We are Digital Nomads. We are real people. We are the pistachio-nut, hot-fudge, ice-cream sundae with wasabi sauce Erhem…

According to the Oxford English Dictionary (just kidding — according to Wikipedia), A nomad is someone without an established home, who travels from place to place, surviving through either gathering and herding, or by offering a special skill or craft wherever they go.

A Digital nomad is defined as someone who uses telecommunications to work and earn a living, using co-operative spaces and vehicles to achieve goals that usually take place in a single, set workplace. This is typically done while traveling from place to place, country to country, cruising WiFi hotspots around the world.

Visual Fizz is a collective of digital Nomads

We are inspired and led by founder, Dan Salganik, who is a true ambassador of the digital nomad lifestyle. Dan handpicked every member of the VisualFizz team for their skill, tenacity and drive.

Dan recently called a team meeting. We sat down together to discuss who we are as an agency. We sat down together, but were separated by oceans and continents. Dan is currently traveling in Chiang Mai, and when we sat down for our meeting it was 1 am, he was in his hotel lobby, searching for the best WiFi connection. Marissa and Ben were screening in from Chicago — enjoying an autumn afternoon, while I, myself was face-timing from South Africa, where it was 8pm on a late spring evening.

We are scattered around the world, following our own paths, getting the maximum amount of life out of our allotted time on the planet — and yet we are totally driven and unified by our passion for doing great work for great clients in an ever changing digital wonderland.

What is the motivation for this nomadic lifestyle?

We all have our own reasons, although they are the same reasons, too. For some it was realising that we are tired of working on Christmas eves. It was being fed up with seeing company resources being squandered on Friday afternoon kegs while team members were struggling to pay bills. It is wanting to provide for our families and spend time with them. It is wanting to work with great clients, and be part of a great team. Most importantly of all, it is a passion for life and great work that shouldn’t be restricted by set hours or even geographical locations.

Why spend forty hours a week sitting in an office when you only have thirty hours of work to do? Quietly whittling away our love for the industry until it dies along with all inspiration. Why restrict ourselves to one place and one set of experiences day in and day out?

Instead we choose to be part of company that allows us to be who we are, do great work, and live adventure full lives.

The professional benefits? We get to learn through our travels and our interactions with other people, other companies, and other cultures.

VisualFizz understands that expertise is learned, not taught. We are constantly gaining new insights while we submerge ourselves in diverse cultures and glean valuable information from across the globe.

How do we make it work?

We operate on mutual respect and humanity. We all want to live our lives and none of us wants to stop anyone else from living theirs.

As creatives in a creative industry this is essential. It means that we can work productively, secure in the knowledge that we there to support each other and help each other achieve our mutual desire to do meaningful work for fantastic clients.

We bounce ideas off each other, develop strategies and have all the benefits of a team in the truest sense of what a team is — even if we are separated by oceans and time zones.

VisualFizz is not limited by what’s available in just one place or one organisation, because we are a collective of individuals, striving for excellence and motivated by the new, the innovative and the excellent in marketing, design and business strategy.

Instead of competing with each other, we are competing globally as we all peruse our own fields within the field. Then we bring our insights back to the team.

We love the team. It allows us to live this nomadic lifestyle and lets us be part of something bigger than ourselves — because just like a caramel fudge Sundae, VisualFizz is greater than the sum of its parts, and none of us could be quite as tasty alone as we are when we work together.

Visit VisualFizz.com for more information or email dan.salganik@visualfizz.com