From Corporate to Creative: Navigating Entrepreneurship as an Ex-Pat, Parenthood, and Virtual Connections

*Transcript is unedited (for the most part)

Gianna Diggs  0:05  

You are listening to the mompreneur mindset podcast, a show that empowers you to create a business that’s authentically yours. Say goodbye to stressful days, juggling multiple priorities and feeling like you’re never enough. I’m your host, Gianna Diggs, a certified mindset coach and business guide for women and mom entrepreneurs. I’m here to empower, guide and align you with the tools and the mindset needed to build a thriving business. That’s true to your purpose. In each episode, we’ll explore strategies, tips and success stories designed to help you rise above your obstacles and level up your mompreneur game. So whether you’re a first time entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, grab a cup of tea, some quiet time away from the kids. And let’s dive into the mompreneur mindset together. Are you ready? Let’s get into today’s episode.

Gianna Diggs  1:00  

Welcome back to the mompreneur mindset podcast. So on today’s episode, I have another guest. And we’re gonna be talking about a few different topics. And it’s because she has a lot of things that I thought was going to be interesting. And we couldn’t really make up our mind on which one we wanted to talk about. So we kind of made a combination of all three topics. And we’re going to be talking about changing countries and being an international worker, using video in your business to make connections. So something cool that she did to pitch me to be on my show where she sent me a video, which was very interesting. No one’s ever done that before. And that’s something that really got my attention. And it may be something that I did mention in the episode that I thought was really cool. And then she also talks about being a parent and deciding to go into entrepreneurship. So these topics are really interesting. It’s a very interesting interview. And so I’m going to tell you a little bit about my guest. Her name is not Otto of flow IK. And so a little bit about her she is the creator behind paper flow designs, she helps crafters learn how to use digital art to make handmade craft projects for their family and friends. While living in France as an expat mom. She started making digital illustrations, also known as SVG files as a way to use her artistic skills and be creative every day. She saw that she could reach people with her art and help fellow artists crafters and small businesses with their projects. And she started creating SVG designs and selling them online. She now has over 10,000 cells in her Etsy shop. All of this while she’s still working a nine to five job. And she runs her business as a full time mompreneur doing school pickups and drop offs and running a household from abroad. So without further ado, let’s get into the interview. Hi, Natalie, thank you for being on the show today.

Naa Ardua Flohic  2:43  

Hi, Gianna. Thanks for having me.

Gianna Diggs  2:46  

So today, we were going to cover a lot of different topics, because that’s kind of what we came up with when we spoke. And I’m excited for the topics we’re going to cover. But I wanted to just mention when I was thinking of all the different things that we’re going to talk about how they were connected, I realized that all the topics really it takes dedication, motivation and creativity. But especially with time management to be a mom or entrepreneur or while living in a foreign country. So those are the key things we’re going to talk about today. And so I’m really excited to get started in our conversation. So the first question I have for you, is tell us a little bit about your journey as an entrepreneur, like what drove you to start your own business?

Naa Ardua Flohic  3:30  

Okay, I’ll say for me, it goes like an LTI force that drove me like, I never thought I would be an entrepreneur. I thought, Okay, I want to work with millennials for my whole life, that’s totally fine with me. I’m not built for that entrepreneur, like that’s for like, you know, strong people, it’s for other people who have it all together. And little by little, I was having conversations with my cousin, who is an entrepreneur, and she was just like, you know, what are you doing with your art, you don’t do anything anymore. And I’m like, I had the list of excuses. It was like, we’re gonna, you know, roll it down. I can’t because I have, you know, kids, my kids get home from school, I get home from work, I have to make dinner, keep on, on, on, on, on on. And she’s like, um, and. And so eventually, I got tired of her nagging me. And I started to learn how to make digital drawings, put them on Instagram, and I started getting orders. And then I was like, oh, man, this is like a thing, I’m gonna have to like, follow through and do this thing. And that’s kind of like where that led me to be a blogger and a digital illustrator that I am today.

Gianna Diggs  4:30  

I love that sometimes we have to have people in our lives that kind of put fire under our butts, to make things happen. And so it’s good that you had a cousin who kind of recognized your talents and was able to get you moving. And I also love that she kind of moved you away from this idea of your kids being excused because I think as moms, that is usually the number one excuse that I see as a coach, but also what I see around me and my family is like, oh, I want to do this thing, but I have kids to take care of or I want to do this thing, but you know I’m gonna wait for the kids. To get all this on, I’m really glad that you recognize that and you kind of move forward with something that is making a difference in your life in your family’s life. So you were able to grow to over 10,000 sales in your Etsy shop while working a nine to five, which I loved. I think that’s so cool. And so one of the ways that you were doing that you did that was by making connections via video. And I just want to give a little pro tip that not what actually pitched to me through a video, which I, I was so surprised by that, like, I got chills just thinking about it, because that was no one’s ever done that and I think that is such a cool way to kind of put yourself out there. And to me that feels like a strength of yours and using that. And so how has using video helped to grow your business? And most importantly, how do you even make time to create videos in the first place?

Naa Ardua Flohic  5:50  

Well, I started by saying that I didn’t think that I would ever be using video this is like, that seems like everything that I’m saying. It’s like always started saying like, you know, I never thought that would be me. Because I know a lot of people think like, oh, it’s hard to use video, I don’t want to be on camera, I don’t want to have to, like get ready. First of all, I’ll tell you, there’s no get ready for me. I’m not the one with the beat face. And it’s not me, so I didn’t have to worry about that. And I realized that, you know, I don’t have to do all those things. It’s not because you know, a person A is doing that, that I have to do that I can just come on and be mean. But even saying that the first time that I ever, you know, took the camera and you know, put myself in front of it. I was nervous, like, you know, bubbled into the stomach handshake and voice shaken. But I just hit record and say, You know what, okay, if somebody laughs Oh, well done somebody laughs And you know what? Nobody laughs So I kept on using video. And let me share my Three easy. I call them my lazy method ways of using video. Because I’m a girl who loves shortcuts. So one, one thing that helped me with my Etsy shop was that where customers would write to me and ask me questions, instead of like, taking the time to write out the whole answer. And even though he does have like little shortcut blurbs, that you can say, sometimes that wasn’t enough, or sometimes I need to add something to it. So I would just like, you know, whip out my phone and just record the answer that will take like, you know, 3030 seconds, 45 seconds, one minute max, and then just send that to them in an email. Also, because in the beginning, I used to do customer and anybody who’s done like he worked with, with clients, or you have to do a service, you know, that there’s gonna be some back and forth like once a week question. answers did not ask you to change things. If you have a package, you’re like, well, but I see the package. Can you do this? Right? Okay. So instead of me going and writing everything all over again, I’m just going to answer you in a short, quick little video was recorded on my phone, if I’m outside, I can do it. Or I can record it right in front of my laptop. So method one was customer service videos. And I saw people like that. So then I started using your for like client retention, I’ll call it. So when people would just write because I have an email list, I’ll write to people and sending them blog articles, showing them tips of how to use the drawings that they bought, or they’re thinking about buying. And some people will write me back, you know, say, Oh, I’m thinking about starting a small business with my own, or I don’t know how to do this, and have questions again, or they just have something to say, or they just introduce themselves. So I will do the same. I would introduce myself back in a video. I’m like, Okay, I don’t have time because you know, I’ve got kids, and just like, you know, you guys do, but other things going on, how can I still give his person attention because I value them as a customer as a future client. I can send them a short video. And people appreciate that because they can see you and it might help. I haven’t had people write me back and say, Oh, my God, nobody’s ever like, you know, replied to me, and like, sent me a video. And like, I should be like, you know, answering me if you’re a real person. I’m like, yes, yes, I’m a real person. And the last method, I want to fix too long. I will say I use that for SOPs. SOPs are just standard operating procedures, all that just makes it like how you run your business. Now, I’m still small level. So people use that to give instructions to their team. While I don’t have a team, but I do have a teenage daughter who helps me out when she’s like long vacation from school. So she does like admin stuff for me social media stuff, and instead of me like sitting down and telling her every single time okay, you know, this is how you edit the photos for the listings or whatever I sit down like, while I’m actually doing it myself, I just do a screen record, switch to screen record video. And maybe I’ll like, talk through the instructions as I’m doing it and I can save that so she can go back and refer to that when she has time to do that work for me. And then bonus is that if eventually my team grows, I still have those instructional videos for other members to see and refer back to. So those are easy, lazy methods. You can use video This helped me in my SEO business because like I said, it got me to over 10,000 sales. So once I saw that it was working, I was talking, keep going with the video.

Gianna Diggs  10:10  

Right? I love that because I think we’re very often resistant to video. I know that I dabbled back and forth. And because of the whole, you said, getting dolled up, right, I’m not someone I don’t beat my face, I don’t get super, like, do a lot of makeup. But if like, my hair is not where I needed to, like, that’ll stop me or if I’m like, Oh, what am I gonna wear? Like, you know, just little things like that. And so I’m glad that you kind of just took the imperfect action of just like, oh, this is easy. Okay, I’m gonna do it, and how it’s helped to grow your business. So I think the lesson in that is just trying it, right? It’s because we can’t, or I’m resistant to that I don’t like video, I don’t like showing up on camera. Right? Instead, you just tried it, and it helped you. And so you kept moving with it. And so I love that you have like a and you have lazy ways of doing it. Because I think that we are always on our phones, but were resistant to being on camera. And so those two things don’t really line up. Because it’s like, if you’re always on your phone, you can just whip out your phone and use it as opposed to like, you don’t have to use the laptop to record a video. That’s why we have smartphones. So I think there’s definitely a lesson in in that. So let’s talk about time management for a second. So, you know, you have your Etsy business, you know, you have children, how do you make time for both your kids and your business?

Naa Ardua Flohic  11:27  

I realized that I needed to start delegating more things because I was just used to like, just doing it myself. I think we’ve all been there when we’re like, oh, I can ask somebody else to do this or to help me or Oh, no, I’m not gonna do that. I’ll just do it myself. Because it’ll be done my way. But sometimes you don’t have the time to do everything. We never had time to do everything. So when I started getting my kids involved, like they already had some chores, but I kind of like stepped it up a notch. Like, these kids are old enough, where they can, you know, they can help out and clean around the house, you know, to just like, take out the trash and the dishes or things that you know, it was just me doing before. And then I realized like, Oh, if I can have them do this, okay, that’s five minutes. For me, that’s 10 minutes. For me, that’s 15 minutes that I can like, you know, set up my social media schedule for my Pinterest pins. That’s, you know, another two minutes even to answer maybe two emails from customers. So definitely delegating things out to my kids. Because, you know, I’m not at that level yet where housekeeper was put a pin in that because that’s gonna happen. But I’m not there yet. So I’m like, these kids can step up and help out too. And it’s given me back a lot of time.

Gianna Diggs  12:39  

Right? So what, how would you say a typical week? Like, what does that look like for you?

Naa Ardua Flohic  12:45  

For me, now that I have, I have just gone full time as the beginning of this year. So before I was juggling, going to work in an office and you know, coming home at night to work on my side hustle, what it was my cycles while at the time. So I had to like, you know, be really be strict with my time. So when it was bedtime for my kids was bedtime. It’s like, No, you can’t have an extra 1520 minutes, because that was the time that you know, I needed to work to make drawings to put up listings and things. I will use things like let’s say a typical day, I go to my nine to five job well, I drop off my son at school, go to my nine to five job, come home, make dinner, and then like nine o’clock, that was my time to work on my side hustle. And so I had, like, you know, timers that I use. So I know, okay, 25 minutes, I have this Pomodoro timer, that’s gonna go on, I’m gonna have like 25 minutes to make a new drawing that I’m gonna list. When that timer goes off, I’m gonna like listed in my shop. And it was just okay, three times 25 minutes to allow me to last on ecosystem embarrassing, but give me that time that I will reserve so that I could get, you know, get things done and would push my business forward. So I just really had to, to be clear on how much time I was going to spend on each on each thing that I was going to do nightly. So that was like Monday through Friday that was like that. And then Saturday and Sunday, of course, you know, I spent time with the kids. I mean, for someone else out there. It might be they wake up earlier in the morning. But for me it was working at night after I put kids to bed.

Gianna Diggs  14:20  

Right? I love that because it removes excuses. Right? Because oftentimes we create excuses as to why we can’t do something. And so I love the intention that you set, right that you were very intentional about the time you were spending have. You know, because when you said like, oh, extra five minutes, my daughter does that all the time. She’s like, Mom, can I have five minutes and like I’ll give her the five minutes and and then she goes to bed. That’s like her nightly thing. Can I get five minutes after she takes a shower? But I love that you just said okay, I know that I want this to work here is you know you did the payment. That’s the Pomodoro method you were referring to. And so I’m going to do you know, three blocks or four blocks of 20 Five minutes. And here it is where it’s done, I take that 90 minute to two hour block. And that’s done. And you’re doing that you’re making that sacrifice. And you also mentioned about spending time with your kids. Because I think that’s super important. Because it’s very easy to be in front of your laptop, it’s very easy to say, well, because I work a nine to five, my weekends is when I work on my business, right? And so you found that balance of like, okay, I’m going to sacrifice my evenings. But I’m not going to sacrifice my weekends. And I think that is like the message, right? That’s the key part of this is time management. Because that’s where the struggle is, is saying, I’m going to put this aside because I need to spend this time and enjoy this time with my kids. And I’m going to sacrifice my evenings to make this happen. And look where you are. Now you have your 10,000 sales your full time. Right. And so it’s it’s really the intention setting that they just got me on with what you just mentioned. So one thing that we talked about that I mentioned in the intro, and that I said earlier that you are an international working you are American, yes, yes. Okay, I didn’t actually that before, but you are an American, you’re an American living in France. And so I want to touch on this, because I think you’re the first person that I’ve interviewed, I could be wrong, that is an expat. So what has been the biggest challenge of being entrepreneur in a foreign country,

Naa Ardua Flohic  16:23  

I’d say definitely learning the customs of that country. Because it’s one thing to like, read about things. And you know, hear about it when you’re there on the ground. And I’ll give you an example. In the space, like, if you want to go to the post office, the post office is open, like you know, all day long, there’s they don’t, they don’t stop in the middle of the day to take a break. And here, the post office closes. Some of them say open, but most of them, they closed between 12 and two. So if you don’t know that, and let’s say you have a business where you’re sending out packages or something like that, and you wait till like, maybe close to the last minute and you go there and it’s like 12 o’clock, the gates close Nobu. You won’t be sending anything until after two o’clock. And so things like that, if I learn a new customer, if so, me the first time I went, I didn’t have you know, that situation of having to send packages, but I did have to like mail something. And I went to the post office and I’m like, Well, okay, just close them know the day. So learning those things is really important. Like if you can find out as much as you can before going to a new place. It’s really important.

Gianna Diggs  17:23  

Okay, so what is your favorite thing about being an expat or entrepreneur in a foreign country?

Naa Ardua Flohic  17:30  

I love so crazy. But that’s also my favorite thing is like the new ones. Because like, I always have learning experiences with these things like things happen. And then I’ll remember, you know, something about that, or it’ll like, make me change, like how I operate, or I meet new people, because like, maybe the postdoc was close. And I ended up sitting out there and talking to someone and learning something about them that I can help them or they can help me. So like, even though it’s a one hand, it’s an inconvenience. On the other hand, it’s still fun, it’s still an opportunity to learn because it makes me like pick on my seat to be quick to pivot and to like, to adapt to a new situation. And I always like I like change. I’m a person that likes change. So at the same time, it can be annoying, because you know, you have an idea of what you want. You have like your schedule, and you’re like, Okay, today, I’m going to do this, this and that. And then something just lands in your lap that says, Okay, no, no, you’re not gonna do this because the post office was closed, okay, well, maybe I’ll end up going, I don’t know, at a cafe and meet somebody there and start talking to them and then find out that I can help them somehow near business or they can help me in my business.

Gianna Diggs  18:39  

I like that that’s a good way of looking at an inconvenience. I think a lot of times we don’t look at inconveniences as a favorite thing. So I love how you kind of reframe that in your mind. That’s a mindset term reframe. I love how you reframe that as well. It’s like you like it is a challenge, but it’s something that you enjoy. So if someone decided that they wanted to test the waters out, right, because a lot of people now are digitally call them digital nomads, right, because they work online so they can kind of live anywhere. And maybe they you know, with the world climate, maybe they want to move from their home country, their native country. What is your biggest I guess tips or steps that you can give for someone who was thinking about moving away from their home country?

Naa Ardua Flohic  19:23  

The first step I would say is to look to do your research first, but also before you say okay, I’m going to Costa Rica or I’m like going to Tanzania or something like that. Think of you know what skills you already have. So step one is use your existing skills, you don’t necessarily mean you’re not going to be able to go to that country and get a job because in some places that’s you know, highly unlikely either you’re not going to have like a work primary. You’re not going to be able to to work in that country like you know for another company or something like that. But you might be able to go there. Test it out if you just go in for So be 30 days or something like that, and still be able to use your existing skills. So what I mean by that, let me give you an example. I’m assuming most of your listeners are probably in the state, so they speak English, you would be surprised the amount of opportunities you have just being an English speaker where you can, you know, teach, you can tutor kids in English, you can teach English, you can, like get that teaching job already in America and still be considered a US worker. But you know, doing that from somewhere else. So use those skills that you already have, it doesn’t have to be about, oh, I have to go in this country and work for someone else, or I have to go in that country and start my business right away, like, use what you have for us as a stepping stone. Because later, maybe you will be able to start a membership, where you’re helping other people move abroad and use their English skills as a way to do that. But it’s like start with step one. If you are in healthcare, for example, you can be a traveling nurse, which I just recently found out. But you don’t have to say I’m gonna go work as a nurse in such as hospital, you can already travel, be a nurse in different countries and work for an agency. If that works out for you. Once again, if you want to be an entrepreneur, find out a way that maybe the startup grew up and mentor to other people that are in the healthcare, business, and they want to branch out on their own. It’s like, okay, well, now you got that experience, you have those skills, you can start a membership, you can start a group, you can start teaching, we can consult and teach them how to start with step one with what you already know, before you try to jump to the end.

Gianna Diggs  21:37  

Okay, I like that. I think that’s like a solid plan, right? Because I did mention a digital nomad, but you don’t necessarily have to be digital to decide to take that move. So I’m glad you mentioned just using the skills that you have, prior to, you know, or when you decide to move or not using the different excuses that you don’t have the work permit, you don’t have these different things. So that’s cool. I love that answer. So this is a question I always ask all my guests, because I know there’s somebody out there that maybe they struggle with time management, or maybe they struggle with making videos, all the things we talked about today, or maybe spending time with their kids, they struggle with that while trying to build the side hustle, or even just they want to move abroad, but they don’t know how, for any of those people what one tip or how many tips you want to give. What advice do you have for them?

Naa Ardua Flohic  22:26  

My best advice I would say is to pick one thing first, because now I know I’m guilty of it, I’ll see one idea and I think okay, like That sounds great. Let me hop on that. And then like you go on YouTube, go down the rabbit hole and start watching videos. And next thing you know, you’re on a completely different topic you like completely gone off course. So pick one thing first to test out, give it some time. Maybe that might be a month, maybe that might be six months. But just like don’t give up. So quickly. Pick that one thing. Give it some time to work. And if it doesn’t, it’s okay. You can test out something else. But start with that one thing.

Gianna Diggs  23:05  

I love that. And if you haven’t read the book, the one thing that’s also helpful if you like, oh, I don’t know what that one thing is that will definitely help you to pick which one which thing you want to choose. So before we wrap up, can you let the audience know where they can find you online or?

Naa Ardua Flohic  23:22  

Sure the best place to find me is in my inbox and email. I do have social media handles so you can find me at paper flow designs, which is P eight p e r FL o designs with gus.com. I have that old Pinterest, Instagram On Facebook, all that paper flow, but the best place is gonna be my email inbox. If you have questions you want to reach me just wanna say hi, you can write to me at NOD. That’s an ad at paper flow. designs.com

Gianna Diggs  23:51  

All right, Natalie, thank you so much for being here. I really enjoyed our conversation.

Gianna Diggs  24:00  

Thank you for tuning into today’s episode of The mompreneur mindset podcast. I truly hope that our conversation has inspired and motivated you to take charge of your entrepreneurial journey. If you found today’s episode valuable. Please take a moment and SUBSCRIBE And leave us a review on your preferred podcast platform. Your support means the world to me, and it’s vital for helping me to reach more entrepreneurs like you and empower our growing community to thrive. Until next time, keep pushing boundaries. Never settle and remember, the world is waiting for your unique gifts that only you can offer. See you in the next episode.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai