In this episode of Entrepreneur’s Enigma, host Seth Goldstein sits down with Geri Paige, a nomadic entrepreneur and founder of the Now Experiment. Geri shares her journey from the corporate world to entrepreneurship and how she has managed to combine her love for travel with running her own business. They discuss the challenges and advantages of being a digital nomad, the importance of balance in one’s personal and professional life, and the concept of presence-based living. Join Seth and Geri as they dive into the ups and downs of entrepreneurship and the lessons learned along the way. Get ready for an inspiring and insightful conversation on the Entrepreneur’s Enigma podcast. Let’s get started!

Key Moments:

[00:02:05] Realized corporate ladder wasn’t fulfilling, went backpacking, found entrepreneurship.

[00:06:10] Thankful for your approval; chose one name out of 80. The Now experiment promotes present-based living, not detachment from the material world.

[00:08:10] The path of entrepreneurship involves self-growth and constant exposure to rejection and criticism. It is different for everyone and doesn’t get easier over time.

[00:12:11] Where is Jerry now? Carmen San Diego-like, she’s on the move, but a home base is important. Carry on.

Find Geri Online:

https://www.geripaige.com

https://www.thenowexperiment.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/geripaige/

https://www.instagram.com/geripaige/

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Transcript (Provided by CastMagic.io)

Seth [00:00:00]:

Entrepreneur’s Enigma is a podcast for the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, for the wins and the fails that we all face being entrepreneurs, how we learn from adversity. Every week, I talk to a different entrepreneur with a story to tell. I’m Seth Goldstein. Come with me on the journey. This is Entrepreneurs’ Enigma. Let’s get started. Hey, everyone. Welcome to another edition of the Entrepreneur’s Enigma podcast.

Seth [00:00:35]:

I am your host as always, Seth. Today, I have a friend of mine, a coach, A nomadic entrepreneur, her name is Jeri Page, and she is the founder of the Now Experiment, A vision based movement to help people present be present in their lives, take back their time and energy, and balance what they’re doing and what they’re being. She’s a storyteller. She has this degree in journalism. She’s worked in the corporate world as a content person, all that stuff. Now she travels around. I think when we first met, she was in Costa Rica. Then we talked again, and she was in Austin.

Seth [00:01:13]:

Now she’s in North Carolina. I’m not trying to dox you or anything, Jerry. I promise. But You’re all over the place, and it’s fantastic. And that’s you know, she’s living the nomadic dream, which is really cool. Hey, Geri. How’s it going?

Geri [00:01:23]:

Hi, Seth. Thanks so much for having me.

Seth [00:01:26]:

So you’re one of the entrepreneurs that I’ve noticed that went, like, a whole 3 not this, a whole 180 from a base of operations. I’m sure your parents’ house is always a base of operations if you need a base of operations to get your mail. But you had a base of operations. You’re working in the corporate world. Decide, I’m done. I don’t wanna do my own thing. Now most people stay in the base of operations, you know, but you’re like, nah. I’m gonna travel and see the world.

Seth [00:01:52]:

And I think that’s I think that’s, like, really cool that you’re you’re you’re you’re able to do that. So so how this all get started? Who is Jerry, like, in a nutshell? And have you always wanted to be an entrepreneur?

Geri [00:02:05]:

That’s such a good question. And you’re right, I did have a strong foundation and a strong Set of the way that things were, I had climbed the corporate ladder, you know, head of marketing, a company that was not remote. Remote really wasn’t a thing for a lot before 2020. And, the thing that shifted for me, because the answer is no. I didn’t always want To be an entrepreneur, I thought I wanted to be a CMO, but the thing that really shifted something within me is whenever I realized that I had reached a role that was near the top of the ladder of what I thought my corporate career would look like, and the way I wanted to feel didn’t exist at the top of that ladder, and so I decided to go and do a little soul searching and went all eat, pray, love on everyone, solo backpacking in Vietnam, in Bali. And that’s where I realized I wanna I wanna broaden the horizons of what’s possible in life. And while I didn’t know that entrepreneurship was gonna be it then, it’s now been my journey for the past three and a half years.

Seth [00:03:10]:

Three and a half years. So you’re not exactly how you’re old hat at this. Like, I’m not claiming you old, but you know what I mean? Three and a half years traveling around. I mean, How’s it been? Traveling is tough. Traveling is tiring. Just like having a base of operations can be tiring, but traveling everywhere and I know, like, you go someplace, you don’t go there for a few days. You go there for a few months, but still so you have a base of operations for a little while. But

Geri [00:03:35]:

Yeah. So the entrepreneur life began before the nomadic life did. So I’ve been an entrepreneur for three and a half years, and I’m currently on my 2nd stint of nomad life that I’ve had. Mhmm. The first was in 2020 1 or 2020

Seth [00:03:50]:

Don’t feel bad. It all blur.

Geri [00:03:53]:

It really does all blur together. 2021 for 6 months. And to your point, I did actually get burnt out. So whenever you’re thinking about traveling full time, especially Actually, if you’re an introvert like me, it’s really important to pay attention to your own boundaries and what you need in order to feel rooted because you don’t have a home base. And so for me, what helps me feel rooted is not what I did in 2021, which is moving around every couple of weeks and living Oh my god.

Seth [00:04:19]:

Every couple weeks.

Geri [00:04:20]:

She’s a lot of I’m

Seth [00:04:21]:

an extrovert. I would’ve died on that.

Geri [00:04:23]:

Yes. It was a lot. And I don’t even just mean cities. I mean, like, I would go I stayed in Encinitas for two and a half months, And I was staying, like, a week here and then another, you know, week or 2 here and then, you know, bebopped around. It was just constant movement. And so what I’ve landed on this time around is going somewhere for staying the same place for 30 to 60 days, maybe longer if I decide, and then in between just returning to ground at a home base before I bounce out again, and that has really worked very well. So

Seth [00:04:53]:

mama, which I’m sure she’s lost. Right?

Geri [00:04:55]:

Yeah. And you know what?

Seth [00:04:56]:

Getting parent time in, which is, you know, great. Because when you own a home base, they can come visit you either. So it’s like, it’s up to you to go back and see your parents.

Geri [00:05:04]:

Yeah. I get to see my mom. I get to see my brother, my sister, the rest of my family, the dogs. Like, as an adult, how often do we get to spend more time with our family when we’re usually so separate. So I’ve considered that over the past few months a gift as well to get more time.

Seth [00:05:19]:

We’re gonna take a quick break, hear from our sponsors, and get right back to show. And then so your next stint is gonna be back up in Boston for the foliage, which is gonna be, like which is nice because you can Go up there for the fall as you know, you get the heck out of there before the snow.

Geri [00:05:33]:

Yes. Fall is my favorite season in New England, and Boston is where I was for a decade. So to go back there and just visit friends is and go apple picking, of course, is gonna be such a joy, and I think that’s one of the beauties of Being an entrepreneur is the freedom that we have to move around and not just to be remote, but to also Manage when we’re actually gonna be working so I can have the spaciousness to enjoy the parts of my travel that I really want to.

Seth [00:06:02]:

So what is the now experiment? Like, And I I love it. I love the name. It seems like it’s gonna be a Netflix special or something.

Geri [00:06:10]:

Thank you. You should have seen the list of names. You should have seen the list of names. There was, like, 80 names that I had that I was thinking about. And whenever I went through and did my due diligence on all of them, I landed on this one. So Happy You Like It. The Now experiment is a company that I founded that’s based on presence based living, Which is a really nuanced thing. People think it means, like, you’re gonna be a monk on a mountain somewhere and just disengage from the material world, And that’s not the the now based living that I promote.

Geri [00:06:43]:

It is a balance of your doing and your being, such that you are paying attention to your present self and your future self in equal parts.

Seth [00:06:54]:

I like that. So So and you’re not a monk on the on an on an island unless you wanna be a monk on a mountain.

Geri [00:07:00]:

You can be. I went to a week long advanced meditation retreat, it was the best week of my life, and then you come back and you integrate what you learned into the world. Yeah. So that’s kind of the approach that I use, integration.

Seth [00:07:14]:

Integration. So you already kinda answered one of my first one of my questions was what’s the best thing about being an entrepreneur, but anything else to add to that?

Geri [00:07:22]:

I think pretty much everything that we do if done with intention is a creative act. Mhmm. And entrepreneurship Is the one of the greatest creative acts, if treated as such, that you can do in the world. So think it is one of the most catalytic, is that a word, sort of Experiences for personal growth and transformation if you’re doing it with your eyes open.

Seth [00:07:52]:

Make sure your eyes are open. If you don’t, you’re gonna walk into a telephone pole.

Geri [00:07:55]:

Yeah. You’re gonna steamroll yourself and miss all the many gifts that this experience has for you.

Seth [00:08:01]:

Be present, essentially. Yeah. So what’s the scariest thing about being an entrepreneur, especially when you’re on the road, you know, being an entrepreneur?

Geri [00:08:10]:

I think this the answer to this question is different for everyone because what a lot of people don’t realize is that the path of entrepreneurship is in some way the path of Your shadows and what you carry within you, it there’s no world in which entrepreneurship and your own internal growth and transformation shadows don’t completely Coexist and and weave in together. So to walk one path is to walk the other if you’re doing it well. So for me personally, it’s The being seen. Yeah. The constantly putting myself out there for rejection and critique, and all the things and I’ve been doing it for three and a half years, but it it hasn’t necessarily gotten any easier over time. It’s just how I navigate.

Seth [00:08:55]:

It gets different. It’s different every year.

Geri [00:08:56]:

It’s it’s different. Yeah.

Seth [00:08:59]:

It’s wild. Yeah. So what’s the most important thing to carry with you all the time?

Geri [00:09:04]:

Like, physically?

Seth [00:09:05]:

It can be both. I mean, for you, it could be physically like a suitcase. Or you metaphysical. You can go as as deep as you wanna go with this. Can go both ways and go physical and well.

Geri [00:09:16]:

I’m gonna say the most important thing to carry with you all times is a remembering. Yeah. A remembering of who at your core you are and what ultimately in the grand scheme of things matters.

Seth [00:09:30]:

I love that. Mhmm. Well, that that that was good. That was good. I love that. I love how people people come up with this question. Some people go, like, service me with their phone. Some people go service me with their phone, and then they go really deep about why they chose their phone.

Seth [00:09:44]:

And it’s just like, woah. Okay. And then people go, like, metaphysical, and that’s I mean, it’s great. I love I love that question. So what is your your mode of Like, when you’re when you’re on the ground, do you just you park yourself and you just say Ubers everywhere? Like, how how how do you navigate these different locations? I mean, like, I mean, Austin’s similar to North Carolina, similar to Boston. I mean, Costa Rica is a completely different country for crying out loud.

Geri [00:10:12]:

This is an especially fun question for me because I haven’t driven in 10 years.

Seth [00:10:17]:

Oh, wow. So maybe they’ll give you the keys.

Geri [00:10:21]:

Yeah. I mean, it’s a liability, me on the road at this point, but I still have a functioning license, which is hilarious.

Seth [00:10:26]:

Need it. Yeah.

Geri [00:10:28]:

But, Yeah. In Boston, I just didn’t need a car, but everywhere I’ve traveled, it has always worked out. Ubers ends up being a lot cheaper if you think about it. We’re programmed to think having a Car is the way to go, but it actually ends up being with car insurance and payments cheaper to Uber places. And, Also, like, I’ll often have a friend or make friends on the ground. I go to these coliving, co working communities and make friends there. So and Then there’s always, like, trains and I don’t know. I just always find a way.

Seth [00:10:57]:

You find a way. I mean, that’s kind of the way of being an entrepreneur and being a nomad. Is finding a way to make things work. You know? And sometimes if you take a step back, you’re like, wait. That wasn’t exactly the best way to go about that. Alright. Change. Let’s pivot.

Seth [00:11:10]:

You know?

Geri [00:11:11]:

Exactly. There are parallels there, for sure. It’s problem solving, outside of the the ladder in the box of what we are we’re taught to follow.

Seth [00:11:20]:

It says you double problem solving. You’re problem solving for the business and you’re problem solving for life because when you’re in Costa Rica, you went probably you need a problem solver just for your general life for the day. You know?

Geri [00:11:31]:

Oh, yeah. And the the transportation in Costa Rica was, like, a plane to another plane to van to a ferry to another van. I mean, it was just wild.

Seth [00:11:44]:

And then you finally get out of your I made it.

Geri [00:11:47]:

Yeah. Like, 11 hours later.

Seth [00:11:48]:

Literally, oh, I gotta do this. I remember watching your, your your Instagram. I won’t put that in the show notes. But your Instagram story is about you’re, like, I’m on another plane. I’m on a bus. I’m on our plane. I’m in the United States. Thank god.

Seth [00:12:01]:

I can actually just take 1 more transportation now. Oh, I can’t. I have to get this bus, this cab. I’m like, It’s crazy. It’s you you’re a fun watch on Instagram. I can say that. That’s funny. Like

Geri [00:12:11]:

Thank you.

Seth [00:12:11]:

What if where where is Jerry now? Like, we’re in Carmen San Diego. Is, where’s Jerry? You know? Where is she now? You know? She’s got a van running over here. She’s over there now. It’s great. You know? Like and for people like me who are have our home base, it’s nice to see the people how different people live. You know, like, you know, and I mean, it’s just because you’re doing this now doesn’t mean you don’t have a version 3 at some point. Get a home base for a little bit, take a break, and do it again. I mean, you can do this, and it’s kinda nice to do that.

Seth [00:12:39]:

Especially, you’re an entrepreneur, so you don’t have to answer to anybody except for yourself.

Geri [00:12:43]:

Yeah. And I think that that is what freedom ultimately is, is being able to decide anew for yourself, whatever that is, because I know that things will Change. One day, I’ll get sick of this probably or maybe I won’t. I don’t know. And I’ll ground it. You know, maybe there will be a different version of Entrepreneurship for myself, or maybe I won’t wanna be an entrepreneur anymore. I think that real freedom is, like, not overly attaching yourself to any specific path.

Seth [00:13:07]:

I love that. Oh, man. You’re dropping knowledge bombs left and right, Jerry. So now speaking about places, where is your favorite watering hole online? Where do you hang out the most?

Geri [00:13:19]:

I would say I probably spend the majority of my time on Instagram because it’s where I create the most.

Seth [00:13:27]:

Because you’re looking at a very visual life.

Geri [00:13:29]:

Yeah. Yeah. But maybe second to that, I spend a lot of time in my notes app Because that’s where I write. And, And

Seth [00:13:39]:

you’re trying not I’m trying not to walk in the fountains, right, as you’re writing?

Geri [00:13:43]:

Well, I use notes for everything. I think that there are so many different, like, task management systems and things out there, but I found that

Seth [00:13:49]:

see that they like they like that Steve Jobs did a good job on the notes app.

Geri [00:13:53]:

Yeah. It’s just simplicity. I don’t have to, like, manage. It’s like a full time job managing a a tool sometimes, and so I bump it in, And it’s a Notion. I tried Notion for a second, and I was like, this is a full time job to manage this tool for

Seth [00:14:05]:

the first time. Notion for 3 things for the podcast, and that’s it. I pay for the premium version, but I’m like because I need something that the premium version gives me.

Geri [00:14:13]:

Yeah.

Seth [00:14:14]:

But, like, I mean, like, you know, our friend Sarah, who’s in is in Jay Klaus’ group, And you know she’s a certified expert, and she’s like, I could do this and this and this and this. I’m like, what?

Geri [00:14:23]:

Brain explodes.

Seth [00:14:25]:

Exactly. It’s like, Hey. If your brain works that way, go for it. Yeah. Because it runs your whole business through Notion. I’m like, I don’t know how to do that. So as we’re invoicing through Notion, I’m like, wow. For me, I’m like, I need separate tools.

Seth [00:14:37]:

I need this. Like, this tool does this. I wanna build something. I want it to just be that thing. So

Geri [00:14:43]:

Yeah. It’s beautiful. There’s so many Options out there. For me, personally, it’s just that notes app, man, and that’s where I do a lot of my writing, so I spend time there too.

Seth [00:14:51]:

And does it back up now? I think it backs up to the cloud now. Right?

Geri [00:14:54]:

Oh, yeah. A 100%. If it didn’t, I would probably have Yeah.

Seth [00:14:57]:

But the same, you better show didn’t backslap.

Geri [00:14:59]:

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Seth [00:15:01]:

Exactly. So your ad, Jerry Page, So g e r I p a I g g e on Instagram. Pretty much both you’re you’ll you come up. You know, it looks like when LinkedIn you come up, it’s that works. And is it it’s now experiment, The now experiment.com/subscribe for the newsletter. So that’s exciting. And you have a podcast too. Let’s not forget about the podcast.

Geri [00:15:29]:

I do. The podcast is called Abundantly Curious, and

Seth [00:15:33]:

I like it.

Geri [00:15:34]:

A bit separate from my coaching work. It’s for Fun. So I kinda just post whenever I want because I’m not hell bent on growing it, but I enjoy it whenever I do publish.

Seth [00:15:43]:

It’s fun. I give a little dose of Jerry every now and then.

Geri [00:15:46]:

Yeah.

Seth [00:15:48]:

So, Juri, this has been so much fun. I’m so glad we got you on.

Geri [00:15:51]:

Thank you so much for having me. It’s been a great chat.

Seth [00:15:54]:

And we’ll have see everyone next time. That was a great show. If you’re enjoying Entrepreneur’s Enigma, please view us in the podcast directory of your choice. Every review helps other podcast listeners find our show. If you’re looking for other podcasts in the marketing space, with no further than the marketing podcast network@marketingpodcast.net. Gold Feeny hopes you have enjoyed this episode. This podcast is one of the many great shows on the MPN Marketing Podcast Network.