Evita Robinson
creator, Nomadness LLC
How did you determine your career path?
My career path determined me. Passion comes first and it was an unexpected love for travel that bridged with my zest for media, television specifically. My degree is in television production but the travel component was sheer life experimentation gone right. I made a promise to myself to trust the path. It led me to everything that Nomadness is and will be.
What other industries connect to your career choice?
Currently, Nomadness LLC is a hybrid of the travel and television industries. It [also] has large social media and merchandising components.
Define innovative methods you apply to your business and life.
My business team (High Council) is made up of people who started as general members of my group, Nomadness Travel Tribe. I was able to observe them from the outside before making the decision to bring them on the inside, and that is something not every entrepreneur is afforded when building a start-up. I knew their patterns, likeness, and in some cases even their vices, and was able to gauge accordingly. Our approach to meetings is different. In one we can all be plugged in through Skype, and in another we’re in my apartment on the floor with Sharpie markers, drawing. I don’t like rigid structure and make conscious decisions to do things in a way that keeps child-like creativity and experimentation alive. I always say I’m a creative that executed on an idea. I don’t come from a business background, and have been learning along the way from it all. My team is the same way. I mean, I let them create their own job titles. My IT/Web Designer named himself the ‘Lord Pirate of Technology’. Trust me, we’re innovative.
What role does technology play in your daily life?
Starting off as a Closed Facebook group was great but at nearly 5,000 members, fifteen months in, it’s time to grow. Macario James (Pirate Tech Lord mentioned above) and I have been building a social network behind the scenes for approaching six months now. Web is his passion, and Nomadness is mine. We join forces and what’s being built is amazing. Most importantly, it fills our growth needs. We’ve gone through the testing of platforms like Ning, and weeding out what does and doesn’t work for us.
For the Tribe specifically, five apps we’ve used in the past for functioning and project funding are Facebook, Kickstarter, Airbnb, Twitter and Instagram. While on the cross-country Nomadness RV HBCU College Tour, during Spring 2013, we’ve been working closely with one of our sponsors, Hotels.com. Their mobile app and Welcome Rewards program has been an easy way for us to build up free hotel stays while traveling from New York City to Los Angeles.
Describe the skill sets that are essential to future business leaders and innovators.
Risktaking. If you aren’t a risk taker than entrepreneurship isn’t for you.
Vision. If you aren’t the visionary (which in my opinion you should be) then get someone on your team immediately to execute that role.
Delegation. I feel that most entrepreneurs are control freaks. I am a shameless self-proclaimed one myself. With that said, the sooner you realize you can’t do everything yourself, the easier your life will be. Step away from the control panel just long enough to be able to start delegating things to other crew members. Where you have weaknesses, build your team with people who have those same attributes as strengths.
Name your favorite role models for success in two industries.
Steve Jobs
Bethenny Frankel
Names three books that changed how you saw life and that you would recommend to others.
The Celestine Prophecy
4 Hour Work Week
Outliers
Describe why lifelong learning is important to you
The brain is a muscle, as with any other, it remains dormant without exercise. You have to keep learning, especially with how fast today’s world moves. Create the new curves instead of trying to keep up with it.
What does community mean to you? How does it influence your measure of success?
Community is everything to me and Nomadness. At a basic level it’s what the tribe is, on an international platform. It all starts with the people, and what they want and need. What is their “problem” and how can you be the solution?
