TL;DR: Cortni of The Flipping Nomad turned personal hardship into a thriving RV renovation business. From humble beginnings to major brand partnerships, she now leads a popular RV renovation empire, offering services, coaching, and courses to help others achieve their dream RVs. Keep reading to learn her story!
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If you haven’t heard of The Flipping Nomad yet, where have you been? With almost 150,000 followers on Instagram, Cortni has captured the attention of aspiring van lifers and seasoned RVers alike, gathering millions of views on her videos where she transforms basic RVs into people’s dream homes. She has also drawn the attention of industry titans like Keystone, GMC, Progressive, Girl Camper, and Harvest Hosts to work on large-scale projects and collaborations.
In fact, she was the first RV renovation influencer to secure a large brand partnership. In 2019, Keystone reached out to Cortni and asked her to build the Ultimate Montana. Keystone gave her the shell, and she transformed it into a beautiful showpiece. Soon, her project gathered the attention of other companies, who all raced to get involved. They quickly sent her materials to help complete the project– solar panels, lithium batteries, custom furniture, and GMC even sent a truck to use as the tow vehicle!
Cortni makes RV renovation look easy and glamorous, but starting The Flipping Nomad and growing it to where it is today took a lot of time, money, resources, learning, and hard work. We sat down with Cortni to learn more about her path to success.
Moving into an RV was not something that Cortni always had her eyes on. In fact, she only started RVing after falling on hard times back in 2014. She was in survival mode, and a family friend who owned a KOA campground was able to help her out. He found a fifth wheel for her to live in, and offered to allow her to park it on his campground for free in exchange for a job at the front desk.
As she started to get back on her feet, she realized she loved RVing and wanted to continue RV life, but she wanted to have a space that she enjoyed. But there was one huge problem: she quickly realized that the only way she was going to find what she wanted was to build it herself.
“I just wanted something that feels cute. What I wanted did not exist”
Renovating her RV was her very first interior design and construction project, and she had to learn as she went. Eventually, she finished her own renovation. As someone with a business background, she knew that she had a special idea here. But she didn’t have the capital to start an RV renovation business of her own.
After two years, she was able to secure a loan, but before then, she put in two years of preparation work. As she describes it, “In that two years, I did a whole bunch of research, I started teaching myself interior design and started breaking down the interiors and figuring out why they felt like an RV, why didn't they feel like a house? What makes them feel like an RV? That's when I just kind of started the business of The Flipping Nomad. And we started just buying RVs, renovating them and then selling them. And then as social media grew, that's when people started seeing what we were doing.”
Back in 2014, not many people aspired to this kind of lifestyle. But things have changed a lot in the last 10 years. Now van life has become aspirational for people of all ages. With the income disparity rising and as entering the housing market becomes more difficult, RVing offers an attainable way to own your own home and to travel.
Through the power of social media, RVing became more popular than ever and has even glamorized a lifestyle that many once found abbhorent. What a lot of people don’t realize, until they get into an RV for the first time, is that standard-issue RVs don’t often meet their needs functionally and don’t match their desires aesthetically.
“I wish manufacturers would take more of a risk with giving RVs personality and modern design, but also in their defense, I kind of understand why they do it– it keeps me in business, if nothing else.”
But renovating an RV doesn’t have to be expensive or unattainable either. When people are looking to renovate their RV, they can come to The Flipping Nomad for help. They offer a variety of options, suitable for people with different budgets, including renovation services, 1:1 coaching sessions, and they offer an online RV renovation course to help people learn the skills they need to tackle an RV renovation on their own.
Cortni began her business on her own 10 years ago buying, flipping, and selling RVs. Today, Cortni and her mom (who she brought on in 2019 as a partner) have over 2,800 people on their waitlist for RV renovations as they juggle renovating RVs, offering coaching services, and running The Flipping Nomad’s social media empire.
As The Flipping Nomad grows, and as their waitlist for RV renovations gets bigger and bigger, Cortni sees teaching as a more prominent aspect of the future of The Flipping Nomad. Her dream is to purchase a workshop space where people can come and work on their RVs where she can help guide multiple people at once to build their dream home on wheels.
Social media makes it all look easy, but Cortni’s journey was not an overnight success. With time, luck, hard work, and the proper resources, you can do anything! Even turning your RV into your dream home with no prior experience.
