An interview with Maya Middlemiss

Maya Middlemiss

Key Topics:Future of Work, Working from Home, Remote Teams, E-Citizenship, Collaboration Technology

Location:Spain

Bio:

Working from home and leading remote teams since 2000, Maya Middlemiss is a native Londoner now location-independent in Eastern Spain. From there she writes/consults/speaks on a variety of topics related to future-of-work issues, and changing models of business and citizenship. A regular collaborator with Virtual Not Distant in London and the 21st Century Work Life podcast, she is the author of the Healthy Happy Homeworking book series, and contributes to a range of publications. She is passionate about inclusion and accessibility, and the social impact of technology, offering us new ways to connect and collaborate.

Maya recently featured in Onalytica's Who's Who in Remote Working? report.

How did you get to become an expert in your key topics?

Started WFH when my millennium baby arrived, and ended up growing a fully remote business across 3 countries, before transitioning to full-time writing and freelancing in 2017.

What sub-topics are you most passionate about?

Personal autonomy and choice – when you decouple the way you earn a living from a fixed location, the possibilities are endless. With the communication and collaboration tools we now have, the opportunities are global and unlimited. I want to help more and more people realise this and embrace the potential, as employees and entrepreneurs – finding new economies, communities, and roles.

Who influences you within these topics?

Pilar Orti, Laurel Farrer, Lisette Sutherland, Chris Coladonato, Rowena Hennigan.

What challenges are brands facing in this space?

Making remote/hybrid work safe, effective, productive, and fulfilling, is not necessarily easy – especially when you have no time to plan and implement it, in the middle of an emergency. ensuring fairness and equity in the ‘next normal’, as we transition out of crisis into a sustainable but forever-altered new reality, will create many challenges for brands as employers and thought leaders.

What do you think the future holds in this space?

We will never go back to the way we used to work and collaborate, because the world has changed and so have we. I foresee a continual decoupling of work and location in all spheres of knowledge work, and greater arbitrage and differentiation, of everything from career to citizenship to professional roles.

What brands are leading the way in this space?

It’s early to say, and this picture will become a lot clearer over the next 6-12 months. However here’s one great example, of making this transition in public: https://blog.dropbox.com/collections/virtual-first-toolkit

If a brand wanted to work with you, which activities would you be most interested in collaborating on?

Podcasts/clubhouses/videos, any live interviews. Events and speaking – online or face to face, when this starts happening again… Any form of written content, as subject matter expert or specialist ghostwriter.

What are your passions outside of work?

Love hiking and exploring, from the beaches to the mountains, in my chosen Spanish home – as well as travelling further field when circumstances permit.

What would be the best way for a brand to contact you?

Email.

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Interview with Maya Middlemiss

by Joe Fields | Jul 30, 2021 | Interviews, Tech