Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Kolbye.
Amanda, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
After graduating university, I got a corporate IT sales job but knew that it wasn’t the path I wanted to continue going down. I only knew two things, I wanted to travel and live abroad, and I wanted to work for myself. So I quit my corporate job, moved to Thailand, and started dabbling in entrepreneurship. I ran a design business solely online for a few months before realizing my passion and zone of genius was in business and marketing. Now I am a business and marketing coach for service-based entrepreneurs who are looking to start or scale their online business so that they can live a freedom-based laptop lifestyle.
I myself travel full time around the world (although I was born in Orange County) and have lived in Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bali, Croatia and several other places over the past two years while building up multiple businesss. In a little over a year, I have scaled my coaching business to over half a million and served over 100+ clients. I am so excited to see how it continues to grow from here. I see this freedom lifestyle full of travel and entrepreneurship as a movement in the education realm, workforce and with the things the newer generations value and I am so excited to be a leader in the online business and coaching space as it grows over the next few years!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. One of the biggest struggles in the beginning was “shiny object syndrome,” meaning I got easily distracted by new ideas and wanted to try everything. I tried to be a travel blogger, dropshipping, social media manager and many other ventures during my first few months. I learned that while it is important to dream big and dive in, you ultimately have to choose one thing to funnel all of your energy and focus on in order to be successful. It is important to know that that “one thing” can be a stepping stone to something else but you will not move forward with your business or ventures if your energy and focus are too scattered.
Since I travel full time as well, I also struggle with work-life balance in a new way. Being a digital nomad means that I live in a new country or city every few months and have to adjust to new cultures, languages and constantly be searching for the best wifi. I had to learn how to balance work and travel and to prioritize my business first as it was growing. It was very exciting to live in new countries but the goal was to create a long-term sustainable business and lifestyle so that I can live and work anywhere I want in the world forever – and in the beginning, that meant more work than travel.
Alright – so let’s talk business. What else should we know about you and your career so far?
My business is a business and marketing coaching business and I coach and mentor service-based entrepreneurs who are looking to start or scale their own online business in order to live a freedom and location independent lifestyle. I specialize in building and establishing a personal brand online, social media marketing, business logistics and systems, as well as shifting your mindset and confidence to feel truly aligned in your business and life. One thing that is unique about my business is that I market myself solely through organic social media marketing and get almost 100% of my clients from Instagram. I also work with clients all over the world who are building their own online businesses from places such as Israel, Slovakia, Venezuela, England, and Vietnam to name a few. This is truly an international business that allows me to learn, connect and mentor business owners everywhere. I myself also travel full time since all I need is wifi to run my business. I have been living in Southeast Asia for the past year and a half in places such as Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Bali.
I am most proud of my signature group coaching program Laptop Lifestyle Bootcamp which is a 12-week group program for new or aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to get their online business off of the ground and need help with everything from A to Z as far as how to run a business and set themselves up for long term success. In this program, we cover everything from taxes, budgeting, time management, personal branding, ideal client, offers, pitching, onboarding, social media marketing and more. The reason I am so proud of this program is because there is no other program or course out there for new entrepreneurs that is this in-depth or high touch and combines not only course material but also a tight-knit group and a highly involved coach to ensure you are prepared and confident to run your dream business.
My company is all about a freedom lifestyle. While I am a business coach, the goal, and my passion, lies in helping people realize that they don’t have to walk that normal path of getting married, having kids, and working a 9-5 office job for the rest of their lives. My goal and my business help people create a life that they WANT by building an online business that supports their ideal lifestyle through location, time, and location freedom.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I would have hired a coach and bought a fast track course from day one. I spent six months after quitting my corporate job aimlessly searching for what to do. I spent 24/7 trying to Google everything and figure it out on my own and got nowhere. Once I decided on one idea, focused all my time and energy on one thing, and signed up for a course/coach, my energy, focus, and momentum skyrocketed my business forward. I grew a half a million-dollar business in a little over a year.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.amandakolbye.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @amandakolbye
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amandakolbyecoaching
Image Credit:
Derek Simpson took all photos (https://dereksimpsonphotography.com/)
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