Rhonda Swan thought she had it all: a prestigious job with a six-figure salary, a loving husband, a fancy house, and a luxury car. She was living what she thought was the American Dream.
“There was one problem: we felt emotionally hollow and empty inside, like hamsters in a wheel,” Swan said. “Something had to change. Fast.”
In 2004, she did something radically unexpected: she and her husband left their comfortable corporate jobs to start an online marketing business. Swan used her experience as a digital marketer to help clients gain recognition and traffic. It was the kind of job that gave her the freedom to work from home without answering to schedules or managers.
However, life threw the Swans another curveball a mere four years later. The 2008 stock market crash and housing bubble caused them to lose most of their savings. The Swans previously invested most of their money in a golf course and property development, but that money disappeared, and the course never got built. They spent a lot of time and money in court battling over real estate fraud, much to no avail.
However, books like Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss helps the Swans change their perspective. They realized that these obstacles and tragedies didn’t define them. Even if they lost their money and assets, they still had a profitable business that they could take anywhere.
They were unstoppable.
Instead of going back to their nine-to-five jobs, the Swans sold what they had, packed up their belongings, and traveled the world. They brought their laptop to work remotely wherever they stayed.
“Having nothing got us very clear on who we were and the values we held,” said Swan. “We could have easily gone back to corporate to rebuild, but instead, we stayed true to our desire to give our child the best quality of love and support.”
Part of Swan’s motivation was to teach her one-year-old daughter, Hanalei, about the world without textbooks or daycare. Swan knew that life experiences taught her far more than any classroom ever had. What better way to learn than travel?
Over the past 18 years, the Swans lived in places like Morocco, Costa Rica, Panama, Brazil, and Indonesia. Their daughter goes to school in every country they’ve visited and is now fluent in Spanish and picking up a few other languages.
Constant travel hasn’t slowed them down in the slightest. No matter the country or time zone, internet access allows the Swans to stay on top of their business.
The Power of the Internet
“The internet is your oyster,” said Swan. “If you learn the fundamentals of the internet and digital economy, you can truly do anything, live anywhere, and write your own ticket.”
Swan is no stranger to the internet. Back in the early 2000s, she was a digital marketer who mastered Google Ads and helped her clients gain thousands of clicks. She was around before the explosion of social media and had to communicate mostly through Skype and email.
The internet allows Swan to connect to her clients regardless of the place or time. She credits Skype, Zoom, and social media as some of her most powerful communication tools. Of course, such tools came with growing pains as the Swans had to convince their clients to adapt to new technology.
“We had to teach clients that it was safe and more efficient to speak on Skype than it was to go into an office or see them face-to-face,” said Swan.
When social media became popular, Swan embraced the trend with open arms. She’s shared her inspiring story across platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube to build her business and attract clients. Her story has empowered many women by teaching them how to live life on their own terms instead of being trapped by a nine-to-five job.
The Unstoppable Branding Agency
Now, Swan runs a PR and marketing company called The Unstoppable Branding Agency. Her business is just as relentless and powerful as she is. It’s just one of her many seven-figure businesses and shows no signs of slowing down.
Swan currently leverages social media and digital publications to build her clients’ brand image. She ensures that her clients efficiently market themselves across all platforms to reach customers across the globe.
The Unstoppable Branding Agency hires writers to create articles for top tier publications such as Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, and Fast Company. These articles usually showcase a client’s expertise, business, or lifestyle.
It’s a win for everybody involved – the client gets quality marketing, the writer gets to create high-impact articles, and the publication receives top-notch content.
The Agency’s two main types of content are interviews and expert advice articles.
The interview articles allow the client to establish themselves as a thought leader in their field. For example, one Forbes article interviewed Cait Scudder, a six-figure millennial coach who empowers other women through her business.
The expert advice articles position the client among other well-known thought leaders, all of whom share their best advice on a particular subject. For example, Swan delivered personal branding advice in an Entrepreneur article alongside names like Grant Cardone, Barbara Cocoran, and Ian Clark.
It’s been almost two decades since the Swans made the bold decision to leave San Diego, but they’ve never looked back. As the Unstoppable Family, they live a life most only dream of and have no intention of returning to the doldrums of corporate America.
Rhonda Swan | Contributing Writer
