A beautiful pastel colored sunset sky sits behind the airstream trailer with a black chevrolet silverado in front of it on a grassy field

Build The Life You Want To Live

with No Comment AirstreamTravelUncategorized

I’m an early 80’s baby. I grew up being taught you went to school, then you went to college or university. You got a job after you graduated, hopefully a good one with a pension. Then you grind away in an office from 9-5 saving money to buy a house and take the occasional vacation. There wasn’t a lot of talk about straying from this path, or how you build the life you want to live. Now that’s a topic that’s very much on a lot of people’s minds.

We all know there was a huge shift from baby boomer work ethic to millennials having more of a living ethic. Not to say that generation isn’t hard working, but there’s definitely more of a focus on living your life instead of working for so much of it. I don’t know about you but the thought of waiting until retirement in my 50s or 60s (hopefully..!) to travel and enjoy my life does not sound appealing to me! Not enough people realize that you can build the life you want to live yourself; that you are the architect of your own future!

A beautiful pastel colored sunset sky sits behind the airstream trailer with a black chevrolet silverado in front of it on a grassy field

In my latest newsletter, I said I would share what building the life you want to live looks like for me right now. I was focused on making a 6-figure salary. That’s what I wanted, that’s what I was working towards. Spoiler alert – I haven’t achieved it. Over the last few years, I realized I didn’t need that to live the life I wanted to live. I wanted:

  • enough money to not worry about paying my bills
  • to take a vacation every now and then
  • to be able to take a day off without stressing about money.

When I worked out what the cost of those things would be, I figured out I could do that with a LOT less than 6 figures, which also meant I was working less! This is another thing I want for my dream life. I’ve been working 6 days (sometimes 7) a week for years now while I built up my businesses. I did this for a few reasons: One – I was growing two businesses, then three, so that obviously required a lot of juggling. Secondly, I was deeply unhappy in my personal life and working made me feel better about that.

After doing this for the last five years, I’m ready to wind down to a regular work week. To enjoy my evenings with my husband, family or friends, rather than catch up on work or try to get ahead of more work. While I lived the ‘hustle’ life for a few years, I do not glamorize it. There needs to be some balance, or work life integration to not burn out, or look back to realize how much of your life you spent working instead of living.

What does our dream life look like for the future?

Now that we live in the Clutterbug, our 25-foot Airstream trailer, our dream is to live in other places with it. Our current dream plan we’re working towards is to be able to tow the trailer down south for the winter. We would like to leave in October before the weather gets too cold and ideally take it to Arizona, but take our time getting there. We would fly back for Christmas and then back down south until we drive back in April.

So how do we make that work?

Step 1: Determine how much money we need to save to cover our expenses at home.
We will only have a garage on our land but we want to make sure we save enough to cover the utilities while we are away.

Step 2: Create a budget of what we think we need to make to afford gas, groceries and other necessities. That includes touring to see the sites of where we’re travelling!

Step 3: Can we work while we’re away?
I’ve been doing some freelance writing and working on a travel writing portfolio so I could potentially work while we travel. I also have the luxury of being able to work with my business while I’m away. Tyson doesn’t at this point as he has a physical job here in Nova Scotia. We need to figure out if there’s something he can do while we travel, or if we can save enough that it won’t matter if he’s not working.

Step 4: Set up a timeline that we can work towards.
This is an important one on actually achieving the goals we’re setting for ourselves. We want to do this by Oct 2024. By actually setting a date, we are giving ourselves a tangible timeline to work towards and work backwards from. I set checkpoints in my calendar like ‘Need to have X amount saved by this date’, ‘Need to create a list of potential writing opportunities by this date’, etc. If we don’t set a time, we don’t end up doing anything to actually work towards achieving it, and the dream just keeps getting pushed along.

Timelines you set for yourself are NOT set in stone so don’t let that stop you. We may be coming up on the fall of 2024 and realize this year is not going to be possible to be away for the winter. We could have an expense come up that takes away the money we saved up to carry us through those months, a sick family member that needs us in Canada – any number of things. But if you don’t set up timelines for yourself to actually build the life you want to live, it’s not going to happen. We all know time flies by (how is it August 2023 already?!?!).

Here’s your ‘build the life you want to live’ homework!

  1. Map out what you want for your dream life. The job you have, the hours you work, the money you make, the perks you want. Regular vacations, a four day work week, working for yourself – whatever it is! Write it down and be specific! You can get a great Dream Journal from Glowbug Designs Rebecca Hill here.
  2. Do up an estimated budget of what you need to live this dream life. Ballpark what you can, from your daily/ monthly expenses, to estimated travel budgets or decreasing your work week. What do you need to bring in to live your dream life?
  3. Set a date or timeline for you to move towards building the life you want to live. Remember, it can be flexible, but if you don’t set a timeline to work towards, how will it ever come to be?

Money is an intimidating topic for many of us. Budgeting is generally not something we enjoy doing because no one likes to feel restricted in what they can or can’t have, but that’s a whole other blog! If you can shift your perspective on budgeting being a tool that helps you in building the life you want to live, you can open up all kinds of possibilities.

I hope you enjoyed reading about what our dream life is, and seeing how we’re working to achieve it inspires you! Now get out there and build the life you want to live!

How Hiring A Publicist Changed The Course Of My Life Forever

with No Comment BusinessPDUncategorized

I know this sounds like a sales pitch but I assure you, it’s not going to be that. I want to share my personal experience in case it can help you the way it has helped me. Life has a way of taking us down some weird and wonderful paths. You never know who you’re going to meet, or how that meeting may alter your life. With that in mind, I want to share with you how hiring a publicist changed the course of my life forever – for the better. This is about how the right person asked me the right question to refocus me in a way I didn’t even know I needed.

I met Crystal Richard at a social media convention in San Diego, California in March of 2019 through mutual friends.

My husband and I working remotely from our airstream in a field by a creek in rural Nova Scotia

While I only spoke with her in passing a few times over the course of those 3 days, she seemed like a really nice person with a beautifully sunny disposition. I began following her on social media and was quite impressed with her entrepreneurial side. Like myself, she was a multi-passionate entrepreneur. Crystal owns her own PR firm and often shares the work of her impressive roster of clients. She also had a personal blog that helps you develop a coastal crush on her home province of New Brunswick. Crystal also has an apparel company of sea-worthy designs she was regularly promoting and attending trade shows with. 

While struggling with my own overloaded work schedule, I reached out to Crystal to ask if we could have a chat about how she juggles her own busy workload from multiple businesses. Over a zoom call, we got to know each other, as well as share trade secrets about how we each operated. It was extremely helpful, plus Crystal’s energy and enthusiasm is something that should be bottled up and distributed to the world. It’s contagious, in the best way.

As my businesses expanded, I felt it was time to look in to professional help to spread the word of what I was doing, as well as look for new opportunities. I didn’t have time to write press releases or make media contacts on top of everything else I was doing. I reached out to Crystal again, and we scheduled a discovery meeting to see if we were the right fit. That one meeting was priceless.

Alicia Simms & Crystal Richard, Truro

I feel like I am actually living a dream. A dream I realized when the perfect person asked me the perfect question.

Crystal asked me a series of questions, but the hands down most important one was “what are your dream goals?”

Dramatic pause.

What were my dream goals? I honestly wasn’t sure. If felt like when you wake up kind of remembering a dream, but can’t quite get the details. I had a vague idea, but suddenly wasn’t sure what I was working towards. Like ‘I want to be a whatever-figure business’ – but doing what? What is my end game?  I knew I was working hard on my businesses, and I wanted them to grow and succeed, but what were MY actual dream goals? After sitting back and thinking about it, I outlined a few things for Crystal but once we got off our call I REALLY stewed on it, and it lit my heart on fire. If I could be anything in the world, what would it be? I am in that position now? I knew it wasn’t working 60 hour weeks tethered to my laptop in an office.

airstream trailer nova scotia graves island provincial park mobile living travel writer
Our Airstream at Graves Island Provincial Park, Nova Scotia

One thing I really wanted to pursue was writing. I had done freelance writing for the local paper in St John’s, Newfoundland on the side. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but never considered it as something I should pursue. Now here I am, sitting at my desk in our Airstream trailer (affectionately named Clutterbug) in a field by a creek without cell service. I’m looking at the trees surrounding me, and listening to the gentle rain pinging on the aluminum shell while writing a travel article about my favourite places in Nova Scotia. I feel like I am actually living a dream. A dream I realized when the perfect person asked me the perfect question.

Maybe you’re not in a position to hire a publicist, and that’s ok. If it’s something you’ve considered or think you might be interested in knowing more about, I obviously suggest you reach out to Crystal. She’s your biggest cheerleader – you just don’t know it yet. The moral of the story is that sometimes it takes a fresh set of eyes to help you see things more clearly. Don’t be afraid to reach out for help or to even just discuss options and brainstorm. In the meantime, I’d like to extend the same thought provoking question that she did to me, that lit my heart on fire:

What is your dream goal?

Take your time. Think it out. And most importantly, don’t limit yourself with this answer. Dare to dream big.

Now how will you get yourself there? Start with the goal and work back from that. If you need help with that question or answer, reach out to a close friend, someone who’s doing what you want to do, a coach, or feel free to pop me an email. Let’s reach our dream goals together!

Sometimes, you just have to start.

with No Comment BusinessUncategorized

Have you ever wanted to do something but talked yourself out of it? Or end up paralyzed from moving forward by overthinking what you should be doing? What will the faceless “they” think? Thats been my journey with this website.

Over the last couple of years, it became clear I needed a site for myself and all the things I’m working on that don’t fit in to the other businesses I have. I’ve wanted to create a blog for years! Each time I opened a new business that required a website, I added a blog page to it, but they sat unused. It’s as if adding a title to something immediately triggers imposter syndrome. ‘I can’t have a blog because I’d have to call myself a blogger, and I’m not.’ 🤷🏻‍♀️

What should I say?
What do people want to read?
What can I give to the world?

I’ve been trying so hard to figure out what to write for my first blog on this site that I have decided to just write… because sometimes, you just have to start.

As I get older (I’m closing out my 30s!), I find its easier to let go of those insecurities that hold us back. Is it the passing years that give us an appreciation for the shortness of life? Or is it that time seems to go by too quickly to not live as fully as possible? I’ve missed out on so many things in my younger years because I was afraid of failure, but somewhere along the line, I learned to dust myself off when I fall, learn why it happened, and to keep going.

If you don’t know me, I’m an entrepreneur in Truro, Nova Scotia. I went from barely graduating high school to owning three businesses here in the northern area of the province, and I love what I do. Being a part of the entrepreneur community has changed my life forever. I love the passion and creativity that comes with every day. I love the team I’ve built, and the work we’re doing. I’m accomplishing things I’d have never thought myself capable of doing (more on that later!) There are definitely plenty of sleepless nights worrying about being responsible for people’s livelihoods, the tasks I didn’t get done, looming deadlines, but overall – its worth it (someone remind me I said this when I’m crying at my desk for one reason or another).

I have a wonderful partner, Tyson, and we have a new rescue pup (Meloo) and two crazy cats (Memphis & Polly). This summer we had the incredible opportunity to work together hosting an upcoming Eastlink show called Road Trippin that had us exploring Nova Scotia in an RV! We’re also planning our wedding for 2022, as well as selling our house and building a new one, so I’m sure there will be more about those experiences to come!

I love to write, and I’m going to write for me because I find it therapeutic. Hopefully there are people out there who will enjoy what comes out, or maybe even find it helpful, but in the meantime, I’ll just keep writing for me. If you’re reading this, thanks for taking the time to checking out my site. I’m glad you’re here, and I’ll keep showing up with my musings.