The Pop-Up BnB- Kelly Jo Emilianowicz- #WCW

I am so inspired by the amazing network of badass women entrepreneurs that I have had the privilege of getting to know! I am a firm believer in "You are who you surround yourself with," so that must make me a badass too I guess.🤷‍♀️ 😂

I am starting a series of #WCW where I'm interviewing Female Entrepreneurs who also share a love of travel and are able to manage a remote lifestyle! I invite you to learn their stories of how they started a business and/or projects they're currently working on, their lifestyle, their inspirations, their fashion sense, and words of wisdom! When Women Support Women; Incredible, Badass Things Happen!

I am thrilled to introduce you to Kelly Jo Emilianowicz and share her awesome journey!

I met Kelly a few years back while we were working a side hustle together in the promotional marketing industry. I've enjoyed following her journey and seeing her passions blossom throughout the years! She is an extremely independent, enthusiastic, eccentric, and very driven individual! Badass women usually have a great support system so her husband, Andy, definitely deserves some recognition as well!

Kelly and her husband, of 3 years, launched a Pop-Up Bnb Experience in 2018 while traveling the country. (Featured is one of their wedding photos)!

Traveling is one of their big passions but the remodeling business is also right up there! They are both very enthusiastic about home remodeling as they remodeled their RV twice! Kelly has also been flipping houses with her family for over 10 years!

Get more inspired below! You absolutely must check out her personal Instagram here and business Instagram here to follow her journey and check out some pretty rad photos. Oh, and obviously book a Pop-Up BnB experience! Check out upcoming locations and make reservations for this experience on her Facebook page here!

1. What inspired you to quit your job and follow your dream of travel? "Well, I actually got laid off from my job and so the forces of life just kind of pushed me in that direction.  It was a series of unfortunate events that turned out to be exactly what we needed. 

We had just got married and had no idea where we wanted to "settle down" and really didn't feel like purchasing a house anywhere without being confident on the location so we moved into the RV and started traveling to sort of figure out where we wanted to live and also buy us some time in figuring that out".

2. What is Pop-Up BnB? "It's a Luxury Glamping Experience.  We provide stylish and fully furnished pop-up accommodations for unique events, getaways and backyard campouts. We are 100% mobile".

3. What inspired you to open this Pop-Up "Glamping" tent experience? "Throughout our journey, we've had many friends and family come to visit and we continually ran into the issue of not having enough room in our RV to host everyone.  We didn't want to turn away guests, due to our home's small square footage, so we initially purchased our CanvasCamp Sibley Bell Tent to provide a pop-up guest bedroom for friends and family.  It went over really well and ended up being great to have that extension of our home when we needed it. We felt and continue to feel extremely blessed to be able to travel the county, seeing and staying in some of the most beautiful locations the USA has to offer. We thought, "wouldn't it be cool if we could pop up our tent and host people who would also enjoy these beautiful views, but that don't want to do any of the setup work associated with camping??"  We tested our luxury glamping experience out on friends and launched last year while staying in Montana.  The response was overwhelmingly positive and thus our business was born".

4. How would you describe your lifestyle now? "Our lifestyle now is extremely minimal.  Compared to how it used to be.  We use to have tons of possessions, storage units, lots of crap to move to and from and it just got tiring.  We sold almost everything we have that couldn't fit in the RV and so we try to maintain a minimal and "as needed" lifestyle.  We shop small, waste hardly anything and strive for a "work hard, play hard" mentality where we work really hard for a few months, save up some money, and then take a few months off to travel and freely explore". 

5. How many US cities and other cities have you traveled to; which ones are your favorites and why? How many international? " Oh goodness, this is a tough one, too many cities to count.  Virtually every state in the US, I am fairly certain we have definitely set foot in every state besides Hawaii (I have never been) or Alaska!  So yeah, that answer would be a lot, haha but as far as my favorite places, we fell in love with some spots we had no idea even existed. For example, Texas Hill Country- In between San Antonia and Austin is a quaint little rolling hill area called "Texas Hill Country"; my favorite town being Wimberley, TX.  It is full of vineyards, wineries, shopping, and charming little towns.  It's my absolute favorite place in the USA!  If you ask Andy, he will say the Florida Keys.  We traveled down to The Keys after hurricane Irma hit to work doing hurricane relief.  I worked in the office of a construction company and Andy worked cleaning up debris. He absolutely loved it down there and so if you ask him, his answer would definitely be The Keys.  As far as international goes we have only really traveled to Canada and even then, it wasn't with the RV it was just a family trip to Quebec City but holy hell I loved Quebec so much!! I would suggest everyone and their Mom go to Quebec at least once in their life"!

6. What item (s) can you not live without while traveling? "Definitely can't live without my phone and my dog. 

Basically, the only two things I need besides my husband :). We know it would be so much easier to travel if we didn't have our pup child with us but she enhances our life and honestly being seasoned travelers now it's kind of a fun challenge to explore dog-friendly areas.  Once people meet her and see how calm she is, she is normally welcomed everywhere, so we really have lucked out with being able to bring her to places and for the times that we can't take her with us she hangs out in the RV or we get a sitter on rover.com.  A great resource for anyone traveling with pets, you can find a quick babysitter for your dog virtually anywhere.  One time in Colorado we wanted to go skiing for the day but didn't want to leave her in the cold car so we had a rover sitter take care of her for the day for like $20 and it was great!  If I had to choose an item, it would be a coffee maker".

7. What are your key clothing items that you would say are most functional/ can wear during many seasons? Oddly enough we have a ton of storage for clothes! We have vacuum-sealed bags for winter clothing and just alternate for the seasons but even with all the storage, we find ourselves wearing the same outfits every day. Leggings are a must, must, MUST! They roll up super tiny and can be dressed up or down or worked out in or for traveling. They are just the best and I like to invest in really nice leggings- thick ones that I know will last a long time. I also normally have two shirts on at any given time or a tank top under my flannel etc.  When you live in a constantly changing environment it's key to be able to take off and put back on clothes as the temperature changes throughout the day... but always... ALWAYS have a fancy outfit on hand in case you want to go out somewhere special. I have like 3 gowns on the rig, you never know when you're going to be invited to an impromptu ball right?

8. What advice would you give someone looking to quit their job or start a new endeavor and follow their dreams? BEST advice on this, and I tell everyone this who messages me in my dm or asks in real life... NEVER BURN YOUR BRIDGES!!! Traveling is so much fun, I highly suggest it for sure, but it is never good to just up and quit your job to be a full-time nomad. You never know when your funds will run out and you never want that gloom hanging over you. I am so lucky that I have so many understanding people in my life who have not only been supportive of my traveling lifestyle but who have also encouraged it. When we come back into town, a lot of times I will sub in at a prior job I use to have or pick up shifts at a prior job because I was honest and open with those employers and was a really great employee. Short-term employees don't have to be "short-timers"! You can work for someone for a short period of time, give them your all, and really make them want to hire you back if you find yourself returning to that area. When we worked in The Keys, we fell in love with our employer, he was so sweet and kind to us, and could have used us for years! I am 100% certain if we called him up tomorrow and asked for our jobs back he would welcome us with open arms. We really try our best to be outstanding employees wherever we find ourselves and we are always open and honest about the work we can provide being short-term. When people find out we live in an RV and travel most of the time they aren't mad, they are excited and wished they had done the same thing! So, in general, the people we have found, are really just supportive and want to help us along our journey.  So, if you're going to take the plunge into full-time travel and quit your job just make sure to do it respectfully and let your employer know what's going on in case you do find yourself ever in need of that income again.

🙏 Thank you Kelly for letting me share your story! I can't wait to see what's next!

❓ Want to know more from Kelly?? Dm her on Facebook or Instagram!

🔜 So excited to share more positive and encouraging posts! Stay tuned for our next guest next Weds!

#womenentrepreneurs #positivevibes #inspiration