We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cortni Armstrong a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Cortni, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I have lived in an RV for almost 10 years. One year into my journey I said “I love this lifestyle but I cannot stand these interiors”. I knew there had to be cute RVs out there somewhere. I began a quest to find them, but the harder I searched, the uglier they got. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. After months and months of searching I finally admitted that what I want didn’t exist.

My options were to either accept what the normal ugly RV interiors were like, or take matters into my own hands and renovate one to be the cute bachelorette pad that I wanted. I jumped into a renovation not really knowing construction techniques and design concepts. That RV turned out pretty cute and inadvertently, planted a seed.

I thought “If I don’t like these interiors, there has to be other people who don’t like them either, right?” But then I’d second guess myself and think “There’s a reason they’re all dark and ugly! That’s what RVers like” But then I’d second guess that and think “But there are millions of RVers out there! There has to be a segment that wants something different, right?!”

I argued with myself for about 2 years before I gained the courage to take the leap and find out if there truly was a business there. Now 7 years later with over 2,200 people on my waiting list, I’d say taking the risk and starting a business that nobody else had has proven successful.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My business, The Flipping Nomad, is an RV renovation business. We take normal RVs and turn them into bespoke masterpieces. The interiors are tailored to be exactly what the client wants, both from an interior design and a functionality standpoint.

A common misconception of my business is that we work with old or rundown RVs, which is actually not the case. We try to not work with RVs that are older than 10 years old as you really increase your risk for structural problems like water damage. We’ve even had clients buy brand new RVs and send them to us. One was so new it didn’t even have license plates yet.

A unique angle that my business has over other RV renovation business is that my team and I are all RVers ourselves. During Covid, a lot of people who had zero experience with RVs decided they needed a project and started RV renovation business. It proved to be a recipe for disaster as they had no idea how the structures move on the road. It became a “buyer beware” situation. My team and I test all of our processes on our own RVs before we put them in clients RVs.

How did you build your audience on social media?

We have 200K+ followers over Instagram and TikTok. We’ve gained our following in large part to people recognizing that we know what we’re talking about. We’re subject matter experts in not only renovating, but RVing in general.

We also give out tons of free information. That serves two purposes. One is to help grow the following with people who are interested in DIYing their own renovations or need help on their own RVing journey. The other reason is to show potential clients that we really know what we’re talking about. It’s a way to gain their trust and a very organic way to sell.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

The E-Myth is one of my favorites. Its really simple, yet powerful at the same time. It helps you compartmentalize if you own your business or just a job.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theflippingnomad.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/theflippingnomad
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/theflippingnomad