Charly Leetham joins the Jukebox Podcast to talk about a long career in technology and a present life as a digital nomad built around WordPress support and small-business tech help.
Background
Charly’s interest in tech began young: amateur radio at 13, an associate diploma in electronic engineering at 16, and early roles in lab work, field service, sales, contract and customer-service management. After running retail franchises that failed, she turned to helping people with their tech needs around 2007, when WordPress was still young. She learned PHP, themes, plugins and troubleshooting and has been supporting websites and small-business tech for nearly two decades.
Becoming a digital nomad
Charly explains she always wanted to work remotely to be with her children but the technology wasn’t available earlier. Today she lives and works from a camper van fitted out by family, travels around Australia, and uses remote tools to support clients. She emphasizes the choice to embrace mobility partly due to housing affordability pressures and partly for freedom: moving north for milder winters, spending time with family (notably traveling with her elderly father), house-sitting, and experiencing varied locations while still working.
Benefits
– Freedom and flexibility: migrate seasonally, pick locations, and work from beautiful places.
– Family time: ability to travel with and visit family often.
– Variety and experiences: house-sits, local communities, and regional exploration.
– Work continuity: remote tools let her support clients from almost anywhere.
Drawbacks
– Limited space: her workspace is small (about a metre by a metre). Everything must be packed away after work to create living space.
– Possessions and storage: no bulk purchases, minimal kitchenware, and constant prioritizing of what to keep.
– Lifestyle trade-offs: less conventional storage, more frequent small shopping trips, and the need to accept simpler daily living.
Human interaction and community
Charly aims to stay in places for weeks when possible to establish roots and use a base to explore nearby areas. She relies on online communities (Discord, chat tools) and occasional local social spots like cafes or pubs for in-person contact. She notes personality differences: some nomads need more regular social contact; she can be content with less and recharge in nature.
Essential tech setup
– Laptop: high-end, long-lasting laptop; Charly uses an MSI gaming laptop for better cooling and heavier workloads (graphic work, etc.).
– Peripherals: external microphone, webcam, external monitor (she carries a 21-inch monitor that mounts in her van), keyboard and mouse.
– Power: reliable power sources for devices; portable power stations or direct battery solutions are options when off-grid.
– Internet: Starlink satellite internet is central. In Australia, mobile and landline services (NBN) can be unreliable outside urban centers, so Starlink gives consistent, often faster connectivity than regional landlines. Charly described upgrading from Starlink v2 to v3 hardware and noted a “Starlink Mini” exists for backpack-style portability.
– Ease of use: modern Starlink units use ground mounts and auto-align to satellites; they require a clear view of the sky (no heavy tree or building obstructions) but don’t need manual pointing.
– Power requirement: the dish and router need power, so planning for power availability is essential.
– Performance: she’s seen Starlink outperform local home internet in speed and stability.
How she structures work
Charly runs a business helping small businesses manage tech and WordPress sites. Her role blends technical support, plain-English translation of tech issues, mediation between vendors, troubleshooting plugins and servers, and acting as a de facto CTO or technical partner for clients. She focuses on:
– Understanding business goals (inputs/outputs) before prescribing technology.
– Fixing and integrating existing systems where possible rather than selling new tools unnecessarily.
– Troubleshooting and providing diagnostic information to plugin or service providers when deeper fixes are required.
– Mediating between suppliers to resolve finger-pointing.
Client relationships and workflow
– Asynchronous-first: Charly structures client interactions to be largely async (email, chat, booked calls) so she can travel and work flexibly. She trains clients on expected response times and booking approaches.
– Trust: clients learn she’ll respond as soon as possible and trust her judgement. She sometimes responds promptly while traveling if a quick fix is available.
– Boundaries and fit: she’s had clients end relationships because of different working styles and has referred clients elsewhere when another provider is a better fit. She views this as healthy both commercially and for client outcomes.
– Growth: most work comes from word of mouth, with some marketing and referrals. She’s been gradually ramping marketing while staying true to clear, honest communication.
Practical and philosophical notes
– Minimalism rule: she uses a practical rule—only buy something if you’ve needed it four times—to avoid accumulating unnecessary items.
– Gratitude and effort: Charly acknowledges she worked hard to build this life and recognizes the blessings and responsibility of it.
– Advice for others: many WordPress and tech professionals could adopt remote or nomadic habits if they build business processes that allow async work, client education, and trust-based relationships.
Where to find Charly
Charly directs people to her site: askcharlyleetham.com/connect-me where her social links and booking options are listed. She offers a free 30-minute breakout session to discuss business tech setup. She’s active on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Rumble, and Odyssey, and hosts a short podcast, Making Tech Easy for Small Business Owners, with 10–20 minute episodes simplifying tech topics.
Summary
Charly’s path from electronics and field service to WordPress troubleshooting demonstrates how building technical skills and deliberate client processes can enable a mobile, flexible life. Key enablers have been dependable remote connectivity (Starlink), a compact but effective tech setup, clear client agreements and expectations, and a willingness to trade possessions and conventional housing for freedom to travel, spend time with family, and work from diverse locations.