A startup COO on how remote work changed his company for the better

New work, new lives: a limited blog series

To some, remote work is an antidote to the rigid 9-to-5 grind, a call to freedom. To others, it’s a formula for distractions. But for Cameron Smith, the Chief Operating Officer at Ivy Tech, it’s what enables him to truly be his people’s champion. And it’s become more apparent to him in his most recent position that remote work benefits the company just as much as it benefits the worker.

Ivy Tech links global businesses with tech talent in emerging hubs. Cameron, quite jovially, describes his role as managing day-to-day operations and putting out fires, which can be "fun in some ways and difficult in others.” We found his perspective to be interesting not only because he’s a remote worker, but as a C-level executive, he helps shape the company’s culture and work policies. He is the ultimate champion of how flexible work is good for not only the people, but for the company as a whole.

Meeting with Cameron feels like having a coffee with your biggest champion. It’s no surprise to me that he is finding such great happiness and success in his new role as COO. He has a way of looking at the world, and extracting the goodness out of every situation. Cameron then takes that goodness and infuses you with the hope that you can jump on this train and move the needle to making improvements in the world. He balances this skill with his grit and hilarious wit that makes him very human. I wanted to hear Cameron’s story because he breathes life into async remote work, an concept that isn’t yet widely accepted or heard of. - Katie

Born in a small South African village, Cameron ventured to London six years ago. "From two and a half thousand people to nine and a half million in London—that was a bit of a culture shock,” he recalls. And he’s been seeking out culture shock ever since. "All I want to do is travel. I think I've done over 150 cities." He also takes full advantage of the freedom of mobility afforded by his company’s setup diversify his own experiences and perspectives. “We are remote-first. So I’ve got 183 days– for tax reasons– to see as much of the world as I can.”

This remote-first philosophy has allowed Ivy Tech to harness diverse talents from across the globe. This diversity doesn’t only refer to nationality or ethnicity, but also to unique personal experiences and perspectives that enrich and season the company culture. “Whilst it’s difficult sitting on a screen, not being able to connect in person, you do also get a much wider, more diverse group…and you can connect in different ways.”

This also allows for continuity of work. Rather than having everyone deliver what they can during the same core hours, they can maintain continuous streams of work across timezones. “If I’m in London and able to work with somebody in Australia,” he explains, “they’re doing great work while I’m having a sleep. Then when I wake up I can continue that work during the day.” That thread of work never slackens.

What I’ve noticed is that when you work the same set hours with everyone else, your priorities are constantly at odds. When someone has a request for EOD, that might be a couple hours from now for both of you and it becomes a huge rush. But working with people in Europe and Asia, ‘EOD’ ceases to have meaning. We give each other grace and enough time to follow up. And I can feel confident about having the whole day to work on something for a colleague 8 hours ahead of me, because I know they’re just winding down for the night. You get used to the ebb and flow of activity from across the company, and it’s good for getting things done. - JS

Nothing has shaken up Cameron's worldview or his perspective of success as much as working remotely. For him, success isn't about flashy cars or high-rise offices in cosmopolitan hubs. "I think it depends on how you measure outcome,” he says. "If you measure outcomes by the amount of hours you're glued to your chair, you’ll attract the talent that is cool with that culture.” In other words, if ‘commitment’ or ‘engagement’ is measured by the length of your commute or how long you stay late in the office, then those become the primary outcomes.

Rather, Cameron prefers to measure outcome by deliverables, productivity and personal well-being. “If you feel like your best ‘you’ is in Florence for two weeks, that’s cool. If you deliver on X, Y, and Z and you communicate with me, I don’t care if you work in your pajamas or whatever.” And trust, that hairy concept in corporate management, is the key. It’s not about monitoring hours; it’s about creating a culture where employees are empowered to deliver their best, irrespective of their physical location. “I want to attract someone who prioritizes both themselves and work, and there is no right or wrong way to manage those two things.”

Ivy Tech wasn’t always a remote-first company. Originating in Ukraine, the political turmoil there, combined with the pandemic, pushed the company toward a remote working model. Cameron himself began his career in an office in London, with the Dreaded Commute– walking in the rain, taking multiple trains there and back. On joining Ivy Tech, he gained back 90 precious minutes each day—time he could invest in himself. “In the morning, I really love to go and work out and go for a run. So that freedom of that additional hour and a half or so in the morning before you start... that's completely yours. Recouping that for health and wellness... has been a huge shift.” He often talks to his dad on the phone on the walk home from the gym, and has breakfast with his wife before starting his day.

More than that, this extra time also changed the way Cameron saw his future. “My parents always had long commutes, and there was no freedom of time to be with family. So I imagined that you have this place called work and you build a really lovely big house, and you have to give that time commitment to gain all these things.” But now, he has a rather different vision of spending time with his future kids and having “loads of dogs.” It completely changed his framework– he’s seen his future and is more driven than ever to achieve that future. “I’ll work harder for a remote-first company that’ll accommodate me wherever I move in the world. If you need me to make you a doormat out of tea cups, I’ll figure it out for you.”

When I first told my parents about my job offer from SafetyWing, my dad thought it was a scam. “That sounds too good to be true,” he warned me. Startups were yet only an abstract thought for him from brief mentions in the news in relation to finance or the economy, neither of which I have ever had anything to do with. To him, a company letting you work from anywhere, with no supervision or monitoring, plus good pay, was clearly a trap for nefarious purposes. Two and a half years later, I hear him bragging to relatives about what I do and who I work for. I think he’s come around. - JS

With the nature of his role, Cameron finds himself fielding questions and putting out fires constantly, as he “want[s] to help everybody and be everything for everyone.” So detaching from work, especially when his workspace is a mere corner in his living room, is his main struggle. “It's quite difficult to retract yourself from it... the laptop’s in the corner and you're like, 'Oh, let’s just check this.' You're never going to leave it alone.” The near-constant screen time, whether it’s your big, medium, or small screen, takes a toll. “I really battle with that aspect,” he says. “It's like if you're not on the laptop, you're on your phone, if you’re not on your phone, you're watching Netflix, if it’s not that, it's something else.”

Partitioning his day effectively is crucial for his sanity. He speaks passionately about his "power hours", what others might call deep work, the periods of heightened productivity. For him, that’s 9am-12pm, a few hours to put out fires in the middle of the day, then from 4:30-8pm. Mainly though, he loves that he can catch a midnight flight to Spain and, after finishing his work the next day, already be on vacation.

To me, Cameron is the success story of remote work. He’s fine tuned the light he spreads in this world to do real measurable good, and is able to do this worldwide thanks to our remote space. What struck me with his story, is because he is given the freedom to choose where he works, and when he works, he has calculated how to make the most of his energy to first fill his cup, so he can then fill that of others. - Katie

Cameron envisions a future where remote work isn't merely a trend but a fundamental shift in how businesses operate, where trust and results matter more than physical presence or time spent in the commute or the office. But his story isn't just about increased productivity or effectiveness. He simply wouldn’t have the same emotional or mental gas to be the champion of his people if he had to spend it in the daily grind of going in to office. He’s redefining success, balancing personal aspirations with professional goals, and understanding that, in today's interconnected world, meaningful work can only happen when passion meets purpose, irrespective of one’s postal code.

Book spotlight: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

“I find it fascinating, the journey of this book. Depending on where you read it and the time you are in your life, I think it has different things to offer. At one point during a certain part you're like what? And then other times you think, oh cool, I can relate, I can connect with that.”