We asked leaders who’ve made remote-work effective at their organizations to share their stories, lessons, and insights with us below.

Ben Cena

Retro Podcast was always remote, and most of the other artists I hired to work on projects and artists I sent requests for interviews. Everything is done remotely, sometimes in person; it all depends, but most of the work is virtual. I started Retro Podcast in 2022, and it has been going since. Now we are on season 3. The only struggle is when you start, you don’t get paid much, but then as time moves on and the more successful you get, that is when you can turn your dream into a living. Read more>>

Kirst Holland

I started my company during the pandemic, which felt like a crazy decision at first, but with a lot of companies switching to working remotely, I figured—why not? It was a leap, but one that ultimately paid off. Today, we’re a close-knit team, though I’ve only ever met one of my team members in person, which still amazes me. We’ve been fully remote since day one, with team members spread across the U.S., Portugal, and South Africa. Navigating different time zones is probably our biggest challenge, but as an early bird, I schedule most of our meetings in the mornings, which works for everyone. Beyond that, running a remote company hasn’t been difficult. In fact, I believe the flexibility and freedom remote work offers have significantly contributed to our success. Read more>>

Lexi Duron

Working remotely has been such a game changer for me, though I’ll admit it’s not always as glamorous as it sounds. You can certainly travel, explore new places, and still run a business, but sometimes the reality looks a little different. For example, when my husband had 10 days off after working 20 straight, we’d pack up and hit the road for some much needed adventure. I thought, “How great is this? I can work from anywhere!” But then I found myself in a National Park Visitor Center with zero WiFi and no cell service, trying to meet a deadline. So I had to get creative and found a lodge that WiFi to get done what needed to be done. Read more>>

David Parks

I think if I could go back in time to the beginning of my career in film, I would have focused more attention on the art of storytelling. The technical side of filmmaking has always come very easily to me so I feel like for quite a few years that was a crutch. I’ve been a part of making films for over 10 years, but I was 40 years old when I wrote and directed my first script: Static Codes.  Since then, I have written and directed pretty steadily and it’s been incredibly artistically fulfilling.  Read more>>

Teddy Xiong

If I were starting over, the main thing I’d do differently is focus on my own art from the start. When I first began my career, I worked at a street shop taking walk-ins and doing tattoos that didn’t really excite me. That led to burnout and a lot of self-doubt because I wasn’t doing the kind of work I was passionate about. One piece of advice I’d ignore earlier is the idea that you have to be good at every style and post everything you tattoo. Once I started focusing more on my flashes and my style, things started to click. I felt more confident and attracted clients who appreciated my work for what it was. Read more>>

Brendan Mccauley

Through my parents divorce as a young kid, I turned to binge eating and struggled with weight through high school. As I began to transform physically, I mastered myself mentally which lead me down the road of personal growth, professional development, coaching, and entrepreneurship. Developing a passion for serving others, I knew that I wanted to coach, train, and speak on topics that would help transform lives, just as I had transformed mine, as I found this path to be the most rewarding and fulfilling way to spend my time. At the same time, I was on the 40/40/40 path following in the parents footsteps – get the Undergrad, get the Masters, and eventually climb the corporate ladder.. I had a love for systems, operations and solving problems, but the environment in which I was doing it wasn’t exciting and I felt trapped. Read more>>

Bk Phillips

All of the “how’s”, in my life are just as must of a surprise to you as they were to me. I had no map for life or the one I have is full of unfinished roads. It took believing in myself to cure many of my pitfalls. Just set a path and pursue it as young and agressive as possible. I took forever to find my path. Read more>>

Gibran (gibs) Wirjawan

I think read up on financial, management and structuring material as soon as possible. I spent most of the first-year of building my business without any pre-knowledge and just winging it. Once I got more serious about learning financial modeling, management strategies, it cleaned up our operations so much faster and made it a much more consistent and efficient process. Read more>>

Kaitlin Kirk

If I were to start over today, I would definitely aim to identify a clear niche and target audience. I kind of dipped my toe in a little bit of everything when I first started – family, newborn, couples, engagements, proposals and even second shooting weddings and taking on weddings of my own. Although I feel as though I have done well in all of those areas of the business – you will notice that most photographers that shoot weddings – do not also shoot families – because that is their niche! If I identified one niche earlier on in my photography career – I could maybe better understand client needs and be able to tailor services and marketing efforts more accurately/precisely. Read more>>