids, and quite
often, we get to a new city, andI'm like, okay. So we need to do
something next weekend. You guysgo plan that because I've got
interviews to do this week orwhatever the case may be. I
still do a lot of it because Ireally, really enjoy it.
So for me, the travel part of itand booking flights, that's my,
(23:22):
relaxation, which sounds a bitweird. But, I can spend hours
just sitting there looking atcomparisons and all of these
sorts of things. So get helpwith the things that you don't
need or don't enjoy, and really,lean into the things that you do
enjoy because it gives you moreenergy when you're doing the
things that you love.
Carly Ries (23:40):
We always say flying solo in business doesn't mean
you're alone. And I think that'sanother thing people need to
remember that just becausethey're, like, jet setting and
traveling the world, thatdoesn't mean that they have to
still be doing everything. Theycan have somebody do that, like
help with taxes and accountingand everything.
Joe Rando (23:56):
I like that you said that if you like doing it, even
if it's not something thatnecessarily every other measure
would say to outsource it, do itif you like it. You know what
mean? It's like it's alwaysthis, you know, there's always
this, I don't know, this maththat just says, oh, you
shouldn't be doing that, sothat's not a good use of your
(24:16):
time. But, you know, hey. Youlike booking flight. I kinda get
it too. I kinda like bookingflights as well. I never have
anybody book my flights.
Karen King (24:23):
Yeah.
Joe Rando (24:25):
I always do it myself.
Karen King (24:26):
At the moment, we're building out this summit. And
building these pages, forexample, I so enjoy it. And I
love the creativity of designingit and mapping it out and then
creating the automations in theback end. And I can sit for
hours doing that, but Iabsolutely love it. And you
know, there's that that part ofme, like you said, that people
(24:47):
are saying, oh, it's not a gooduse of your time, but it is
because I really enjoy it. I'dmuch rather have someone else do
other things. You know, I'mpaying my daughter to edit the
videos. I brought a team memberon to find the speakers for our
summit. Do the things that youreally enjoy and find support
for those that don't. I read abook recently, Buy Back Your
(25:09):
Time, by Dan Martell.
And, honestly, it was really eyeopening. Like, it really sort of
talked about everything you kindof know already. But when he
puts it down and says, you don'tneed to be the person cleaning
up your inbox. If you enjoy it,great. If you don't, you can
have somebody for, half theamount that you're worth or a
(25:31):
quarter of the amount thatyou're worth do it for you, and
they'll probably do a better jobof it than you.
So, yeah, do the things youenjoy and let someone else do
the others.
Carly Ries (25:39):
Oh, I feel like that's the perfect place to end
this show. Such great advice.And Karen, you help people find
success in being an escapreneur,whatever version of that is for
that person. So we always askour guests this question, what
is your favorite quote aboutsuccess?
Karen King (25:59):
That's a really good question. I keep circling back
to something that popped into myhead when I first started
traveling, and that was thatlife's too short for ordinary
when extraordinary is an option.And that's kind of the motto I
live by. I didn't wanna wake upat 80 and look back and regret
the way that I'd lived my life.I didn't want the kids to get to
(26:21):
18 and suddenly look back andsay, you know what?
I missed out on all of thattime. success for me is beyond
just the work that I do.Obviously, that's a big part of
what we do, and we need themoney and all of those sorts of
things. But success for me isliving a life that I enjoy and
that, I'm having an impact onother people. So if you can
(26:42):
create a life that'sextraordinary, then I think
you're super successful.
Carly Ries (26:48):
so I'm not gonna show my phone, but I saw this
quote on Instagram, you know,where everything is real? And
it's now my screen saver, but itsays this is the new 1%. It's
waking up early, putting yourfamily first, pursuing their
passions. They don't wait untilretirement to travel. They're
grateful.
(27:08):
They work out. They eat wholenatural foods. Teach their kids
and teach their kids propervalues. I saw that and I was
like, screenshot, save. Becausethat is success now.
I mean to a lot of people,especially solopreneurs. It's
not the big paycheck. It's thelifestyle.
Karen King (27:26):
Yeah. I remember having a conversation years ago.
And, when we first startedtraveling, there wasn't a lot of
money because we made themistake of starting to build the
business after we startedtraveling. I don't recommend
that. But, yeah, there wasn't alot of money, but we didn't have
a lot of money when we wereliving an ordinary life in
Australia.
And I said to my husband, I'dmuch rather be traveling the
(27:47):
world full time doing what we doon not a lot of money than,
being stuck in a nine to fiveliving in the same four walls
with not a lot of money. Sochoice is yours.
Carly Ries (27:58):
Well, Karen, this has been wonderful. Where can
people find you if they want tolearn more?
Karen King (28:04):
Theescapepreneur.com is probably the easiest place.
Easy enough. And we will havethat link in our show notes. But
thank you so so much for comingon the show today. It is very
inspiring.
Thank you for having me. I lovetalking about this stuff.
Carly Ries (28:17):
Great. Well, you're good at it. And listeners, thank
you so much for tuning in. Asalways, we really would love
that five star review. it meansthe world to us.
We love that boost in thealgorithm. So please be sure to
do that. Share this episode witha friend. Subscribe on your
favorite podcast platformincluding YouTube. And we will
see you next time on TheAspiring Solopreneur.
(28:40):
You may be going solo inbusiness, but that doesn't mean
you're alone. In fact, millionsof people are in your shoes,
running a one person businessand figuring it out as they go.
So why not connect with them andlearn from each other's
successes and failures? AtLifeStarr, we're creating a one
person business community whereyou can go to meet and get
advice from other solopreneurs.Be sure to join in on the
(29:01):
conversations atcommunity.lifestarr.com.
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