About Us
Our Mission: Helping lifestyle entrepreneurs to grow their business online & create a happier marriage.
Cindy Pham & Anfernee Chansamooth
We’re two crazy entrepreneur-type kids who love to travel and explore the roads less travelled in life, relationship, entrepreneurship and sustainable living.
Cindy’s background is in corporate finance and training. She previously ran her own family business – a dessert cafe in Potts Point, Sydney. Combined with the fact that she’s the eldest amongst 5 siblings, she’s well trained in working with different types of relationships.
Anf’s background is in marketing and project management. After a traumatic brain surgery experience in 2006, Anfernee packed up his wealth of experience in the corporate IT sector to pursue and create a life of meaningful contribution.
We’re excited to help couples like us work through the challenges of entrepreneurship and marriage.
Want to take control of your finances and improve your communication with your spouse? Read our free guide to financial intimacy for entrepreneur couples.
(Careful though, research shows improved financial intimacy between couples can lead to an improved sex life! You wouldn’t want that now, would you?)
How Founders Connect Began
Our story really started when the two of us, Cindy Pham and Anfernee Chansamooth, met on March 7th 2015.
On that fateful Saturday, I accompanied a friend to a personal development seminar. Little did he know that sitting across the room from him that day would be the (self-proclaimed) princess that I would one day marry…
Cindy was working full-time in accounts payable.
After returning to 9-5 employment after my previous business failed, I was working as national marketing manager for one of Australia’s largest coworking communities.
As months went by, there were some internal changes at my company which made it a really stressful place to work. This was having a negative impact on our relationship too. Cindy encouraged me to leave the company for both our sakes, so I resigned.
At the end of the year, I hosted a yoga and adventure retreat in my home country of Laos for a group of Warrior Women. When my co-founder couldn’t attend last minute due to unexpected circumstances Cindy cut short her holiday in Vietnam to support me at my retreat.
Needless to say, through all the fun and challenges, we fell in love along the way…
2016
On April 21 I proposed to Cindy. (Btw, she said “yes” ? Read our hilarious proposal story here).
May 27 marked the last day I worked at my full-time job, and not too long after I launched a blogging service as part of a “7-day startup” challenge (inspired by the book and group created by serial entrepreneur Dan Norris).
I saw an opportunity to help growth businesses to use content better to attract new opportunities. This side hustle eventually became Simple Creative Marketing.
With our upcoming wedding to pay for, I took on a part-time job as a digital marketing advisor supporting local brick and mortar businesses impacted by Sydney’s Light Rail construction project.
2017
Exactly one year from the date I proposed, and with our wonderful family and friends present, we got married.
Soon after our wedding we boarded a plane to Penang, Malaysia – the first stop on a journey around the world together as digital nomads.
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2017 was a fantastic year for SCM, with Cindy joining the business as our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Our team also grew to 4 writers, 1 editor, and 1 awesome part-time VA. We also launched an outsourced Virtual Chief Marketing Officer (vCMO) service that proved to be our most profitable offering.
Read our 2017 year in review to get a behind the scenes look of our growth and challenges at SCM.
2018 – Exciting Start
2018 kicked off with an incredible adventure in Indonesia. On the first weekend in Jan we challenged our comfort zones and hiked 3km in the darkness up to Mt Ijen crater and waited for sunrise around 5am. We were blessed with a stunning view of the crater lake. Totally worth it!
In Feb we hit another milestone in our journey when we hosted our first ever team retreat with our VA in Cebu, Philippines. It was an exciting time, and thanks to our VA we got to go hiking and snorkeling together too.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
May 2018 – Re-alignment
Things were going fantastic with our business and our nomad journey… until they weren’t.
Long story short we went through a period of letting go – team members, clients, and our Virtual CMO service. Yes, we let go of the most profitable service in our business at the time.
Crazy right? It was a valuable lesson for us (so pay attention if you intend on becoming a digital nomad too)…
Choose a product or service that aligns with the type of lifestyle that you're wanting to live. Click To TweetMake sure that you can consistently deliver with high quality, and that your clients aren’t disrupted because you’re moving around so much. It’s also important to work to your strengths, which is something we had strayed away from.
Over the next few months we enjoyed summer in Montreal together. Cindy freelanced as a virtual assistant, and Anf continued helping small businesses with creating content that speaks to humans and developing marketing strategy.
It was during this time that the idea for Founders Connect came together.
Here’s what our digital nomad journey has looked like so far:
We’re excited to help lifestyle entrepreneurs to grow their business online & create a happier marriage.
Here’s how we can help YOU on your journey…
Step 1
Subscribe To Our Podcast
Each week we bring you an inspiring guest or practical tips to help you with business, relationships, and sustainable living.
Prefer to learn whilst exercising, driving or traveling between locations like we do? Then this is for you podcast lover!
Step 2
Follow us on Instagram
Grab a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s actually like to be a digital nomad, run a lifestyle business and build a happy relationship.