62 | How a Digital Nomad Built 1.6 Million Followers – and Seven Hotels

Jake Snow went from working at an Australian winery and playing Australian football to travelling full-time, building an audience of 1.6 million followers and developing boutique hotels across Bali and South Africa.

In this episode, Jake joins Palle Bo from Mallorca to share how a chance meeting with his wife, Marie, on a beach in Thailand changed the course of both their lives. After quitting their jobs and travelling until their money ran out, they began sharing their journey online and slowly turned their creativity into a global business.

Jake explains how one viral photograph helped him recognise the commercial potential of social media, why consistency mattered more than any single growth trick, and how their first digital product generated €20,000 on its opening day.

The conversation also explores Jake's transition from travel creator to hospitality entrepreneur. After staying in hundreds of hotels around the world, Jake and Marie began designing properties of their own, combining hospitality, visual storytelling and social media marketing.

Jake also shares the realities of managing remote teams across countries and cultures, including the challenge of getting bad news communicated clearly, maintaining quality from a distance and creating trust between teams with very different working styles.

Key Takeaways

• Jake and Marie met while backpacking in Thailand and changed their travel plans after only a few days together.
• They travelled through around 50 countries in two to three years while building their social media following.
• Their early growth came from studying which photographs and stories connected with people, then consistently improving their work.
• Jake believes that long-term consistency was more important than finding a single social media trick.
• Their first digital product, a collection of photography presets, generated €20,000 on its first day.
• Staying in hundreds of hotels taught Jake how design, service, lighting and visual storytelling influence a property's success.
• Jake and Marie built two boutique hotels and a spa in Bali before expanding into a larger hospitality development company.
• Their company is developing five additional properties across Bali and Camps Bay in South Africa.
• Remote work allows the company to attract experienced people who value flexibility, freedom and time with their families.
• Working across cultures requires radical transparency, particularly when teams may be reluctant to share problems or bad news.

Relevant Links

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-snow-35569718b/
• Instagram Private: https://www.instagram.com/mariefeandjakesnow/
• Instagram Company: https://www.instagram.com/ventoregroup
• Jake Snow's company website: https://ventore.com
• Elliot Grafton on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elliotgrafton/?hl=da
• Elliot Grafton's company website: https://www.eyre-films.com
• Nomad Summit: https://nomadsummit.com
• Episode produced by RadioGuru: https://radioguru.co.uk