Episode #14: Social Impact Nomadism, Empowering Ugandan Artisans, and Solo-Traveling the World on Passive Rental Income with Stella Airoldi

Episode Summary

Stella Airoldi begins by explaining why she chose to invest in rental properties and how her lifestyle expenses are now covered by her passive rental income. She then shares her journey beginning with her choice to solo-travel the world and how she was regularly confronted with poverty and injustice, raising her social and political consciousness and inspiring her to pursue dual Masters Degrees in International Law and Human Rights and Democracy. Her passion for children’s rights then led her to Uganda with an academic focus on the rights of girl child soldiers. She explains how her time in Uganda allowed her to meet a talented Ugandan artisan, Susan Laker, who was an illiterate, impoverished, HIV-positive mother of 3, who inspired her tremendously. She explains how she and Susan developed a close personal friendship and eventually a business relationship that led to the launch of 22 Stars Jewelry. Stella then discusses the creation of the 22 Stars Foundation that now sends over 300 kids to school, provides a hot meal, runs after school programs, and provides small business training and micro-loans for local Ugandan businesses. She then explains the social impact “co-workations” that she organizes to bring location independent entrepreneurs to experience Uganda and participate first hand in the 22 Stars project. Stella then talks about why she travels, how it has contributed to her personal development, and shares stories about how she used Tinder for alternative purposes while solo-traveling through Africa. She explains how she deals with stress and optimizes productivity, and shares her top tips for female solo travelers.

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What You'll Learn

How to setup and run a “social impact business” as a digital nomad
The crucial importance of finding your ‘why’ and building your entrepreneurial venture around something that affects positive change in the world
The number one safety tip for solo female travelers

Links From the Episode

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STELLAS WEBSITES:

22 Stars Social Impact Workations in Uganda (Use the Code “Maverick” for a $50 Discount)
22 Stars Jewelry
22 Stars Foundation

BOTTLE OF WINE SHARED IN THIS EPISODE:

Catalonian Red Blend

BOOK STELLA RECOMMENDS:

The Power of Now

APP STELLA RECOMMENDS:

Slack

LOCATION WHERE THE EPISODE WAS RECORDED:

Barcelona, Spain

PLACE WHERE STELLA BORN:

Germany

STELLA’S TOP TRAVEL RECOMMENDATIONS:

STELLA’S TOP BUCKET LIST DESTINATIONS:

OTHER PLACES MENTIONED

Check Flight Prices to Any of These Destinations

FOLLOW STELLA

Instagram

Time Stamped Show Notes

[03:14] HOW STELLA STRUCTURES HER DIGITAL NOMAD LIFESTYLE

Matt and Stella talk about the Home Base Global program
Stella talks about how she designs her lifestyle and travel itinerary
Stella explains what she loves about the Nomad Cruise and why she has been on every one

[06:41] HOW STELLA FINANCES HER WORLD TRAVEL WITH HER PASSIVE RENTAL INCOME

Why Stella chose to invest in real estate as opposed to other asset classes
Where Stella’s rental properties are located
How Stella uses her rental property income to finance her world travel

[10:10] MATT TALKS ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES IN UGANDA

Matt shares his experience of his first visit to Kampala, Uganda
He describes the Ugandan night life and the music played at Ugandan nightclubs
Matt describes the diverse religious architecture and the cultural performances he saw
He shares his experience going to see the source of the Nile River in Jinja, Uganda

[15:16] STELLA’S ACADEMIC BACKGROUND IN INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

Stella talks about why she chose to study international law
She shares how she developed her passion for children’s rights
Stella explains how her travels raised her social and political consciousness
Stella explains how all of her interests and passions led her to Uganda in 2009

[20:05] STELLA SHARES HER ACADEMIC FOCUS ON GIRL CHILD SOLIDERS IN UGANDA

Stella summarizes the recent political conflict dynamics in Uganda
She explains her academic focus on girl child soldiers in the LRA in Uganda
She talks about her choice to do two master’s degrees and explains her two theses

[24:32] STELLA SHARES HER PERSONAL AND BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH SUSAN LAKER

Stella talks about her experience volunteering at the AIDS information center
She talks about meeting Susan Laker and being emotionally moved by Susan’s story
How Susan’s jewelry making stills attracted attention despite her being illiterate
How Stella began a business relationship with Susan selling hand-made jewelry
How Susan learned English with her jewelry business revenue
How Stella decided to support Ugandan artisans to sell their jewelry worldwide
How Stella’s 22 Stars social jewelry business was born

[40:00] STELLA’S ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY IN FOUNDING 22 STARS JEWELRY

Stella explains how she taught herself to build a business
She talks about the importance for her to empower the local communities
She explains how she got customer feedback and refined her product and marketing
How Stella learned about the crucial importance of customer service
How Stella learned about the importance of segmenting target markets
What she learned at Calvin Klein about what she wants and doesn’t want in her company

[57:44] STELLA’S DECISION TO FOUND OF THE 22 STARS FOUNDATION

How and why she decided to found the 22 Stars Foundation
How the synergy works between the business and the foundation
How the foundation operates with recurring financial commitments from sponsors
How much the different sponsorship levels cost and what they provide

[01:08:57] STELLA’S SOCIAL IMPACT “CO-WORKATIONS” IN UGANDA

She talks about her decision to start organizing social impacts of “Co-workations”
Dispelling myths about Uganda and challenging the ‘white savior complex’
Volunteering in solidarity with an empowerment (not a victim/savior) framework
The importance of reciprocal both skill shares and cultural exchanges
The ethics of volunteering with communities in struggle

[01:18:39] STELLA’S TRAVEL STORIES AND THE VALUE SHE HAS FOUND IN TRAVELING

Stella talks about her own personal development experiences through travel
She shares the story of how she used Tinder while under high-security curfew in Mali

[01:25:44] HOW STELLA DEALS WITH STRESS AND OPTIMIZES HER PRODUCTIVTY

Stella shares how her stress level has declined dramatically over the years
The changes she made in her own life to significantly reduce her stress

[1:29:09] SECURITY PRECAUTIONS FOR SOLO TRAVELERS

Stella’s #1 security tip for solo-female-travelers
Why ‘preparation’ is overrated as a security precaution

[01:32:17] THE LIGHTNING ROUND

Stella’s #1 book recommendation
Stella’s #1 app recommendation
The advice Stella would give to her 20-year-old self
Stella’s Top 3 travel destinations
Stella’s Top 3 bucket list destinations
How Stella sees the digital nomad eco-system evolving

[01:42:14] HOW TO CONTACT STELLA

How to follow Stella on social media
How to get involved in Stella’s projects

About the Guest

Stella Airoldi

Stella Airoldi is the founder of 22STARS Jewelry, a product-based business model which empowers local Ugandan artisans to rise above poverty. She is also the founder of 22STARS Foundation, a donation-based model which carries out social development programs in Uganda on a larger scale. She also runs “social impact workations” for location independent entrepreneurs and change-makers to experience Uganda through fun and adventurous activities and to participate in the 22STARS projects first hand and learn how to empower people on the ground with dignity and respect through skill sharing. Her jewelry designs are inspired by her nomadic travels around the world and in particular her adventures in more than 20 African countries. Stella holds a dual Masters Degree in International Law and Human Rights and Democracy, and has been a digital nomad for over 8 years, having spent time in over 60 countries. Born in Germany and raised mostly in the Netherlands, she speaks fluent German, Dutch and English.