Nomad Capitalist Team “from 5 to 50 in 2.5 Years” – 10 on the Weekend: Jovana Vojinovic

Ten On The Weekend is a weekly (-ish) feature in IMI, the concept of which is simple: Each time, we ask the same ten questions of a different industry figure, letting readers get to know the interviewee on a more personal and informal level than they might in an ordinary business setting.

Our guest this weekend is Jovana Vojinovic, Director of Operations at Nomad Capitalist.

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How do you spend your weekends?

I don’t have any specific activity that is reserved just for weekends. It can be anything from spending the day in the courtside, doing nothing and enjoying the greenery, to going on road trips or popping to the Montenegrin coast, which is just a 30-minute flight away. Some weekends are completely the opposite; where I would rather enjoy rustling and bustling Belgrade’s restaurants and clubs. 

Almost every Friday I say to myself “no work this weekend”, but I usually catch myself looking into clients’ progress or recording a bunch of audios with some development ideas. 

What are your top three business goals this year?

Expansion, expansion, expansion. 

At Nomad Capitalist, we are, I can freely say, obsessed with researching and developing more programs and services that we can offer to our clients. It can be anything from a good residence program that isn’t widely promoted, to user-friendly banks or easier ways to collect documents.  

The second goal would be extending our client base to new regions. People tend to look at Nomad Capitalist as a US-oriented service provider, but I am proud to say that we have more and more clients from other counties. This wider base of clients made us realize that we should be able to provide 24- hour service to our clients by having teams all around the globe. Most of our team is now in the Central European time zone, or a few hours plus or minus that. We are already looking into hiring and training people in other regions. The COVID era is a bit challenging but it is definitely exciting as it gives a completely new look to Nomad Capitalist. 

As an organization, we are also looking into better diversity of positions within the organization itself, which gives our team members more options for personal and professional growth.  

What’s your biggest business concern right now?

Lockdowns and travel bans. It can really prevent our clients from successfully relocating and achieving their goals. Also, what we have noticed is an increased number of false promises coming from people who would like to use the opportunity of people being scared and barely able to travel, for lucrative deals. It is more common in the banking world, but I have seen some one-of-a-time deals for cheap residence programs. 

Which book is on your nightstand right now?

Istanbul: Memories and the City by O. Pamuk. I love to read books that depict the culture of a nation and its mentality. It helps me understand different people and their reactions. 

How and when did you first get into the investment migration industry?

I have to admit I wasn’t aware of this industry before I started working at Nomad Capitalist. I came to Nomad when I was enrolled in my Master’s studies. It was January, colloquium week, and I accidentally saw the job ad. At that moment, as everything was more interesting to me than actually studying for exams, I opened a job application just to take a look at the questions. I was mind-blown by the questions; they were so unusual and amusing in some way. That is when I said to myself that I would like to work for a company like that. For someone who studied International Relations and Security, this was a big turnaround. I knew a lot about citizenships, economical systems, and the offshore world, but not in this way. 

What was your proudest moment as a service provider?

Oof, it’s very hard to pick just one. There were so many moments when I felt extremely proud to be part of Nomad Capitalist. What I love about Nomad and Andrew is that we celebrate every success, organizational or personal. 

Opening night of Nomad Capitalist Live in Playa del Carmen and seeing 300+ people who came to Mexico in the middle of the pandemic. It was absolutely spectacular. What made me even more proud was that the attendees were very dedicated to each panel and they didn’t cut corners, even though we were on the beach. 

I also feel very proud when my clients receive their passports or ID cards. I am always excited when they are traveling for the first time with their new documents. It is so funny because most people want to know what that traveling will look like with their new documents; if something unusual is going to happen. 

Which investment migration market development has surprised you the most in the last year?

I was surprised to see the statistics of the Turkish CIP and the Portuguese GV. 

I was very glad to see that some Caribbean CIPs offered good deals and that they have adjusted their internal rules, specifically related to documentation, and to new life circumstances. Facilitating the documents collection process really ensures that they have a sturdy number of applications. 

If you could go 10 years back in time, what business decision would you change?

High school choice. I am 25 years old, so it is not prudent questioning the decisions that I made as a teenager. But even if I would change many things, I would still like to end up in Nomad Capitalist. 

What investment migration industry personality do you most admire?

My mentor, Andrew James Henderson. I admire his dedication and his passion for this industry. One of the rare people that are actually living this lifestyle. 

Besides that, he is a great leader and fuel for Nomad Capitalist. In two and a half years, which is how long I have been in the company, we have increased the number of team members from five to almost 50 and he still makes the time to welcome everyone individually. 

If all goes according to plan, what will you be doing five years from now?

I am planning to be with the Nomad Capitalist but with an even larger team and larger client- and audience base than we have today. I am looking forward to encouraging and helping more people to pursue their dream and go where they are treated best. 

The best way to understand that there is nothing to be afraid of is the “technique of collecting rejections,” he says. This technique is very simple. You need to collect 10 to 20 rejections in a request to get acquainted. That is, you are not pursuing the goal of getting acquainted, you are pursuing the goal of getting rejected for acquaintance. More often than not, the fear of getting rubratings dallas acquainted is accompanied by a strong insecurity. The conviction of your own unattractiveness and uninterestingness is gone when, in the process of receiving rejections, you suddenly get the consent to get acquainted.