Meet Brianna West | Digital Nomad Coach & Travel Content Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brianna West and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brianna, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Let me start off with saying I never expected to start my own business. It was never part of “The Plan”. It was a twisting and winding road that led me here. My true passion in life is travel and it’s all I ever wanted to do. I always thought that I would study abroad when I got to university. Sadly, being an athlete on scholarship limited my abilities to do this and I had to put those dreams on hold for a little longer. I was “expected” to go right into graduate school after graduation, so while searching for graduate programs I stumbled upon a masters program in Vienna, Austria. One life changing moment of acceptance later, I packed my bags and finally crossed the pond for my adventure!
I fell in love with Europe and knew this was where I was meant to be. My first two years flew by and at the end it just wasn’t enough, I had to stay. Luckily for me, my degree came from an Austrian university which gave me an additional year to find a job. The issue was that my degree was in Psychology and the system in Austria is …. complex. So I started to look for other opportunities. I spent time teaching in international schools, coaching, tutoring, and for fun I wrote about all of my traveling on a website I built from scratch myself (not an easy task haha and I wouldn’t recommend).
After I had been writing for a few months, a colleague came across my site and asked if I had ever considered trying to monetize my social media accounts and turn them into a business. I was intrigued at the possibility of becoming a remote worker, as my partner is a professional hockey player and we started to move around each season. This gave me the opportunity to create my own income and not worry about all the instability around us (yes, I’m looking at you COVID).

Once I decided to give it a try, I needed to come up with a plan on HOW I could monetize my sites. I noticed that a lot of people were reaching out to me after seeing my social media pages about all of my travel stories and reviews, for recommendations, tips and suggestions. This is where my first step into my own business began. I became a certified travel agent and started to help other people book their own travels! After I began to gain a small of a community, I started to monetize my website by collaborating with travel brands, tourism boards and hotels creating content for them and occasionally promoting them on my own social media channels. This was Phase two. I realized that I really enjoyed doing this and started to focus more of my time and energy on these partnerships and less time as a travel agent. These collaborations eventually led to people reaching out to me asking how they could do the same. They wanted my help to become location independent and wanted to learn how to work with travel companies. This is where phase three of my business began. I decided I wanted to become a Digital Nomad coach and help other people create their own freedom and escape the normal 9-5 office life.
Today I am still working with travel brands, tourism boards, and hotels as a content creator, I work with companies as a social media manager, and I run my own online academy to help other people become Digital nomads !

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I know what I do isn’t original. So, you might be thinking what makes me…. special? There are tons of people who would label part of what I do as being an “influencer” but personally I hate the term. I don’t consider myself an influencer because it’s not my intention to “influence” people, but rather to HELP my community in any way I can. Whether it’s helping them plan their own travels, helping them with tips and recommendations on locations, products and hotels or helping them to escape their 9-5 and create their own freedom online by becoming location independent as a digital nomad, I try to provide value with everything I do. I am proud that I have been able to find a way to use my passion in life to help others. I am most proud when I receive messages from students or a community member thanking me for helping them achieve a dream! I know how difficult this lifestyle can be, it has its challenges for sure and I’d be lying if I said there weren’t multiple times when I thought it would be easier to quit and go back to a “normal” career path. However, being part of a community of likeminded people who are quick to support one another makes it all worth it in the end.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This is such a difficult question to answer when you move a lot! We do have a “home base “ in Vienna still and I have lots of reviews for it on my website and social media www.travelmunchers.com

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
No matter how much we like to take credit for our successes, it’s important to remember that we never do it alone.

I am beyond blessed to have the most supportive, and encouraging parents who have never let me down and have been behind me every step of the way. I wouldn’t have had the chance to take the risk in life without them in my corner.

My partner – who although he doesn’t fully understand what or why I do what I do, is always there to help and support me when I need him. He’s my rock.

Website: www.travelmunchers.com

Instagram: www.Instagram.com/travel_munchers

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianna-west-1a11a1164

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069676601371

Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCh_8BpXa1Qsq9O8ooTzeh4g

Image Credits
All images belong to me and are copywrited.