Matt Bowles: My guest today is Hannah Dixon, the founder of Digital Nomad Kit and the creator of the Virtual Excellence Academy where she has empowered thousand freelancers worldwide through her integrative teaching style and community driven initiatives. Hannah is known for her unmatched ability to deeply connect people beyond the professional, creating inclusive communities that inspire belonging and well-being while empowering learners to build thriving independent businesses. Hannah views digital skills and self-leadership as potent tools for social change and partners with NGOs to get her training in the hands of people who need it most. She is also the founder of Rainbow Remote, a fast-growing community that elevates LGBTQIA remote professionals. She has been a digital nomad since 2008 and is a sought-after keynote speaker on stages around the world. She has been featured in publications like Business Insider, Entrepreneur, Forbes and she was recently awarded Excellence in Community Management and a lifetime achievement award at the very first Nomad Awards ceremony.
Hannah, welcome back to the Maverick Show.
Hannah Dixon: Thank you so much for having. It’s also wonderful to hear your own bio, isn’t it?
Matt Bowles: Well, you have an amazing bio because you have been up to so much amazing stuff, and it has been two years since we did our first interview on The Maverick Show. For anybody that did not hear that interview, we will link it up in the show notes. Definitely want people to check that out. We went through your whole backstory and a lot of your amazing travel experiences. But today we are going to talk about what has happened since the last interview. But let’s just start off by setting the scene and talking about where we are recording from today. I am actually in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, and we need to tell people that we have agreed to make this a virtual wine night. So, let’s talk about what we’re drinking. I have opened a bottle of Barolo from the Piemonte region in Italy. So, I’m going to be drinking through that this evening. But where are you, Hannah, and what are you drinking?
Hannah Dixon: I am in Guanajuato, Mexico, and I am drinking a bottle of very cheap Sauvignon Blanc from Chile.
Matt Bowles: A nice choice. You cannot go wrong Chilean wines are some of my favorites. So that is an excellent one. I feel like we should begin this conversation with the trip that you just got back from, because you just went for your very first time to one of my all-time favorite countries in the world, Brazil. Can you share a little bit about what you were doing in Brazil and then what the experience was like? What was your first impression, your first time going to Brazil?
Hannah Dixon: We had talked about Brazil, I think, in Lisbon last year, and you had told me it was one of your favorite places because it was one of the most beautiful places you’ve been to. I think you compared it to Cape Town in terms of beauty. My first impression was, wow, this really is as gorgeous as Matt said. So, I was in Rio for just under two weeks. It was a short trip this time. I want to go back. I need to go back. There’s so much more to see and do. But I was there for a conference for The Nomad World where I was speaking. So, I did kind of have my hands busy with that. But I did manage to get to the beach a little, do a few of the tourist spots. I need to get back and I need to dig my nails in deeper and see more of this amazing country. But my main impressions are gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. Amazing people love the samba, and I need to get back there asap.
Matt Bowles: Well, let’s talk about the conference you were at. Big shout out, first of all, to Gonçalo Hall, who Maverick Show listeners know because he’s been on the podcast. Can you share a little bit about what the conference was all about, what scope of the event was, and then share a little bit first maybe about your keynote talk and what that was about.
Hannah Dixon: The Nomad World is for digital nomads, or aspiring digital nomads, remote entrepreneurs, to connect, collaborate, all those kinds of things. I think what I really like about what Gonçalo’s doing is he’s trying to get Rio on the map for nomads. What I did find, I’d say this is one of the cons that I found in Rio specifically was the infrastructure didn’t seem quite ready for Nomads. So, I think he’s trying to change that narrative and introduce people to the co-working spaces and entrepreneurs and initiatives that are going on there. So that was a very cool experience. My talks, I did a keynote on advanced freelancer strategies, so how to make your career more sustainable, ways to diversify in your income, that kind of thing. And then I also was on a panel about the future of digital nomadism, which I was skeptical about being on, if I’m honest. And then it turned out I had a lot to say once I was up there.
Matt Bowles: Talk a little bit about the panel because it actually turned out that there were a number of other Maverick Show guests who were at that conference and speaking at that conference. Jordan Carroll was one of them, for example. Can you share a little bit about who was on that panel and then what some of the discussion topics were, how the conversation went?
Hannah Dixon: Sure. Have you ever been to one of Gonçalo ‘s events? Because when he does these panels, he always gives a disclaimer. No one recording anyone says what they want to say, which I like. And I got up there and it was Christopher Dodd from Chris The Freelancer. Gonzalo was hosting. And of course, Jordan, as you mentioned, maybe Jordan and Chris, who are both on the panel, have been nomads for a long time, like myself. Maybe it’s the age bracket we’re in or the amount of time we’ve been doing this, but all of us came to the conclusion that we’re finding nomad life to be much more fruitful while having a base.
I think the main point for all of us, in different ways, completely different ways, but was having some kind of sense of community. And while I have had that, I’ve had that virtually, I’ve had that in person. I’ve had that as I’ve traveled around the world. I go back to the same places often, often to see friends and people in places that I’ve connected to. And this was my personal take. Having a place where our connections aren’t based on business and or travel somehow has felt deeper for me and felt more fulfilling and allowed me to grow in different ways as a person. I feel like my identity was very much wrapped around being a traveler, being an entrepreneur.
And so, to be able to be here and to connect with people in a completely different way and feel so connected to them that I don’t really want to leave. I think that was my standpoint. I know for Jordan, he created some amazing things in Colombia, and he just needs to be there now. And he loves it. I know for Chris, it’s been similar. He found love, he found community in one place, and yet we all still want to travel. And I think one of the other discussion points was really how it’s changing the nomad space. And I think it’s changing in a way that we’re seeing more sustainable communities popping up, more niche communities. I don’t know if you’ve heard of rural in Spain was a really good example of that.
But people who are not necessarily traveling in the way that maybe we have been traveling in the past, moving more quickly, going from place to place, exploring new places all the time, but maybe coming back to a more simple way of life while still using technology to have an income from anywhere, but coming into places where we can connect around shared values. I always use rural as an example because I think they’re doing such a great job of that and seeking out those things that I think and that a lot of people in that panel were talking about. I think we’ve lost as humans, which is being in smaller communities. Have you ever read the book Sex at Dawn?
Matt Bowles: No.
Hannah Dixon: It’s kind of about polyamory and how we live in communities and stuff like that. But one of the core themes of it is talking about how we can’t sustain a community after 150 people. And that after 150 people is where you start getting wars and disagreements about ownership of land and that kind of thing. And I think that actually, historically, we always say, like, humans are inherently aggressive, or humans are inherently possessive over land and possessions and stuff. We’re not actually. We weren’t at all. It’s something that happened when we started getting land ownership and agriculture, that kind of stuff. So, I think that the digital world is allowing us to come back into smaller communities like this that are far more intentional. And that’s what I see the trend has been for the last couple of years in the nomad space, and maybe that’s just in my circles, but it was echoed by the other people on that panel as well.
Matt Bowles: So, for you at this point, and you’ve been digital nomading since 2008, which is five years before I started. So, what for you at this point in your journey is feeling like the ideal travel lifestyle? How much to be at your base, how much to be traveling around the world? How are you structuring your lifestyle this year?
Hannah Dixon: So, I’m spending A month at home and then a month away. Month at home, month away. Obviously, it changes around conference season. You’ve got your shoulder seasons where maybe I’m away for two months at a time, three months at a time. When I saw you in Bangkok, I think I was away for a three month stretch and then I spent two months at home, then I was away for a month. So, it changes. It changes, but I’m in and out.
Matt Bowles: Well, let’s talk about Bangkok and some of the other places we’ve hung out together around the world since our last interview. Maybe give folks a little bit of background about why Thailand is so special for you and your travel journey and why you’re so intentional about returning to Thailand every year.
Hannah Dixon: Yeah, it was the first place I ever traveled outside of Europe when I was young and I think it just blew my mind, and I loved it so much and I just always gravitated back to it. I have so many great friends there now and like I said, for me, community has always been essential. And so, for me to go back there, it feels like a coming home when I go there. I intentionally make time to go there every single year. It doesn’t matter what the rest of the plans are, what anyone else wants to do. I am carving out my one or two months in Bangkok on my own every year because it just is a place where I feel like I can rejuvenate. I feel like I just get everything I need for the rest of the year, creativity wise, inspiration wise. I get that amazing connection with my friends there. So, it’s just a place. It’s like one of my soul places.
Matt Bowles: So, this past year you and I met up in Bangkok and we both were at The Extraordinary Travel Festival, which is an event once every two years put on by Ric Gazarian, the Global Gaz who Maverick Show listeners know because he has been on the podcast and we met up there. What was your experience at the ETF?
Hannah Dixon: I came to support you. I came to see you. Of course I got more out of it, but the highlight for me really was seeing you on the stage and speak so passionately about your experiences about Palestine, about everything that’s important to you. That was honestly, I think the most impactful part of that experience for me. I made some good friends there, but that was really why I went and that was the biggest takeaway was seeing you shine.
Matt Bowles: Well, it meant a lot to me to have you there and thank you very much for your kind words and all of your support. It was super fun to hang out with you there and get to meet people. I feel like the folks that came out to that event, it was a very different crowd than comes to a lot of the digital Nomad events, because the concept of the ETF is that it is for people who have either already been to every country in the world or people that are actively pursuing the goal of traveling to every single country in the world, which is a very different type of travel framework and goal than a lot of the digital nomads that come to a lot of these other conferences.
And so, for me, it was very interesting. I’ve interviewed a number of people that I met at that event on The Maverick Show since then and have had some really, really interesting conversations and some really interesting connections with people. So that only happens once every two years. And it was super fun that we were both able to be there and hang out with folks in Bangkok. And then shortly after that, I saw you again on another continent. We were able to meet up in Lisbon, in Portugal. And do you want to talk about what you were up to in Portugal?
Hannah Dixon: Sure. Yeah. That was a quick passing ships type moment. I was in Lisbon because I was passing through on my way to Madeira for Nomad Island Fest, where I was also running Vacation. That’s an event I run every year for VAs and freelancers to connect in person. So, we had met, I think it was the day before. We flew to Madeira with our little vacation crew at timeout Market. We had a meal, we had a hug, and it was good times.
Matt Bowles: I love meeting the people that are in your communities and your networks, and it was just so great. I happened to be there, and you’re like, yeah, just come through, come out. We got a whole crew here at Timeout Market. We’re all getting our food and stuff. And so, I had an amazing dinner and such wonderful conversations with all of the people that were part of that event. So that was super special.
Hannah Dixon: We saw each other at the airport, too. I forgot that. And then we’re like, oh, he’s so well dressed.
Matt Bowles: That is right. And we also saw each other at two different travel conferences in the United States. The first one was Nomadness Fest. Big shout out to Evita Robinson, who organizes that event, founder of Nomadness Travel Tribe, who has been on the podcast first give folks context of what the conference is, and then what was your experience like there?
Hannah Dixon: So, the conference is primarily aimed at BIPOC travelers and the unique experiences that they have traveling. I think you invited me. Did you invite me to that? I’m pretty sure you did.
Matt Bowles: I did.
Hannah Dixon: And I had a bunch of friends there attending already. So, I was like, this seems like a no brainer for me. I just would never have gone to. And I still can’t say the name of that city properly. Loville. I still can’t say it. How do you say it?
Matt Bowles: It’s a city in Kentucky that starts with the letter L.
Hannah Dixon: That’s the one.
Matt Bowles: Louisville.
Hannah Dixon: Louisville. Someone told me, say it like you have marbles in your mouth.
Matt Bowles: Louisville.
Hannah Dixon: Yeah. I don’t know when I would have gone there. So that was an experience in itself to be in that city. I think we went to the Roots Museum as well. That was really insightful. I’m on the newsletter, by the way. You should get on the newsletter. It’s incredible. Just the stuff they share on there. I really enjoyed that experience. I had a really good time there. I think I enjoyed that the most of all the events I went to that year.
Matt Bowles: Yeah, it’s an amazing conference and you and I are friends with a bunch of folks. Libryia Jones, shout out to Libryia, who was a speaker there and has been a dear friend of both of ours for many years. She’s been on The Maverick Show as well. And I feel like, though, we have to tell the story of the bar that we went to with Vanessa Fondeur, who Maverick Show listeners also know, founder of Latino Travel Fest, who was out with us that night. And we’re in Kentucky and do you want to just tell the story of what happened and where we wound up?
Hannah Dixon: I could tell the parts I remember we went from, I think was it the after party we were at? For no Madness. We were at some sort of party, and we left, and we were like, we want to stay out. We want to go somewhere fun. We’re walking, we’re trying to find a place. We walked past what is. I would consider it to be pretty much like a cowboy bar.
Matt Bowles: It was definitely a cowboy bar. And it was me, it was you, Vanessa Fondeur, Alex Jimenez was with us. Maverick Show listeners know Alex Jimenez, travel fashion girl. Shout out to her. So, this is like our crew. We just kind of like wander away from the conference and then all of a sudden end up in this cowboy bar where, like everybody’s wearing cowboy hats, they have a mechanical bull. It’s like the centerpiece of this thing. And so, we’re all there, we’re talking. I say to Vanessa, because I wasn’t standing next to you at this moment. And I say to Vanessa, would you be willing to ride the Mechanical bull. And she says, yeah, I think that would be something I would do, but I feel like I would need a cowboy hat or something to do that. It’s like, yeah, you definitely need a cowboy hat. I was like, looking at how many people around this bar or wearing cowboy hats. Surely someone would be willing to lend you their cowboy hat in exchange for being able to watch you attempt for the first time ever to ride a mechanical bull. That seems like a reasonable exchange.
So, I’m like, let me just go up and ask a few of these people if they would lend you their cowboy hat. I go up to a bunch of these people, and I explained the situation. Would you lend her your hat to ride the bull? And people were just staring me down.
Hannah Dixon: Stone faces.
Matt Bowles: They were just like, absolutely not. I mean, they were not entertained by this. They were not smiling at this. They were not remotely willing to consider doing that. It was like an absolute hard no. Why would you even ask me that question? And I was like, whoa, this is, like, super difficult. I kind of thought it wouldn’t be that hard. And then Hannah Dixon walks in you. I feel like this have so much charm that emanates from you that I feel like it doesn’t matter where. It doesn’t matter who. You just are able to charm people, I feel like, is what it is.
Hannah Dixon: I appreciate that. I’ve noticed that gift in myself. I wouldn’t have done what I did otherwise.
Matt Bowles: And what did you do?
Hannah Dixon: Well, I said, I got this. I walked straight up to the first guy and was like, hello, kind sir. Could I please borrow your cowboy hat? And he just gave it to me.
Matt Bowles: I know. It was amazing. It was amazing. I mean, I’m getting rejected by everybody. She walks up to one person and comes back with the cowboy hat. It was incredible. And then shout out to Vanessa.
Hannah Dixon: Yes.
Matt Bowles: Because she put that cowboy hat on, and she rode. She did the mechanical bull for a solid two seconds before she got bucked off the front of it, flew over the top. So, it was. It was pretty. It was a pretty amazing night.
Hannah Dixon: It was.
Matt Bowles: So the other event that you and I attended together that I feel we need to talk about is the WITS Travel Creator Summit, which last year, when we were there, was out in Utah. Can you share a bit about how the WITS Travel Summit was for you and what that event is all about?
Hannah Dixon: My understanding is that it’s geared towards travel content creators, so a little bit out of my wheelhouse, but I learned a great deal of stuff there, which benefited me because I’ve had some paid brand deals. As a result of the things, I learned going there, I made some good friends there. Obviously, you were there. We had a great time. Salt Lake City was cool. I don’t think you came with us that way. We went to a gay bar across from the venue. We saw an amazing drag show. I did not expect to see that in downtown Salt Lake City. Amazing. So much fun. Another place that I would go back to, which I would never have gone to otherwise.
Matt Bowles: There was so much amazingness about Salt Lake City, Utah that I did not expect. I was taking Ubers around the city. And just like when I’m traveling around the world, always talk to your Uber driver because they probably have an interesting story. I had Uber drivers that were from Iran, Uber drivers that were from Palestine. I went to a taco shop on the corner run by all Colombian folks that had just moved there. So, I’m speaking Spanish with them in my broken Spanish the same way that I would if I was in a Spanish speaking country. And they’re speaking back to me in Spanish. And it was like, is this really Salt Lake City?
And then I went to, to a wine bar in Salt Lake City that was one of the most incredible. I have not seen a wine bar like this, of this type outside of maybe a couple places in Europe. I have seen this. And the way that they do this is that they have. You know, there are these things now for wine bottles that used to be like, way back in the day, if you open a bottle of wine, you got to drink it or, you know, or sell like all the glasses of it within a few days, right. Otherwise, the wine will go bad, right. Which is why they don’t open really expensive bottles. And you can only buy them by the bottle. And only the glasses are only the really cheap wines.
Well, the concept of this wine bar in Salt Lake City that I’ve only seen a couple of places in the world is that they now have these. I think Corvina is the brand that makes these. And it allows you to push this thing through the cork and like, like pour a glass of wine and then pull it back out and the cork stays in the bottle. And that allows you to basically make the bottle last for like six months or something like that instead of three days. Right. And so, what you can do with that and what this wine bar was doing is it’s okay. We have this massive wine list. The same way you would go into like a beer bar that’s got like, we got 287 types of beers from all over the world, right. Imagine that. It’s like a wine list of all these different types of wines.
And normally the really expensive ones that you could only order by the bottle, you cannot just get them by the glass, but you can get them in a one ounce tasting flight. So, if you were curious and you were like, I wonder, what would a $400 bottle of Burgundy taste like? Who would pay $400 for a bottle of wine? What would that be like? I’ve never had a. A Burgundy Grand Cru, but I could try a 1-ounce taste of it. I’ll try that, you know? And so, yeah, it was, like, amazing, right? So, I went there with one of my friends that I met at the event, and we went out there, and the owner was behind the bar. He was also like the sommelier. And he’s like, yeah, this has been my dream for so many years. You’ve actually just walked into the soft opening. Like, we’re not even fully open yet. I was like, that’s crazy. And so, we were just talking with him about wine, and of course, we traveled all over the world because we’re nomads and travelers, and we’ve been to all these wine regions.
And so, we’re talking to him about our experience in the wine regions of the wines that he’s selling and stuff like that. And so, it was wild. And then I was just like, is this Salt Lake City? I’ve just had tacos speaking only Spanish with the people that work there. I’ve just been in a cab with an Iranian Uber driver, and now I’m at this wine bar drinking Burgundy in Salt Lake City. This was not my impression of Salt Lake City, Utah. Right. And so that’s one of the reasons why it’s so important to go to those kinds of places. I mean, it was amazing.
Hannah Dixon: Absolutely. Yeah. I need to go to that wine bar now. I didn’t know you did that.
Matt Bowles: It was pretty spectacular. So, yeah, shout out to Salt Lake City, and you and I are both going back to WITS this year. And this time, 2025, it’s going to be in downtown New York City.
Hannah Dixon: Yes. I’m very excited for that. I am extremely excited for that.
Matt Bowles: And by the way, if anybody listening is interested in coming to meet us in New York and attend the Wits conference, I actually have a special discount for you. And shout out to Beth Santos, the founder of the wonderful community that puts on the Wits conference. She has been on The Maverick show twice, and she has offered all the listeners a discount of $75 and you can get that. If you would like to meet me and Hannah and Beth and a whole bunch of other amazing people, you can get that at themaverickshow.com/wits. And the event is happening in May 2025 in New York City. And then if you do grab a ticket, just shoot me a message on Instagram at maverickshowpod. Shoot me a DM, let me know you’re going to be there, and we’ll make plans to link up.
Hannah Dixon: I was just going to say, you go to all these events, you should just do Maverick Show meetups. Like, you should do like a Maverick meetup.
Matt Bowles: I totally should, because all my podcast guests roll out to these events too. I mean, there’s going to be a whole bunch of Maverick Show guests at the WITS event.
Hannah Dixon: Exactly. Do an official meetup.
Matt Bowles: I should do an official meetup.
Hannah Dixon: You should.
Matt Bowles: Yeah. Shout out to that idea. Like that. I will see. Yeah. If anybody listening is coming to WITS, shoot me a DM and let me know if you’d like to do a meetup. And if people would like to do a meetup, we will absolutely do a Maverick Show guest slash listener meetup or however that takes shape. But, yeah, shoot me a DM at maverickshowpod on Instagram and let me know if you would like to do a meetup.
I also wanted to ask you, Hannah, I know that we talked about the history of Thailand being so significant in your travel journey, and I know you also went missing many years ago to Cambodia, and that that has had a recurring significance in your journey and your heart and all of those things as well. And I feel like Cambodia gets less discussion and focus than Thailand does oftentimes. But can you share a little bit about your experience in Cambodia and your ongoing connection with that country?
Hannah Dixon: Sure. So, Cambodia was also one of the first countries I went to. You know, when you’re young, you do the backpacker route with Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, that kind of thing. Cambodia, I spent a significant amount of time in when I was, I think I was 20 years old. And I met a guy called, Umnah, there, shout out to Umnah. He’s amazing. And if you ever go to Siem Reap and you need a tour guide, you want someone help you with absolutely anything in that city. Um, is your go to guy, and I could get you connected to him. We became pretty good friends. We spent a couple of months together in Cambodia. I met his family.
We toured all over the country together. And when I got back to the U.K., he had an unfortunate turn of events where he had lost his Tuk Tuk. I don’t remember how I think it was stolen, but he lost his Tuk Tuk, which was his means of support. And so, we set up a crowdfunding and we got him a new Tuk Tuk. And it actually was a friend of my mom’s. She was going to Cambodia. We couldn’t wire the money. He didn’t have an account, so I had to send her with cash. And then she had to get it in the local currency and then find him and give it to him in a cafe. And they sent a picture like, we got the money. So, he got himself a new Tuk Tuk, started his business again.
Okay, skip forward a few years. I’m living in Thailand with one of my friends, and my friend has fallen on very hard times. I wasn’t in the country at the time. I was traveling, but I had a base in Thailand. She fell on very hard times, didn’t have access to her bank account, and found herself in Cambodia. And I was like, wow, my very good friend can probably help you out with something. Contacted Um immediately, picked her up from the center of the city, took her way back out into the countryside and put her up for three weeks in his home living with him. And I just thought that was such a beautify, full circle moment in my travel experience with these amazing connections that you make in the world. And then at the end of her stay, finally some money was wired to her, and she was able to take out, I think it was like 30 of the children from the village to the cinema in Siem Reap.
And since then, we’ve just been such good friends, and our lives just keep bumping into one another in interesting ways. I just think it’s such a nice thing to do when you keep going back to the same places and having these connections and growing these connections and seeing how you can benefit one another long term. I mean, I mean, that’s friendship, right? But international friendship is always so much more fun.
Matt Bowles: That’s so amazing. And I feel like you attract such incredible people into your ecosystem and into your orbit and into your world. You have introduced me to so many amazing people over the years. In fact, since the last episode, one of the people that you introduced me to that I interviewed on The Maverick Show was Lumjana Shehu in Albania. And that was an amazing episode. If anybody has not listened to that, we’ll link it up in the show notes. Definitely go and check that out. But can you share a little bit about what you have been up to in Albania and with the Manabu movement, more general for people that have never heard of that. And your relationship with Lumjana and what you’re doing in that region.
Hannah Dixon: Absolutely. So, I partnered with Manabu Movement, which is a youth empowerment NGO that primarily focuses on supporting young people in Albania and Kosovo. Typically, they’re supporting the Albanian diaspora. And so, one of the things that we did was the youth Virtual Assistant program. So, we did a hybrid model where young people were going through the program with the help of Lumjana in person, obviously, to navigate any language barriers, anything like that, and have them find opportunities where they are.
So not feeling that they had to make dangerous journeys to go abroad to find work, anything like that, and to become leaders in their own communities. And we’ve had such incredible results from some of these young people starting companies, building out products and selling them out, creating youth groups that they’re leading in their own villages and in communities. Just incredible results from this. And we’re still in collaboration. Things are a little bit slowed down with some geopolitical situations right now, but we’re intending to do more work with these groups and young people in the coming year.
Matt Bowles: And how has your work with the Manabu movement also been a springboard to connecting with other wonderful people and initiatives?
Hannah Dixon: So, I want to shout out Andreas Wil Gerdes, because for a long time, I wanted to use the knowledge I had and use the resources I had to support people who need it the most. And I didn’t know how to do that. It was Andreas’s idea. He connected me with Lumjana and Tehana is someone I should connect you with, too. And me realizing how this could actually happen, how I could make this a tangible thing, how to collaborate with NGOs and Stuff, has made me start connecting with other people. I’m in collaboration with a woman called Diane right now in Rio, who I just met, who works with young people in the favelas to help them get work online as well. So now I’m realizing that there so many ways that I can collaborate. And I know that you’ve talked to people on your podcast. So now I’m realizing there’s so many different ways to partner with people who have access to actually distribute this knowledge in a way that makes sense. So, I’ve been really excited about this collaboration in general, because it has been a springboard for thinking differently about how to get this into the hands of people who need it.
Matt Bowles: Well, the other thing that I have just marveled at is how amazing you are at building community and bringing people together and facilitating and managing and empowering and all of that. Can you share a little bit about the community that you created, Rainbow Remote, and give a little bit of the backstory of Rainbow Remote?
Hannah Dixon: Sure. I mean, the short version is I woke up one day and was like, why is there not a space for queer remote professionals to connect? There were a couple, but they weren’t engaged. There was nothing going on. They were just these groups that you get, and it’s just spam. So, there was nothing really of substance. And so, I figured that this was a space that was needed. As a queer person myself, I was, where is a place that we can talk about our unique struggles, our unique wins, and how can we uplift one another? And so, I created this group kind of on a whim. I asked a few people in my community. I tend to attract a lot of LGBTQ folks in my other communities. So, I was like, this is a natural alignment for us to have cadets dedicated space as well.
And so, I kind of put it together on a whim. It had a lot of support behind it, naturally, through the existing communities I had. And, yeah, it’s been fun. One of the things I’ve struggled with it, and I’ll be completely honest, is I feel like sometimes within certain marginalized groups, it is hard to find unity because there’s a lot of mistrust. Maybe they haven’t been treated well in other spaces. And so, it’s hard to rally support for new initiatives in these kinds of areas. But this is why I’m taking my time with it and really focusing on what I do well, which is growing community and building trust within community and belonging within community, because I feel once we have that, we can do anything.
And so, I’m taking my time with it. We’ve been doing a lot of meetups virtually and in person. There have been incredible results from some of these meetups. People have got jobs, they’re collaborating together, they’re starting businesses together, starting relationships together, and just that sense of belonging that maybe they didn’t find in other spaces. So that’s been really beautiful to witness. And my hope for it is that we will have a conversation conference. And I think we’ve talked about that before, and I think I’m scaling back on my initial idea. If we’re going to have a thousand people in person, we’re going to do a virtual conference to start with. But as I said, I’m happy to move slowly with this I do want to build trust. I do want people to feel like they really do have space and a voice there. And I know that takes time.
Matt Bowles: Can you share a little bit more about some of those dynamics that you’re describing? Why is it so important to have a queer digital nomad community? And then once people come into that community, how are you working to overcome some of those challenges that you describe behind the scenes of your community building techniques?
Hannah Dixon: It’s the same as any space that people don’t feel like they can be themselves. Remote work is no exception. It’s the same whether you’re in a traditional role or anything like that. I think that just having a space where people can really take their mask off, they don’t have to code switch. They can show up completely authentically with anything, with whatever’s happening. Then for them, good, bad in the middle, I think is so important and so powerful. And I think that there’s power in numbers. And I don’t necessarily feel it’s always a case of, oh, there’s something really bad going on. So, we need this. Sometimes it’s just a case of being around people who get you. And that alone is super empowering and uplifting.
And I think in the digital nomad space specifically, we have people from so many different backgrounds and their experience of queerness is vastly different. So, it’s also a place for us to share and connect about how that manifests in different places around the world, people’s different experience of what it means to be queer as well. And it also is mind expanding if you look at it from that angle. So, I think it’s just a really beautiful hotbed of queerness in all its forms. But when people join, I think one of the things we’re really focusing on is when I’m going to events, I am partnering with those events to run Rainbow Remote meetups.
And what we’re finding is that this is the experience of queer people. I’m not speaking for all queer people. I’m speaking for the ones that I’ve spoken to that have confirmed this for me. But when we go to these events, it feels like, oh, I’m the only one here, or, okay, that person’s definitely gay too. You know, that kind of thing. So, it’s like two or three of us. But then once I’m hosting these events and I’m hosting them in collaboration with the organizer, we’re like, oh, 25 people showed up that didn’t know that there were other queer people here that they could connect to. So, it’s kind of expanding it and people realizing that actually there are more people who are like them than they realized.
Matt Bowles: I have loved seeing all of the photos of the Rainbow Remote meetups that have been happening around the world. I also want to mention that the other thing that you’ve done with this community is you have welcomed allies to join and participate as well. So, I of course am also a member of Rainbow Remote and have participated in some of the virtual events and so forth that you have organized. And I want to ask you a little bit about that. I mean, first of all, the decision to invite allies to be able to be a part of the community. And also, I want to ask you how straight folks can be better allies to the queer community, particularly in this space as we’re traveling the world.
Hannah Dixon: I’m going to answer this in two parts because one of my main reasons for starting Rainbow Remote was initially with this idea of a conference in mind, because what I was finding was that events didn’t necessarily seem all that inclusive to queer folk. I can dive into why if you’d like, but that was one of the main reasons. So, I can answer that for that part. And I can also answer it in a case of just travel in general. So, travel in general I think really it’s just being maybe like a protective shield at times. I’ve traveled with people who know I’m openly queer and that’s great and it’s fine. And I can talk about it very openly with them in certain contexts, in certain places. And then let’s say we go to a country where my identity is criminalized. I don’t want those people outing me.
So, I think just being wary of those kinds of things about what is acceptable, what is legal in the place you’re in, not outing people, not assuming people’s sexuality or gender. I get that a lot. Like, do you have a boyfriend? And then that’s the end of the conversation. I’m like, no, you know, I don’t know where to go from there. So, I guess being mindful of not making people uncomfortable and making assumptions, being a shield when you do see injustices, if people are being misgendered, maybe you are speaking up if you have the greater privilege in that situation.
And then I think another thing is supporting queer businesses, especially queer owned businesses, especially in space spaces, in countries rather, or areas that are not necessarily welcoming or even hostile towards the queer community is always a good thing to do. I always make a point of doing that when I travel, even in parts of Eastern Europe, for example, Budapest is becoming increasingly hostile towards the queer community. So, I make a point of spending my money in queer owned businesses.
Matt Bowles: So, you mentioned that you could share a little bit more about some of the exclusionary dynamics at conferences and events and this space and also what you’re doing about that in terms of partnering with some of these conference organizers, giving them input, having these meetups, doing this kind of stuff. So would love if you could share a little bit about that landscape and then what Rainbow Remote is doing there. Because I think it’s really amazing.
Hannah Dixon: For sure. And I want to give props again just once more to Gonçalo Hall because he has been a really loyal supporter of our work at Rainbow Remote and that’s why I continue to go to his events. He’s very much dedicated to making sure that his spaces are inclusive, are diverse and doing the work that he needs to do to understand why as well. You know, I think that’s, that’s another important aspect of it.
So, I think some of the things that I’ve seen at conferences that are kind of exclusionary to the queer community. This is going to sound extreme, but this is an actual thing that happened, which is why I think it’s important to mention I went to an event and I’m not going to name names, but I went to an event where there was an exercise they had us do. And this is a professional networking event, an exercise where we had to stand up. You had to find someone of the opposite gender to you, which again is already problematic. Look at them in the eye is the women had to imagine power coming from their ovaries and the men had to hold their balls while they thought about the power they held in the room. I walked out because I was like, this is absolutely ridiculous.
One, nobody should be touching their genitals in a professional setting. Two, this is so straight coded, it’s unreal. So, these things happen. Like that’s an extreme example, but these kinds of things happen where it’s just there’s a natural gendering of things or there’s speed dating events, for example, where I had an experience last year in in fact an event with a friend of mine were. And these aren’t even things where people are trying to be exclusionary. There’s just not knowing, not knowing what else could be done.
A friend of mine went to a speed networking event and they, it’s actually funny, the person running was like, women on the right, men on the left. And my friend was like, what if I want to date a woman. And the response was, if you identify as a woman on the right. If you identify as a man on the left. And she’s like, that doesn’t solve my issue. I’m a lesbian. So, I think it’s just a case of education.
Another event, there was a speed dating event, another thing. And it was. They just, they were trying. They were like, let’s do a queer speed dating thing, but that ended up with just one lesbian and two gay guys in a tent on their own, which also wasn’t all that helpful. It’s not necessarily that they’re hostile and that they’re trying to be hostile. It’s just that not knowing or not understanding how to accommodate for queer people. So, I think with Rainbow Remote , what I’m really trying to do is to educate some of those people on how they can make it a little bit more accommodating. And that’s something I’m talking with a lot of nomadic event organizers with.
Matt Bowles: Well, I want you to let folks know how they can join the Rainbow Remote community because it’s free to join the Facebook group or get on the email list and you do really amazing stuff there. So how can folks connect with Rainbow Remote and get involved?
Hannah Dixon: Super easy, rainbowremote.com.
Matt Bowles: There you go. We’re also going to link that up in the show notes. So, you can always go to themaverickshow.com and go to the show notes for this episode for direct links to everything that we discussed.
Now, Hannah, I want to talk about the Virtual Excellence Academy. You have now trained over 37,000 people to become fully remote freelancers. So, I want to ask if you can share a little bit about the background of the Virtual Excellence Academy and then what it offers today.
Hannah Dixon: Sure, absolutely. So, I started many years ago as a virtual assistant myself. I use the term virtual assistant and freelancer interchangeably. So, call it what you want. I was helping people with tasks online know that there was a name for what I did at the time. It wasn’t until one of my clients referred to me as a virtual assistant on a team call. And I was like, oh, this is a thing. And so, as I do, I started a community around it on Facebook. And honestly, at the time I started that, it was because digital nomads have been around for a while, but not that long. It was still kind of a new novel concept at the time.
And when you search Digital Nomad, you would see one very distinct demographic standout. And I was like, wait, where are the women? Where are the people of color? Where are the queer folks? Let me start a community because this can’t be it. And so, I did. I started this community, and we attracted some incredible people around the world. And in that community, I was sharing what was happening for me as I entered the remote workspace as a virtual assistant. I was sharing my wins, I was sharing my fails, I was sharing everything along the way. People seemed very excited about it.
And so, in my first year as a VA, I did make six figures and I learned that that wasn’t super common as a virtual assistant. And people were asking me, well, how do you do this? How can I get started? How can I see these kinds of results? And I, on a whim, was like, listen, I don’t know how to teach people this stuff, but if you really want to know, like, I’ll put together a five-day training. Let’s just see if I can give you anything. And it’s going to be completely free and no pressure. And so, each day of those five days, every morning I woke up and I was like, what would I do next? If I was just starting based on everything I’ve learned and messed up on, what would I do next?
At the end of that week, people were landing clients, and I was like, oh. And people were like, I love the way you teach. You’re very charismatic. Or like, this has really landed with me. Or like I just got so much positive feedback, not just feedback, but results on their end. And I was like, huh, maybe I have a knack for this. So, I put together a program. It was very low cost at the time. It was called the VA Starter Kit. That was the beginning of the Virtual Excellence Academy. And the VA Starter Kit, people bought it, and I was like, wow, this is a thing. People like this.
And since then, that was over 10 years ago, I have had so many iterations of that original 5-day program that I put on. It’s now called the 5-day VA Challenge. It has changed so many times. It has been revised so many times based on the data of training so many people now and what people really need and what really gets results. So, I still run that free program because for me it’s so important to still offer an accessible way into remote work. And then the Virtual Excellence Academy is the paid program, the more comprehensive program that includes the lifetime access to a community, which I think, think is honestly the most powerful part of it. So yeah, I mean, that was a long time ago and it’s changed a lot, and I think we’ve built something pretty special now.
Matt Bowles: Well, let’s talk about the 5-day VA Challenge that you are currently offering because your next one is coming up on April 21, 2025. Can you share with folks what they will experience if they sign up for your complete free training? What will the experience be like and why should they sign up as soon as possible?
Hannah Dixon: Sure. So, whether you are sort of at a crossroads in your career, whether you’re considering working online, whether you’re just stuck, it’s an experience that’s going to help you get unstuck. You may decide at the end of that. Great. I really want to do freelancing. I really want to be a VA. I really want to hone in on this. Or you might think, I really want to go get a remote job, or I have complete clarity about what I want to do next. It’s an experience that’s going to help you get that clarity. So, if you sign up early, one of the things, things that’s really beneficial to do is to get an accountability buddy. As we’ve run this for so long and so often, we find that those who connect with other people beforehand do have better results. They are landing clients because they’re building a network themselves from day one.
And one of the things that we are really proud of to offer is that whether it’s 100 people take part or whether it’s 2,000 people take part, it’s always somewhere between that we allocate resources to make sure there’s personal support for every single person that comes through those doors. So, you get personal feedback from myself and my team through that week. So, it’s a really powerful experience to see where you’re at, what existing skills you have, how to transfer them into an online business that’s actually viable in a community full of people that are all different stages of freelancing. We’ve got people from our Virtual Excellence Academy that take it every time, who support the newbies. So, you’re building a network from day one. You’re doing things that actually move the needle and you’re getting support in those most pertinent early days.
Matt Bowles: Well, I am regularly referring people to you and to the 5-day VA training because number one, you’re able to train folks how to use the skills that they already have to create this freelance business and how at the end of these five days to actually land their first paying client, which is completely amazing. So, I am telling people whenever I have conversations with people and they’re like, oh man, I really wish I could transfer out of my 9 to 5 job, my corporate job. I just don’t really know what to do, or maybe I don’t have the skills to do it. I was like, you need to go talk to Hannah and take this training because you already have the skills. You just need to know what to do with the skills to build that remote freelancer lifestyle for yourself and start getting paid clients independently. And so, I am referring people to you all the time. But for folks that would like to take this training, can you share a little bit about how much time people should plan to commit over the course of the five days and what each of those days would be like? What will they be doing on each of those days?
Hannah Dixon: Absolutely. First of all, I just want to thank you for continually sending people our way and trusting us with your audience. I appreciate that. So, if you sign up, I always recommend setting aside an hour a day for those five days. You may find that day one’s a little bit more, depending on how deep you want to go, but about an hour a day at your own convenience. It’s completely asynchronous in how it operates. You do get support in a Facebook community. So, an hour a day at your convenience, if you get an accountability buddy, if you sign up in advance of the start date is ideal. Ideal. And we tackle some of the things that people struggle with the most head on right from the beginning.
So, day one, we’re immediately helping you identify what those existing skills are. So, we take you through a few exercises to uncover them in ways that maybe you haven’t thought about before, and then to start thinking about what types of clients you’re best positioned to serve. So that’s day one. So, at the end of day one, my goal for everybody is to have a workable elevator pitch. And it’s going to change. Absolutely, it’s going to change. But starting with something’s better than starting with nothing, right? Right. So, day one, you’ll have a workable elevator pitch that you can move forward with.
Day two, we start talking about money, because I think one of the things that people get really hung up on is like, is this actually viable? Can I actually make a decent income with this? So, we immediately go into not only a very tangible system to understand what you would need to charge based on your skill sets, but also your existing lifestyle and your existing financial obligations to make sure that you can sustain yourself. We include, like, a funky little calculator. It’s really fun to use. And then we talk a little bit about money mindset, which is a cliche term but it’s necessary when you’re working for yourself to do some work in that area. Day three, we talk about lifestyle design because a lot of people are like, well, I want to just start a business and do this, do that, A to Z, follow these things and hustle, hustle, hustle.
You know me, Matt, I disappear for months at a time. I’m very much about the soft life. So, day three, we’re helping people really understand and kind of piece together what it would look like for them in an ideal scenario as a freelancer, as a virtual assistant. And I’m not going to say exactly what we do, because I don’t want to give it away. It’s a nice surprise on day three, but we take you through a few exercises with the help of my wonderful wife, Kim, that help you really visualize that so you can get it down on paper, get it out of your head and really imagine yourself in an ideal situation as a freelancer, which for me right now is working when I want and not feeling obligated to work. And I think that’s an ideal for a lot of people.
Day four, we start getting you actually making tweaks on things outside the group to start sort of putting it out there. And this is for those who are really serious, who are like, yeah, I do want to do this. I do want to land a client. I want to see where this goes. We get you to take a few actions. And again, I don’t want to give away day four of day five, but if you get through day one, two, and three and you’re like, yeah, I like this, day four and five are the ones that get your results. That’s where, okay, I’m starting to reach out to people, and I’m going to land a client from this.
And whether it’s that day or whether it’s next week, it happens for a lot of people who take this challenge. And I think what I love about this challenge, just to give it a little bit more context, it doesn’t leave any space for dilly dallying. It doesn’t leave any. It’s like you do stuff that makes a difference, and you put all your fears aside or you put them in a little box for the week and you do it in community and you do it with support. And things happen when you’re brave enough to do it. Those things.
Matt Bowles: Well, I think you are such an amazing teacher. As you know, I have personally paid money for Hannah Dixon trainings myself, and I have referred to you very close personal friends of mine as well. And so, folks, this is an opportunity to get this 5-day VA challenge completely for free. It starts on April 21, 2025, and you can get it at themaverickshow.com/virtual. Just type that in, and we’re also going to link it up in the show notes and that will take you directly to the registration page. You can register and you can join for free.
Hannah, I think that is actually an amazing place to end the main portion of this interview. And at this point, are you ready to move in to the lightning round? Let’s do it.
I have already asked you the regular lightning round questions on our last interview. So, I put together some new lightning round questions for you. And I want to start off just for the entrepreneurs especially that are listening. If you can share one tip or technique that you use to manage stress as an entrepreneur. Anybody that owns a business knows this concept of the entrepreneurial roller coaster which goes up and boy does it go down. So, when it takes a downswing, what’s a tip or technique you have for how you manage stress in those moments?
Hannah Dixon: I think making sure that you have community around you that gets it, you need to be connected to other entrepreneurs. One of the things that we do in the Virtual Excellence Academy is taking a very holistic view of entrepreneurship. So, every month, for example, my wife comes in and does connection sessions with the group where we talk about these kinds of things that are getting us down in a safe space, space where we realize we’re not alone, that we will get out the other side of this.
So, the number one is community 100%. Number two, listen, I’m a self-professed lazy person. Take down time, like, take it as often as you need it, as often as you can, outsource wherever you can if you’re feeling that stress. And I know that not everybody’s in that position. And I know that when I was at the beginning of my journey, I was not in that position. You have got to work hard at the beginning. Work is hard. At the end of the day, work is work. But when you’re in a position where you’re like, listen, I can outsource a little bit of this, I can delegate a little bit of this. Whether it’s delegating things in your personal life to give you more time to work on your business, or whether it’s delegating things in your business so you can actually take rest, do that, take advantage of that as often as you can, and then use that time to do anything but business. Allow yourself to be replenished in every other way.
Matt Bowles: Love that. Well, I also want to ask if you can share a tip on how you optimize your productivity and how you structure your day, because you’re obviously, you and I are hanging out all over the world and doing fun stuff and things like that, and yet you run this remarkable business that is just seems from the outside to function at an absolutely incredible level. And I’m wondering just how you are as productive as you are. You read an amazing newsletter, I’m on the receiving end, and I’m just like, wow, you do a lot of amazing stuff, and there’s a huge amount of productivity here. And yet I also see you having fun and doing all this amazing travel and having all these great experiences. So how do you optimize productivity?
Hannah Dixon: Honestly, when I knew you were going to bring up productivity, I was like, that’s a word I don’t vibe with.
Matt Bowles: Fair enough.
Hannah Dixon: How do I approach this? I have a few principles that I run my business by that are very personal to me and that extend to the team that I work with. I always approach every obstacle of how can we make this 50% easier? Because I really don’t want to work harder when we can work smarter. I work very intuitively. I don’t have many structures. I work hard when I feel I have the energy. I relax when I don’t have energy. As you know, I’m very good at shutting the world out when I’m in those periods. And then when I’m working, I am working. I’m working 16 hours a day, and I don’t let up energy. Maybe that’s the way my brain works. I know that doesn’t work for everybody, but in terms of productivity, I really make use of those times where I do feel I’m inspired right now. And I’m going to write 20 pieces of content today, and I’m just going to schedule it all. So really take advantage of those highs and then just not giving a crap when the lows come.
Matt Bowles: I think that’s actually a really important insight, though, and I’m glad you shared that. And I think it’s important for people to hear that, right. Cause I think sometimes when we’re in that state where it’s just, dude, I can’t seem to be productive and I can’t seem to put good stuff out there, and I’m just not. Not in a space where I can do this work and that kind of stuff. I think it’s important for people to hear someone like you that runs a business at the scale that you do to basically say that that’s okay. And, you know, the same thing happens for you. And when you’re feeling it, go hard. And when you’re not, give yourself a break and allow yourself to rejuvenate. So, I think that’s really important advice for business owners because I think burnout is a real thing also. Just people putting on themselves when they’re not able to pressure. Yeah, I think that can be a doom spiral that can get people into trouble. So, I appreciate you sharing that.
Hannah Dixon: I just want to add to that as well, is that I think one of the fears people have around that is that if they disappear for a little bit or they go quiet for a little bit, that it’s lost, that you can’t get things going again. But you absolutely can, because I’m living proof of that, that I disappear for months on end and I come back, I write good post, and it’s all back again.
Matt Bowles: Do you have one app or productivity tool that you use that you can recommend to people?
Hannah Dixon: Yes and no. Again, I’m not big on tools, and so my team is big on notion, and I used to be really big on Trello because I like Kanban style. I like to visualize things with colors and stuff like that. But for me, this is a really simple tool and it works so effectively for me personally in the role that I take in my business now. And maybe this is important to note as well that one of the things I’ve done is rejig how our business operates. I only do what I’m good at. Our team only does what they good at. I’m good at going to events, speaking at events, being the face of things, and writing content. I don’t do anything else anymore. And so, for me to do that effectively, I just use the Notes app on Apple. It’s so amazing because you can use hashtags and then you can search. If I write a great piece of content and I’m like, listen, I need to account for next year. When I’m not feeling good, good hashtag content, I go back into my content library. I’m like, haven’t posted that in three years. Let’s rejig that and share it again. Notes app. It’s amazing. It’s amazing. It’s such a simple tool, but it’s actually really well made. And you have it across all your devices if you’re using Apple. So, yeah, the Apple Notes.
Matt Bowles: All right, one more question. What is one podcast you listen to or blog that you read that you would recommend to people.
Hannah Dixon: I don’t listen to many podcasts. I don’t read many blogs. You’re an exception, Matt Bowles. I get asked this kind of question at a lot of events. What do you listen to? What do you read? I get a lot of my input from community discussions, from in person connections and so I don’t religiously follow any one particular outlet. As I said, you’re an exception because I think what you do is exceptional. So, I mostly get a lot of my things from reading the and then going on social media into the communities that I care about and seeing what people are talking about those things. And if there’s something that I do need to know more about, I’ll deep dive and I’ll get it from multiple sources. I’m not loyal to any one outlet.
Matt Bowles: Awesome. That’s a great answer. I appreciate you sharing that. And with that, Hannah, let’s let folks know if they want to sign up for the 5-day VA challenge completely free starting April 21, 2025, they can go to themaverickshow.com/virtual and that’ll take you right there to the Sign Up. You sign up as early as you can before that start date. You’re going to get into the Facebook group, you can get accountability partner, you can get all set up and be ready to optimize your 5-day experience. And then for people that would like to find you, connect with you, join Rainbow Remote and come into your ecosystem. Learn more about what you’re up to. How do you want people to come into your world?
Hannah Dixon: Honestly, probably Instagram‘s the best at digitalnomadkit. My link in bio has everything. That’s where I show up the most. That’s where you can find me.
Matt Bowles: All right, we’re going to link all of that up in the show notes. So for everything we have discussed in this episode, including how you can sign up for the 5-day VA Challenge, how you can join Rainbow Remote, how you can follow Hannah personally and everything else that we have mentioned, all those past Maverick Show episodes and amazing guests that we’ve given shout outs to, we’re going to link every everything up at one place. Just go to themaverickshow.com and go to the show notes for this episode.
Hannah Dixon, you are one of my all-time favorite people. Thank you so much for coming back to the show.
Hannah Dixon: It is very mutual. Mr. Bowles, thank you so much for having me. It’s been a great pleasure.
Matt Bowles: All right, good night, everybody.
