Alexa Frongillo '17 was working in finance in Boston when she realized she didn’t want to visit the same desk every day.
“I had been with that company for about a year and a half. I sat at my desk and realized, I can’t do this for another forty years — this can’t be it!” An avid traveler, the idea of working remotely while traveling abroad appealed to Frongillo. “I made a proposal to my employer that I work remotely. They thought I was crazy, but they let me work remotely for three months.”
And so began Frongillo’s year abroad. In 2019, she lived in twelve different countries and worked remotely throughout — first at her finance job and later for Parachute Health, her present employer.
“I signed up with the Remote Year program, which manages travel for groups of people like me,” explained Frongillo. “I pay the company, and they book my flights and arrange for an apartment and workspace in each city. I earn my normal salary like a regular employee.”
Frongillo worked from the rooftops of crowded markets in Morocco, in hammocks on a coffee farm in Colombia, on the seashore of Mexico, in her room in a tea house in Japan, by the window witnessing protests in Chile, and just about every smoothie shop in Thailand.
“One of my favorite memories is of playing soccer with a group of locals in Malaysia,” she says, recalling learning of the different challenges and opportunities Malaysian young adults face — not the least of which is the rarity of females playing soccer. “It's quite a diverse and beautiful place.”
I love working remotely with the ability to pick up and go. I love what I’m doing, and I get to live the life that I want.
She learned about Parachute from another traveler during her year of working remotely. The company is an online ordering platform that doctors use to order medical equipment for their patients. “Parachute facilitates communication between the doctor and the supplier,” says Frongillo. “Without Parachute, this is done via fax machine, but Parachute enables the transaction to be done digitally and more efficiently.” This was vital during the pandemic when patients in need of oxygen could leave the hospital once they received their equipment. “The pandemic forced technology to unite with the health care system. An order that used to take three days can now take three minutes.”
As a Merchandising Lead, she writes the questionnaires health care providers must complete in order to make sure the patient’s health insurance covers the supplies they are ordering. She also builds the catalog of what equipment each supplier offers.
“All of the skills I learned with my math degree are very applicable,” she says, “I’m not doing coding, but I have to use the coding mindset — understanding strings, objects, and nodes — in order to write the questionnaires. I think this job, while I didn’t find it purposefully, very much fits my skill set.”
The course she most frequently refers to in her work was “Network Theory,” taught by Professor Donna Beers, which she had no idea would be so practical. “I took it as an elective, and it covered graph theory, nodes and connectivity and big data.”
Simmons remains important to Frongillo for other reasons, too. “My whole being came to life at Simmons! Studying math in a women-centered college is really unique — anywhere else, I would have been in a predominantly male classroom,” she notes. “This gave me the confidence to take the lead, answer questions in class, and volunteer to demonstrate things. I never felt like I was in someone’s shadow. I learned confidence and boldness.”
That confidence was vital for her year of traveling, especially with a paying job secured for only the first three months of her adventure. “I was confident that my skills could get me a job. I thought that if anyone could do it, it’s me!”
Looking back on her time at Simmons, she has a few pieces of advice for current students. “Pre-Simmons me and post-Simmons me are two different people,” she says. “If I could tell my past self anything, it would be not to worry so much. I put so much pressure on myself to know what I wanted to major in, what I wanted for my career. I found a change of perspective useful: think, instead, of what lifestyle you want to have instead. How do you want to live? If you want to travel the world, get the skills you need for remote work. If you want to live in a city, you’ll need to make a certain amount of money. From there, things will fall into place.”
She cautions against rigidity in your course planning, as well. “Take courses outside of your major. Explore different ideas,” she advises. “My favorite course at Simmons was “From Farm to Table: The Political Economy of Food Systems,” taught by economics Professor Carole Biewener. There are a lot of opportunities to learn about something you may not have otherwise. Who knows? It may become your thing.”
Post-pandemic, Frongillo is hoping to travel more, though probably not for an entire year abroad. “I love working remotely with the ability to pick up and go. I love what I’m doing, and I get to live the life that I want.”
Read more about Alexa Frongillo’s journey on her website.