Productivity While Living Abroad, with Sarah Tulen – TPW337

This week's episode features my conversation with newlywed, Gen-Z'er, and small business owner Sarah Tulen. Join us as we discuss balancing and growing a new business, all while living in a new country.  Being Productive While Running a Business Overseas Sarah Kim Tulen is a nomad who hails from Orange County, California, attended Emerson College in Boston, worked and lived in New York City, and is now living in the Netherlands! Sarah's husband (whom she met in New York) is from the Netherlands and last year when his visa expired, they decided to move to the Netherlands rather than renew it. Sarah is the founder of Communaholics, a digital marketing agency she founded just a year ago, that creates innovative digital strategies for open-minded clients. Sarah's agency runs on a green initiative called PLANT10 that is written into every contract, meaning that Communaholics plants 10 trees for every month of work done with a client.  Sarah previously worked at one of the best communication firms in the United States and aims for her agency to be a less intimidating environment than the places she has previously worked at.  In college, Sarah majored in marketing communications and minored in entrepreneurship. She also has a background in digital marketing. Sarah feels that based on her studies and past experience, she is exactly where she is supposed to be. When she's not working, Sarah enjoys surfing, rock climbing, yoga, skincare, embroidery, macramé, painting, baking, and most prominently-sushi eating! A typical day Sarah's typical day is very different than what you might think a successful entrepreneur may have. Sarah's husband is a chef, so his hours are quite varied. She tries to align her schedule with his and because several of her clients are in the US, she is able to begin her day a bit later, around 10:00 am. One of the reasons Sarah began her business, rather than apply to a traditional job, was so she would be able to see and spend time with her husband since his schedule cannot be controlled. Sarah begins each day by enjoying a matcha latte and spending some quiet time with her husband. She also likes to take time to visually plan her day out and think of all the things she needs to get done. After a while she will begin working on her social media content, getting things posted to her business Instagram page. Around noon she will be doing client work with a focus on getting all of her meetings held in the early afternoon. Her workday usually ends at about 1:00 in the morning. After work she spends time creating content for her social media pages or watching television. Sarah and her husband moved to the Netherlands in the middle of the pandemic and initially, there was no strict protocol on masks. Now, however, the country is on lock-down. All shops are closed and there is a curfew of 9:00 pm. Masks are also now required everywhere. This has made it a challenge for Sarah to meet people and make friends in a new country. She also expected that her family would be able to visit her, but that's not possible right now. Fortunately, her husband's friends and family have been very welcoming to her. Biggest productivity challenges In managing her life and business, Sarah finds that her biggest challenge is just starting.  Sarah is diagnosed with ADHD, which impacts how she manages her time and gets work done. She finds that throughout the day, she will drift to different activities, so she has to re-align herself every few hours to stay on track. Sarah also deals with anxiety and imposter syndrome (as so many of us do) as a young business owner, questioning her own capabilities or whether or not she is ready for what she is doing.