A nomad cash flow trick, an obsession with Slovenia, and making $1.5 million writing recipes 🍝 🌮 🍕

The "Class Act" Edition

Sept 3, 2022

Moments like these make me cry: (a) Anytime I watch Harry and the Hendersons ("You've got to go back where you belong now!" 😭); (b) Anytime they accidentally deliver thin crust instead of thick (WHAT IS THIS SICK PERVERSION???); (c) And anytime I witness a profound act of human kindness—particularly when a person of little means offers what they do have in order to make someone else's life better.

This? Cue absolute buckets.

We first saw him and his wife outside The Mark, a touristed-but-iconic old-school cocktail bar with 360 degree views of San Francisco. He was dressed in an old tee-shirt and jeans, with a pair of sneaks straight outta the 80s. We both had the wrong entrance—we laughed. When we found the right one, his wife, wringing her hands, humbly asked the concierge: "Is there a dress code?" The concierge, the true hero here, warmly and enthusiastically replied, "Honey, you go on up there—if anything, you're overdressed!" I always say that true etiquette is making other people feel comfortable, and this was a shining example. 🌟

By then, we were already seated in a window seat against the glass: one of the best seats in the house. Turns out? There was a spare table next to ours. We laughed again and welcomed them over.

Throughout cocktail hour, we chatted. They were in the city for a concert—tickets were only $25, he said. He was in restaurant service; she was a stay-at-home mom. Their three kids had recently flown the nest. He told me he works nights: he drives into San Francisco at two o'clock in the morning to service different restaurants, when all the patrons and staff are gone. "Plus, parking's easier," he said matter-of-factly. He told me that Applebee's was one of the largest clients, and that if I was ever in there, I should order the broccoli chicken alfredo pasta bowl. He nodded solemnly.

At one point, we told them that I was from Pennsylvania, and C was from Costa Rica. "Costa Rica's a long way!" they gasped. Told them how the hills had kicked our ass, despite thinking we were "practiced" (touché, San Francisco, touché!) and how I'd refused to let us get an Uber because apparently I am rotten at the core and enjoy inflicting as much human suffering as possible on myself and everyone around me. (C LOVES this about me.)

At the next table over, I overheard a man pitching his book to what seemed to be an agent—a tall and elegant pinched-faced woman who smiled politely through the pain of listening to this man read several of his pages aloud. I cringed for her. The man was overbearing and self-important, and I could hear his every word as he made jokes that didn't land and then guffawed incessantly at himself while the woman strained not to get up and walk into the ocean. He talked the entire time, non-stop, all about his book and his 'brilliant' ending—which he also read out loud like a proud eighteen-year-old boy who'd just gotten laid.

And yet, he looked he looked like he belonged. He'd had no problem walking into that room. No problem raising his hand and saying, "I deserve to be here."

Contrast that with my friends at the next table, and I thought about how looking like you belong gives you such an unfair advantage, even when you're a blubbering blowhard. I thought about how apprehensive my new friends had been that they wouldn't be welcomed. I thought about the hesitancy when they'd looked over the cocktail list, unsure what to order. I thought about how, when their charcuterie board arrived and they asked what the cheese was, the server actually replied, "well, um, you can tell..." (I almost body slammed this dude when I heard that. Maybe they were asking what region, you muppet.) I thought about how so much of life is just a bunch of charades.

Smoke.

And.

Mirrors.

And so many people won't enter the room in the first place because they're afraid they won't know how to play. Is my outfit suitable???????? Is my sweater sweater-y enough??? Are these the right shoes???? Will I fit in at the restaurant / the vineyard / the place? Will they judge me? Will I make a fool out of myself? Will I know how to order that dish? Will I say it right? Will it be obvious I have no idea what I'm doing???

These are the questions that stop us dead in our tracks from doing SO many things—and I don't just mean at outdated, overpriced restaurants that serve kaluga hybrid caviar. I mean life. While The Top of the Mark isn't a room anyone needs to be in, it's the metaphorical rooms that matter.

The career pivot. The fresh start. The desire to do something new.

Sometimes, you've got to choose to go in anyway, despite your tee shirt. Despite not knowing how to "do it right." Despite not knowing if you'll be well-received, or if they'll "approve" once you arrive.

As our new friends got up to leave, the man in the tee-shirt approached us to say goodbye, and then placed a $100 bill on our table. "Enjoy your time in San Francisco" he said shyly, grinning from ear to ear as he backed away from the table. "Dinner's on me."

"No, no!" we retorted.

But, before we knew it, the man in the tee-shirt was gone.

And that's when I thought: sometimes, class isn't about who looks the part.

Sometimes, it's about who acts it.

Ash Ambirge

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Digital Nomad Minis

• It's no illusion everyone on your Instagram feed was in Italy this summer 🇮🇹: the country continues to dominate the top trending destinations this fall. 🍁
  
• Remote work is making homes more expensive 🏡—but also flooding the local market with more money.
  
• How old is too old to stay at a youth hostel? (Answer: GO DO YA THANG.)
  
• 41% of workers said they value work/life balance over salary in this new study.
  
• Random trip tickets, where your destination is determined by lottery, are picking up steam in Japan 🇯🇵
  
• What did hotels look like the year you were born?!
  
• Airbnb is kicking Expedia + Booking's ASS
  
• Let's all remind ourselves to casually purchase this "dome-topped home in the heart of Capri." (OMG.)

Slovenia's On Everybody's Lips These Days

Everywhere I look, there's a new article about Slovenia. 🇸🇮

Here's one on Slovenia's natural untamed beauty.

Here's one on a cycle ride through western Slovenia.

I'm reading a book called Slovenology, where the author, an American who's traveled and lived in some of the poshest places on earth, argues that Slovenia is THE place to be.

"My favorite city is Rome. My favorite place to visit is London. In the US, I love New Haven and could easily live in Boston (go Red Sox!). But when I add up all the pluses and minuses, the complete package, considering not only aesthetics, food, culture, safety, cleanliness, ease of access, approachability, friendliness of locals, reasonable taxes, education and health programs, diversity of landscape, architecture, non-Kafkaesque bureaucracy, professional opportunity, and much more, Slovenia has the best complete package of anywhere I’ve lived. I’m such a fan of my adopted country that I’m eager and proud to share it with anyone wise and worldly enough to come visit. Or to heck with it, why not just move here? If anyone moves here inspired by my writings, then the beer is on me."

—Noah Charney, Slovenia expat

A few things that struck me as ~wildly~ interesting 🤩:

• Cultural workers—including musicians, painters, and writers—can qualify to have their social security contributions fully covered by the government
  
• Non-violent criminals can join an "open prison" system, where they return home on weekends, serving time only on weekdays
  
• AND—get this—if you're a student? The government subsidizes high school and college student meals at restaurants all across the country, guaranteeing a solid, inexpensive meal anywhere they go
  
• Also incredible: there's an automatic minimum pay rate for each academic degree a student completes, from bachelor's on, "translating into a direct and legally protected benefit for those extra degrees enthusiastic students pursue but that don't necessarily result in a concrete benefit."
  
• Students working part-time can earn up to 400 EUR a month, tax-free. If they earn more, their student work can count towards an earlier retirement. 🤯
  
• IVF treatments are free—up to six of 'em
  
• New parents get a whole year of paid parental leave
  
• The government gives qualifying families both a one-time payment for each birth, plus an additional monthly payment until the child turns 18
  
• Every day that a parent must stay home to care for a sick child, the government will reimburse the family for the missed time at work—at 80% of the parent's salary

I mean, this list just goes on!

We're going to go there this fall to check it out—will report back!— but in the meantime, put this place on your radar, and definitely grab Noah's book, Slovenology. Besides being a fascinating read about his life in Slovenia, this says it all:

"When I travel, and when I read, I want big, juicy, ballsy opinions. I want the writer to be a three-dimensional character. So this book is not meant to replace your Lonely Planet or what have you, but offer an additional option, one that is deeper, more colorful, and that gives a sense of what it’s like to live in this remarkable, little-known country that I’ve chosen to call home. I know it inside-out, quite literally: as an outsider who has chosen to live here, and sees everything inside its borders with fresh, wide, wondering eyes."

30-Second Skill: Spoon Yo' Soup Like a MFing Professional

Soup eating anywhere is weird, let alone in other countries: you're blowing. You're stirring. You're trying not to get little pieces of who knows what in your teeth. (For the record, I'd literally rather eat 1,000 snail brains than clam chowder, but MAYBE THAT'S JUST ME.)

A rule of thumb to help you do it like an elegant swan of a human?

"Like ships that go out to sea, I spoon my soup away from me.”

It's literally the world's WORST memory device that makes me feel like a 45-year-old woman named Dawn who makes her own gingham print dresses, but it's also excellent etiquette.

Spoon that soup away from you, not toward, to look like the most sophisticated asshole ever.

(And also so no one guesses that you were just pounding a giant Bud Light in the parking lot.)

#etiquette

Nomad Business: "I Need Cash Flow Now!"

Ah, yes: that freelance life.

The joy of setting one's own hours! Doing creative work that matters! Being one of those people who can sit for long hours on tiny little stools in fancy hotels with long tables!

Eventually, however, you will run into The Conundrum of Doom: your next invoice isn't being paid for 559 days, and you're not exactly sure how you're supposed to pay for health insurance AND a brand-new pair of leggings from Target (priorities).

You need cash flow now.

Here's a little script you can use with your clients to bend the space/time continuum in your favor:

Hi, [Client]!

I'm pounding chamomile while getting my accounting ducks 🦆 in a row for Q4 (they're very cuddly), and wanted to let you know that if you'd like to pay the final balance on your invoice by [X date], I'm happy to extend you a 10% "awesome client courtesy discount."

That would save you [$X], bringing your final balance down from $[A] to $[B].

Let me know if you're interested, and I'll send it over with the reduced rate.Alternatively, if you'd like to switch to monthly retainer, you can save that on all of your invoices. (This is an option some of my longer-term clients take advantage of.)
You can also tell me to walk into the ocean because you like your payment schedule just how it is. Regardless, I'm looking forward to our call on Thursday! 🌟

[You]

Yup.

Cue Montel Jordan: This is how we dooooo itttttttt.

This Couple Makes $1.5M Writing Recipes—And They Do It All From Their Home in Hawaii 🌴 ☀️ 🌊

Clean Food, Dirty Girl is a $1.5M company that writes plant-based recipes for its members...and, omg, its founders, Molly & Luanne, are two of my favorite people EVER. (Ever!!!)

Here’s why I'm so excited to take you behind the scenes of their thriving nomadic business:

1. Um, they’re hitting $1.5M by WRITING RECIPES—hello, dream job!
   
2. They almost exclusively use Facebook to market themselves for free—without ads—and I have NEVER seen this idea before! (It’s GENIUS—and entirely counterintuitive to everything you’d think you should do.)
   
3. Molly suffered from massive imposter syndrome in the beginning, because she didn’t have a bachelor’s degree and thought: “Who’s going to take me seriously???”
   
4. They failed HARD their first year of business—including launching with zero sales—and almost threw in the towel.
   
5. They had one secret weapon up their sleeve that changed everything—and it's fascinating, because making this one tweak to your business IS definitely a game-changer
   
6. Molly credits her success not to her business acumen, but her decision to stop drinking. “I was a binge drinker and had a really big problem with alcohol. I didn’t have the focus that I needed to develop a product and see it through.”
   
7. And now their goal is $5M by the end of the year, and $30M….soon. She knows they can do it. Here’s how!
   

Go behind-the-scenes of Molly & Luanne's million-dollar recipe-writing business and learn how they've built it. ⬇️

Exclusively for subscribers of Vivette Business.

P.S. Did You Know?

The original suitcase was, quite literally, a case for holding suits.

According to The Smithsonian:

A typical suitcase came equipped with an inner sleeve for storing shirts, and sometimes a little hat box on the side. But the late 19th century marked a pivot point in the history of transportation: it was the beginning of mass tourism, of travel for travel's sake (as opposed to, say, pilgrimages to Jerusalem or migration to industrial mill towns.) Humans had long traveled for the sake of curiosity and exploration, of course, but by 1900 or so, hotels in Switzerland were recording millions of overnight stays per year, and a summer day could draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to British beaches. Travel wasn't just for the wealthy anymore. Suitcases began as an afterthought in the luggage and leather goods business, but they soon became the very symbol of travel. An 1897 wholesale price list included the words “suit case” only twice in a 20-page list of luggage types. In a 1907 T. Eaton & Co. catalog, trunks took up a full page while suitcases share a page with club bags and valises. In a 1911 United Company catalog, however, around 40 percent of the advertisements were for suitcases.