Unstoppable Family
The Unstoppable Family[1] is an entrepreneurial family who became the first digital nomad family by the end of 2008. Consisting of husband Brian “Swano” Swan, wife Rhonda Renee Swan and their daughter, Hanalei Swan, the family has been traveling the world for over 12 years. They have successfully created the ‘Freedom-Preneur’ movement, a program which helps aspiring entrepreneurs to make the transition from having a corporate lifestyle to launching their own online businesses.
History
This family first treaded down the path of pursuing the ‘American Dream’. Both the Unstoppable husband and wife worked stable nine-to-five jobs. Rhonda Swan held a prestigious executive position for 8 years at GlaxoSmithKline[2] and maintained a six-figure income. Brian Swan, on the other hand, was a robotics engineer in the semi-conductor, biotechnology and aerospace industries at Parker Hannifin from 1997 to 2006.
Rhonda Swan had a change of heart one morning during a meeting. A woman who had just returned from her maternity leave had arrived late because she was dropping her six-week-old child off at daycare. Despite her explanation, her boss yelled at the woman. That was the moment when Rhonda decided she never wanted to leave her own child at daycare. She aspired to search for a way to maintain her six-figure income whilst still being able to spend quality time with her family.
In 2005, Rhonda quit her job at GlaxoSmithKline. She went on to invest in an online marketing business in the real estate field. A year and a half later, Brian was persuaded to quit his own nine-to-five job to do the same. The couple’s business initially garnered profitable success.
However, in 2008, the stock market crash caused the onset of their business’ failure. They experienced a loss which eventually led to the family having to declare bankruptcy.
On the 5th of June 2008, the Brian and Rhonda decided to sell their property. With the funds obtained from the sale, they left their home in San Diego and traveled the world with their then 1-year-old daughter, Hanalei Swan. The Unstoppable Family is the first digital nomad family; their businesses function completely over the Internet. They dubbed their travels as ‘The Swans’ Endless Summer Journey’, taking with them their new child, eight bags, two surfboards and their computers. To date, the Unstoppable Family has traveled to every continent except for Antarctica. They lived in Hanalei Bay, Hawaii (where the couple got married), then in Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Australia, Bali, Fiji, then back to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Panama, Peru, Brazil, and subsequently they returned to Panama. They have also traveled to Germany, Mainland Spain, the Canary Islands, and Morocco before settling down in Bali, Indonesia.[3]
The Unstoppable Family has since built multiple 7-figure businesses. Rhonda Swan spearheads the Unstoppable Branding Agency,[4] a PR, design, multimedia and communications firm, which was founded in 2010. The company consists of 11-50 employees who work remotely from their locations all over the world. It is the first female-led company to fully operate online.[5] It utilizes PR, SEO and digital branding to “turn the best kept secrets into world renowned brands”.
Brian Swan is the co-founder of Unstoppable Branding Agency. He is also the founder of Unstoppable Beard, a company which manufactures and sells environmentally-sustainable facial hair products.[6]
Their young daughter, Hanalei Swan, is no exception to the family’s achievements in the entrepreneurial world. At the tender young age of eight, Hanalei became a fashion designed and still spearheads her own designing company, HS Styles.[7] She started the #wearslow movement at the age of 11 with the purpose of educating the public on sustainable and ethical fashion. The proceeds from each item of clothing sold were used to fund the purchase of school uniforms to children in need in India. At the age of 13, she established UNIFY, an environment-conscious company which manufactures COVID-19 face masks. The company employs 100 locals who had lost their jobs during the pandemic to make triple-layer masks for the public.
The Unstoppable Family currently lives a happy life together and have no plans to stop at their current level of their success. They dream of achieving greater heights in the future.
Rhonda Swan’s Personal Life
Rhonda Renee Swan (also known as the ‘Unstoppable Momma’) was born to young parents in Livonia, a suburb in Detroit, Michigan on the 4th of June 1973. Her mother was 19 and her father was 20 when they had her. She is of American, Indian, and Italian descent.[8] She experienced a turbulent childhood, since her father suffered from a drug addiction and often involved the young Rhonda and her mother in car accidents, jail visits, and several occasions of theft. As a result, Swan suffered from a deep insecurity which eventually developed into an eating disorder that lasted for around 10 years.[9]
However, Rhonda matured and overcame her struggles over time. Now on the other side of the fence, Rhonda has made it her life’s mission to empower women everywhere by giving them a platform to let their voices be heard.
Rhonda was a gifted athlete in school and obtained a full scholarship to pursue an MBA in business and advertising in Northwood University. After completing her studies, she took a job at GlaxoSmithKline before leaving it to build an online business in the real estate field. Subsequently, she founded Unstoppable Branding Agency and is now a proud member of the Unstoppable Family.
Brian Swan’s Personal Life
Born and raised in Cambridge, Illinois, Brian “Swano” Swan’s life began to hit a roadblock when his parents got divorced when he was six. Three years later, he learned that his father was gay. Throughout his childhood, he faced discrimination and witnessed his siblings become a target of bullying and as a result, his older brother developed a drug addiction.
Brian’s troubles didn’t stop there. Later on in his youth, their family learned that Brian’s father had contracted AIDS. His father, determined to make the best of his remaining time with his children, traveled with them as much as possible in order to allow them to get a glimpse of the rest of the world. Brian’s father passed away when Swan was only at the tender age of 16 after a long and heavy struggle with his illness. Brian promised his father that he would “get a good job”; however, it only later dawned upon him that getting a “good job” did not necessarily imply that he needed to maintain a steady nine-to-five career.
Brian obtained his early education at the Cambridge Community High School. He then majored in robotics engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, after which he obtained a job as a robotics engineer at Parker Hannifin, where he served the bio-tech, semi-conductor and aerospace industries for the western U.S. from 1997 to 2006. After that, he decided to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams by creating several businesses in the e-commerce, branding, consulting and marketing niche. His specialty at the time was in strategic business development.
Hanalei Swan’s Personal Life
Brian and Rhonda Swan have been married since the 28th of November, 2003, at Hanalei Bay in Hawaii.
On the 17th of April 2008, Hanalei was born to the pair. She was named after the stunning destination at which her parents were married and was born during a financially difficult time for her parents. At the age of one, Hanalei was brought along with her parents to travel the world. Hanalei is a bright young fashion designer whose passion was apparent since she was eight years old. She was brought up to seize opportunities in her youth - her parents didn’t ask her what she wanted to be in the future. Instead, they asked her, “What do you want to be now?”
She is an avid lover of animals and lives near the beach with her parents and her rescued cat and dogs. Since the age of three, she has always buried her nose in a sketchbook full of her doodles and sketches.
Hanalei’s drive remains constantly geared towards ethical and eco-friendly fashion. Her altruistic nature has been refined over the years; upon being offered a US$30 million investment from a Shark Tank venture capitalist, she turned the opportunity down because she refused to outsource her business to China and India, countries where the quality of working conditions was low.
The young girl is a well-traveled person who has set foot in all but one continent: Antarctica. She intends on making sure she will set her eyes on the ice soon.
In the media
References
- ↑ "Unstoppable Family | Designing a Life...Not a Living". Unstoppable Family. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
- ↑ Agency, Unstoppable Branding (6 January 2021). "A Woman Makes Seven-Figure in Male Dominating Culture". GlobeNewswire News Room. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
- ↑ "How Hanalei Swan Became a Fashion Designer". Unstoppable Family. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
- ↑ "UBA - We Turn Best Kept Secrets Into Well Known Experts". Unstoppable Branding Agency. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
- ↑ "Meet Rhonda Swan, the New Face Leading the Charge for Women Entrepreneurs". Influencive. 12 January 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
- ↑ "unstoppablebeard". unstoppablebeard.com. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
- ↑ "Hello, I am Hanalei Swan and this is my story". UnstoppableFamily. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
- ↑ "Unstoppable Family | Designing a Life...Not a Living". Unstoppable Family. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
- ↑ Costa, Celinne Da. "How This Supermom Leveraged Branding To Quit Corporate, Travel The World, And Build A 7-Figure Business". Forbes. Retrieved 13 May 2021.