Just Follow Your Guts and Quiet Your Mind | Ekaterina Kurasheva | TEDxVerin Antarain St Women
Kaa Kurashova advocates for trusting personal instincts and community-building as the keys to fulfilling a nomadic life, illustrating this success through her ability to build platforms like Founders and the "NomadMe" game. She demonstrates that external validation and structured effort are less valuable than listening to one's inner guidance. She recommends trusting one's intuition and embracing connection to achieve one's desired life path. ## Speakers & Context - Kaa Kurashova — Speaker; traveled over 200,000 kilometers (five times around the earth); currently living on the road with a single red suitcase. - Topic focus: Following personal instincts and building communities for self-improvement and success. ## Theses & Positions - Trusting one's instincts and "gods" is crucial for achieving the life one dreams of. - The speaker's "superpower" is finding the right people and creating communities wherever she goes. - The "NomadMe" game, designed for single nomads, provides a free, non-commercial way to connect people. - The speaker's energy, luck, and strength stem from not trying to be someone else. - All goals and achievements are achievable by following one's inner guide. ## Concepts & Definitions - **Olders:** The term used by the speaker for seniors whom she worked with in Russia. - **Nomads/Single Nomads:** The target demographic for the "NomadMe" game. - **Community Creation:** The speaker's established method of initiating local connections, facilitating meetings, and knowledge exchange. - **Founders:** The name of the community educational platform established for Russian-speaking Founders and startups going global. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Community Kickstart:** Initiated by posting on Facebook asking *"who is in Barcelona New York,"* leading to contacts and subsequent specialized chats. - **Knowledge Exchange:** Activities within her local communities that cover topics from "the best m matela in the area to how to get an Australian wisom." - **Platform Monetization (Founders):** Successfully monetized a community by charging for access to resources, achieving *"tens of thousands of dollars in a monthly recurring Revenue."* - **NomadMe Game Creation:** Born out of necessity after her psychotherapist suggested settling down, which led to unhappiness, prompting her to create a game to challenge that advice. - **Game Mechanic:** Using "tricky questions" (e.g., *"if you were a Uber driver which stories you would tell you to your passengers"*) to break the ice among single nomads. ## Named Entities - **Russia:** Country where the speaker's life was previously centered, where she worked with "Olders." - **Latin America, California, Southern Europe, Bali, Turkey, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta:** Places visited by the speaker. - **Founders:** Educational platform for Russian-speaking Founders and startups. ## Numbers & Data - Travel distance: **more than 200,000 of kilometers** (estimated as five times around the earth). - Time frame for work with seniors: **two years**. - Seniors gathered: **more than 15,000**. - Founders platform subscribers: **200** companies. - Founders platform revenue: **tens of thousands of dollars** monthly recurring Revenue. - Founders active members: **more than 1,000**. - Nomads playing the game: **currently 50** people. - Waiting list for the game: **100** people. - Age of personal struggle: **26 years** (time to deal with weaknesses). ## Examples & Cases - **Early career shift:** Moving from Russia following her "gods" guidance, which allowed her to travel and make a living. - **The psychotherapist incident:** Settling down in Barcelona caused her to become very unhappy and suffer panic attacks, leading her to realize her strength came from non-attachment. - **Community Building (Pre-Founders):** Used Facebook posts to connect people in global business spheres (IT, global markets). - **Founders benefit:** Companies use the platform resources to save money and time previously spent on expensive consultants. - **NomadMe game success:** Post went viral, gathering **300 comments**. ## Tools, Tech & Products - **Facebook:** Used as the initial platform for launching contacts and community building. - **Founders:** A community educational platform. - **NomadMe:** A game designed for single nomads, utilizing tricky questions for ice-breaking. ## References Cited - No external books, papers, or prior works were cited. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - **Settle Down vs. Travel:** Attempting to settle down (in Barcelona) was contrasted with the realization that energy and strength derive from traveling and not trying to fit a role. - **Commercialization:** The speaker insists that the "NomadMe" game must remain *"completely entirely free and not commercial For My Good Karma."* ## Counterarguments & Caveats - Initial assumption from her psychotherapist was that she must settle down to build relationships. - The speaker struggled initially with socialization, describing herself as a *"socially awkward child."* ## Methodology - **For Relationships:** Building slowly, starting with friendship, then joining a group (like Friendly Gathering), and eventually leading a company to practice creating communities. - **For Business:** Starting with a broad online post, followed by personal outreach and facilitating local meetings. - **For Personal Growth:** Confronting therapy-suggested structures by prioritizing personal calling over stability. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - *If you want something if you need something just do it yourself.* - When in a new city, one must take a moment to *"forget your plans clear your mind and let your instincts guide you."* - General advice: Trust yourself, listen to your intuition, and focus on self-improvement from day to day. ## Implications & Consequences - Following instinct leads to freedom, global travel, and the ability to build self-sustaining community platforms. - The ability to create community is positioned as a core mechanism for success in modern life. ## Verbatim Moments - *"I love following my gods my instincts."* - *"We called them olders."* - *"my gods told me to leave Russia"* - *"my guts gifted me the life I dreamed about"* - *"my superpower is finding the right people my people"* - *"you are not only taken but you are also given from Stranges"* - *"I don't want to stop"* - *"I need something just do it yourself"* - *"if you were an Uber driver which stories you would tell you to your passengers"* - *"For My Good Karma"* - *"When I follow your Gods guys you can't go wrong"* - *"If you are two and if you are two then you doing the right thing"* - *"a reward for my courage"*