The Interview: Alex Cattoni “Personal development junkie. Marketing diva. Thrill-seeker.”

Much has been thought, written and said about the ideal Gen Y lifestyle on this blog. Most of us dream it but Alex Cattoni is among the lucky few that lives it. She’s “living the dream” as a Senior Marketer in MindValley (an awesome company featured in TNGG’s Work Posts).

Two years ago, she packed her bags to exotic Malaysia on a barely paid internship. Now, she lives the ideal GenY life: traveling extensively around the world, meeting with thought leaders and inspiring people from all walks of life, and managing her own marketing team for million dollar clients.

Check out her blog and Twitter for more info.

Firstly, I’m totally jealous of how many places you’ve visited in the past few years (more than 23 different countries and counting)! When you graduated from college, did you ever dream of this life in Kuala Lumpur?

Absolutely not. When I graduated from the University of Alberta in 2007, I was actually planning to go to Law School. For years I thought Law was in the cards for me. So much so, that I majored in Business Law…and worked my butt off to get a killer GPA that would ensure I got into Law School. Then, one day in January 2008, everything changed. I realized that my “dream” of becoming the tough, powerful, ultra-successful lawyer lady was nothing more than a false ideal I had constructed in my mind to smother my fear of the unknown (better known as post-graduation “what the hell am I doing with my life?” syndrome)… like a cold hard slap in the face, I woke up one morning completely and utterly terrified. I had finally listened to that voice in my head telling me law school was not for me. I then had to ask myself probably the scariest question of all “What do I REALLY want in life?”
I took out a piece of paper and I started writing down all the things I loved and wanted in my life at that moment… Fun, adventure, growth, learning, travel…

Then I wrote down everything I thought I was good at. Marketing, writing, creating, connecting with others…

This was when I decided (no matter how much it scared me) that I wanted to work abroad.
How did you get to where you are now?

…In a nutshell: I became a member of AIESEC, a student-run multi-national organization that facilities students and graduates to work overseas. Through AIESEC, I got access to a large database of employers from all over the world who were looking to hire.

This is where I found out about MindValley, an ultra-hip, cutting edge online marketing company based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I applied, interviewed, and got the job!

In less then 1 month I went from studying for my LSAT, to making plans to move (for an indefinite amount of time) to a country I had hardly heard of! I was scared beyond belief but that aching feeling I had in my stomach was gone. I was truly excited and happy about the journey ahead of me. It just felt right.
What exactly do you do at MindValley?

I have been at MindValley for nearly 2 years and am now one of their senior marketers and business managers. I manage 4 of MindValley’s businesses and will be launching a 5th business this Spring.

(To learn more about MindValley, visit our website at www.MindValley.com).

How can you travel so much and maintain a full time job?

One of my biggest passions is traveling. I knew I wanted a job that gave me the freedom and flexibility to travel as much as possible. I have that at MindValley. I have an amazing team of people who help me with my businesses and, more than anything, their support and sheer awesomeness allows me to travel as much as I do and work from outside the office.

This is also the beauty of doing all business online. As long as there is an internet connection, I can work from anywhere. So yes, although I travel A LOT, it isn’t always purely a vacation. I do spend a lot of time working while visiting countries all over the world!

What is the best thing about working at MindValley?

The freedom and flexibility. I also LOVE the people I work with. We have a team of 35 people that represent 20 different countries! How cool is that?

What is the most inspiring thing you have experienced in the past two years?

I would have to say it’s been witnessing my team achieve some incredibly outrageous and scary goals. We like to think BIG. In fact, this is the top value on our “Code of Awesomeness.” In the past 1 year alone, we have grown an outrageous amount – all because we dare to dream big. I love being part of a team that believes we can achieve anything and pulls together to make it so.
What is the coolest thing you have done while working in MindValley?

Aside from visiting some of the most amazing places on the planet, I have also learned so much business-wise while working at MindValley. I think the coolest thing about my job is being given the responsibility to launch, manage and grow multiple multi-million dollar a year businesses. I love to learn, create, and strategize and my job is 100% that and I have an amazing team who support me.
How can you afford to travel so much as a young Internet Marketer? How much of an impact do finances have on your career decisions?

For me, life is all about experiences so I’m not afraid to admit that I spend the majority of my income on traveling. However, I’m lucky that the cost of living in Malaysia is quite low so I am able to afford a great apartment and have a very comfortable lifestyle in KL.

Although money is important to me, it’s not what motivates me. If it were, I wouldn’t have accepted the job at MindValley. I could have easily applied at some marketing firm close to home and worked in a cubicle from 9-5, 40 hours a week to make way more moola than what MindValley was offering when I started. But that’s not what I want and my guess is, that’s not what you want either. If you follow your heart and do what motivates and energizes you, you will be successful and the money will follow – just as it has for me.

Do you think the MindValley work culture would work for a full fledged corporation?

I think there are certain aspects of the MindValley culture that work better because it’s a smaller company, however, I definitely think that even the biggest corporations could implement and greatly benefit from our rituals. For example, expressing daily gratitude is something MindValley prides itself on. We have actually built an online application called GratitudeLog.com that we all use religiously as a way to log our grateful thoughts!

G-logging, as I like to call it, doesn’t stop at MindValley. We now have over 17,000 users logging their gratitude every single day! Every company should make gratitude one of their highest values… Other rituals we follow that corporations could implements are: weekly meetings to celebrate team successes, flexi-time, a “Fun Fund” to cover the cost of a team event at least once a month, open communication and/or a fun, dynamic work environment.

If you think it’s impossible for large companies to do this, just take a look at Zappos…They have a work culture very similar to ours, yet they are 100 times our size.

What do you think future corporations need to keep in mind when managing Gen Y?

Gen Y’ers are a different breed. We value fun, learning and freedom above all else. Yes, money is important, but almost everyone I know would choose a fun, dynamic, challenging and flexible job that caters to their desired lifestyle over a few extra bucks. If you’re looking to recruit or retain Gen Y’ers, you need to keep this in mind.

What advice would you give college seniors/ recent graduates who would love to have the lifestyle you have? (and can’t really move to Kuala Lumpur)

First of all, I want to say that anyone can move anywhere they want to and do anything they want to. I didn’t get to where I am because of money or “connections.” I got to where I am today because I consciously made the decision to make a change in my life.

One thing I want everyone to notice is how often I used the word “scared” (or something of the sort) in my responses. In fact, I only just noticed it now as I was reviewing my answers. I did a lot of things in the past 2 years that scared me to death. It’s not easy deciding to leave the comfort of your home town, your friends, your family, and everything else you know and trust. I had to seriously step outside my comfort zone to be where I am today. If you never do anything that scares you, you will never grow and that is a cold, hard fact.

Written by Mimi V.