Milly Tamati

Kia ora, I’m Milly, and I’m an early person.  Always to my departing train, often to trends, and usually to companies. I’ve worn both the ‘founder’ hat and ‘early employee’ hat, having spent 15years carving out a career on my terms. One that looks weird on a CV but feels great on the inside. I now help 100k others do the same (next milestone is 1M!)

As a farm-gal from New Zealand who decided milking cows wasn't the vibe long-term, I've been living abroad since 2012. Slowly exploring 65+ countries; optimising for building an 'actually interesting' career. 

Before I turned 30, I co-owned a hostel in Thailand, co-founded a wine tour in Australia, and launched an illustration agency in the UK (failed, oops!). I've loved speaking about the future of work + generalists at Web Summit, Skyscanner, Turing Fest, Mercury, Beehiiv, The London School of Economics + more. 

Today you'll find me on a remote Scottish island, where I'm building Generalist World. My mission is to create genuine spaces for generalists to gather and grow. Over 45,000 builders, operators and tinkerers read my newsletter, and we've partnered with companies like Canva, Notion, Zapier, Gamma and Lovable.

But really, at heart, I'm a nerdy builder. Here's a few side quests..

~ Find the perfect meeting time: https://letsfindatime.app/
~ Sync your cycle to your calendar: https://www.thebestcalendarintheworld.com/

I love collabs, community, & companies doing cool stuff to partner up with. 

You can work with me by:
Subscribing to our email list: www.generalist.world
Join the waitlist for my book: https://generalist.world/book/
For inquiries: milly@generalist.world

Founder

The fast-growing and most-loved community of generalists in the world. You'll find deeper connections, better resources and incredible opportunities made just for those who love wearing many hats.

I’m freakin’ rich (and you might be too!)

Here’s how I know:  

~ spent the past 2 months in New Zealand, working remotely + flexibly on Generalist World 🌀. Patiently awaiting the birth of my second niece. 

~ have enough $$ to buy groceries without flinching, or adding the extra shot of spirulina into my fancy smoothie, and not think twice about it 

~ found a great therapist and got to do *the* work over multi-years, and my nervous system + relationships thank me for it 

~ eat nearly entirely from our island in the summer, organic veg and wild venison

~ work with people who challenge me to grow and give me space to find my feet when I reach new heights  

~ work with brands who believe in my creativity and let me run loose (ily beehiiv Gamma Zapier) 

~ belong to a community that’s grown beyond me. People find value in GW everyday, and I have no hand in most of that happening anymore. Magical. 

~ found the confidence to write my book from pure creative joy, rather than trying to fit into a prescribed box of what a book “should” be

~ I am loved. 

~ get trusted to support those close to me during birth. Yesterday was my third birthing experience (the forementioned niece). This time was a home birth, and everyone is safe and well. Being a part of these is the greatest privilege of my life. 

For this, and a probably a zillion tiny  reasons more…. 

I’m freakin’ rich. 

And when you start looking for the things you really value, I wonder if you’ll see that you are too.

Generalist. Founder. Creative. Community Builder.

Hi, I'm Milly. Growing up, I was a farm girl from a very small town in New Zealand, but alas, the world was calling. In 2012, I began travelling the slowly. 65+ countries later, after living everywhere from the fast-paced streets of Manila to the serene jungles of Mexico, I still haven't quite made it back to NZ. 

Before my 30th birthday, I have co-owned a hostel in Thailand, co-founded a wine-tour in Australia and founded an illustration agency in the UK. I'm a creative generalist who's well versed in start-up life; which really means - I have the most fun when I'm working on lots of different things. 

You'll find me living on a little island in the Scottish highlands with a population of just 170 people building the home of the generalist (generalist.world)

founder generalist.world | creator (100k+) | speaker | writing a book generalist.world/book/ | tinkering: letsfindatime.app | thebestcalendarintheworld.com | GENERALISTS OWN THE FUTURE! 🌀

It's taken 3 years of graft, but it's HAPPENING!

We're creating an economy👇🏽 💰 

Generalist World 🌀 is becoming a *circular economy* and it MAKES SO MUCH SENSE

What we used to do:
~ pay external speakers
~ hire externally
~ bring in external experts for power hours

But now we... 
~ pay members like Aliénor & Rachel to run masterclasses (Ece is actually designing our next cohort's programming to be entirely GW member experts)

~ hire directly from the community (say heyyy to our newest teammate Mildred C. and Sarah Agopian-Khalifé who’s masterminding our IRL events) 

~ pay members for power hours (eg: rn Lara Millmow MCIPR is helping revamp our docs + processes, Vera Lakmaker helped with our AI policy!)

~ collab with members to create products (I think Ramiro's Generalist Quiz has bought in 30,000+ subscribers!!)

Now the tricky balance I'm trying to strike is to not make it *all* about money. The impossible-to-replicate-special-spirit of GW exists because of the kind, smart, generous people who volunteer, participate and GIVE. 

But if there's a case where we've committed budget, our policy is now to see if we can source that talent from the community first (and being a community of super-sharp-generalists... you usually can!)

It's a work in progress, but I really believe this is the way! eg:

We make $$ >> we invest $$ back into the community via members' unique skills >> the community gets even better!

Add to the mix that we're one of the veryyy few *lifetime memberships* that exist... I'm really really really proud of the community + company that's emerging. 

Have a q? Love the idea? Hate the idea? Meet me in the comments! :) 

PS: you can join the community / economy! 😏 we exist to bring generalists together. I'll be personally reviewing all 1000+ applications in February https://lnkd.in/etwNQQUt

Decided to write a book. Wrote 30,000 words. Took a break. Read it with fresh eyes. Threw it in the trash. AND THEN SOMETHING MIRACULOUS HAPPENED 

It all started with a phone call with Nikita Khandwala (where miracles always happen, btw)

We were nerding out on our shared love of words, reading, writing, and creativity. I was so inspired by her writing practice, I decided to take a look at my book again. 

And I realized... It wasn't bad. It just wasn't 'me'. I was trying to squeeze myself into the "non-fiction-career-book" category. And in doing so, it completely killed my creativity. 

(Which is ironic because as a creative generalist, this is one of my superpowers)

The funny part was though.. within those 30,000 words, there are 100% lessons I know the world needs to hear 

So today I opened a blank page on Scrivener and committed to just writing what felt joyous & creative. 

And then... 6 hours went by. I literally didn't eat, drink or pee. I don't even know if I blinked.  It sounds dramatic, but it felt like falling in love. I've missed this kind of writing so much! 

There was a *world* inside me, begging to have the creative space to be let out. Not in the way that I thought I *should* do, but in the way that felt completely right. 

I was in flow. It felt magical. And when I read it back, it was clear: this is IT. 

So let me publicly commit right now, in 2026 you WILL be able to read the book that's been dwelling inside of me for 3+ years. It WILL be about work, worth and meaning. It WILL take you through a transformation. And it will NOT be your typical non-fiction. 

I am so, soooo jazzed!

PS: Join the waitlist: https://lnkd.in/e4RXraKi - thanks to Rémi for creating this page for me! :)

founder of generalist.world | creator (85k) | speaker | advisor | building the generalist workforce (100k ✅ , next stop: 1M) | based on a dreamy Scottish Isle 🌀

LinkedIn, I need you to *hustle* for a very special human today! 

Here's the mission:

The one-in-a-zillion Emily Cleland is finishing up her chapter at Generalist World 🌀 today. 

It's really not just her role that's evolved over the past 2.5 years.. So has she! 🥹

In her time with us she's:

~ went from 5k to nearly 50,000 readers every week(!!!!)
~ published 100's of newsletters helping people get jobs
~ helped me & Ece immensely with the GW community
~ designed cute merch
~ sung at my wedding in Ireland 🥹🥹🥹🥹
~ came to London for our first team offsite
~ joined me & Ece for a girlie spa date in Manchester
~ made handwritten cards to send to GW members
~ owned the podcast newsletter + youtube too!

So when Em handed in her notice, I joked that she couldn't leave until we crossed 50,000 subscribers on beehiiv

And ya know what? It doesn't seem completelyyy unfathomable that we could rally, and on her final hour, send her off with the 50,000 readers under her belt :) 

The newsy is FANTASTIC, each week we send 70+ curated opportunities and a podcast convo with one of our super-brain GW community members. Promise, it's value packed and is in amazing hands with Mildred C., our new Content Lead. 

So..
If you're a generalist, subscribe for free! https://generalist.world/ ♥️ 
If you know a generalist who needs this, tag them ♥️ 
If you're ALREADY a subscriber, give Em some love in the comments ♥️ 

We're so grateful for you, Ems! You're an absolute force. 

Now let's send you out in style 🎉

I see lots of "its time I  re-introduced myself" posts but I don't see anyone doing this... 

Re-introducing their business! 

And that seems like a missed opportunity for LinkedIn, so LET ME KICK US OFF ON THIS FINE MORNING :) 

I'm Milly, founder of Generalist World 🌀

We bring generalists together. 

3years I would have struggled with the simplicity and narrow-ness of this. I would have wanted to say WE CHANGE WORK / SYSTEMS / THE WORLD! But I've come to learn that having a clear mission, especially one that brings folks together, *is* how you change the world

~ We're best known for our community which opens 3x a year (next opening is in Feb, and 1000+ are on the waitlist https://lnkd.in/etwNQQUt). We're, a little unusually, a lifetime membership; meaning you purchase once and you're in forever. This has been my favourite commercial decision ever, and has only made the "are they a cult?" rumours intensify 😂 

~ Each week we email 45,000+ generalists opportunities and a podcast! Emily helped grow our list by 1000% in 2 years (WOWEE) and is handing the reigns to the fantastic Mildred C.

~ Ece Kurtaraner is our Community Ops Queen. She builds the engines and keeps 'em running smoothly. Every company needs an Ece! 🙏 

~ We also run lots of events for generalists, with a big focus on IRL this year. Sarah Agopian-Khalifé is wrangling our strategy to run 100+ in-person events in 2026. We've loved throwing events with Lovable Canva Gamma beehiiv Ultraspeaking Zapier Reddit, Inc. + more! We're probably most known for our Summer School series and International Generalist Day (why yes, we did bring 3000+ together in 85+ cities in ONE DAY!)

~ We also developed a quiz with Ramiro Oosting that's helped 30,000+ https://lnkd.in/eg-Ns-NQ

~ As for me, I focus on partnerships, sales, and content. I'm also writing a book which is proving to be the most JOYFUL thing ever https://lnkd.in/e_P5tfJK

Who's been here since the beginning and seen this evolution? SAY HI SO I CAN SAY THANK YOU! 🙏 

ps: steal this template & tag me!

You probably know me as the founder of Generalist World 🌀 but you mayyyy not know that I have an extra job rn

Part-time aunty 

Every morning I wake up at 6am to care for my niece. Then shift into “work mode”. Then take a few hours to go into “nesting / aunty / doula” mode as we prepare for baby #2 to arrive 

I have a this weird super-skill of strategically placing myself with folks as they’re about to give birth (this will be my 3rd one!). 

There’s a joy + satisfaction that comes with helping parents transition through the incredibly chaotic + special + vulnerable time. 

And this is possible because of the flexilibty + culture we’ve created at Generalist World. My work allows me to be of service in other ways, from volunteering on boards to helping bring life into the world. 

Call me old-fashioned, but I reckon this is how it should be 🫶

PS: while working my part-time job I’m ALSO setting up the system to review 1200+ applications for the GW community that opens next month. You’re welcome to join the waitlist here: https://lnkd.in/egK2ZGMk

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I've spent too many hours trying to co-ordinate timezones and today I said: ENOUGH! Built this lil solution on Lovable from the back of my campervan in under 12 mins

Just tell it:

~ where you are in the world
~ where the other person is
~ your preferred date 

And it'll give you 3 (good!) options. 

Bookmark it: https://letsfindatime.app/

Lmk what you think! ♥️

Pardon my French, but in terms of frameworks, Molly Graham shared this one that's the CREME-DE-LE-CREME for generalists......

So, most career advice tells you to take the stairs:

~ get promoted every few years
~ linear up and up and up
~ predictable 

But there's another way... 

Jump off the cliff. 

Because when you jump off a cliff into the unknown, scary, challenging waters below you don't experience the stairs. You experience a J-curve. Which means you'll:

~ look like a silly billy noob for the first wee bit while you figure out WhAT ThE HeCK aM i DoiNg?! (s/out Philip and the figure it out people!)

~ but then, and this is important, you'll find your feet. And when you do, you'll soar way, way, way past where the stairs would have taken you in a much shorter timeframe

Obsessed. Chefs kiss. Listen to the full episode on Lenny's podcast! 

PS: if you're a J-curve person, run over to sub with 45,000+ others just like you at www.generalist.world (it's free!). Mildred will send you jobs, career advice, and events made for people like us.

THE totally unhinged thing I do 3+ years in to building Generalist World 🌀 is.....



Each time we open our doors for our community cohort, I DM everyone. 

This used to be easy. But this cohort we have.. wait for it.. 

1320+ on the waitlist (GULP lol)

So I know what you're thinking.. 

SURELYYY YOU'LL GET AI TO DO THIS FOR YOU

And to that I say. I actually won't. 

Now in full transparency I *am* getting my wonderful VA Jess to help me keep on top of the process, and Claude did help us create a plan!

But the messages you see in your inbox are from me. 

Whyyyy?

Because I really really really care about who joins Generalist World 🌀. I did at 8 members. I did at 80 members. And I still do at 800+ members. 

The GW community is one of the most uniquely generous spaces on internet, and that all comes down to the people. 

So will I be spending the bulk of my next month in my LinkedIn DM's? (halpp! lol). 

Yes. 

And do I think this is worth every second?

YES!

If you're a generalist and this sounds like the community for you, you can join the waitlist https://lnkd.in/etwNQQUt (and I *will* get to DMing you!)

PS: know someone who'd be a great fit? tag them! :)

Yesterday I had an "UH-OH" moment when I saw we have 1000+ new community applications! "Uh-oh" is EXACTLY when it's time to build an automation. Here's what I whipped up in 10 mins:

A Community Growth Bot that pings me on Slack whenever someone submits an application to our community waitlist. 

~ somebody submits an application to join the waitlist 
~ Zapier pulls the data I need most
~ and even does a search using Claude to give me a summary of who they are (we live in the future!!!)
~ I get a lil message that includes why they want to join + their Linkedin profile

This is going to save me soo much headache, copy-pasting when I'm reviewing applications. It means I get to connect with the people who really want to join the community when they're most excited! How neat is that?!

This has been one of my BIGGEST learnings with using AI. Don't just add automations for the sake of it, make sure they have utility. Make sure they solve a problem. 

One way of knowing this is hitting the "uh-ohhh!" wall 
 
Meet me in the comments to tell me about an 'uh-ohhh' moment you had recently and let's nerd out to see if we could automate your way through it! 

#ad #zapierpartner #sponsored

I made an app I so simple i thought it was silly but then SOMEONE IMMEDIATELY ADDED IT TO THEIR HOMESCREEN! The story: 🍿 

After squinting to use worldtimebuddy for the bazillionth time, i was like, surely there's a smarter way do this?!

Like why am i using so much brainpower trying to find a time to meet that isn't an ungodly hour??

So I made a really simple app on Lovable:

~ input your timezone + theirs (add up to 4 people)
~ it'll suggest 3 (good!) times to meet
~ copy / paste that 
~ or create a shareable link that syncs to your calendar (coming soon!)

Dare I say...... could this be a competitor to Calendly? 😏

Btw, this is the GOLDEN ERA of competing with the big dawgs who's products are often bloated, too complex and expensive. 

Would this solve a problem for you? Try it here: https://letsfindatime.app/ 
Hurl all the feedback @ me! 🙏 

PS: repost this to help someone else solve their timezone headaches :)

A weird way I'm thinking of paying myself this year as a founder:

Right now, we make $$ a few ways:
~ community (memberships)
~ content (sponsorships)
~ events (sponsorships)

It's a fab wee business model! But something is missing... 

A *real* salary for me. 

So, I have an idea! 

As our podcast starts to grow arms and legs, I'm thinking.. what if whatever sponsorship deal I land becomes my founder salary for the year?

I know this is non-traditional and they'll be a (reasonable) school of thought saying: JUST PAY URSELF MILLY OMG

Buttt... unless you've been in the shoes of a founder, paying a team, stubbornly committed to making a GLOBAL MOVEMENT happen, it's hard to empathsize.

My thinking is.. having a dedicated revenue stream that's "mine" will motivate me to find a great / aligned sponsor and also feel better about paying myself. 

Idk what the psychology of this is. But that's where I'm at. 

So, 2 questions!

1/ who's structured something like this before? How did it pan out?
2/ now don't all LINE UP but if you're interested in being *the* sponsor of the Generalist World 🌀 podcast, comment below / slide into my DMs 😉 

ps: our new season starts NEXT WEEK! Expect 🔥 episodes from Neda Sahebelm, Zachary Reizes, Darren Wu + Allison Dono.

If you're one of the 99.677% generalists who struggle to articulate your value (hi, hello, hi!) let's change that TODAY

First, a reframe:

"I don't know how to position myself because I'm good at alot of things" is actuallyyyy a champagne problem to have

It's not that you don't *have* talent, you just don't know how to communicate it yet. And knowing how to communicate it is not magic, it's a learnable skill. 

It's why we (s/out Nikita) made the Positioning Guidebook, a reflection tool that'll help you:

~ identify your super-strengths
~ craft compelling narrative(s)
~ learn how to use them during high-stakes situations (eg: interviews!)

Grab it here: https://lnkd.in/eKQfdZ8J

Btw, how cool that I can sell this via beehiiv, & they take $0 commission. They've given their digital products feature a MASSIVE upgrade, so if you wanna start selling your own course, template, coaching etc, grab a 14-day free trial: https://lnkd.in/eu9VXP5F

PS: check the comments for an extra bonus gift 🎁 

#sponsored (yipee! 🐝 )

Do work you’ll tell your grandkids about 

I think this is the goal because… 

Life is simply millions of stories. But somewhere along the way we learned to take work very-seriously™️ and we became devoid of great stories. 

I mean, what a travesty. How many hours do you spend working? How many great stories have come from that? Why SHOULDN’T work be a source of fantastic tales? 

We idolize the people and pay and promotions and ladders that make for a “good living” 

But then we STOP actually living good. We know this happens when our river of stories run dry. 

I had a silly philosophy in my 20s that was “if it’ll make a good story, do it”. 

That led me to own a hostel in Thailand, produce a short documentary in Canada, write for Japan Tourism, Nanny in Berlin, run tours from Sri Lanka to Croatia, become the Director of Misc, and eventually move to an island with 191 people to start Generalist World 🌀 

These are stories I’ll share with my grandkids. My life’s work. 

If I ask you “so what do you do?” and you give me a non-linear answer that’ll make no sense to a traditional career but is FULL of great stories, you’re my kinda person. 

 Do work that you’ll tell your grandkids about. 

THAT is the goal. 

ps: if this is your vibe, wanna follow along (Milly Tamati) and leave a reply below? 🙏

Believe me when I say this is the COOLEST CONFERENCE I THINK I'VE EVER SEEN (and early-bird pricing ends on Friday 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♀️ )

We've all been blasted by traditional conferences bright lights, jammed agendas, flurries of people and..  overwhelm with a CAPITAL O 😂 

(you will, without question, find me laying on the grass somewhere by 3pm, it's just too much!)

The The Slowdown Summit is.... not that

The brainchild of Juliette Paige Zachary Reizes and Brooke Stanley, the level of thought and care that's going into this is honestly second to none. 

I mean, a summit *designed* for introverts and neurodivergent leaders. You just know it's going to be great. 

Get your tix here: https://lnkd.in/eUQwTJ98

ps: Ece Kurtaraner and I are >< this close to saying WE'RE HOSTING A SUNDAY SLOWDOWN EVENT the day before.. Peer pressure us in the comments! 👀 ♥️

Scoping something out.. 

Raise your hand if you'd JUMP at this:

~ coaching you, or your team, in how to consistently create GREAT content that builds trust and is actually FUN!

Creating content is my bread & butter *and* one of my favourite parts of my job. I've learned a thing or two from building an audience of 100,000+ 😉 and I think it's my civil duty to pass these lessons onto others who want to:

~ build their own brand
~ grow their employer brand 
~ become a better storyteller 

ps: this is an example for how I test everything from a career growth perspective. Just put yourself out there. Either there'll be crickets and you can adjust the idea / scrap it.. or... something epic happens!  Let's see...

There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING, like getting to write fiction. 


Creating this world, telling the story, weaving in lessons of meaning, worth, passion and work.. 

This is the most creative fun I think I've ever had. 

I CANNOT WAIT TO SHARE THIS WORLD WITH YOU! 🫶 

PS: You can join 150+ on the waitlist here: https://lnkd.in/e4RXraKi (leave a reply when you do, so I can say yipeee! 🎉 )

If you've been fortunate enough to spend 0.2 seconds with Neda Sahebelm, you already know she's one in a zillion. So lucky for you, I recorded a podcast with her and, the value-to-minute ratio is OFF THE CHARTS

If you:

~ are a leader, or aspiring leader
~ you work with people
~ care about purpose x profit
~ are interested in fractional work 
~ like learning from someone who can talk the talk AND walk the walk
~ and who is genuinely a super down to earth, savvy, generous, kind soul 

I'm going to say this completely undramatically.. this is THE podcast you should listen to this week.

Check it out, share it, take notes, listen again: https://lnkd.in/eKPV3D3G

Btw, I can't believe we have nearly 500 subscribers on YouTube. If you're a YT-person, would love for you to follow us there too :) 

PS: if you're *also* a Neda Sahebelm super-fan... leave a reply! I reckon we'll have a fanclub in the comments.

What you want is a business that punches above its weight 

(explained 👇🏽)

This could be measured by:
~ revenue x impact x employee 

Said another way.. how tiny teams can make an enormous impact.

Building Generalist World 🌀 for the past 3 years, I think there's 3 ways to have a biz that punches above it's weight:

1. Content
Publishing online is how you reach STADIUMS of people from your kitchen. I'm hosting a free workshop w/ beehiiv about this soon(https://luma.com/zg7zvx1h). Content is how I built GW to 100,000+ audience from an island in Scotland with 191 people. It still gobsmacks me. Learning the skill of publishing content (socials + newsletters) changed the trajectory of my life, and my business. 

2. Partnerships
It took me ~3years to properly turn on partnerships because I had a spidey sense to tread very carefully and not work with just anyone who'd throw $$ at us. Thoughtful businesses punch above their weight. Now we work with Zapier Gamma beehiiv and Lovable (dreamy!). The common denominator (apart from they're all products I paid for + loved + used for a long time!) is that they're MUCH bigger than us. I could spend a day talking about how I hustled for these partners but the tl;dr is: partner with brands who lift YOU into their universe. 

3. Community. 
And no, not just customers, but ACTUAL community. You're the space creator, making room for people to safely, enjoyably and effectively connect and grow with each other. The B-I-G caveat here is I really don't think every business should have a community. But that's probably another entire day's thesis lol. 
 
🎁 2x bonuses in the comments! 

👋 Hey, I'm Milly! I post about career growth for generalists and lessons from bootstrapping my business :) follow along!

We need to talk about the most sci-fi thing I’ve seen in my entire life… 

People's Clawdbots are self-organizing on a Reddit-like site for AIs, discussing various topics, e.g. even how to speak privately. 

I need everyone’s 2c and I need it immediately….

taplio

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