This spotlight illustrates how each remote worker finds freedom and productivity in their everyday life, in their unique way. Get inspired and see how you can improve your workspace, workflow, and work/life balance.



Name: Caitlin O'Connor-Veth
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Current Job: Talent Acquisition Manager
Current Location: Sayulita, Mexico
Current Computer: Macbook Air (Rose Gold)

Current mobile devices: iPhone8 (also Rose Gold.. it’s my theme color 🙂)

Have you ever considered if you’d even be reading this article right now if it weren’t for COVID-19? BlueFace predicts that by 2025, remote working will compete with traditional office locations. How did our Clevertech CEO know 20 years ago that remote would be the way of the future? He knew that one of people’s core values was freedom. Moshe Dayan once said “Freedom is the oxygen of the soul,” and the freedom remote work at Clevertech gives me is the oxygen to my life.

Working with Clevertech has taken me all over the world from California to New York, Italy to Mexico, back to Italy again, to Australia, and now all the way back to Mexico. Therefore, my days at work are very far from what you could refer to as “typical”.  No two days are the same for us here. Our projects move quickly so priorities and deadlines are always changing. We adapt and support each other collectively in whatever way is needed to retrieve the best outcome. 

Clevertech is a results-driven company and has a lot of autonomy which I highly value. This allows me to focus on areas where I add the most value and gives me the ability to break up my activities. Personally, I like to be online for a long period of the day due to the responsiveness and agility required for our projects. It’s also important to note that I could not work without tools such as: Cloud, Slack, and Zoom. A day in my working life looks like the following:

6.30am - Wake up - Coffee - Meditate - Pilates  

7.00am - Slack - Action any urgent items - Reply to teammates - Prioritize for the day

8.00am - 12pm -Daily meetings with my teammates -  Review Apps - Sourcing  - Interviewing - Technical Vetting - Replying to emails -  Working with peers to build coding challenges - Learning about new projects/technologies

1.00pm - 2pm - Lunch/Reading on the rooftop, Spanish tutoring, Chill time 

2.00pm - 5pm - Interviews - Sourcing - Analysing data for trends - Make changes - Wrap up at the end of the day

5.00pm - I am lucky to live in paradise in Mexico so usually, my free time is spent surfing, hiking, and exploring.



Bonus - did I mention how environmentally friendly our remote work is?

Flexible work, especially working 100% remote like we do, reduces traffic congestion, air pollution, and road wear and tear, resulting in a greatly reduced carbon footprint. This means that I get to value a challenging and meaningful career and live an environmentally friendly lifestyle - win-win!

With all my extra free time now I've downloaded a million books on my Clevertech Kindle, have started intensive Spanish tutoring, building furniture for my house, and have decided to take up Piano again (wish me luck, haha!). I've also been using this time to create new content for my online Pilates channel to help those in isolation to stay happy and healthy.

At Clevertech, with our many years of remote experience, we have been able to rapidly innovate to make sense of the new situation. Personally, it's provided me with more free time to get creative with new sourcing methods I otherwise might not get time to research and trial. Internally we've used this as an opportunity to help people feel even more connected during this time of isolation - we have been running meditation sessions, cooking demos, coffee buddy groups, kids hangouts, trivia, happy hours, tech talks, and more. I got the opportunity to lead a couple of Pilates classes over Zoom for the team! 

Personally I feel success is defined by being proactive, feeling productive, and achieving outcomes, whatever that looks like for you personally in your role. It might be stepping up to help others in your team, being creative with your sourcing, trying new methods of communication, keeping on top of your niche/industry and trends, or becoming an SME (Tech News, Evolutions, Projects). Another great way is to give and share positive feedback with your peers. I also feel success and pride in building out a great culture and team. I really enjoy meeting with my co-workers from all over the world. There is so much variety and diversity that a remote-first culture allows us. 2017 State of Remote Work found that companies that allow remote work have 25% lower employee turnover. So once we’ve sourced and vetted the highest calibre Devs, they’re much easier to retain. On this note, I have taken this time now to learn my company and peers inside out and invest even more in the community Clevertech!

Bright, fun, and clean (this helps my mind feel clear and focused). I'm a little OCD and having a clean, simple space helps me stay laser-focused. I also have a board with positive affirmations, goals, quotes, and images I love next to my desk and a print of a Pug drinking a coffee watching over me to keep me in check. 🙂

The Sound You Need mixes, Cafe Del Mar, Jazz. Australian artists like Rufus, Sticky Fingers, Panama, Vance Joy, Flume, Tame Impala, Flight Facilities - anything to remind me of home!

My Freedom Mastery Diary (also Rose Gold)! It helps me structure the day, set goals, list affirmations/quotes, and also focus on gratitude and happiness. It helps me keep note of wins for the day, what I appreciated, how I gave to others, and how I can improve tomorrow.  And ironically… Freedom, Mastery, and Purpose are Clevertech’s three core values!

Connect with Caitlin:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/caitlinoconnorveth
Instagram: instagram.com/caityveth

Connect with Clevertech:
Website: clevertech.biz

Instagram: instagram.com/clevertech.biz
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/clevertech
Twitter: twitter.com/clevertech
Facebook: facebook.com/Clevertech
YouTube: youtube.com/c/clevertechlife