Episode notes
Guest: Katia Dimova
Based: Normandy, France (Chateau Co-living)
Katia Dimova pioneered remote work years before COVID made it mainstream, managing a distributed team across Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria with nothing but Facebook Messenger. She never planned to coordinate refugee relief across three countries—she just went to drop off donations and stayed for a meeting. Today, she runs one of Europe's most sought-after co-living spaces in a literal castle in Normandy.
In this conversation, Katia shares how she accidentally built a location-independent business whilst avoiding telling clients she didn't have an office, why nomads made perfect volunteers during the refugee crisis, and how being comfortable with chaos became her greatest professional asset. We explore the schizophrenic feeling of living in two separate worlds, the dinner party question she dreads most, and why nomads benefit communities more than most people realize.
This is a story about not planning anything, showing up anyway, and becoming the centre of everything that matters.
Timestamps
00:00 Podcast introduction by Ibi
00:39 Guest introduction: Katia the Catalyst
01:33 Opening: together in the castle, rumours and stories
01:49 When did digital nomad journey start? Hard to put year on it
02:26 Corporate job with long business trips, company apartments
03:26 Gave flavor of not being in one place, then itchy feeling
04:35 Location independence before it was a thing, freedom claimed illegally
05:35 Quit corporate job, started own company based in Istanbul
06:51 Driving weekly to Istanbul, not planning to be location independent
07:21 Scarcity mindset: travel while we still can before office
08:21 Senior team, absolute separation of tasks, people knew each other
09:14 Working for big corporate clients, not serious without office
10:13 Managing remote team: small, senior, trusted people
11:12 No tools for remote work: Facebook Messenger, no Zoom
12:51 Lebanon electricity cut, no backup, super unprofessional execution
14:36 Not letting client see what's behind the scenes
15:28 Came from big design agency, people assumed comparable
17:49 Small senior team advantage: fast, agile, no approval layers
19:17 Pre co-living: corporate work and nonprofit work
21:07 Syrian refugee crisis, small human effort, got consumed
22:45 Went to drop off donations, joined meeting, met best friends
24:18 Facebook group exploded to thousands, no official entity
25:10 Remote skills helped coordinate logistics across countries
26:27 Nomad volunteers: flexible, saw need, stayed to help
27:11 Bridging two worlds: corporate and nomad finally connected
27:59 Nomad mindset shift: flexible, agile, challenges normalized
29:54 Wild stories seem normal until you see reactions
31:31 Connection between corporate world and social work
32:39 Carbon footprint can be mindful, different ways to care
34:15 How nomads benefit places: longer stays, support local, inspire
Remaining timestamps are in the full write-up linked below.
Full write-up and transcript: https://www.ibimalik.com/podcast/katia-dimova
Guest website: https://chateaucoliving.com/
Watch: https://youtu.be/2E04dNlMu2o