The Power of Workations and Generous Leadership with Gina Schinkel | Show notes episode 129 – Women Disrupting Tech

Most founders don’t like shortcuts. They want to solve that one big problem once and for all.

So they take the long road. And Gina Schinkel is no exception.

She “defied the traditional career path” because exploring the world mattered more than climbing a ladder.

That choice shaped everything she has built since. Driftawave and Leaderwave didn’t come from a straight line. They are the result of someone who said yes to curiosity, lived in different cultures, and only later discovered how all those roads could come together.

This episode is about that. The courage to build on your own terms. The power of a workation to reconnect a team. And the kind of leadership that starts with giving first.

When you’re ready, listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube—or scroll down for more about the episode.

3 Lessons From This Conversation

If one thing stood out in our conversation, it is that the modern career path is flexible and global. Gina is proof that you no longer need to choose between career advancement and travel; professionals can pursue “this part of freedom and exploration that life can offer”. In keeping with that theme, here are three lessons that follow.

1. Workations are not perks. They help you attract and keep the right people.

I knew offsites could lift energy. What I didn’t expect was how strongly they influence hiring and retention. Gina showed how workations reduce time to hire, strengthen employer branding, and keep teams aligned during growth. When people feel connected, they perform better. And they stay longer.

2. You don’t have to choose one path to build something meaningful.

Gina spent years exploring the world before stepping into tech. She didn’t follow the traditional line. She built her own. Seeing how she combines travel, AI, culture, and leadership into one coherent vision reminded me that founders don’t need permission to integrate the different parts of their lives. You can build from all your roads.

3. Generous leadership builds the strongest networks.

Giving first is simply how she moves. A tool. A contact. A recommendation. Watching how naturally she does this made me realize how powerful that habit is. It opens doors without forcing them. It creates the kind of trust most people try to manufacture through strategy.

What Gina made clear to me is that the modern career works best when it gives people room to move, room to grow, and room to build the kind of connections that last.

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Or scroll down for magical moments, practical takeaways, and my own observations.

Highlights and timestamps

Time	Highlight
03:43	Gina Schinkel’s Journey to DriftWave and LeaderWave
06:12	The Intersection of Travel and Technology
09:09	Cultural Insights: Returning to the Netherlands
11:55	The Benefits of Team Retreats and Workations
14:20	Creating Connections: The Role of Workations in Team Dynamics
17:22	Navigating Remote Work and Office Mandates
19:55	Exploring Workation Locations and Experiences
22:52	The Evolution of Workations: Beyond Just Work
24:50	Workations and Startup Success: Attracting Talent
27:43	Measuring Success: KPIs for Workations
30:45	The Future of Work: AI’s Role in Business
33:24	Leadership Trends and the Role of AI
35:09	Diversity and Inclusion in Work Culture
37:42	Building Trust and Connections in Business
47:32	Empowering Women in Tech
1:02:18	Closing the Funding Gap for Female Founders

3 Magic Moments In The Episode

Gina is an associative storyteller. Sometimes I had to wait for the magic inside her answer, but at least once she couldn’t resist giving it to me straight. These are the three moments you’ll want to hear.

1. The moment she used roleplay to outsmart AI.

Gina told me how she used ChatGPT to solve a coding problem by making it roleplay as the company’s CTO inside Lovable. The moment she framed it that way, ChatGPT “in a nice way, whooped his ass” by solving the issue Lovable couldn’t crack. It says a lot about how she approaches new tools. With curiosity. With humor. And without fear.

2. The moment she didn’t hesitate to tell the truth.

When I asked what companies with strict office mandates are missing out on, she didn’t dress it up. She just said it. “Top talent.” It was quick. Honest. And exactly the kind of clarity founders sometimes need to hear.

3. The moment her two worlds clicked into one sentence.

When she said “Leaderwave shows where we’re going, and Driftawave translates it into the organization,” something landed. These weren’t two separate ventures. It was one worldview. One founder trying to help teams move with the future instead of waiting for it.

What I loved about these moments is how they reveal the same pattern. Gina trusts her instincts. She experiments early. And she says the thing most people only think.

💬 What was your magic moment from the episode? Let me know in the comments.

Or scroll down for practical tips that will fuel your own journey as a founder or ally.

Practical Takeaways for Founders and Allies

It’s easy to see workations as a nice-to-have and to see AI as just the next hype. But both can have a real use case, provided that founders are intentional about them. Gina shared three insights that stood out to me, especially if you want to strengthen your team, design better offsites, and stay ahead in a world where AI is moving fast.

1. Measure the real ROI of a workation.

Most founders look at offsites through the lens of energy or morale. Gina looks at them through KPIs. eNPS, retention, time to hire, employer branding, collaboration, innovation, and belonging. When you measure what a workation actually moves, you stop seeing it as a perk and start seeing it as infrastructure.

2. Design offsites with intention, not vibes.

A location alone won’t change a team. What matters is how you shape the experience. Shared moments. Vulnerability. Alignment. Coaching time. Context for people who feel invisible in remote settings. Gina reminds us that the best offsites don’t happen by accident. They happen because someone designed them with care.

3. If AI makes you anxious, explore it instead of avoiding it.

Gina sees a clear pattern. The people who fear AI the most are often the ones who haven’t taken time to play with it. Her advice is simple. Start small. Try a tool. Experiment for fun. See what it can do for your workflow instead of assuming the worst. Curiosity beats fear every time.

What you can take from Gina is simple. When you treat culture, connection, and new technology with intention instead of fear, your company likely moves in the right direction.

💬 Know a founder or ally who should hear this? Use the share button below to tell them.

Or scroll down to discover an inspiring quote and learn about my own takeaways.

The Quote From The Episode

Some quotes need no introduction. This one fit the episode like a glove as it captures how work is becoming a global marketplace.

Picture of Gina Schinkel with a quote from episode 129 of the podcast Women Disrupting Tech which features and interview with her.

“You can now make a career basically from anywhere there is WiFi.”

Gina Schinkel – Founder Driftawave and Leaderwave

3 Things That Changed The Way I Think

Life as a podcaster is interesting because every guest expresses themselves differently. Some give short, to-the-point answers. Others need a bit of encouragement. And then there was Gina. She needed no encouragement to share her wisdom. It taught me the following.

1. Not everyone answers in straight lines. And that’s a good thing.

Talking to Gina reminded me that some founders think out loud. They circle the point, follow a story, and land the insight later than you expect. I noticed my own tendency to look for the direct answer. But sometimes the real insight is in the detour, not the bullet point.

2. Integration matters more than choosing a path.

I always knew that curiosity shapes careers, but hearing how Gina merged travel, tech, culture, and AI into one direction made me rethink the idea of “staying in your lane.” Maybe the most meaningful careers come from collecting experiences first and connecting them later.

3. Giving first is not soft. It’s strategic.

I’ve read The Go-Giver. I know the idea. But hearing Gina talk about offering a course, a tool, or a contact before asking for anything back made it real again. It’s a reminder that generosity builds trust faster than strategy ever could.

All three learnings help me be a better podcaster, a better founder, and a better person. What more would you want to get out of an episode?

💬 What changed your thinking? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

A Question for You 🤔

💬 What’s one small experiment with AI or team connection that you want to try after hearing this episode?

👇 Share your thoughts in the comments. Let’s keep this conversation going and make inclusion the new normal in tech.

Coming up on Women Disrupting Tech

Next week’s episode is a special one. Andrea Christancho is our guide as we explore how female founders can stay sane in a life that sometimes borders on insanity.

She argues that stress is not the ugly word we’ve come to accept. In fact, this episode is full of ways to make stress your friend. Here’s a clip from the episode.

Hit play to hear how Andrea wants us to see stress.

So stay tuned for more of Women Disrupting Tech. And until the next episode, as always, keep being awesome.

Dirkjan

PS If you fear missing out, subscribe to updates or follow the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or YouTube.

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About Gina Schinkel

Gina Schinkel is the founder of Driftawave and Leaderwave, two ventures that bring together her love of travel, culture, and the future of work. Before building retreats and workations for teams, she lived and worked across the world from Aruba to Austria to the Great Barrier Reef. Her career spans tourism, LinkedIn, events, sales, and leadership development, all shaped by a curiosity that took her across continents and industries. Today she helps companies design experiences that build connection, spark growth, and make work feel a little more human.

You can spam her on LinkedIn (her words) to connect with her.

About Driftawave

Driftawave is your workation partner for remote- and distributed teams, companies and communities. They design turnkey travel experiences where creativity thrives, genuine connection happens, and growth isn’t just professional—it’s personal too. With a foundation in global travel and talent solutions, they help companies unlock culture, build collaboration and ignite innovation through thoughtfully crafted offsites across destinations like Croatia, Morocco, Spain and Italy. Ready for what’s next? Driftawave makes work meet adventure.

Follow Driftawave on Instagram and LinkedIn and check out the website to discover your next workation.

About Leaderwave

Leaderwave is a global platform that equips next-generation leaders with insights, community, and momentum. Through immersive gatherings, curated content and peer networks, it helps founders and executives navigate the future of work with connection and clarity. Ready to lead differently? Leaderwave turns leadership into movement.

You can learn more about Leaderwave on the website, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Events that Women Disrupting Tech Must-Attend

The fall is loaded with great events, and I’ve found some cool ones. Below is one event you definitely want to check out. For a full overview of all events, including links to buy tickets, please check the events page.

Featured event: Understanding Women’s Health – 3 December 2025

During this final 3mbrace Health event of 2025, you’re invited to better understand the importance of women’s health and the powerful role it plays in our personal, professional, and societal well-being. Men are expressly invited to join. And yes, I will be there too. So buy your tickets on Luma.

That’s What She Said

Looking for an event to start your new year off right? Well, Impowr and Boom Chicago have got your back. They’re starting on 14 January with an event where networking meets comedy. You can get your early-bird ticket (a €10 discount until 30 November) on the Boom Chicago website.

This is the last week you can get that early bird, and the last time I spoke with the ladies of Impowr, they had sold 70 tickets already.

Diverse Leaders in Tech Events

If you like being in the know about what is happening in the DEI space, Diverse Leaders in Tech is the place to be.

Every last Thursday of the month, they have monthly in-person meetups for tech people, HR leaders and supporters of diversity to exchange insights, tackle challenges, and take action. It’s a vibrant, safe space where diversity is celebrated.

You can register for events on the DLiT website. Did I mention that joining your first event is free?

Equals Events

Equals is on a mission to shape a society where women and men stand on equal footing. At their home base in Amsterdam, they regularly organize events, but you can organize yours there too (like the 3mbrace Health events). You can find the events on Luma.

What I Want To Leave You With

Gina has a kind of self-generated momentum that’s rare and energizing. She doesn’t wait for permission, external deadlines, or a manager telling her what to explore. She builds her own curiosity loops. She experiments with new tools. She pushes herself into new territory just to see what’s possible.

And the way she talks about it makes you feel it. It’s the thing that stayed with me after our conversation, and it’s what makes this episode worth listening to.

Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

The Power of Workations and Generous Leadership with Gina Schinkel | Show notes episode 129