Episode 9
Building Business that Affords the Freedom to Travel Abroad with Carrie Guenther -9
Tune in for an insightful conversation between Melody and guest Carrie Guenther as they touch on everything from flexible entrepreneurship to the complexities of cultural adaptation. In this engaging episode they discuss the benefits of positive online communities, versus toxic ones. They explore the challenges of imposter syndrome in male-dominated industries and share personal experiences from their careers. Carrie, who spends winters in Thailand, speaks about adapting to different cultures, language barriers, and unique perspectives from living abroad. Melody, who is working with her team in the Philippines, shares cultural reflections and the warmth of the local community. Hear how their encounters in Southeast Asia shape their unique global perspectives and entrepreneurial journeys. From strategic seasonal work to fascinating cultural adaptations, this episode is packed with insightful stories and reflections on living and working abroad. Don't miss their heartfelt discussion about identity, connection, and the beauty of thoughtful design in everyday life.
Carrie Guenther is an entrepreneur and avid traveler who runs her window cleaning business, while spending winters in Thailand. She started her journey in business in the early 2000s and founded Mysticity in 2013.
As a strong leader, Carrie has faced many challenges, especially in male-dominated industries, and has worked through feelings of imposter syndrome. She’s found support in communities like the "Into the Flow" Facebook group, which has been a positive space for her growth.
Carrie’s love for travel has taken her all over Southeast Asia for more than 20 years, and she appreciates the region's slower pace and rich culture. This offers a nice contrast to her time in the fast-paced U.S. She enjoys blending work with her passion for design and treasures unique items like the string lights Melody gifted her.
Carrie’s story is about resilience and balance—finding ways to work and enjoy life, stay connected to others, and embrace new cultures.
All the music you heard on the show today was written and recorded by Melody Edwards.
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Transcript
NOTE:
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Melody [:Hello, Bizfit. It is I, Melody, your lady of business. And today I am talking to my dear friend, Carrie Guenther. This was a really special episode and it took a lot for us to pull this off because I was in the Philippines and Carrie was in Thailand, and I knew that she was gonna be in Thailand. That's where she spends the winter. And I had suggested to her, like, it would be really fun for us to do an episode where we're both international. That's something that we have in common. We've both lived in other countries.
Melody [:We both have a heart for other countries and for the world, really, and just understanding the world differently. And so, of course, I had to make that happen. However, she arrived the day before I left. And so I'm so grateful to you, Carrie. I know that it was a lot to make this happen. Internet can be a problem for both of us, and somehow it magically worked. I really enjoyed our conversation. We talked about kind of what led us to living in in the world, how we view the world, what it's like being in other countries and other cultures, and kind of just a lot of the things that I think maybe Americans don't always think about.
Melody [:And it's the reason why I have, you know, home service VA, my company, why I've been able to have this company and do well with it. And it's also the reason, you know, that Carrie does business because her business allows her to spend her time in Thailand. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Carrie Guenther. Hello, business human. Are you a misfit? A person who wants to make a difference in this business world. Are you one of the unconventional? The visionaries? The quiet innovators? The heart centered leaders? The purpose driven, the community builders, the givers, then you are my people. I used to think business was a secret formula to be discovered and followed, but now I know it isn't a set of rules. It's an exciting, creative adventure.
Melody [:And I wanna be on that adventure with you. I am your lady of business, Melody Edwards. Welcome to the Business Misfits podcast. Carrie.
Carrie Guenther [:Yeah.
Melody [:I have missed you in my life. And this is a very special episode of The Business Misfits because we're both in foreign lands that we love. Yes. First of all, welcome to The Business Misfits. You are definitely an OG Business Misfits in my head based on how we met. But why don't you tell people a little bit about your journey and where you are right now?
Carrie Guenther [:Literally this journey.
Melody [:Any of the journeys you wanna talk about?
Carrie Guenther [:For the whole their whole journey. Yes. Well, the smaller, most immediate journey is I'm in Bangkok, Thailand, and I just arrived a couple of days ago, and I'll be here for 3 months. The bigger journey as a business misfit probably started in the early 2000 when I started my first business and then met you. I started my window cleaning business in 2013. And then I met you in 2016. And it's been a little over a decade, and I'm still cleaning windows and still thinking of new businesses to start. So
Melody [:Amazing. Yeah. And you're like, I love your company name because it's Mysticity.
Carrie Guenther [:It's Mysticity. It is.
Melody [:Like, you're a lady of business who's a ninja.
Carrie Guenther [:I totally have a ninja mask in my bag, and I should have worn it. It would have been on brand, but I forgot. Anyway, but yes, Window Ninja is alive and kicking. And I'm always coming up with new costume ideas.
Melody [:I love that. Yeah. I remember when we first met, I think, at a was it at a conference convention or something?
Carrie Guenther [:Convention. Yep.
Melody [:Yeah. And I was just, like, so excited to meet you. I think you were the first person I knew who was doing window cleaning as a woman, maybe, or had met. I don't know.
Melody [:Because I don't know a lot of them, but
Carrie Guenther [:Me too. I know them online, but I've never met many of them.
Melody [:Yeah.
Carrie Guenther [:These rare these rare birds that we are.
Melody [:Yes. And what is it that attracted you to window cleaning of all things?
Carrie Guenther [:It was an accident, to be honest. It was more of a logistical aligning of the planets, if you will. I needed a job. I had been living here in Thailand for almost 4 years, and I was landing back home for just a few $1,000 to buy a vehicle and start something. And my friend who owned it before me was sort of letting it go. And she suggested that I take over because I love to come here and because she knew I would have my winters free. So it was like at her suggestion that I decided to take it on.
Melody [:Yeah. We're our stories are so similar because as you know, I like, Morocco is my heart home. And the reason I first got into window cleaning was because I was saving money for a trip for Europe. And I thought it was gonna be like a quick fall season, save the money, go kind of thing, but I kept coming back. But I always loved the fact that I had the winter off to be able to travel. And, yeah, the best.
Carrie Guenther [:I mean, how many how many careers can you jump into where that's the case? You know? Like Right. Y'all lucky that we found these weird careers so far.
Melody [:Yes. Yes.
Carrie Guenther [:Back in the day.
Melody [:It was harder as my daughter got older to travel in the winter. And then I bought a house and, you know, life happens. But then in 2018, I got back to traveling again. I forgot how much I needed. Like, being a human in the world kind of travel, you know? Yeah.
Carrie Guenther [:Yeah.
Melody [:What is your experience in Thailand? I mean, it's just so different. It it's so foreign in every way, like the culture. Yes. Yeah. The way the systems, the way it works. Everything works very differently than in the states. But I even say that I'm in the Philippines right now. I don't even think I mentioned that.
Carrie Guenther [:You're in the Philippines right now.
Melody [:I'm in the Philippines right now. And this is why we set this up, even though I'm leaving tonight, you just got in. I was like, you have to do it Well, we're here. So, like, what is the experience in Thailand for you?
Carrie Guenther [:So a lot of times, I think of Southeast Asia as kind of another planet in a way because there are so many things about this place that you can't duplicate back home. Because we were born out of a different tradition and a different mentality, different religion, and for different reasons. And this place is so ancient. And I think that's what kinda blows my mind. Maybe not at first when I first started coming here 20-25 years ago. But over this amount of time, I've grown to appreciate, like, some of the more subtle things about Southeast Asia. But, yeah, it's always just sort of a recalibrating process every time I come here from back home in the States. I have to force myself to slow down, and that's a huge part of it is that I love that I miss when I'm not here is kind of how much slower everything moves, especially out in the country.
Carrie Guenther [:So Bangkok is kinda hustling, bustling. Like, it's the New York City of Thailand, obviously. But when you get out into the place where I spend most of my time where I stay, it's just in the middle of nowhere. And the pace of life is it's indescribably slow. Yeah. That's the biggest thing I always notice, and that's what I miss the most when I'm not here, I think.
Melody [:Yeah. I agree. I think I was attracted to Morocco, and I'm attracted to the Philippines because, first of all, the sense of community that exists here.
Carrie Guenther [:That's huge too. Yep.
Melody [:Right? And it just feels so different. It's so connected. And they're I'm not saying it's perfect. We both know that there's a lot of things that come with that. Like, everybody knows your business all the time and, you know, there's aunties all over the place.
Carrie Guenther [:Need a little privacy.
Melody [:Yes, privacy. But there's that feeling.
Carrie Guenther [:I think of it as like, I feel like I'm being cradled by "Mother Thailand" when I'm here. Like you said, an auntie kind of vibe where it's like, if you know a few people, you'd feel supported even though you just met these people. Right?
Melody [:Yep. Yeah. Yeah. In the Philippines, I was thinking about it yesterday. Like, I've had a lot of fun while I'm here, and I've really tried to engage in all the things that the team has set up for us to do. And I realized I'm a lot less cynical here because people are less cool here.
Carrie Guenther [:Yes. So that's huge. And you think you wonder if it kinda does something to your own cynical mind when you have to kinda check yourself. So, like, in Thailand, in their culture and even in their language, sarcasm doesn't really exist. So if you try to be sarcastic with a Thai person, it goes right over their heads. They don't catch it. And that's kind of a beautiful part of their culture. But at the same time, there's a there's a level of some kind of "superficialism" that exists here that's pretty extreme in a way too.
Carrie Guenther [:So it's like the good and the bad. You know, there's tradeoffs for everything. But, yeah, it's definitely one of the things that, again, doesn't really happen a lot at home. Yeah. Everyone can be cynical. Or if they're not in a cynical vibe, they can, like, code switch if they're around somebody who's feeling cynical. But that doesn't you can't do that here.
Melody [:Yeah.
Carrie Guenther [:So anyway, and I think they'll change.
Melody [:Right. Right. Because most people here speak English in the Philippines, and they speak American English. It's along with Tagalog and many other dialogues depending on which island and location. But I find that in America, I would consider these people to kind of be like, it's not a bad word, but it's kind of like you're very open. You're a little bit naive in America. I would think of it this way. Like and I can't think of the right word to say it because it's not naive, but they're just like,
Carrie Guenther [:Innocent.
Melody [:It's kind of innocent, but it and I don't know that it is innocent. It's not like they're living these lives that are different. It's just culturally in America, it's almost like we wear a mask of protection.
Carrie Guenther [:Yeah. We don't wanna feel like we're more jaded.
Melody [:Yes. We're jaded. Yeah. That's the word. The opposite word would be Yes. I mean and I feel like it's the opposite here.
Carrie Guenther [:Yeah.
Melody [:Yeah. But I really enjoy that, and it allows me to let my guard down a lot. Yeah. And to just be a different kind of like the person I wanna be. It's a little more childlike. It's I'm a little more like, I don't see it like in America. It's not that I have to be cool, of course. Like, as a 48-year-old woman, that's not what I'm thinking about. But I gave to be.
Carrie Guenther [:I can't hangout anymore.
Melody [:No. I don't care. Yeah. Yeah. I haven't thought, like, what how are people gonna take this thing that I'm gonna say? Like, I have to do too much thinking sometimes in America. Yeah. And here, I'm just, like, the lightest version of myself, but it's a real version of myself.
Carrie Guenther [:Yeah.
Melody [:So this trip has been really different for me. Like, last time I came here, I don't know. It was the first time being in, you know, an Asian country. Even the food is so different here than Vietnamese food or Thai food or, like, they have a lot of different foods here, but the Filipino food is very meat based and meat for breakfast. Like, we have hot dogs for breakfast one time. I'm like, guys, that would never happen in America. You know?
Carrie Guenther [:Wait. Wait. Wait. Now did they call it did they call it a hot dog or was it No.
Melody [:They did.
Carrie Guenther [:Sausage? Yes. Breakfast sausage. Yes. They do that here too. Yep. Yeah.
Melody [:So there's a lot of meat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And this time we stayed in a place that had a lot more activity. Last time we were very remote. So this time the team put us in a place that was less remote. And now we're in the middle of Manila. Like, literally, I'm in this oasis in a concrete jungle. You know?
Carrie Guenther [:Yeah. Actually, that's exactly where I am.
Melody [:Yeah. Show you the pan. Yes. But ditto here. Ditto. And I feel bad sometimes. Like, it is exhausting to experience, and I'm sure it's the same in Bangkok. Like Manila is so much to the way people drive here.
Melody [:You have to, like, kind of come to back to a different like, it's not the rules are not the same as they are in Americans. And so you have to weave if you're walking across the street. You it's just, like, exhausting. You have to think about you know what I mean?
Carrie Guenther [:Isn't it interesting what our American brains do when we see, for example, traffic in a different country? Because it's kind of like we're hardwired to be constantly kind of over vigilant about safety. Whereas I don't know if it's the same there, but here the Buddhism has an effect on people's sense of self preservation. And I feel like it's because they're less attached to things, including I mean, I'm going a little bit deep here.
Melody [:Yeah.
Carrie Guenther [:I basically wanna write an essay about driving in the United States versus here. And I've been thinking about this so much, and you really have to this is kind of like another region where I am right now in my brain. Like, just trying to adjust to the to Thailand from America is, like, you have to put a lot of trust in strangers in order to not be an anxious ball of stress that you're in danger all the time. Does that make sense? I mean, just the masses of high voltage power lines that look really alarming in the Paris.
Melody [:Better to pick up.
Carrie Guenther [:Yeah. You have to you have to kind of switch off the danger red flag that's going off in your brain because we don't see these things in the states because everything looks safer and is safer in the states, you know, supposedly. I would be interested to see, like, what the statistics are. I know that traffic accidents are the number one cause of death in Thailand. I don't know about Manila. The air pollution here and there is really gnarly. So lung cancer is dangerous here. But on the whole, as far as feeling safe as a woman traveling by myself, I literally have never felt in danger here even in the gnarliest back alley, like, shortcut I might have taken by accident.
Carrie Guenther [:I have never felt in danger here. And that's pretty magical because I can't even say that in my own neighborhood in the states.
Melody [:Yeah. No. I totally agree. And sometimes I don't feel like that at all. I'll go out on the streets. I'll walk wherever. Even people who are, you know, in Morocco, people are really aggressive on the street, their hawking thing, or, you know, when they're trying to sell you something, when they're begging. There's a lot of different cultural things going on and people are so polite in the Philippines.
Melody [:And then with driving, like I was talking to Zoe, one of my team was driving us yesterday somewhere. And the way that everybody's cutting in on their motorbikes and it's like inches half an inch away from being crushed between 2 vehicles. And it Yep. Everybody's kind of like super chill, and they just make it work.
Carrie Guenther [:I mean, maybe there's other states besides Minnesota, like, colder states that have a bigger, like, motorcycle presence. But I can't think of anywhere in the United States where there's, you know, more motorcycles and cars on the road. Right? So it's like what I always remind myself of and what I tell people when they come here and they kinda freak out because the motorcycles and how they drive is, like, everyone here grew up riding motorcycle, almost everyone, except for, like, the upper 5% of, you know, people who have grown up with cars. And so if your auntie and your grandma and your little brother and stuff, like, if all of those people in your life and your best friends all get around on motorcycles, you have this 6th sense where you're constantly have this awareness of motorcycle culture around you. That doesn't exist in the states. Right? Motorcyclists are weird. They kind of, like, jar you and, like, startle you because we don't have many of them. Whereas the opposite is true here.
Carrie Guenther [:So I feel like that kinda calms people down a little bit.
Melody [:I'm just happy when anybody drives me around anywhere, and I don't see it. It doesn't matter where it is. I'm pretty chill about that. And I think you're probably like this too. Like, I've had the traffic so much. It's like I kinda just come right back into myself and the understanding of, like, this it just like just switching my cultural I don't know.
Carrie Guenther [:It's code switching.
Melody [:It's code switching. Yeah.
Carrie Guenther [:And I also I have to say that this is kind of a big year for me because this year, I will, for the first time, be driving a car in this country. I own a motorcycle here, and that's, like, my normal way that I get around. Like, in Bangkok, I'll take a motorcycle taxi instead of a regular taxi because if you take a car, you'll just be sitting in traffic and not moving. And so it really is in certain times of the day, it's the only way to get from point a to point b. But I'll be driving for the first time, like, this trip. So I'm a little bit nervous, but I think I'll I really love driving. So I think I'll be okay. But it's a little you know, I can't, like, overthink it.
Carrie Guenther [:I just need to do it.
Melody [:Yeah. I haven't driven here, but I drove in Morocco a lot, and I actually enjoyed it. It's probably my ADHD, but I just I like the drama of driving there.
Carrie Guenther [:Yeah.
Melody [:And you just, like, I just adapt easily to it. So I don't know. America's boring when it comes to driving.
Carrie Guenther [:Yeah. I kinda feel like I'm driving in a padded room in America. Like, everyone follows the rules and
Melody [:Yep.
Carrie Guenther [:Everyone's buckled up and, you know, there's not a 5-year-old hanging off the back of a motorcycle in front of me. You know?
Melody [:Yeah. Yeah. It's something.
Carrie Guenther [:It's not a cow crossing the street. Right. Yes.
Melody [:Yeah. I'm really struggling with the fact that I'm leaving today Going back How
Carrie Guenther [:long have you been there?
Melody [:It's been 2 weeks. And that's pretty much probably the limit I can do without seeing my family before I get disowned. They've never said it, but I have a feeling. But also, it's Christmas time, and I wanna be home for that part of the year. It's my favorite time. I do love Christmas here. They do it very well in the Philippines.
Carrie Guenther [:Oh, I'm sure they do. Christmas didn't used to, like, exist when I first started coming here. And now they do it, especially in the city and any kind of, like, tourist city, they get all Christmassy, but it's basically for our benefit. Like, you know, Thai people don't celebrate it, most of them. Well, but now it's just like a commercial thing.
Melody [:Oh, yeah. No. They celebrate it here because most people are Catholic or Christian. There's not a there's not a lot of Muslims that I've met here, but there are some and then there are some people who aren't religious. I don't think I've met a lot of Buddhists or any actually. Maybe I haven't. I just didn't know it.
Carrie Guenther [:I don't think of Buddhism when I think of the Philippines. I think of Catholics.
Melody [:Yeah. And so it's a big deal here. And, like, being the lights lady that I am, literally
for every single street that we go off of. And I'm gonna get home and it's gonna look like nothing at all. But right. It just is the most beautiful thing to me. So I've really enjoyed that part.
Carrie Guenther [:Can I just say that I had to stop myself from taking a picture of the glass in my friend's condo in the lobby just because, like, I don't know if you saw the message I sent you right before this, but I said something like, do have you noticed you have to turn off your, you know, that that switch when you've been a window cleaner where you, like, notice dirty glass everywhere? You have to switch that off when you're in Southeast Asia. Like, you can't let it bother you. It's just not.
Melody [:Yeah. Well But since I've been out of it, what, 4 years now. I do, like, want to do that anywhere. Okay. It stopped. And that was after 30 years of Well, that's The only thing I see is my It was away. That's yeah.
Melody [:My house.
Carrie Guenther [:Yeah. Me too. Yep.
Melody [:Right? Yep. But yeah. I don't see it anymore. And the other interesting thing is I was so immersed in that world of Windows, and it was everything to me. I put I invest a lot of my energy and, you know, those were my people. And when I sold that company, I still my heart was still there and I've solely seen like, wow, that part of my life is gone in a way that I never thought that it would be. I still will always say I'm a window cleaner because I feel like I've earned the right to. But also, it's weird because now I'm a computer human.
Melody [:I don't love it. I miss that outdoor world. And you actually do some window cleaning sometimes in Thailand, don't you?
Carrie Guenther [:So I have a kit with me that lives here that stays a squeegee and a bucket on a belt and stuff that I keep here. Because, yes, occasionally, I have friends who want me to clean their windows or, like, if I stay somewhere, I'll offer to do their windows for free. That's just kind of been my MO ever since I started cleaning windows. I don't do the 2 jobs I used to do anymore. One of them was for a friend in my in my hometown that has pretty much a hotel, but it's his house. It's their house. And then there's a similar place in Bangkok here where my friend was living, and it's basically like a compound with, like, a showroom for cars.
Carrie Guenther [:And I used to do the showroom glass, if that makes sense. But window cleaning in Southeast Asia is not the same thing. I feel like people don't care as much, and it's definitely as far as residential goes, it's definitely more commercial and not residential. And I'm, like, almost a 100% residential. So it's still just really hot to work out in the neighborhood.
Melody [:Yeah. Yeah. I like to think about the fact that, you know, in America, we don't have the time to do things for ourselves or our homes. We've kind of stopped wanting too also. Like, we value the time, and we have jobs that the 9-5 or whatever. Not we, you and I, but other people. Yeah. And so you're able to make a really great living as a window cleaner in America.
Melody [:In Thailand, I imagine, and in the Philippines, like, that's not, yeah.
Carrie Guenther [:No. It's not a thing. It's definitely not a high earning occupation. In fact, I kinda stopped telling people here that I'm a window cleaner because they it just confuses them, and I feel bad when that confuse people. And I don't have the language to explain it. So I just say I have a business. And most people are like, oh, online? You know? And I'm just like, whatever.
Carrie Guenther [:Sure. I'm not gonna Try.
Melody [:But people go online? Oh, sure. It's interesting. Plumbers, electricians, all of the highest wage, like home service in America right now is so huge. Venture capital is, like, really investing in that space, which I would never ever, ever have imagined that's where the money would be going after so many years of like the Internet boom and all that stuff. It'll happen probably here someday, but it's gonna be a long time. The trades here are kind of like They're undervalued. Yeah. Very undervalued.
Melody [:And it's like what it was in America before when, like, I was younger. My parents were like, you're not going to trade school. You have to go to college. You know?
Carrie Guenther [:Yep. They definitely have that kind of drive. Upwardly mobile ties all go to school for careers and would never if she became any type of cleaner, you would be a disappointment to your family, basically. Yeah.
Melody [:Yeah. It's just an interesting culture shift when it comes to work. How do you feel about being an American in Thailand?
Carrie Guenther [:I feel like since the 1960s, since, like basically, since people started coming here for r and r and who were in the military and kind of made Thailand their personal playground. I feel like we have sort of earned a bad reputation here. I'm not saying that the sex trade is only participated in by foreigners. It's also participated in by Thais and Asians. However, I feel like there's been a lot of badly behaved people that come here from the west and don't care about the culture and just wanna have a good time. Right? So I'm hyper aware of that when I'm here. And I feel like I try to sort of modify the way I move through the world here in a way that is, like, super respectful and the least offensive and obtrusive as possible, if that makes sense. Right?
Melody [:It totally does. Yeah.
Carrie Guenther [:I feel like when people start coming to Southeast Asia, they get here, and this happened to me as well. You're a kind of on this like magic carpet ride where you're overwhelmed with how cheap everything is, how beautiful everything is, how colorful and delicious everything is. And it and you sort of you don't notice the more subtle things about the culture. And then if you keep coming back to a place that's really different from your own home culture, you start to it's like peeling an onion. You kind of peel another layer off, peel another layer off. I've accepted the fact that I'm never gonna get to the center. Right? Because I'm a foreigner and that's just how it is. You're never gonna really understand a culture you don't come from.
Carrie Guenther [:But I think I have, like, a higher purpose at this point where if I start to, like, host people that come out here, I want them to know more about Thailand than I knew when I first start coming here. Right? Like, I feel like I kinda owe it to the Thai people to teach people about how to be a respectful tourist here rather than this kind of, like, treating it as your, you know, playground away from home.
Melody [:Yeah. So I feel the same way. I definitely have a lot of American guilt in some ways. And I try to be, like you said, as an unobtrusive. And I think we're both more global in our mindset. Like, I definitely know that I will also never understand the Filipino culture no matter how deep I go into it. And so that awareness I mean, it's emotional intelligence that we understand our people here, and also we know we never will fully understand.
Carrie Guenther [:And for you well, not so much for you, but for me anyway, language has a lot to do with the fact my disconnect. So my guilt is actually around the fact that I've been coming here this long and I'm still not fluent. Right? And so I realized that that that keeps me from having some deeper connections that I probably could have.
Melody [:Same for me with Morocco, because I've always wanted to be completely fluent in Arabic, and I don't even go there a lot anymore. And just for those listeners who don't know my background with Morocco, my daughter is Moroccan, and I have family there. So it's like that's something that I strongly feel like I should be fluent even if I'm not going all the time. And I'm still not. You know, after a week, I can start saying the things and I say it really well, the things I know. And I understand so much. It's the gap of, like, the saying, like, my brain has never connected.
Melody [:So I feel, like, lazy or something even though it's not that. It's really hard to learn another language, especially if you're not immersed.
Carrie Guenther [:It is so hard. It's almost I'm gonna say I don't wanna like discourage people, but it's almost impossible if you're not immersed. And I'm fluent in French. I think I studied it for 2 years before I actually went there and was immersed. And I probably learned like 15 times faster. Right? Because you're immediately using the things that you learn. Now, I come here for 3 months at a time, and sometimes I'll learn, like, a new phrase or something or some new vocabulary, and then I'll go home. I won't use it for 9 months.
Carrie Guenther [:And then I'll, like, kinda wanna kick myself or whatever. But then when I come back, it's it comes back, but it's like Yeah. It's getting away for kind of tar starting over every time. Yeah.
Melody [:Yeah.
Carrie Guenther [:And you for and you forget the subtle nuances. And Thai is a tonal language, so there's 5 different tones. So you can take the same word and say it 5 different ways, and it'll change with the 5 different tones, and it'll change the meaning of the words. So it's very intimidating. Right?
Melody [:Yeah. When I came back this time well, this is, I think Tagalog is a little bit easier because there's a lot of Spanish influence in there. Yesterday, I was playing a game where I was trying to read some of the Tagalog and see if my team could guess what I was trying to say. And they could easily guess because I read it like Spanish almost. So it kind of flowed like Spanish instead of if I was looking at it just as an American, you know, like, trying to spell it out like that. I don't know why.
Carrie Guenther [:So their alphabet is the same as ours?
Melody [:Yes. Yes. Okay. Well, I don't know if it's written the same because I don't write anything, but there are no signs that are different here that I can see. So, yeah, I think it's the same depending on the dialect though. Because some of my friends here speak different dialects, which makes it even harder because it's the tribal language. There's a lot of things here. So and then you because English is spoken by literally everyone
Carrie Guenther [:Uh-huh.
Melody [:That makes it harder to learn Tagalog.
Carrie Guenther [:Right. Because it's easier just to lapse into English. Yeah.
Melody [:Yeah. That actually happened to me in Morocco too. I ended up in the only city where there had been a US army base, which I didn't know at the time. And so I remember I was walking by somebody who was asking for money on the street, this woman. And she suddenly just said to me, hey, lady, come here. In like perfect English accent. But she looked like well, it was like the first time I was like, oh my God. Instead of just being this was a long time ago, but instead of being almost like a character, I hate to say it that way. I was now knowing this human who was telling me her actual story.
Melody [:And, you know, she had worked for Americans from her mother-in-law. She worked for Americans since she was 12 years old. So, she spoke English too. She can't read or write, but she can speak English pretty good well enough that we understand each other.
Carrie Guenther [:You're so lucky.
Melody [:I am lucky. I know that. And then, yeah, because it did deepen the relationship quicker. But the other thing is they were French, you know, colonized as well. So they kind of sometimes mix the French and the English. I mean, the French and the Arabic, it's Derisha. And that makes it harder because I had never studied French when I first came here. I had to learn what was a French word. You'd think it would sound so different, but when it's together, it's hard to distinguish.
Carrie Guenther [:Yeah. And they kind of model their words together too.
Melody [:They sure do. Yes.
Carrie Guenther [:Yeah. I would be a great translator for you if you ever wanna go to Morocco with me.
Melody [:That would be awesome.
Carrie Guenther [:It would be awesome for me to practice it. I don't know how much people speak it nowadays, but yeah.
Melody [:Well, I wanna go back. I keep talking about it because it's been 6 years since I've been there. And I but my people come to me now. So, you know, as I've been more focused on this business and working with my team in the Philippines, obviously, this is where I have to come first.
Carrie Guenther [:Right.
Melody [:But I really didn't know anything about the Philippines when I first came. It was so off my radar, and I love it. I love the people. I love the culture, and it's just like there's just something magical about being here. The other thing that's weird about here is, you know, how in America we have our, like, our talking voice and then we have our singing voice, 2 separate voices, and we look at them as, like, one is a good voice, and one is for people who don't sing. A bad voice is kind of a shameful thing. Right?
Carrie Guenther [:Yeah.
Melody [:Be like, let's do karaoke. No. I can't sing. Right? And then I don't know about Thailand, but here, everybody sings. They don't even think about it. It's just a part of everything that happens around here.
Carrie Guenther [:So karaoke is definitely a different thing in Asia than it is in the States. I'll just say that first and foremost. I did notice in Burma, I spent a lot of time in Burma, which is also known as Myanmar. And I noticed that Burmese people will just break out in song in the streets while they're doing dishes, while they're cooking. Like, I don't see that as much in Thailand. I feel like they're a little more reserved. But, like, karaoke is huge here. Huge to the point where I won't even touch it.
Carrie Guenther [:I won't even touch it. Like, I can't even.
Carrie Guenther [:I'll just never understand.
Melody [:Yeah. Do people talk about having a bad voice there?
Carrie Guenther [:Well, I'm not having those types of conversations with people.
Melody [:I got it.
Carrie Guenther [:Because I wouldn't even be able to ask about that. But no. I don't I don't know. Next time I talk to my Thai friend, I'll ask her the answers. Yeah.
Melody [:Yeah. That's the thing I guess I noticed here because I'm a singer with, like, voice shame. Right? Like, I've always been able to sing, or I learned that when I was 17 or 18, but I've always had stage fright. I've always felt shamed for some reason of singing. And when I air, I was like, I feel none of that. And it's so freeing to me.
Melody [:I don't know. It's interesting.
Carrie Guenther [:Yeah. I think a lot of a lot of us have that kind of voice stage fright thing where we only sing in the car. Right? Or the shower.
Melody [:They're not here. They sing on the street here. Yeah. It's just something I really enjoy about the culture. We haven't even really talked too much about business yet, but, I mean, we have we haven't. So I called you a business misfit. Have you always felt like that since you've had business or since you've been engaged in entrepreneurship?
Carrie Guenther [:Yeah. I feel like I think Sarah van der Meer, she mentioned impostor syndrome during her interview, and I completely relate to that because I had no intentions of ever going into any kind of business when I was younger. Like, didn't interest me at all. Like I said, it was kind of an accident. My first business was house cleaning business, and that was also kind of an accident. I think I would have felt more comfortable working for someone else, but then I realized that, you know, that's not really where the money is. So and then when I got into window cleaning, that's when I felt like I didn't fit in to the mold of at the time. So in that way yeah.
Melody [:But we're both lucky because Sarah has been a moderator on the into the flow group, which I didn't discover that group, I think, until when I sold the business or maybe right that year. It's like one of the gentlest groups. So, like, for people like us to be online and can trying to connect with other people in the industry, I you know that it was horrible. It was like the wild west to be on.
Carrie Guenther [:Yeah. It was pretty ugly at first.
Melody [:And it still is. It's still ugly. But now there's people who are like, yeah, I'm not gonna put up with that. And they've created places like into the Flow, you know, Facebook group where people are like, it's more focused on being like good to each other and just. I don't know. So I feel like the imposter syndrome is when everybody else is, it's literally 99.9% of the industry is guys. And even employees, there's not a lot of female employees. Of course, we're gonna have imposter syndrome unless we're, like, the most overconfident people in the world.
Carrie Guenther [:I feel like I've been both. I guess, I felt like I've been overconfident in some ways. Maybe before I had a right to be, but at the same time, I feel like I've paid my dues at this point. So I don't feel like the imposter syndrome anymore, but I was definitely, like, hyper aware of just feeling like I didn't belong and sort of subtly being told that I did not belong. Right? Oh, yeah. And yeah. So I have an example of kind of where I was at when I when I started joining window cleaning groups, like online window cleaning groups back in when was it? When I met you, basically, like 2016. So my partner is in a group.
Carrie Guenther [:He plays a video game called Tekken, and he's in these online, you know, Facebook groups for this game where he nerds out with other Tekken nerds. And somebody posted something in there that was offensive to women. And he reached out personally to the guy who he never met, never he didn't know the guy. And he said, hey, dude. You know, that's not cool. You should take that down. And he's telling me about this. Right? And the guy actually was really cool about it.
Carrie Guenther [:He's like, and you're right. Like, I'm gonna take it down. And my partner was like, you know, I have a niece who's 18 and she plays this game, and she would be really uncomfortable and, like, feel unwelcome if she saw something like that. And so he's telling me about this. He's like, you know what I mean? I was like, I totally know what you mean. Because I was your niece. Like, yeah, I was I was the one who was seeing things that were offensive and thinking, like, is it just me or do, like, do people just kind of not care if I feel welcome here? Right? So I think we've all kind of been through that in some way where we're those of us who are in male dominated industries, at least in the past, where they it was like, they don't care if you don't feel welcome because they don't really want you there anyway.
Carrie Guenther [:Right? So we definitely appreciate the ITF group a lot because of that. You know.
Melody [:Yeah. I've been called all sorts of names for daring to input any opinions in some of those groups in the past. I mean, I stopped being in those groups. And it's a bummer because all you want when you're doing a job like window cleaning is connection to understand.
Carrie Guenther [:Connection.
Melody [:Yeah.
Carrie Guenther [:Especially if you work by yourself.
Melody [:Exactly.
Carrie Guenther [:Like, I do. Yeah.
Melody [:Yep. And then it's almost like they go out of their way to be, like, the worst human trolls in some of those groups. And then you meet them in person and they're not as good as they are.
Carrie Guenther [:They're not.
Melody [:They're not at all. They're just babies. Like, they're, you know I don't know if
Carrie Guenther [:It's called hiding it's called hiding behind your keyboard and having too much time in the winter. I think that's what it comes down to.
Carrie Guenther [:Yeah. You know, I have a lot of empathy for people and, you know, we can't always be our best. So I'm not gonna, like, hold it against people forever. But I just want people to be more aware, like, how their words and actions and attitudes affect others. And, like, what is this really about? And like you said, the online groups are really, for most of us, about connecting with other people that do what we do all day. That's really what it comes down to. Right? So at least for me, and I think for the ITF group at least, the focus isn't on one upping each other. It's not on showing off how much we know or how much we do.
Carrie Guenther [:It's more like, hey. Isn't this a cool shot of my day? That kind of thing.
Melody [:Oh, no. I love it. I agree with you. And I think things are shifting. A lot of things are shifting. World is changing very quickly, especially, you know, I'm looking at my work and AI and everything that's happening. I think this is gonna be, or I know it's gonna be a very fast-moving changing world where jobs are gonna change. Everything's gonna change and community is gonna be really important connecting with clients.
Melody [:And that's something that you and I actually should feel overconfident about because, like, we have an understanding of our clientele that I think has come so naturally at TOS. And yeah. It's like our superpower. Right?
Carrie Guenther [:Yeah. Because it doesn't come easily or naturally for everyone.
Carrie Guenther [:And we have to pat ourselves on the back a little bit, but we're good at it.
Melody [:Yeah. And those are the things I think that are gonna continue to matter. Like the more we move into like a virtual world and AI focused world and all of that stuff, the more connection and community and things like that are gonna matter. I'm always thinking forward with that because it matters so much to me. It's what makes me feel whole almost as when I have, like, when I have connection with you or Allison or any of my friends, Sarah, that's like what humanness is all about to me. And the trades jobs, I don't think those are changing anytime soon. So it's interesting right now.
Melody [:We're in this world. And then I don't know about Ty then for you, but, like, it's kind of very tech forward here and also backwards. Like, there's a lot of things, like, that are really cool here. For instance, even just lighting design. When I look at America, I kind of feel like I was always when I had my lights company, I was always, like, very forward and creative in the way that I designed my things. Here, people have, like, such a different vision and they're I don't know what it is, but they have different kinds of products like that. We will have eventually in America, but that they're not there yet. And I bought something.
Melody [:I'll send you a picture of it eventually when I get it in place, but I've never seen it before. It's this light thing made out of shells. It's huge. I'm gonna have to carry it on my plane. And, it's so beautiful and I'm like, I have to have it. So that's my one big purchase because you know how much I like lights and stuff.
Carrie Guenther [:Do you remember that when I visited you in Massachusetts, you gave me a string of lights that are like the ones that sort of, like, glow and then retreat like fireflies? So that now lives in my kitchen here. Like, I brought that string on right here, and it lights up my kitchen. Now my outdoor kitchen. So I'll have to send you a little video of that.
Melody [:Please do. You know that makes me happy.
Melody [:I don't know what it is. It just makes me so happy. And I mean, just like fireflies and fireworks and holiday lights apparently. Just, you know, little happiness's. Okay, Carrie. I've come down to the time where I'm gonna ask you, a couple of questions that are completely gonna define who you are as a person forever. So you have to answer it right or else. I'm just kidding.
Melody [:Okay. Don't overthink it. But it doesn't take very long. Whatever comes to your mind first, just say it. Okay? So here we go. First one. Early bird or night owl?
Carrie Guenther [:Early bird.
Melody [:Introvert or extrovert?
Carrie Guenther [:Extrovert.
Melody [:More time or more money?
Carrie Guenther [:I think I value more time, honestly.
Melody [:Yeah. Saver or spender?
Carrie Guenther [:Saver. I have to be with my business.
Melody [:Workaholic or recovering workaholic?
Carrie Guenther [:I'm seasonal. I'm an anti workaholic for 3 months, and I'm a workaholic for 9. Does that make sense?
Melody [:Oh, totally. That was me. Adventure or relaxing?
Carrie Guenther [:Probably adventure. I'm still working on being better at relaxing.
Melody [:Things or experiences?
Carrie Guenther [:Experiences. 100%.
Melody [:Phone call or text?
Carrie Guenther [:I'm gonna show my age here. I'm gonna be 50 in 2 months. I am a fan of randomly calling people, and all my millennial friends are horrified at that.
Melody [:I'm also horrified by that.
Carrie Guenther [:It makes me it makes me wanna do it even more. But no. Right now, I just do it with a few people and then my aunties.
Melody [:Yep. Yeah. We're the opposite there. I, like, not on the phone. Plan ahead or go with the flow?
Carrie Guenther [:I'm a planner.
Melody [:Compete or collaborate?
Carrie Guenther [:Collaborate.
Melody [:Sweet or savory?
Carrie Guenther [:Salty. So savory.
Melody [:Quick thinker or over thinker?
Carrie Guenther [:I think I'm an over thinker.
Melody [:I think you just proved it by thinking about the question for long. That was good. You did good for being an over thinker. You barely over thought it. Yeah. I don't know. I like those questions even though they did not define us. We definitely have our go to's and teaches you a lot about somebody very quickly.
Melody [:So yeah. Carrie, we did a lot of things to make this happen because I'm leaving tonight. You got here yesterday, and I was like, we must do this because when else are we gonna have the chance? And, well, next year probably. But this was so fun to just talk about something that is outside of just business. It very important to both of us, which is just being global citizens of the world and understanding that people want the same things everywhere. Culture, it's something that I wish more people understood how amazing it is to just.
Carrie Guenther [:You have to live to get to know it. I mean, to be aware of it, you have to leave home and just see that there's another way. It doesn't matter where you go, to be honest, and then go home and just yeah. A different perspective.
Melody [:Yep. And it makes you appreciate home more too, like, parts of home.
Carrie Guenther [:Definitely. That's one of my favorite parts of leaving is Yeah. Coming back and appreciating the things that, you know, I do have at home.
Melody [:Well, Carrie, I hope you have the best winter in Thailand. I know that there's a lot going on for you there. I hope that you are able to enjoy it. And yeah. I'm happy for you. And also, I wanna stay here forever. So enjoy it on my behalf because I'll be watching.
Carrie Guenther [:Good. Good. And I hope that we will be able to hang out, like, on this side of the planet at some point in the future.
Melody [:Absolutely. Probably soon. Plan that. We will plan it out. Okay? Okay. Thank you, Carrie. It was good to see you.
Carrie Guenther [:Thank you so much for having me on. I can't wait to see how this turns out, and you're the best.
Melody [:No. You are. Thank you.
Carrie Guenther [:No. You are. Welcome. Okay. We'll see you.
Melody [:Listen, Bisfit. If you believe in the mission of this podcast, I need you to like and subscribe right now. Pause this. Go find the podcast. You might already be there, which is easy. Just go like and subscribe. And if you really, really believe in it, and you want Bizfits to unite and change the whole business world, please rate it. Rating is the best way to get the word out to attract more like minded misfits like you and me, so that we can overthrow the takers of this world who currently dominate the business universe.
Melody [:Now I know I sound like I'm some courageous lady of business. I am not. I can't do this alone and I don't want to. I need you and we need a coalition of fellow Bizfits. So do it now. The quicker we take action, the quicker we can change our business world. Now let's go do great things and I will see you next week.
