Jesse Chambers is the founder and CEO of wrkfrce. With over four years of experience in the remote work domain, Jesse has been instrumental in creating content and providing insights for remote workers and businesses embracing remote work models.

Jesse's journey into the remote work sphere started with a clear vision of empowering individuals and businesses to thrive in remote work environments. 

As the founder of Workforce, a platform dedicated to remote work resources and insights, Jesse has curated a wealth of knowledge and expertise in navigating the challenges and opportunities of remote work.

His passion for remote work extends beyond mere advocacy; Jesse is a firm believer in measuring output over input, emphasizing the importance of results-oriented approaches for managing remote teams. 

Through his work, Jesse aims to dispel common fears and misconceptions surrounding remote work, advocating for a more flexible and productive work culture.

Jesse's insights have been widely recognized, making him a sought-after speaker and thought leader in the remote work community. 

His forward-thinking approach and pragmatic strategies have helped numerous individuals and businesses adapt and thrive in the remote work landscape.

Key Takeaways. 

Remote work is here to stay, with companies increasingly embracing flexible work models.
The fear-based push for in-office work is driven by outdated management practices focused on input rather than output.
Talent is the key differentiator, with companies offering remote flexibility attracting and retaining top talent.
Remote work offers advantages like broader talent pools and increased productivity but requires intentional efforts to address social interaction challenges.
The future of work is global, with companies realizing they can recruit the best talent regardless of location or language barriers.
The evolution of remote work includes rethinking traditional office spaces to support collaboration and social connections.
Embracing remote work unlocks opportunities for individuals and businesses to thrive in a more flexible, interconnected world.

Connect with Jesse

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessewrkfrce/ 

Website - https://wrkfrce.com/

Here is the full transcript:

Paul Urwin  0:00  

Welcome to remote business growth, your go to source for all things remote work and business growth. Join us as we delve deep into the strategies, insights and success stories that will help you thrive in the remote work landscape. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a remote team leader, or simply curious about how to grow your business, this podcast is your gateway to unlocking your full potential. So get ready to embark on a journey of innovation and success. This is episode 11 of the remote Business Growth Podcast. I'm Paul Urwin. If you're looking for a virtual assistant or remote talent to help you grow your business, then head on over to https://thereistalent.com/.

We have an awesome interview today, it's with Jesse Chambers. Let's get cracking. Jesse Chambers is an entrepreneur in the digital media space and accomplished executive with leadership experience at successful startups, as well as some of the largest most well respected global media brands. In early 2019. He left the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and dog and working full time from a 27 foot Airstream trailer founded workforce. That's WR K, fr C. E, rooted in the belief that when we design our careers around our lives, and not vice versa, we are more productive and more fulfilled workforce is a digital media company that gives remote workers and the businesses that employ them information, tools, and inspiration. Jesse grew to understand the far reaching impact of digital transformation on our lives, our culture, and ultimately, the way we work while helping to lead brands like TechCrunch and in gadget among others. And because of the travel demands of his various roles, Jessie found himself a de facto remote worker and digital nomad and loved it. By building Wrkfrce, Jessie and his team seek to question the inherited wisdom, that the only way to work is in an office from nine to five, and to help people and businesses realize their full potential through flexible and remote work. Jesse, welcome to the show.

Jesse Chambers  2:06  

It's great to be here. Thanks so much for having me. Yeah,

Paul Urwin  2:08  

I'm really looking forward to talking about the wonderful topic of remote work, among other things. So Jesse, where are you connecting from today?

Jesse Chambers  2:16  

I am currently in Austin, Texas, and have lived here for about a year and a half. Before that I was a full time digital nomad before that. I basically live my adult life in San Francisco. So not all over the map, but I've covered a few miles in my day.

Paul Urwin  2:32  

Well tell us a little bit about your journey. And please, Jesse. Sure.

Jesse Chambers  2:36  

So my grip on the east coast, but pretty much the moment I graduated college, I headed west to San Francisco. This was in 2001. So this was the early days of the.com. Boom, I like to joke that as I was driving across the country, I heard the first.com bubble burst. And so when I first moved to San Francisco, you would meet people and they wouldn't ask you, what do you do for work? They would literally say, "Do you have a job?" And so it was a different kind of thing different from San Francisco than what we think of today, but I had a really great experience in San Francisco and built my life and career there. And in 2019, I left the traditional corporate environment where I had been a monetization operations and strategy executive for some large companies, and founded my company workforce, which I'm still running today. Excellent.

Paul Urwin  3:26  

So big decision, they're back in 2019, then how did you come to that decision?

Jesse Chambers  3:32  

It's a funny thing, Paul. So I worked at a large company for over a decade, and we had been through a couple of mergers. There was another merger coming down the pike, I sort of tried to look into the future. And I wasn't sure if I was number one going to have a job on the other side of that merger. And number two, if I was going to want the job that I had. And so I did an exercise that I find really valuable to do today or just anybody can do it. But what I did was I made a list of the things that were important to me in whatever role was next, regardless of job title, company or even industry. What are the things that really matter to me and what it is that I'm doing. And it sounds silly to say this, in hindsight, but only through doing that exercise. Did I realize that already in 2017 2018, I was a remote worker. That's because back then it wasn't a job feature that we negotiated. It had just happened organically. I was based in San Francisco, my company was based in New York. So I was spending one week per month in New York, at the home office. I had just through a quirk I had desks at two different company offices in San Francisco. And I was traveling a ton. And so when I was in San Francisco, if I needed to be in the office, I was in the office. If I needed to work from my home office, I was empowered and entrusted to do that. Essentially, it was treated like an adult. And so I knew that whatever it is that I wanted to do next, I didn't want to give up that freedom and that flexibility. And so armed with that as sort of a starting point. I went and looked around to find communities or websites or places where people who wanted to work remotely could find more information about that. And I found nothing, really. And I was very frustrated for about 30 seconds. And then I said, Wait a minute, if this is something that you wish existed, maybe other people would, too. And so that was really the seed that has grown into the workforce over time. And so I ended up leaving that company. And by the way, it was option number two, I had a job, but I didn't really want the job that I had. And so it took about a year to kick the tires on the concept of workforce. This was in, as I say, 2017 2018. Back then, in the US, we were at about 6 million people working remotely, most of the time. And I saw that sector growing to 15 to 20 million people within 10 years. And so I said, Well, this is a strong community going to grow. I would really love to be a part of it. I would really love to be sort of the identity site for people who work remotely or want to. And so I kicked it off. And right around the time we were going to launch the workforce to the world, a little thing called the pandemic happened. And we went from 6 million people working remotely, to 60 million people overnight. And so on the one hand, obviously, it was a really challenging and terrible time in a lot of ways. But for our business, it was a very fast paced, exciting time. And in fact, we had to sort of really reorient how we were looking at our audience, because no longer was our audience, a small group of people who were making a choice and trying to move in direction of remote and flexible work, but rather a whole bunch of people 10s of millions of people who were reactive, and were forced to work in this way. And we're trying to say, how do I do this? How do I effectively lead a team? How do I advocate for myself in a remote environment? And so it was a fascinating and very abrupt shift, which we tried to work to meet to give our audience the best chance of success as we possibly could. And

Paul Urwin  7:00  

stuff? And how exactly do you help people in the Wrkfrce?

Jesse Chambers  7:04  

So we think of the Wrkfrce audiences, people who work remotely or want to and the businesses that employ them. And so we try to create content for that audience to enlighten them and power them, giving them the tools they need to succeed.

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