In this inspiring episode, we chat with Cia, a former digital nomad and Associate Director of Marketing & Communications at the Toronto Business Development Center. Cia shares her journey from a small-town upbringing to a life filled with travel, adventure, and creative freedom. She opens up about how she transitioned from aspiring doctor to marketing professional, content creator, and digital nomad.
Discover how Cia built a successful blog and freelance career that supported her travels, with insights on content marketing, SEO strategies, and the challenges of freelancing on the road. Cia also provides valuable advice for those starting a blog, building community, and integrating travel into their professional lives. Whether you're a digital nomad or just curious about the lifestyle, Sia's story offers a wealth of knowledge on navigating the digital world with passion and purpose.
Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction to Sia and her digital nomad journey
1:35 - Becoming a digital nomad and exploring new career paths
3:20 - The small-town beginnings and stepping into content creation
5:45 - Transition from biomedicine to fashion marketing
8:10 - Building a freelancing career in content marketing
10:25 - Early blogging experiences and SEO strategies
13:00 - Challenges and successes as a digital nomad
15:40 - Cultural experiences in Prague, Mexico City, and more
18:20 - Balancing creativity and monetization in content creation
20:15 - Sia’s current projects and honouring family traditions
22:00 - Closing thoughts on building a digital nomad lifestyle
#DigitalNomad #ContentMarketing #SEOtips #TravelBlogger #Freelancing #BloggingTips #RemoteWork #TorontoBusiness #ContentCreation #BackpackingLife #TravelCommunity #PersonalBrand
Transcript:
I'm very happy to introduce Sia on the podcast. I had the pleasure of meeting Sia here at the Toronto Business Development Center. She is the Associate Director of Marketing and Communications at TBDC, but also at Beehive. And one of the things that I didn't know much about her, but she was also a digital nomad for a couple of years. So I'm very excited to dive deeper into that side of your life as well. Traveled very heavily across Europe and Americas in general. And she started blogging and then transitioned into a freelancing website building. So really excited to dive deeper and learn more from. From her. So thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Of course. No problem.
I'm so happy to be here. So happy about what you're building, you know, the community of digital nomads and, and world travelers, you know, there's always this kind of stigma that it's like people just picking up backpacking, they don't really know what they're doing. And there's such a good lifestyle and, and so many good opportunities that so many people can learn about out there. It changes your perspective and I'm happy to be here. No, absolutely. And as you mentioned, like at HostelMatch, our entire goal is to help backpackers and nomads find the best hostels across the world, but also provide them insights through blogs like these. You know, you've been someone who's been doing a lot of content for a while. You've kind of aced out how you go ahead and build SEO that really helps you get to the place that people want to get to in our lives. I know I'm struggling with it in some form or shape, so it's going to be a great conversation. Just picking your brain, learning more. From that aspect as well.
But one of the things we'd love to start about is just like learning a little bit more about you in general. Uh, I know you told me about how you became a digital nomad, but I think what'd be really cool is to understand what led you to becoming a digital nomad. How was life that, how did he end up choosing that you wanted to be a digital nomad? Yeah, for sure. And so a little bit of background and context, uh, when I, I grew up in a really small town, the town that I was closest to. I grew up on 75 acres of farm. Yeah, so the, the town that was closest to me is only 650 people. Right. And the town that I went to school in is only 9, 000 people. So it is, everyone knows everyone. Uh, your world is really small. It's a great community, but you have to get used to. People being able to like identify where you've been because they know your truck and your license plate, you know, it's that level of everyone's and everyone's business. So I was on a path, I come from a background of, um, A family that has a, you know, their doctors, their lawyers, their engineers, their architects. And so science and math and working in an office was like really the only option that was pushed towards us as a child, unless we wanted to go into skilled trades, which is the other half of my family. So art, content creation, videography, advertising, this whole world was not something I was ever exposed to or like ever encouraged to really explore as a child. And so. I thought I was going to be a doctor.
I had a full scholarship to go to University of Ottawa into biomed and I worked at a hospital for six months. I realized it just really wasn't for me. I didn't have the community, the support network. I was exhausted. The end of my days, it was a really hard experience to go through. I learned a lot. I worked with amazing people. I got to touch great lives, but. That's not all you need, right? And I had always had that kind of creative outlet. Like I would draw, I would paint, I would do that kind of stuff in my room. Photography was always something for me even in high school that I was interested in. So when I realized I didn't want to go into medicine, I was scrambling, trying to figure out what can I do for university? How can I apply to different places? Where are the places that I applied that still had programs open to me? And fashion marketing and merchandising was one of the few things I could get into. So I took it and I ran and that was exciting. And through that I was exposed to so much more of the business behind what it, it takes to really run a creative studio, to run creative hubs, to do content marketing, and even like video production design, magazine design. There's, there's so much other sense and skills that you need that aren't just, Hey, I'm creative. Hey, I have a good eye for things. And that really helped me develop that out. And I got to work with a lot of really great people. We were expected to have. Internships through the entirety of our school.
So I got to work at a lot of really interesting places. And the first time that I really got to touch content marketing from a perspective of, You know, the power of it was working at a spinoff from Holt Renfrew Buyers where, uh, we were working at luxury e commerce and I got to explore email marketing and, and learning what really makes a brand tick, what makes a brand resonate, and how to build that from the ground up, like with a four person team in a little warehouse, you know, it was, it was exciting. I finished that degree. I was involved with somebody and they were originally from the States, so their company moved them back to the States. And I was going back and forth between Canada and the United States for about a period of six months. Like every two weeks to a month, I was on a plane in a, in a different location, trying to nail down what I'm going to do. What's my next step. And at the time I was also doing my second degree online virtually. So, um, that gave me a lot of flexibility, a lot of opportunity to work on my own thing and, you know, be in multiple countries in a, in a month span, which was exciting. That relationship didn't work out, which is. I look back at it and I'm thankful for that. But I was at a place where I wasn't ready to go back home yet. I knew there was a bigger world out there. I wanted to explore so much more of it. So I took a chance on myself. I, uh, found a really great flight to Cuba. And I went from there. I ended up, you know, backpacking through Cuba with a bunch of really great people that I met along the way in hostels, in Casa Particulars. We got to stay in together. That's exactly right. Yeah, it's phenomenal. And it's such a great community. And through that, I started, you know, gaining more freelance clients. Uh, you know, I took my content and was starting to monetize it a little bit, um, exploring that world, but really using it as a portfolio and a showcase of what you can achieve with proper content marketing so that I could sell myself to these brands as an expert who could come in, consult, work a few hours a month for them. And still get paid well because I'm driving results and I can prove those results for them. So that background in math, that background in organization, in data and analytics, it serves you. It's not something to look, turn your nose up at for sure. No, that completely makes sense.
But one of the things I am curious to learn about was You know, you touched a little bit upon, um, your family was someone, or like your family was very heavily into the skilled trades and then you picking up an industry that's completely different in, in what like, you know, everyone in your family is kind of gone for. So what was that experience like? Because going through that journey, moving to the States away from family, like everything that you did. is something that's out of the norm if you think about it from a grown up. So how was that experience like for you? Um, it was really controversial in my family. I actually ended up getting kicked out of my house at 17 years old and I lived with another family that I was really close with to end up finishing high school that way. It takes some strength. It takes some knowing who you are and what you want with your life and really like believing and betting on yourself because I've always been 100 percent sure and I'm really opinionated. Everyone will tell you that and I'm willing to listen to other opinions. Don't Don't get me wrong there. It's It's great through traveling, through working with so many different types of businesses to see all the different perspectives out there.
But if you are sure of yourself and you know that you work hard and you know what you can accomplish, that hard work and that, and that willing to pick anything up and try it will take you so much farther than you think it will. Agreed. Agreed. Fair enough. Completely get that. In terms of your digital nomad lifestyle, right? You said you started in Cuba and then you made your way. And then we also had a conversation where you ended up going to Prague and you kind of traveled Europe as well. So why did you pick digital nomading as, as a way of life? Cause a lot of people, when they're traveling and they want to experience something, they would go to a place, you know, be there for a week or two and then come back. But digital nomading is, is a concept in itself. It takes a lot of strength in itself. So why was that something? that you were fixated on? was a cost of living thin an apartment in downtown time, it was still 1, 000 the space to live. That d that doesn't include food about the opportunities o Where you work for four hours a day. Um, you get your room, you're bored. One of the workaways that I did in the Czech Republic, like, I got to live in a castle. I got three glasses of wine allocated for me to a day. And then I could still That's a lot of wine. Well, it depends on who you are, I guess. Um, but, it really got to, uh, See a lot of the world and like, I'll tell you my month living in Columbia, I spent 800 all included. Like that's my phone bill. That's internet. That's food. That's water. I didn't even pay rent when I was there.
Whoa. Yeah. That is why that is. So, I, I actually made quite a bit of money that month and Right. You know, you get to save up and, and put away and put that towards your future travels, so. Right. There's lots of opportunity out there if you're willing to be scrappy, if you're willing to pick up a new experience. You know, growing up on a farm, I'm, I'm. No stranger to hard work. So whether I'm feeding 20 people, whether I'm helping build a restaurant, like pouring concrete, whether I'm, you know, working on another farm, teaching English, all of those are, are great opportunities out there. If you're looking to save a little money while you're traveling. That's fair. And what was your favorite destination out of all of the destinations you've kind of been to when you were a digital nomadic? That's such a hard question. I think that there are so many different great places for, for different things. The community of travelers that I met in Costa Rica was super warm and super welcoming. The international community that was already around in Prague and willing to, you know, meet up, uh, everyone's friendly. You go to a beer garden, you end up like meeting an American, a German, a Swiss person all at the same table and they're not afraid to invite you in and you make friends so quickly. It's such a welcoming community. Mexico City was really high on my list. The arts, the culture, the music, phenomenal. Paris is obviously like a city after my own heart. Arts, fashion, you know, you name it, it's there. It's a walkable city. Again, if you go to certain districts, like Bastille is really international. So you can still have that community, that friendly traveler community there to support you. Wow.
So when you said Prague and Mexico City, because my brother lives in Mexico City, so I go to Mexico City twice a year. And the beer garden in Prague, I still remember Wisserhard was the name of the beer garden. Yeah, absolutely spectacular. But you've traveled so much and when you're a digital nomad, you also learn about different kinds of cultures and with the work that you were doing. How did you feel that traveling really inspired you in regards to bringing a different perspective in the work that you were doing at that time? For sure. That's a great question. I would say that the first thing that you're exposed to is not everyone thinks like you do. And I think that's a really valuable asset to remember that when you're trying to tackle a problem, that's one of 1000 ways to tackle a problem, really, you know? So, so being able to recognize that and, and adjust to it. Your strategy to that is one thing to understanding international markets. I've worked for everything from like makeup companies to cow comfort products. And so, you know, understanding where your customer is at, what language they speak in, understanding that the way that you phrase things isn't always common in other languages. Those are big eyeopening experiences that I got through traveling that helped me really improve my content strategy that I was selling to other brands quickly. Speaking of content strategy, you said that you started off with a blog and then you also mentioned that you work for a lot of different brands on their content. So talk us through how that transition came about. What was your thought process behind starting your own blog? Firstly, and secondly, when you were taking over other people's kind of content marketing strategy, what was the thought process behind each strategy that you're kind of going after?
For sure. And I think there's a framework to to how I evaluate a customer's needs a client's needs so that I can develop a strategy that actually helps them achieve their business goals. But from a personal perspective, it was Just the need to experiment, the need to hone my own craft before I went out and really showed it to somebody else. And there's a lot of areas of content production that I'm excited about, you know, like food styling, food photography. I absolutely love it, but it's an extensive project and it's like a whole half day thing to shoot, like, you know, three items, you know, especially cause I'm cooking it all myself too. But when you get into the back end and you really understand the nitty gritty of how to build something from the ground up. You can cost your services appropriately, um, because you understand just how much time it takes to get something done. You know, a client Might not know that, you know, Oh, I just need a home page or I need a quick web page or I need a storefront up that you have to think about, okay, terms and conditions, privacy policy, cyber security, um, there's S. E. O. You know, um, even just your library and repository of images that you're going in. There's so much work to building that out and making that S. E. O. Friendly and accessibility friendly that when you can showcase all that work and also the data that proves on your own site, how doing this properly can improve your site traffic, organic visits, inquiries. It makes it a lot easier to prove your value to the client right out of the gate. So you spend less time negotiating, more time getting clients. That's, that's completely fair in terms of the SEO strategy, in terms of kind of, you know, making sure your content's visible in today's day and age. A lot of people have blogs, especially in the travel space. When you take a look at it, every second person who is going for longer periods of travel has a blog.
So what was your thought process when you were kind of working on your blog to build out that SEO strategy and what advice would you kind of give, let's say someone like me who is still struggling with SEO on, on my website? For sure. I think that there's a few things to consider when you're, you're trying to determine where your content should come from, from for me, because I was building for myself and I wasn't really expecting to make money off of it for the first little while. It was a lot of trial and error, a lot of experimentation. What tactics work? How do I structure my paragraphs to make it both easy to read and so that there are enough keywords in it?
Um, and how do I provide that variety to the customer that it feels fresh, right? But I'm still niching down on a specific industry. I think that's a big balance that a lot of, even brands and, and personal blogs have trouble, you know, generating new content idea after new content idea without, you know, reiterating some of the basics or the one on ones. Um, there's a lot of research involved, you know, I, I would say make use of the tools that are available online, Google trends, answer the public, you know, keyword searches and, and research your competitors. Not only your competitors, but people who are selling to your same target audience for the language, the vibe. Um, you can learn a lot of best practices that way. So those are great tips. I think like, uh, I've also been embarking on some of those journeys. One of the things that I've been noticing that's been a challenge is generally in today's day and age from a content perspective is the people consuming the content. They. Don't resonate as much with let's say businesses. They resonate more with people. Oh, so from that perspective When let's say you have clients who are other businesses. What strategies are you kind of? Adopting to make sure that they get the same sort of engagement. They get the same sort of reach that Let's say your independent content creator would get versus a business.
For sure. I think that there's, there's a big balance there in, in expectations, knowing that brands are deprioritized. Um, but giving your brand its own personality, we've moved away from the time on social media when brands would comment like they're your friend on your post, which I think is a good move. But I think, you know, focusing on that knowledge, leadership, that providing that value and that service through every single interaction that you're developing for a customer, you need to keep that forefront of mind so that their journey on the customer site is super easy. They, they understand what you're selling. They resonate with who you are. If you have a really good understanding of the core values of the brand, you have limitless opportunities to create content from that. And in terms of. It's kind of niching down, right? Like everyone we speak to these days is like, Oh, you got to go super niche on, on what you are building from a blog perspective. But a lot of us, let's say, are building content just for fun. In your opinion, if we ever want to monetize, do you think it makes sense to start strategizing right away? I think you can play with it, especially when you're, when you're early on, you're trying to figure out what resonates with you. I understand like, you know, my personal blog is about everything from feminist literature to foods and recipes. Right?
So not all your content will be hyper monetizable, which is fine. You know, there's, there's some industries that are way more commercial that give you opportunities for brand sponsorships or partnership deals or content reuse rights to go into those things. monetizable so that you can make those pitches early in advance, but don't lose your joy. You know, I w I would say, yes, everyone needs to niche down, but if you really enjoy writing about something and that's where your passion comes through, and you're going to be motivated to write every day because you're focusing on that passion, then don't give that up because it's not easily monetizable. Maybe you just haven't found your community yet. That's fair.
And community is a big part of any sort of blog you build. Any sort of service you're trying to sell as well, right? Even with hostel match as a whole, our focus is very heavy on making sure that the community of travelers are getting the value they deserve, because when you're thinking of budget travelers, they're usually an underserved market because there's not as much like, let's say money involved with providing that personalized service. So I'm, I'm really happy that you touched upon the community side of it as well. In terms of kind of understanding more about how to integrate communities with the blogs that you have, what are some pieces of advice that you have for, let's say, people wanting to start that want to integrate a community but don't necessarily have like a massive following or a community at this moment? There are lots of online networks for content creators and, you know, find one that's local or, or even just in yourself in finding a can reach out and tap int that I joined really rece am blown away by is calle know, monday. Yeah. And yo so many warm welcomes and reach out and support you not your own community th Find people who are adjacent to that community. Don't be afraid to reach out, ask questions, even from a non sales perspective of, Hey, I just want to pick your brain. Hey, I just want to get some feedback. Hey, you're, you're an expert in this thing. You'd be surprised at how many doors people are willing to open for you. If you're open, honest, you show up genuinely and you follow up on what you say you're going to do. And talking about opening doors and what's next in your docket, like you mentioned, you have a personal blog as well.
Uh, is there anything in specific that we should be looking out for that you might be coming up with? A project that I'm currently working on right now that I haven't really been releasing much on is I have all of my grandmother's old recipes. Yeah, like 40 years worth of recipes. And she's known for being a cook. She hosted like 50 person dinners all every Christmas, every holiday. Easter was a big thing for her as well. So I'm working on digitizing those recipes, really creating space for them. for, for that nostalgia of, um, she's Italian. So that Italian Canadian community there and, and diving into why those recipes develop the way they are. Cause if you think about here in Canada with such a multicultural experience, sometimes the ingredients you don't use it at home aren't available here. And so you look at that adaptation and that history of food. I'm, I'm really loving that sense of community that's built around bringing people to the table. Well, I absolutely love this thought process and idea because I don't know if I've told you, I used to sculpt for India back in the day and being an artist myself, I really love when you take parts of history and you kind of modernize it. So what you're doing with your grandmother's recipe, which is very traditional in its own way with her little twist on it, but then you're modernizing it and digitizing it for everyone else's. using for for people to know who she wasn't paying homage to. That is really sweet. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I think that there's so much inspiration. Like it goes again back to that inspiration source. If you don't have a project that really like lights a fire in you, you're not going to be motivated to work on some of the like more menial tasks you need to do to just keep the income going. That's fair. And in terms of, uh, Next for TBDC or beehive, any special projects that you can talk about that is not confidential. Um, we're going through a big, big revamp on some of our programming. So stay tuned for that information. I can't say any more than that at the moment. That's fair. Yeah, no, that's right. But generally wanted to for your time, for giving us information about different aspects of blogging, of content creation, of standing, how So you can do things for fun because everything in today's day and age is turned into how do you monetize X? How do you monetize? What's your side hustle? People are like, Oh, I have 17 side hustles.
I'm like, I didn't even know you could do 17 side hustles at this point, right? What happened to hobbies? Exactly. So it's, it's really nice to have someone like you just, you know, talking about doing it for fun as well. Also like making sure you monetize it, but like doing certain things for fun, paying homage to the people that really matter in your life. So. So thank you so much for sharing that story with us about how to build up your personal brand, the blog and carry forward as a digital nomad. Yeah, happy to be here. Thanks so much for having me. Thank you so much. We appreciate the time. Thank you.
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