BY PAM DELANY

When Kim Coates and Isaac Navias met playing sand volleyball, they had no idea that within a few years, they would launch and co-lead a digital marketing agency, a travel brand that includes the hit podcast “Full Time to Travel Time,” visit 40 national parks, and shape conversations around sustainable travel and entrepreneurship.

Today, Kim serves as COO and Isaac serves as CEO of Scottsdale-based LocalFi, a digital marketing agency that helps locally owned businesses grow their visibility through SEO and Google Maps marketing. However, their deeper goal was always about something more than business. “We built our life backward,” said Kim. “We started by asking, ‘What kind of life do we want to live?’ Most people build a business and hope to get freedom later.

We designed ours the other way around.” Together, they began to see the power of working on their own terms. Their approach, which Isaac calls the Siphon Stream Theory, allows their business to flourish. At the same time, they travel extensively and direct a portion of their revenue and services to nonprofits to help their communities thrive.
“I’m impacting the world significantly more because I’ve systemized my business,” says Isaac. “I can now put my time and resources into donating these services and choose where to spend my time.”

“Systems are everything,” Kim said. “It’s what allows us to live this lifestyle.” She transforms complex activities into easy-to-follow processes, including checklists, how-to videos, and user manuals. Kim’s online course, “Systems = Freedom,” teaches entrepreneurs how to build structure into their lives and businesses. They have used this approach to transform their careers and now mentor others. That intentionality extends to their work with tourism businesses. When they partnered with Northwoods Cabins in Pinetop, Arizona, they spent a week hiking local trails, visiting restaurants, and meeting residents to create authentic content.

“We create destination marketing from lived experience,” said Isaac. Their work at LocalFi, powered by meticulously designed systems and expertise in travel, gave rise to their newest venture, Full Time to Travel Time, a travel brand and comedic travel podcast that blends slow, intentional travel with sustainability, digital education, and tourism marketing. From reusable travel kits to public transportation routes across Europe, the couple shares practical insights and invites others to reimagine what freedom can look like.

“We’re not traditional travel influencers,” said Kim. “We don’t post constantly or rely on likes for income. This is about real-life experiences and showing people that sustainable travel is possible.” After spending three months in Europe, they came home with new insights and tips. Episode 6, “Travel Europe Like a Pro: Insider Tips for Americans to Travel Smart and Stress Less!” includes how to navigate public transportation, purchasing travel insurance, as well as a fun game of true or false.

For travelers planning an extended road trip, Episode 8, “Road Trip 101: Your Guide to the Ultimate Adventure,” takes listeners through the process of starting an epic road trip. Kim and Isaac combine witty humor and experience to share advice on selecting destinations, finding the most scenic routes, and discovering hidden gems. Visitors to their website, fulltimetotraveltime.com, can download “The 3 Most Iconic Road Trips in America,” which outlines road trips on the West Coast, East Coast, and Utah’s Mighty 5 parks. The guide covers travel routes, food and lodging, and tips along the way.

“For us, the journey is almost more important than the destination,” Isaac says. “A lot of times, the destination is just there to provide the journey.” The couple also offers personalized coaching to entrepreneurs and business owners who are interested in scaling their businesses, designing systems to create efficiencies, and who want to build a life around travel. “We’re not selling a dream,” Kim said. “We’re offering a blueprint. You can design a life that gives you time for what matters.”

Kim and Isaac’s journey illustrates how thoughtful business practices and sustainable living can seamlessly blend. Through LocalFi, they uplift local businesses and nonprofits by building authentic digital visibility, while Full Time to Travel Time showcases their passion for intentional, eco-friendly exploration. Both ventures are possible through intention and systems design. To learn more, visit www.fulltimetotraveltime.com.