Remote Work: Marcia Simon of Friendly Group Travel On How To Successfully Navigate The Opportunities & Challenges Of Working Remotely Or From Home
Make time for physical activity, preferably outdoors if you can. Some of my best ideas comes when I’m walking. There’s something about fresh air and sunshine and activity that clears your heads and helps you find perspective.
As a part of our series about the things you need to successfully work remotely, I had the pleasure of interviewing Marcia Simon.
Marcia Simon, APR*, CTA**, is founder of MSE Public Relations, specializing in healthtech, cleantech, wellness and travel; and Friendly Group Travel, a travel agency and content developer for destinations and other travel-related business. Her passion for travel draws her to new places where she works remotely and stays inspired by the beauty in the world, while using her public relations and digital media skills to highlight Travel as the hottest new PR vehicle.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. What is your “backstory”?
My earliest roots were in broadcast journalism, starting out as a rock n roll DJ during my college years while studying classical music. I worked my way into a prestigious morning drive time slot, and then pursued a gig as a general assignment news reporter for the local ABC affiliate TV station Even back then my interest was in health and wellness. I envisioned easing into a role as a health and medical reporter, but instead, found myself chasing fires, floods and parades. I lacked patience and wasn’t happy with the balance between what I wanted to do and what I was actually doing, so I left the TV news scene, and started freelancing in video production, scriptwriting and voiceovers. A lot of the work was promotional in nature.
A friend of a friend, who was the marketing director for a company that manufactured parts for racing sailboats, convinced me that promotional video was just a small part of a public relations package and that ,since I understood media relations from a front row seat, I should work with them as an outside consultant to develop a media relations campaign. This triggered the unexpected start of a PR journey that began with sailboat racing technology, and morphed into wireless technology and mobile devices, and then eventually to healthtech and medtech. The travel part came later after realizing that a couple of weeks for vacation every year wasn’t enough. I wanted travel to be part of a lifestyle. It was an untapped entrepreneurial spirit and the naivete of youth that lured me down this path, and I’ve been an independent consultant (starting as a freelancer, which is a different mindset and business model) working remotely for more than 20 years.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
Drawing from my radio days, I created a network of about 20 major market radio stations throughout the United States, then went to Australia to report on the America’s Cup sailboat races. I pitched the New Zealand Tourist Board to sponsor the reports, which they did. Then Louis Vuitton, a sponsor of the press room, added a boost by underwriting these reports. Both sponsors came back for the next America’s Cup series a few years later in San Diego. So, I guess I was doing travel PR back then and didn’t even realize it.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
There were so many, and they weren’t always funny at the time. Most had to do with talking my way into a job or project that sounded exciting and was beyond my scope of expertise. The lesson is clearly, “Be careful what you wish for,” and also, “It’s not always what you say, but how you say it that influences peoples’ decisions.”
What advice would you give to other business leaders to help their employees thrive and avoid burnout?
Create a culture that values a work/life balance and encourages communication. Today’s hybrid onsite/offsite work models are favored by employees. I see a huge value in retreats, whether it’s taking the team to a Caribbean island, or a simple overnight at a nearby hotel, with time to relax with unstructured time built in to a work-based or team-building agenda. Travel can be a work perk that gets employees excited.
Ok, let’s jump to the core of our interview. Working remotely can be very different than working with a team that is in front of you. This provides great opportunity but it can also create unique challenges. To begin, can you articulate for our readers a few of the main benefits and opportunities of working remotely?
Working from home has become legitimized. People have been doing it successfully for a long time, but often had to pretend they were actually in an “office.” Today, it’s perfectly acceptable to be transparent about remote work from home.
Many people experience a deeper level of concentration without interruption when working remotely. It’s easier to get into a state of Deep Work.
For independent consultants, working remotely opens up the pool of potential clients by casting a wider geographic net. And for those of us who know how unfun it can be to drive to work in winter’s cold, snowy and icy conditions, settling in to a day in a home office is a big plus.;
Can you articulate for our readers what the five main challenges are regarding working remotely?
1. Distractions pop up everywhere. Time management is critical.
2. It’s very easy to feel isolated without a sense of “team” or someone with whom you can ask questions or bounce ideas.
3. Networking can be more of a challenge, and very essential since job leads and promotions most often come about through business contacts.
4. You may start to feel stale. Keep up with professional development.
5. Distractions pop up everywhere. Learn to push them aside. (See #1.)
Based on your experience, what can one do to address or redress each of those challenges? Can you give a story or example for each?
Create a daily schedule and stick to it. It helps to keep you focused on your business task rather than constantly checking emails, Instagram, watering the plants or figuring out what to make for dinner. Turn off email and app notifications so they don’t ping you all day. Same with Slack — there are times when it’s very useful to keep you up to speed and in touch with your colleagues. But it can also be very distracting. It’s the antithesis of the Deep Work concept.
At the end of each day, I decide on the one priority I have for the next day, and that’s what I hit first thing in the morning. Focus on your main priority before the inevitable distractions start to infiltrate your day.
Stay proactive and current with professional development and networking. If you’re working with a company team, schedule weekly or monthly meetings. Stay in touch with former colleagues.
Do you have any suggestions specifically for people who work at home? What are a few ways to be most productive when you work at home?
1. Set a schedule and establish work hours. Then identify a priority for each day and schedule it on your calendar.
3. Create a designated work area, preferably one where you can close the door and separate your work and family space, at least between certain hours. Establishing a routine helps with frame of mind and tie management.
3. Get dressed, fix your hair and be as presentable as you’d want to be if you find yourself in an unexpected video call. Dress like you’re in work mode.
4. Let non-work calls go into voicemail and return those after your work hours (unless directly related to your immediate family.) Let friends know you are not available to talk during work hours.
5. Make time for physical activity, preferably outdoors if you can. Some of my best ideas comes when I’m walking. There’s something about fresh air and sunshine and activity that clears your heads and helps you find perspective.
Can you share any suggestions for teams who are used to working together on location but are forced to work remotely due to the pandemic? Are there potential obstacles one should avoid with a team that is just getting used to working remotely?
Communication patterns change when a team goes remote. Establish what’s best for everyone. Do you ask quick questions on Slack (or another similar service) or do you make note of questions and bring them up in a weekly meeting? Would a phone call be more productive? Schedule the call ahead of time, or send a quick text to make sure the person is available and can give the conversation the attention it needs.
Find a way to separate time-sensitive from routine items. If you’re saving your questions for a scheduled meeting, write them down. Otherwise, you WILL forget to ask something.
What do you suggest can be done to create an empowering work culture and team culture with a team that is remote and not physically together?
It’s important to pull the team together on a regular basis. Reporting and progress meetings are different from brainstorming meetings, and then sometimes an optional coffee break or happy hour when everyone get to talk about non-work items. If your company offers these, DO show up. If you’re a private person you don’t need to spill your private matters, but be there.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
It blows my mind to see how much garbage every household produces and how much packaging is used for everyday supermarket items, especially “single serving” packages. Single-use plastic drives me nuts — such as using zip-style bags to store leftovers instead of reusable freezer-safe glass (or plastic) containers. And although they’ve become a convenient mainstay in so many homes, those one-cup coffee pods — from the manufacture to the packaging to the shipping and disposability — just don’t make good environmental sense for everyday use at home. Buy an adapter (available from the manufacturer that made the coffee machine) that allows you to scoop your own fresh coffee into a one-cup pod instead.
Addressing climate is a whole other conversation, but awareness is a good start. Being mindful in itself can make a difference.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Hope for the best; prepare for the worst. In other words… Always have a Plan B.
In public relations, as in travel, things don’t always go as planned. Weather can force a change — an outdoor event you planned is no longer possible; your flight gets cancelled, forcing you to miss an event. Your keynote speaker gets the flu, or loses Wi-Fi just before an online presentation. Your luggage, filled with clothes or trade show necessities, gets lost.
Climate change will continue to impact travel plans. Flooding, extreme winds, excessive heat (a new one) have all caused flight cancellations in 2022, and the trend continues in that direction. If you really need to be somewhere on a certain day, consider going a day earlier to allow for delays and cancellations. Travel insurance should now be considered a routine part of every booking. Frequent travelers might consider an annual insurance plan.
This being said, I also believe in living for the “now” and not getting bogged down and worried over hypothetical things that may never happen. I read somewhere that most things people worry about never happen. And I believe that, so it’s finding the balance. For the more important things — have a backup plan. For fun and leisure, allow spontaneity to be part of your life. Embrace the unexpected.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
www.linkedin.com/in/marciasimon
www.linkedin.com/company/friendlygrouptravel
www.instagram.com/friendlygrouptravel
www.facebook.com/friendlygrouptravel
Thank you for these great insights! We wish you continued success
