Meet Karlie Cummins- Business owner

Dayna Mignone
April 30, 2021
Hi there! So what's your name?

Karlie Cummins

Where do you call home?

Sanur, Bali

What do you do?

I run a digital Media Company and Bali Guide

Tell us your story

My career started in teaching, I was a teacher and curriculum coordinator in Queensland for 15 years. My husband and I had both had a strong connection to Bali from a young age and traveled there often. In 2012, after years of always being asked for my advice on all things Bali, I decided to create a Facebook page to share my Bali tips....little did I know that that one decision would be the catalyst to change my career, the country I resided in and the way my children school. Fast forwarded to 8 years down the track and Bali Buddies is both a travel agency and a digital media company. I moved my family to Bali full-time three years ago after becoming frustrated with the schooling system in Australia and out want to cherish the younger years my children had left and get off the school mum mouse wheel I felt I was on. Three years in and my company has grown in ways I never knew possible, we love life in Bali (even during COVID), the children full-time school online (before COVID made it a thing) and we feel completely at home and that we are making the most of our time with the kids before they are all grown up. My ambition is to never stop learning new things and always remain adaptable to change.

If you could go back in time, what would you tell your younger self?

Don't ever be intimated to share your ideas or give something new a go. Share your ideas, as they are more likely to come to fruition when you share them and say them out loud.

What does "living freely" mean to you?

It means not feeling like you "have" to do things in life because of social or cultural pressures or expectations. Doing things because you feel they are right for you and because they fit with your moral compass and beliefs.

Where can we follow your work and support you?

@balibuddies @karlielovesbali