Today we’d like to introduce you to Raimee Iacofano.
Hi Raimee, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
After graduating from Michigan State University in three years and immediately getting a corporate marketing job, I quickly realized how unhappy I was working in an office and decided I would do anything to work remotely and travel.
My story isn’t an uncommon one — I don’t really think anyone is “meant” to work in an office job staring at a computer for 8 hours. However, growing up in Michigan, I didn’t really know there were other options until I took my first trip abroad and met people who were working online & traveling at the same time.
Once I saw this type of job as a possibility, I did everything I could to network with travel bloggers, remote workers, and “digital nomads” so that I could make their lifestyle my reality. I started by taking on a lot of freelance jobs to get started in the remote workspace.
Then, after a few months and a lot of follow-up, I got a remote job with a huge travel blogger, Nomadic Matt. I worked as his social media manager and content director for about 4 years until the pandemic hit.
I absolutely LOVED this job because I was able to travel all over the world while working remotely and creating content. I even had one of my travel photographs chosen as the cover art of a novel, had my photos featured in The Washington Post, and got to speak at a big travel event called TravelCon.
But once travel disappeared in 2020, I was let go from that job and found myself lacking purpose since travel had been my life. I got a different remote job in the online education space and continued to explore LA as best I could under all the restrictions of those years.
Once travel started to “make a comeback” in late 2021, I began sharing all of my old travel tips & tricks on TikTok and a few of my videos took off with over 4 million views. It was crazy because for so long I’d been sharing travel tips and content through someone else, but I finally found my own voice in the space with TikTok (and eventually my Instagram as well!)
Now I have an awesome community of travel lovers on both Tiktok & Instagram! I share a ton of budget travel & travel planning tips that have helped thousands of people travel smarter.
In addition to my social media side hustle, I also work full-time as the Head of Content for an AMAZING company called onomy.co — we teach people the things they wish they learned in school through fun content taught by creators & experts.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not! I don’t think I would be where I currently am without the struggles I’ve endured along the way.
Some highlights of those struggles include: crying every day after leaving my corporate job, getting rejected by hundreds of remote jobs before landing the one that would change my life, getting a very rare sickness whilst traveling in Africa that put me in the ER for 3 days, countless lonely nights where I questioned everything, feeling lost with no true home, losing my dream travel job because of the pandemic, and sooo much more.
Even now with the “success” I’ve found, I continue to struggle with the constant paradox of choice in this life: what I want to do with my platforms, my career, the ways in which I want to serve others, etc. But hey, I think that’s a part of the journey, too!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My social media work includes my @raimeetravel platforms on Tiktok & Instagram where I share realistic travel tips, advice, and lessons learned after my travels to over 35+ countries.
I like to think my content is different in a way because I don’t just share pretty travel photos and “inspo”, I try to share very practical tips that can help people actually plan a trip, save money, or have an incredibly unique experience. I strive to be ultra-specific & give people real tools to make more travel happen in their life!
The coolest opportunity I’ve had since starting my social media channels has been collaborating on a budget travel series with Good Morning America (they featured me across all their platforms and website!) & working with Google and Adobe on some cool travel planning-related campaigns.
I also recently created and released a guided travel journal to help you record your travels in a meaningful & simple way. I always regretted not journaling on my trips, so this journal is going to help people do that! It’s like the Five Minute Journal, but for travel! You can check it out at rememberyourtravels.com
My full-time job is as Head of Content for onomy, where I produce educational content with some of the internet’s top creators to teach people the things they wish they learned in school like taxes, investing, career readiness, personal development and more!
I absolutely love my job and it’s one of the reasons why I don’t want to take my social media presence “full-time” — I really love what I do! My favorite project right now is a podcast I produce with Devon Werkheiser (star of Neds Declassified School Survival Guide) called Growing Up with Devon, where he talks to a ton of interesting people to learn from them about life, growing up, and more. It’s like the adulthood survival guide we all need!
What does success mean to you?
Simple: keeping promises to myself.
For me, success really isn’t about money or fame or influence. Success is about counting on myself to do the things I set out to do: to do meaningful work, to show up for my friends & family, and overall to just be a good person. My main goal is to always impact others in a positive way, no matter how small.
If I can do that in some way each day, I feel successful.
Contact Info:
- Website: Doitallabroad.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/raimeetravel
- Other: Tiktok.com/@raimeetravels
Image Credits
Abby Gordon Photos
