Kirsten Alana's guest appearances

Kirsten Alana

The Travelers

Power Trip Travel Podcast

The SuccessLab Podcast: Where Entrepreneurs Collaborate for Success

We The Creators

The Grumpy Podographer Podcast

Trey Ratcliff

Jason Moore

Paula Froelich

Gary Arndt

Leon Logothetis

Travis Sherry

Chris Guillebeau

Johnny FD

Tim Leffel

Sean Ogle

Jasper Ribbers

Sherry Ott

Danny Flood

Alastair Humphreys

Paula Pant

OwlTail

Kirsten Alana is a photographer, world traveler, sometimes blogger, and influencer based in Los Angeles, California. I have followed her work for a few years now and was really excited to get to sit down and really pick her brain. She is a super down to earth creative that would much rather give away her popularity if she could continue on her career path without it, which says an awful lot about her. We talk about why it's ok to just be exactly who you are, how frustrating it is to live in a society that values fame over talent, how to find the "soul" of a city you are visiting, why Bryan hates setting goals, and why Ansel Adams is "the shit". I know, it's a wide-arching conversation, but it was an amazing one to have. Hope you enjoy it!Links:Kirsten Alana on Instagram | Kirsten Alana on Twitter@TheBlondeAbroad | Group f/64 | Edward Weston Pepper #30Bryan on Instagram | Bryan on TwitterFor the latest updates on the show, follow We The Creators on instagram!

Kirsten Alana is a photographer, world traveler, sometimes blogger, and influencer based in Los Angeles, California. I have followed her work for a few years now and was really excited to get to sit down and really pick her brain. She is a super down to earth creative that would much rather give away her popularity if she could continue on her career path without it, which says an awful lot about her. We talk about why it's ok to just be exactly who you are, how frustrating it is to live in a society that values fame over talent, how to find the "soul" of a city you are visiting, why Bryan hates setting goals, and why Ansel Adams is "the shit". I know, it's a wide-arching conversation, but it was an amazing one to have. Hope you enjoy it!Links:<a href="http://instagram.com/kirstenalana" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kirsten Alana on Instagram</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/kirstenalana" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kirsten Alana on Twitter</a><a href="https://instagram.com/theblondeabroad" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@TheBlondeAbroad</a> | <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_f/64" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Group f/64</a> | <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper_No._30" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Edward Weston Pepper #30</a><a href="http://instagram.com/bryanminear" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bryan on Instagram</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/bryanminear" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bryan on Twitter</a>For the latest updates on the show, follow <a href="http://instagram.com/wethecreatorspod" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">We The Creators</a> on instagram!

The ups & downs of travel photography w/Kirsten Alana

“I think you can choose to be happy, and choose to explore, and choose to be fulfilled by life or you can choose to sit back and let life overwhelm you and be unhappy. But for me, the easiest happy life has been through travel because it’s continually evolving and changing and I’m continually discovering new things. And I just found very quickly that that suits me very well.” Kirsten Alana is a former nomad turned New York based travel photographer, entrepreneur, consultant, writer, blogger and digital influencer and the creative mind behind Aviators and a Camera, where she posts about her adventures, luxury travel assignments, creative pursuits and life in general. The compelling thing about Kirsten is not just the many hats she wears, or that what she does is unusual but how she does it so well, and with such a thoughtful style. At the very least, you should check out her work on Instagram. She is exactly the sort of person brands want to work with because she makes them look good, and smart. This episode is ideal for anyone looking for change, a pathway to transformation in work and life, and who is considering traveling but letting something in a structured life hold them back from pursuing who they're meant to become.

<h3>“I think you can choose to be happy, and choose to explore, and choose to be fulfilled by life or you can choose to sit back and let life overwhelm you and be unhappy. But for me, the easiest happy life has been through travel because it’s continually evolving and changing and I’m continually discovering new things. And I just found very quickly that that suits me very well.”</h3> Kirsten Alana is a former nomad turned New York based travel photographer, entrepreneur, consultant, writer, blogger and digital influencer and the creative mind behind <a href="http://www.aviatorsandacamera.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Aviators and a Camera</a>, where she posts about her adventures, luxury travel assignments, creative pursuits and life in general. The compelling thing about Kirsten is not just the many hats she wears, or that what she does is unusual but how she does it so well, and with such a thoughtful style. At the very least, you should check out her work <a href="http://instagram.com/KirstenAlana" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">on Instagram</a>. She is exactly the sort of person brands want to work with because she makes them look good, and smart. This episode is ideal for anyone looking for change, a pathway to transformation in work and life, and who is considering traveling but letting something in a structured life hold them back from pursuing who they're meant to become.

220: CHANGE with Kirsten Alana

The SuccessLab Podcast: Episode 16 Welcome to the SuccessLab Podcast episode #16. In this episode, I’m in The Lab with Kirsten Alana, a travel photographer, content creator, digital marketer and conference speaker. Interview highlights:  Kirsten started her travel photography blog 5 years ago, which led her to leave her office job and begin a career in travel photography. As the blog grew, it became her business in conjunction with photography. Although the blog is not her primary source of income, Kirsten monetizes it with Google Ads and sponsored content. She said she earns most of her income by hosting travel chats for brands, and Instagram takeovers. The blog is more of a passion than a paycheck. Kirsten has been using Instagram since its inception - gaining followers organically by commenting and responding on as many photos as possible. She has also been featured by several national publications (Grazia Magazine, Huffington Post) as an “Instagrammer to Follow”.Her favorite app for productivity is Buffer, which she uses to schedule Tweets. But she tries to use social media as organically as possible - preferring post quality over quantity. Tips: She never uses more than 1 or 2 hashtags for any Instagram post and adds the hashtags in the comments rather than the post caption. This keeps posts looking cleaner, yet the post remains hashtag searchable - they are just hidden from view.    She recommends for bloggers just starting out to go through some sort of specific training to the type of blogging they wish to do - like the Matador Network's travel writing and travel photography courses, or courses through Book Passage. She said this would have helped her gain a good footing to build up her business.  Connect with Kirsten on Instagram or at KirstenAlana.com.   This week’s Biz Hack: The last couple of Biz Hacks have focused on productivity, so if you missed the last two episodes, you should definitely check those out. This week’s hack builds off of last week’s, which was about tracking your activities to see where you are spending your time. Hopefully you took the challenge and discovered some of your working habits and patterns. One thing I discovered is that I try to pack way too much into a single day. I get superhero syndrome and try to tackle it all. Once I became aware of this, I experimented with shifting my thinking. Instead of trying to complete an impossible laundry list of tasks, I borrowed from Warren Buffett’s process for focus (from episode #14) to find my most important things for the week and then for the day. To do this I still made my long list, but then ranked them by importance, finding my top 3 to 5 MITs or most important things. You can then figure out all the little subtasks that particular task or activity might entail and determine what can be delegated.  The goal is to not move onto the next activity until the first one is complete. By scaling it down to a few MITs, I noticed I finished each day feeling more accomplished, which is a huge motivator. When I would go about the day or week with my impossibly long to-do list I didn’t realize I was essentially setting myself up for failure. It’s deflating to finish the day looking back at a long list that you didn’t get through. This also significantly impacts your productivity the next day.  One other key thing is to also build in flex time for all those unexpected things that can pop up throughout the day - a delay in traffic, an urgent client request, a chatty friend, or an extra long meeting. We all have them, so be real with yourself and build in adequate time.  Keep this list pruned. Focus on the day, and if you have ideas, store them in a separate place where they are out of sight, but easily accessible. I like to use Evernote for this. I found if I put them in my task management tool, Asana, I get overwhelmed every time I log in to view my to-do list.  Action Items: This week’s action item is to apply the Warren Buffett focus process to your to do list. Make your list as usual, writing to-do’s down as they come to mind, but then find your top 3 to 5 most important things (MITs). Once you’ve got those, list any subtasks that may be required to complete each task and determine what can be delegated. Some people do this at the end of each day so they can start the next day with a clear direction, and others do this each morning. Just find what works for you.  Quote of the week: Another Seth Godin great! “How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be great.” Next week we’re in the lab with Robin Bramman, an amazing business brand and digital strategy coach. We talk all things branding and even get into when you should think trademarking. So don’t miss that one! And all past action items, biz hacks and quotes of the week can be found at SuccessLabr.com. We’ve also got our SuccessLab Forum up. Head over there to collaborate with other entrepreneurs. Until next time, have prosperous week! 

The SuccessLab Podcast: Episode 16 Welcome to the SuccessLab Podcast episode #16. In this episode, I’m in The Lab with Kirsten Alana, a travel photographer, content creator, digital marketer and conference speaker. Interview highlights: <ul> <li>Kirsten started her travel photography blog 5 years ago, which led her to leave her office job and begin a career in travel photography. As the blog grew, it became her business in conjunction with photography.</li> <li>Although the blog is not her primary source of income, Kirsten monetizes it with Google Ads and sponsored content. She said she earns most of her income by hosting travel chats for brands, and Instagram takeovers. The blog is more of a passion than a paycheck.</li> <li>Kirsten has been using Instagram since its inception - gaining followers organically by commenting and responding on as many photos as possible. She has also been featured by several national publications (Grazia Magazine, Huffington Post) as an “Instagrammer to Follow”.Her favorite app for productivity is Buffer, which she uses to schedule Tweets. But she tries to use social media as organically as possible - preferring post quality over quantity. <ul> <li>Tips: She never uses more than 1 or 2 hashtags for any Instagram post and adds the hashtags in the comments rather than the post caption. This keeps posts looking cleaner, yet the post remains hashtag searchable - they are just hidden from view.</li> </ul> </li> <li></li> <li>She recommends for bloggers just starting out to go through some sort of specific training to the type of blogging they wish to do - like the <a href="http://matadoru.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Matador Network</a>'s travel writing and travel photography courses, or courses through <a href="http://bookpassage.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Book Passage</a>. She said this would have helped her gain a good footing to build up her business.</li> </ul> Connect with <a href="http://instagram.com/kirstenalana" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kirsten on Instagram</a> or at <a href="http://www.kirstenalana.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">KirstenAlana.com</a>. This week’s Biz Hack: The last couple of Biz Hacks have focused on productivity, so if you missed the last two episodes, you should definitely check those out. This week’s hack builds off of last week’s, which was about tracking your activities to see where you are spending your time. Hopefully you took the challenge and discovered some of your working habits and patterns. One thing I discovered is that I try to pack way too much into a single day. I get superhero syndrome and try to tackle it all. Once I became aware of this, I experimented with shifting my thinking. Instead of trying to complete an impossible laundry list of tasks, I borrowed from Warren Buffett’s process for focus (from episode #14) to find my most important things for the week and then for the day. To do this I still made my long list, but then ranked them by importance, finding my top 3 to 5 MITs or most important things. You can then figure out all the little subtasks that particular task or activity might entail and determine what can be delegated. The goal is to not move onto the next activity until the first one is complete. By scaling it down to a few MITs, I noticed I finished each day feeling more accomplished, which is a huge motivator. When I would go about the day or week with my impossibly long to-do list I didn’t realize I was essentially setting myself up for failure. It’s deflating to finish the day looking back at a long list that you didn’t get through. This also significantly impacts your productivity the next day. One other key thing is to also build in flex time for all those unexpected things that can pop up throughout the day - a delay in traffic, an urgent client request, a chatty friend, or an extra long meeting. We all have them, so be real with yourself and build in adequate time. Keep this list pruned. Focus on the day, and if you have ideas, store them in a separate place where they are out of sight, but easily accessible. I like to use Evernote for this. I found if I put them in my task management tool, Asana, I get overwhelmed every time I log in to view my to-do list. Action Items: This week’s action item is to apply the Warren Buffett focus process to your to do list. Make your list as usual, writing to-do’s down as they come to mind, but then find your top 3 to 5 most important things (MITs). Once you’ve got those, list any subtasks that may be required to complete each task and determine what can be delegated. Some people do this at the end of each day so they can start the next day with a clear direction, and others do this each morning. Just find what works for you. Quote of the week: Another Seth Godin great! “How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be great.” Next week we’re in the lab with Robin Bramman, an amazing business brand and digital strategy coach. We talk all things branding and even get into when you should think trademarking. So don’t miss that one! And all past action items, biz hacks and quotes of the week can be found at <a href="http://successlabr.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SuccessLabr.com</a>. We’ve also got our SuccessLab Forum up. Head over there to collaborate with other entrepreneurs. Until next time, have prosperous week!

The SuccessLab Podcast: Episode 16 in The Lab with Kirsten Alana