Embracing the Travel Entrepreneur Journey with Madi Rifkin

In this episode of Soul of Travel, Season 5: Women's Wisdom + Mindful Travel, presented by @journeywoman_original, Christine hosts a soulful conversation with Madi Rifkin.

Madi Rifkin is the founder and CEO of Mount, a platform that connects travelers with hidden gems and local experiences around the world. She started Mount at just 12 years old with a mission to change how people explore and engage with the places they visit. Today, her community of over 170,000 travelers is redefining sustainable and meaningful travel through authentic connections and off-the-beaten-path adventures. Madi is a two-time Rising Star Award winner and a recognized leader in the travel and short-term rental industry.

Christine and Madi discuss:

· What it was like for Madi to jump into the entrepreneurial journey at such a young age
· Persisting through failure, being willing to pivot, and how each relates to success
· Content creation and how partnerships can be a great option for smaller businesses
· Mount’s upcoming Influencer Marketing Summit and the new Mount App

Join Christine for this soulful conversation with Madi Rifkin. Available Wednesday.

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To read our episode blog post, access a complete transcript, see full show notes, and find resources and links mentioned in this episode, head to the Soul of Travel Website. 

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Register for the Influencer Marketing Summit (December 6-7, 2024)! (Missed the Summit? Head to RentMount.com to check for updates!)

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Credits. Christine Winebrenner Irick (Host, creator, editor). Madi Rifkin (Guest). Original music by Clark Adams. Editing, production, and content writing by Carly Oduardo.

Transcript

Christine: Welcome to Soul of Travel Podcast. I'm your host, Christine. And today I'm really excited to be sitting down with Maddie Rifkin, who is the CEO and founder of Mount. Um, we had, An awesome connection.

Christine: A few months ago, a month ago, a month ago ish, I don't know, a month and a half ago, in San Diego at Arrival, and it was so great because when I headed, was heading to that event, there was like three different people that were like, I think you'd really love to meet Maddie Rifkin and I was like, okay, I'll keep an eye out, but there's like a billion people here.

Christine: And then we sat down right next to each other at like the first lunch. So, um, that was so awesome. I am grateful to the universe for pulling some strings to make that happen. Um, but welcome to the podcast, Maddie.

Madi: Thank you. Oh my gosh. Yes excited to be here.

Christine: Thank you so much. Um, well, we're going to learn a lot about your journey, but. Just to get started, can you just share with my listeners who you are, and I know it's ever evolving, but what you do in the space of travel right now.

Madi: Yes So hi everyone. My name is Maddie Rifkin. I am the CEO and founder of mount And we I like to say we're on a mission to change the way you travel. So I'm a big believer That there is not a travel brand for the Gen Z generation. You know, we grew up with social media. We use it to find and discover amazing things to do while we travel.

Madi: We're fed up with Yelp. We're fed up with the Google reviews, all the inaccurate information. Um, and so that's exactly what Mount does. We like to find the world's best hidden gems. So the off the beaten path stuff, hyper local, we have three pillars, sustainable, responsible, and ethical, that that hidden gem needs to fit into.

Madi: Um, and then we crowdsource that information of what makes this hidden gem special, why would you go there, what would I need to know before I went there, and we get that information out to our community of travelers.

Christine: Awesome. Thank you. Um, well, I wanted to go back and jump back in your journey. Um, this isn't something we talked about, but I'm wondering if travel and outdoors were a part of your travel experience, or of your childhood experience, and if that was something that kind of, Again, to pique your interest in your entrepreneurial journey, but.

Christine: Can you share a little bit about that background?

Madi: Yeah, absolutely. So I, I grew up traveling. Um, I was fortunate enough that my parents and my grandparents, like we all just like traveling together. And so I think when I was six, we took our first trip abroad. So I don't remember all of it. Um, but by the time I was 12, I had been to over 30, 35 countries, something like that.

Madi: Um, so really got to experience a different. culture and perspective a lot of the time, which, as you're growing up, I think helps. So I did have the travel bug, but looking back, the way we used to travel was very canned. It was, let's go see the Coliseum, let's go see the Eiffel Tower, like the touristy spots everyone talks about.

Madi: Which you absolutely, absolutely should go do, but that shouldn't be what your entire travel is about. Um, and then just me being the family that I grew up in, I'm a triplet, we would probably have a three hour conversation about where we needed to go eat lunch because we're big foodies in my family, uh, and do all the research, we'd look on Google reviews, we'd look on Yelp, and then at the end of those three hours be very dissatisfied with what we found, and be all very angry at each other that we had this three hour debate and still haven't eaten lunch, so, um.

Madi: That's how the travel adventures went in my household.

Christine: Oh my gosh, that's very relatable and also you like really quickly just like threw in there You're a triplet. Did you just say that?

Madi: Oh, yeah. Yeah,

Christine: This is also something I didn't know about you And I didn't read it anywhere in my preparation. So that's super interesting I am so curious about how that maybe played into shaping who you are

Madi: I think a lot

Christine: of exploration, I guess

Madi: Yeah. Um, so yeah, I am a triplet. There are three of us including me So two others, uh, we're all girls and We grew up like very close Like we're a minute apart. We were C section babies and, um, I am the oldest by a minute. That is my claim to fame. And so I think just, you know, people do say like, when you do have children, you have the older, middle, younger, if you have multiple, and there are like common traits that are associated with being whatever child you are and in the order and whether it's true or not, like it actually is kind of true for our household.

Madi: Like I grew up kind of the leader of us three would. I was a bit more outgoing, they're very shy, so like, I would go make our friends, figure out what we were doing, and just kind of took that on. But I think also, when you're a triplet, you're naturally, for good, for better or worse, compared against two other people, because you're always, you know, especially us being all girls and we look alike, people are like, oh, the Rifkin triplets are here, like, that was our name, it wasn't Maddie, it wasn't Lacey or Abby, it was the Rifkin triplets.

Madi: Throughout high school too, like that stuck with us until we went to different colleges. Um, and so I think there's just that natural want to be independent and do something different. And so I was the interesting kid that was showing up in like colorful shorts and they were dressing in dresses. You know, like very different vibes because I needed to stand out and be my own person.

Madi: But I also think that really helped me figure out who I was super early on and why I probably founded the company pretty young.

Christine: Oh my gosh, I love this. And as you were talking, and you were saying, you know, you were trying to be the most standout or interesting person, like, as I was thinking about introducing you, I was like, you are one of the most interesting people I've met. And that was before I knew you were a triplet. I'm like, okay, so this all is all tracking.

Christine: I have three daughters, and they are not one minute apart. Um, but it is, it is really interesting to see it. The dynamics and like you were saying, like how each person kind of holds that, that identity throughout their relationship. They're still young. Um, but I think it, it does. It's, it's interesting that you kind of like held onto that in your own right.

Christine: In that, in that context, um, you mentioned, um, a little bit that you were an early entrepreneur. So this is the other thing that of course was really. Amazing for me to hear because my oldest has this kind of business minded, entrepreneurial, self driven brain. So that's one of the things we connected on right away that was like, Oh my gosh, you remind me so much of what I feel like, how I feel like my daughter sees herself.

Christine: Um, but you jumped into this entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship journey, like. Way earlier than most of us. Can you talk a little bit about what that looked like and how or why that came about?

Madi: Yeah, absolutely. So for those that don't know, I started Mount back then known as Mount Locks when I was 12 years old. Um, I grew up, yeah, person who wanted to be an entrepreneur. If it tells you anything, my third grade Halloween costume was a peddler. So I wore the long jacket and I filled it with candy and then I sold it at Halloween.

Madi: I'm like little trinkets and stuff. Um, So yeah, I very much was just like, how can I make money? The lemonade stands, I'd stand out there for hours on end, just trying to get anyone to buy my lemonade. Like I had no problem selling. I actually found it really rewarding when I would get like 5 or a dollar, however much it was.

Madi: And so. I honestly did that throughout my time in like elementary school before I founded M. E. L. T. I was, I had a sour candy company that I made and sold. I was selling custom made stickers, like really anything, because I liked buying stuff and I liked things. And I was like, and my parents were like, we're not paying for that.

Madi: So I was like, fine, I'll go figure out how to make my own money so I can buy stuff. Um, and I think the other amazing thing, like credit to my parents is they didn't squash that and they didn't like tell me I was going to fail. They like encouraged it. Because failure is most of the time seen as a bad thing, but in my family, and for me, it's a great thing.

Madi: You know, you learned. You learn what maybe isn't going to work. Pick yourself back up and go try something else, because there is a solution out there that is going to work. And so, having that mindset set and growing up, and that was helpful. So, the reason I was able to found a company when I was 12 was, one, I had an ideology built into me that was incredible and a drive that, to this day, no one can figure out where it came from.

Madi: I just am a very driven person. Um, but, my middle school, so fifth grade started middle school for us, um, Had a really cool program, and it was called the Gates Invention Program. I grew up in Denver, Colorado. Uh, and it was a program that you got to do before school slash after school, and essentially it was like an opt in elective.

Madi: You didn't get credit for it, but it was an invention program. And they're like, come in with an idea. Most of it was like hard, good stuff. Um, so you were tinkering with different inventions. A lot of it was like around being a 12 year old. Uh, but then they gave you power tools and you actually had to go build it.

Madi: So you prototyped it. I want to say we went for like the whole year and then at the end of the year Back then it was a shark tank shark tank style competition So you gave a five minute pitch as a 12 year old Some people were younger than I was because you could start the program younger Um, and you gave it in front of like four judges who were business people in colorado that we're judging you.

Madi: And it was, I remember it being like very nerve wracking because I am not a public speaker, at least back then I was not, uh, and standing up in front of people trying to pitch your idea. I could do it one on one, but doing that was like very scary. And I was by myself. Most people competed in teams, but I was like, no, I can do it by myself.

Madi: Um, But I did that, I invented a bike lock, I thought, in my world, like, having a bike lock that was just part of the frame of the bike, so it was there when you needed it, there when you didn't need it, was genius, and I was like, why has no one built this, because I was forgetting my lock left and right, grew up in Colorado, so we were biking everywhere, um, and I was like, I can solve this problem, so I did, created that, won the competition, they awarded me, uh, funding to go get a patent, so I went through that process too, so I did, it is a patented invention, I did get it, um, And then after that program, I was like, Whoa, I feel like I can do anything.

Madi: I did win some money from the competition too. So again, that bug was like, yeah, I need more of this. I like that adrenaline. Uh, and I just started chasing it. And so went to school at Northeastern studied entrepreneurship to no one's surprise and like actually founded Mount locks. It was a bike lock company in college.

Madi: Then we wear scooter locks. Like we've just pivoted and changed, uh, to get to where we are now. But, um, it's been a very fun journey.

Christine: It's so amazing. That was one of the things I was going to ask you is like how were the steps so clear and You know who was supporting you so it is it's cool to hear that it was a part of a program because I think Those steps are sometimes where people get hung up, right? If there's not necessarily just like a checklist for, I mean, there are checklists for starting businesses, but even those are, you know, kind of vague. So you need support as you're moving down that path and looking for connections and. How would you file for a patent and all those things?

Christine: So I think that's incredibly interesting that you already, you know Are like 12 and just tackle that you're like, okay good. I've got that in my toolkit. I'm good Um, which also like that really for me Kind of shows a little bit how you have this like just this confidence and then also how you were saying that that failure is not bad and I think that's really interesting that you learned that so young as well because um, I think you know, especially now like Kids have been created, like there's this way that their space has been created to ensure that they never fail.

Christine: I really try to let my kids fail because I'm like, man, it's really important. And if you don't, then when it happens the first time, it hurts really bad.

Madi: And the stakes are a lot higher, you know, like if I don't make my 5 at a lemonade stand, Oh, well, you know, it's, it's okay. Life goes on. But if I go to college and now I'm living on my own and I can't figure out how to get to my first class because I've never been out in the world, uh, yeah, that's going to be, that's going to sting.

Christine: Yeah. Is that a conversation that you have with other people who are maybe looking at looking at you for mentorship or, um, you know, advice that you would give is to just be comfortable with with failure or making the wrong choice and knowing that you can learn from it. How do you navigate that conversation with your peers?

Madi: Yeah, I think that's a little of it. Honestly, the bigger thing is the confidence piece, um, because, you know, if you're confident failure, failure really doesn't matter to you because you're on to the next thing anyway. Um, and I think that's the bigger question I get asked all the time is like, where does this confidence come from?

Madi: And how can I emulate it, especially when it comes to fundraising? Uh, and as women fundraising, like that is incredibly challenging. There's an uphill battle there. We all know it. Um, You know, you walk into a room, you get asked a lot of different questions that men, guy founders are not going to get asked.

Madi: Um, so I think it actually comes down to that. So failure is a piece of it, but it's more like your sense of self believing in yourself that you can do this. And, um, then when the failures happen, you know, they aren't as big. Um, I was not always like this though. I was going to say, I don't think we talked about this, but, uh, I was super shy growing up, even though I was like doing this selling and doing that kind of eccentric stuff.

Madi: But, um, when I got to high school, for some reason I like shut down and was, I had a really hard time communicating. I was afraid of like the older people that were seniors and stuff like that. Um, and then I had like this really weird life experience where I was hit by a car in my high school parking lot as a pedestrian, uh, by someone in my grade.

Madi: So it was a very, Yeah. Crazy situation. Um, and my, one of my really good friends, Allie, she would just smile through everything and I was like, Oh, that's a really interesting take on life. Like, even though she's uncomfortable, she's smiling and like presenting herself as if she's okay. And so then I just had had the worst thing happen to me where I like broke my leg, couldn't do anything I wanted, was in the hospital, many surgeries, like all that stuff.

Madi: And I was like, I wonder what would happen if I started smiling. Just through all this stuff and just was like, you know, it's okay things get better And then also I was like, well, I was really shy I wasn't talking and I wasn't really getting my opinion out there and look where it got me rock bottom So what was the point of all that and I think then I flipped a switch and was like, you know I'm just gonna be this who I'm meant to be Confident not gonna, you know apologize for who I am anymore Yeah,

Christine: It's like this awareness that you have is happening like 20 years earlier than it happens for most people. Like rock bottom doesn't usually happen at like 15. You're like, that's it. I'm done. On to the best me.

Madi: who knows? There might be another rock bottom and it'll, it'll feel very different. But, uh, yeah, back then I was like, Oh yeah, interesting.

Christine: Yeah, I mean, likely, which although you're ready for, you know, just in how you're speaking, um, but yeah, I think that's so great. Um, well, I wanted to talk a little bit about the evolution of Mountain. So you, you mentioned that you started with this product and then you kind of started evolving. I know eventually you joined an accelerator.

Christine: I think if I remember correctly in Hawaii, that kind of gave you the insight. To the needs of travelers and nomads and people looking for kind of essentials and convenience items as they're traveling, which I think took you on your next trajectory. Um, I'd love to hear a little bit about both, um, the accelerator and I know you, you've been a part of a lot of programs, which is also to me is so impressive.

Christine: I'm like, man, this girl is like winning every, I'm sure you're not winning every. You have been recognized a lot, won a lot of awards and recognition, um, and I, no doubt that's to your perseverance, but being a part of those kind of programs, what has that meant to you? And then after that, you can talk a little bit about this aha moment of travelers needs when they're out in the world.

Madi: Yeah. Um, Mount has pivoted a lot. I think I just get to a place when I'm building where it's either, it's like a crossroads where it's, um, shut down, stop going. Give up or change and keep moving forward because you learn something new and you can take that piece of information and run in that direction.

Madi: Um, that happens a lot. And it's funny too, because one of my mentors from college asked when I pivoted from bike locks into the travel space and there were no locks involved anymore. He was like, how did you do that so quickly? Like, I actually thought the lock was like your baby, your child, and that you were never going to give it up.

Madi: And he's like, most founders get stuck there and they're afraid to pivot. Because they have worked so hard on that initial idea. And I was like, locks are fun, but clearly it's not going to make me a millionaire. And, um, it's also really challenging to build a hardware company. And I didn't know any of that when I started.

Madi: And I'm like, I don't really want to spend my life, uh, talking to Chinese manufacturers, trying to build this hardware product where you can get ripped off. Left and right because a patent is only good in the country you filed it in. So I learned that the hard way too. I had a patent in the U S I did not have one anywhere else in the world.

Madi: So I took our invention overseas. Um, and you know, had no defensibility over there. So got out of the lock business pivoted and the pivot I saw actually happened around COVID. So I was in college when COVID happened, the world shut down. Um, and. I was doing walks on scooters at that point. Like it wasn't a bike walk anymore.

Madi: It was for like bird and line and those companies and COVID happened. Everyone went inside. People were not commuting to work anymore. So the scooters were not really being used. And I had seen so many problems with the scooter companies when they started that they just simply did not care about, which was that when they launched a scooter.

Madi: It lasted like two months on the street, and then went into a landfill because it was used too much. Uh, they didn't care about that problem. They were like, we're happy to pollute the earth. I'm like, that's a terrible mindset. Um, and then the city government said people were just getting really upset because these scooters get left everywhere in the way of things.

Madi: It was city clutter and it was just a nightmare. So I was like, you know, there's a way better way to do that. People riding scooters are actually tourists. They're not commuters, because people hop on a scooter, can now see the city. I was one of those. I did it when I was in, uh, Sweden. I was gonna say Switzerland.

Madi: I was like, it's one of the S countries. Um, and so I was like, what happens if I put these scooters at Airbnb properties? And middle of the pandemic, right? So like travel had also shut down, wasn't a lot going on. So me being me, I just had emailed a few hosts I found on the internet. And I was like, Hey, what happens if we put these scooters at your property?

Madi: Can I do this? And they said, yes. And so one happened to be in Colorado. That was the first one we ever worked with. They were super cool because they had just opened. So, unfortunate timing for them because of the pandemic, but they were willing to try anything. So, I moved up to the mountains in Colorado for, uh, like a month, put the scooters there, and every day I'd go in to the, uh, it was more of like a hostile Airbnb because skiing up there is, housing is expensive.

Madi: So, they were targeting younger people. Um, so I would go every day. I'd talk to the owners, talk to people staying there because they didn't close. Um, they did make it safe during COVID, but still opened. And I got to really learn on the ground level, uh, what starting a startup is like, right? Like, cause my customers were there.

Madi: It was happening before my eyes, uh, grew that business a little. Like we worked with a few more property managers, a few more scooters. But then I, uh, was a, a one person team at that point, so I got the, the lovely call on my 22nd birthday from the police being like, Oh, we just, uh, arrested someone riding drunk on one of your scooters because I put my number everywhere just in case something happened.

Madi: And, you know, it was my 22nd birthday. I was also not in the state of mind. I should not have answered that call, but it was so scary. Uh, and I was like, all right, this, nothing bad happens for that. Like you just got arrested. Nothing bad happened to Mount or myself. But I was like, wow, that could have easily gone super South.

Madi: I could have lost everything personally and for Mount. So got out of that business was like, no more scooters on the street. I did not want to be a scooter operator. This is not the business I got into. But in doing that, I saw another problem that then we ended up solving, which is that Airbnb host.

Madi: Really pre pandemic was doing super well, but they were making like 99 percent of the revenue directly from the booking. So they're like, yeah, I get guests, I make money. But then the pandemic hit and they lost 50 percent of their guests, 50 percent of their revenue. They're like, Oh, I can't actually run a profitable business anymore.

Madi: I need to pay the mortgage. I need to pay the rent, you know, whatever it is. And I can't run my business. Um, so when we started putting scooters at these properties, it was like a rev split between us and the host. It was making money and the host was now making additional money. And so I was like, there's something there.

Madi: I, to this day, we're still, still putting the pieces together. But, um, really what we started doing was. Um, and we're going to be talking about how we're going to be using this Working between the hosts, the traveler and local businesses. And at first we thought it was going to be a shared economy. Um, so what happens if we take the extra stuff?

Madi: The host has like golf carts, scooters, bikes, kayaks. And turn that into rentable stuff that their guests can use, but also other travelers in the area can rent. Um, kind of shared economy style. Which would have been really cool, but incredibly hard to build. So we ended up moving away from that because the insurance nightmare of tracking all this stuff down and making sure it got back was a headache.

Madi: Um, and then that led us to, okay, why did this stuff have to be owned by the Airbnb host? Like, they're actually our local businesses who do all of that same stuff, and they're primed and set up with locations to rent that gear out, or like, take you on a tour or an experience, and travelers are actively looking for that stuff.

Madi: So then that kind of moved us into, you know, that third side of the marketplace, which is these local businesses and bringing them into the fold. And as it turns out, the local businesses really want to work with Airbnb hosts. Because that's where the guests and travelers are. And that Airbnb host really wants to work with local businesses because their guests are always asking them for recommendations.

Madi: And so, we became the connector. Um, and then the last kind of learning we had was that not every local business is set up to take you on an amazing experience as a traveler or give you an amazing experience. Like some Businesses are simply set up because they know tourists come there and they can capitalize on your dollars.

Madi: But then there's all these amazing local businesses that get kind of passed over because that bigger one that comes in has marketing dollars. Um, so we started partnering specifically with the local businesses. We now vet them and curate them. And that's really all you're going to find on Mount. Um, is that type of stuff.

Madi: So that was like a 20 minute long winded explanation of how I got to where I am. So I apologize, but that's how it all happened.

Christine: I love it. It's so great. And I think it's also so great for you to just, like, I'm kind of envisioning, and maybe this is too old of a reference, but the Austin Powers, like, back up, start forward, back up, start forward, like, trying to get where you're going, but there's this, like, a million Like, it just, you know, it takes a million starts to get in the right direction, and that it never was just like, ugh, done.

Christine: Like, never, is that an option? You're like, well, that wasn't good, but this, and like, Just your awareness to see and do that, I think, with such, it seems from the outside, such grace. Obviously, we don't know what it looks like in that moment. Um, but I think many of us would just at some point be like, That is too many stops and starts.

Christine: Like I feel like maybe I don't know what I'm doing. And it seems like for you, you're like, I don't know what I'm doing. And that's the best part of it. Like, it's like, I'm, I know that there's just like one more thing. It's okay that this isn't the like the end of the journey. Right? Like I think so many of us start our businesses with the end in mind.

Christine: And it's like, you just have this. Like a bit at the end, right? To my, from my perspective, like you're like, Oh, I'll just keep trying this thing. And I was telling you before we hopped on that I had asked my daughters, like if they could just speak to someone who owned a business they started when they were 12 and they're still running today, what would they ask?

Christine: And they both said like, aren't you bored? But like listening to you, I can see like, this is a constant creative. Outlet, right? Like a constant evolution and challenge and place for growth. So it would be something that would constantly ignite like a new interest, I guess, like starting a new business is the funnest part.

Christine: And you're like doing that in the context of your business, but over and over.

Madi: Yeah. And so here's the crazy part too. Like I, yes, I started it when I was 12, but I kind of don't really count those years just because I was still being a kid and like I wasn't full time on this. But when I went full time at Mountain, we finally raised funding after five failed attempts, actually. Um, It started the clock for like me at least on how much time I put into this startup and we're only in year three um and Like, I don't want to paint this picture, like, yes, I'm a confident person, yes, failure is okay, but, like, I don't want to paint the false narrative that it's not hard and, like, mentally challenging.

Madi: Like, there are days where I'm like, oh my god, I don't think I can keep going on Mount. Um, like, it is just so hard and it's not working. But then you find a silver lining and you're like, oh no, but that one person just sent me an email saying they love what I'm doing. And that keeps you going. Um, for me recently, it's actually been on my followers on Tik TOK.

Madi: Like I built this community of travelers and content creators and I feed them all my crazy ideas. And I'm like, what do you guys think about this? What do you think about this? And they're kind of leading me in the right direction right now, which is super helpful and amazing to have. Um, but there are a lot of founders out there on LinkedIn, on social media who do paint that false narrative.

Madi: And this is kind of how I thought it was going to happen for me, where it's like, I had an amazing idea. I told some VCs about it, probably only two or three, and two said yes and gave me five million dollars. In a week, might I add. And I'm like, oh, that must be how it happens. And that is just very much not true.

Madi: Uh, and I've come to the realization, I actually do believe it's a massive, massive struggle until you get to like year seven or eight, which is a lot longer than I ever thought it was gonna be. But you hit year seven or eight, and it's like that unlock happens. And now you're a big company, things, you probably have very different challenges, but you don't have the same challenges of like just trying to make it work.

Madi: Uh, so that's what I'm waiting for. I'm waiting for the year seven or eight. I'm going to make it that far and see what happens.

Christine: I love that. I'm also hitting like between year five and six in my own company. So it's good to know that I'm like, it's okay. If we're still. In that space where it's really hard and I love that you address that narrative. Um, and kind of called me on it because. It is really important to know that it's not easy.

Christine: And I do think, especially in the context of social media, it's, it's, it feels a lot better to just share your wins. And I know people are getting better now at bringing some of the authenticity in. Business also in travel and not showing just these really one sided experiences, um, that that's not really what's resonating with an audience anymore.

Christine: Um, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about content creation. This is another kind of. way that me, we met as well at the, at the event, um, you had put together this really interesting content creator retreat. And then you were talking about at the event about how content creators can part partner with businesses and like what that looks like.

Christine: So I wanted to talk to you a little bit about, cause I feel like now you have some feedback. I was just. Looking at your, um, like some of the, the reach that you had with that event. It was like 126, 000 or something and creating 200 pieces of content. This is all language that I could just be speaking Japanese right now, um, versus I'm not well versed in content creation as much as I would love to be.

Christine: But can you talk about why this event was so unique? What your creators got out of it, the people you partnered with, and how the ROI was? It's very different than maybe a typical partnership.

Madi: Yeah, absolutely. So I, I'll take you back just a little, uh, leading up to the event because as a startup founder, you're always faced with questions about money and how to spend it, you know, just inevitably, we don't have a lot of it. Uh, and so you can't compete with an Airbnb marketing budget or someone else's marketing budget.

Madi: That's billions of dollars every quarter. Uh, and so I was really thinking for the longterm, like, how do you compete with a, you know, glide like that when you're a small startup? Uh, and for me, the answer was content creation, but not just. paying an influencer to market your brand. Cause as a consumer, I see a lot of that.

Madi: And when I have an influencer, I love following who's super authentic, then randomly represent a brand. And it's so just in your face. I'm like, okay, why did you do that? Like either you needed the money or you didn't care what your followers were going to think. And I didn't want Mount to have that connotation because the brand also gets negatively impacted when something like that happens. So again, I went on TikTok and I was like, hey, TikTok, I have a crazy idea. What happens if I build a content army where it's full of amazing people, whether you're an aspiring content creator, you're on your content creation journey, or you've made it and you are a full time influencer? What if it brings us all together because of our love for travel and showing that off?

Madi: Um, and you Have the same ethos as Mount, which is sustainable, ethical, responsible. And we're just going to bring you all together, create this community and create a place where you can share tips and tricks. You can ask questions. It's not competitive at all So like people are really willing to help each other because sometimes it gets a little sharky And then on top of that it's been evolving because we have a ton of creators in this content army now We're learning from them.

Madi: And so we started learning like it's very hard to reach out on your own to airbnb host specifically Because everyone tries to get free stuff from them, whether you're a creator or not. That the Airbnb host most of the time just says no. And I was like, Oh, well, we know like thousands of hosts because we work in that market.

Madi: Like, let me just reach out to them and see who wants to work with you guys. Turns out a ton said yes. And we started matchmaking creators to the hosts. Uh, same thing went for the local businesses, exact same problem. And then I was like, well, we have some amazing creators. Um, and so I'll give you an example.

Madi: Cause the first person I ever met, I posted a video on TikTok. I was like, Hey, I'm in Nashville for a conference. Anyone want to come meet me? That's like, yeah, that's a good way to get murdered or meet amazing people, you know could go either way And this girl named lily responded and was like, hey, i'm here.

Madi: I live in nashville. I would love to come to you I was like cool. Let's go get drinks. Um And so I met up with lily. We had not ever met each other nor had we really talked and Turns out she had just moved home, bought a bus, wanted to go live out of a van, renovate it. And I'm talking to her, I was like, have you ever thought about creating content?

Madi: And she's like, yes, but I just, like, it feels weird to click post. Like, I just don't feel confident enough. And I was like, all right, let's work together. I'll give you the wisdom of what I have, which is little, but really I'll just work with you on the confidence element and we can get you clicking posts and get you going.

Madi: Um, fast forward a few months. That was back in February. She now has over 13, 000 followers on Tik TOK and it's building this community that loves to see what she's up to. Um, so it's stories like that throughout this content army where I'm like, shit, this is working. And what I have them do is I have them put in Mount Stewart.

Madi: In their bio, kind of like a verified blue checkmark. So if normal people see them, they can actually see like, Oh, this is a verified Mount Stewart. This is what they stand for. They're going to go find hidden gems. They're going to share their journey. Uh, and that is how our brand Mount is behind it, uh, but not in an unorganic, unorganic, inauthentic way.

Madi: Like they are sharing their story. I haven't changed anything about Lily. It's just now she's a Mount Steward. So to kind of sum that all up, what we did to celebrate the Mount Stewards is we brought 10 of them or 12 of them to San Diego for a creator retreat. So this amazing property manager, Blue Water Vacation Homes was like, Hey, I have this house.

Madi: You guys should come stay here. We created some content for him. And his property management company. We then spoke at the arrival conference about how to work with influencers, how to create content and just celebrated each other. And it was a magical moment of all coming together and just being creators.

Madi: Cause it's, you know, it's like running your business. It's very lonely when you're doing it by yourself. So it's good to have this community behind you.

Christine: Yeah. I think that is so great. And it was really interesting hearing all of the different creators perspectives too and how they would work with brands and, you know, you gave us time to, to speak with, with them and hear like their thoughts about things. And I think that it is depending on, I think what I resonated with, as you were talking about the small businesses, especially, they're not sure how they would work with.

Christine: With someone like that or, you know, we think maybe we don't have the budget, but there's all different types of creators and influencers at different levels. So there is likely someone that you can afford to work with or who has a really aligned audience. And I love that you talked about still maintaining the values of sustainable and ethical and I forgot the last one.

Madi: Oh, responsible.

Christine: Responsible, um, because I think for me that has been something to, you know, being in this industry for a long time, watching the evolution of content creation, like seeing how some content creation is done less responsibly and is done not always in a way that creates the right kind of campaign for a place or a destination.

Christine: Um, I just think it's really important to have those conversations and that you guys are open to having a conversation of like, here's my reach and my impact, like those things go together. And I think that's really important to think about.

Madi: Yeah, absolutely.

Christine: Um, well, I wanted to talk a little bit more about some of the other things that I was pulling off of your website and just curious about one, um, for the mountain values, we've kind of already mentioned those, but one of them that I love so much as a value is having an expansive mindset. Um, I don't think I've ever seen someone have that, but now having this conversation that makes.

Christine: Um,

Madi: Yeah. I mean, honestly, for us, the way I've boiled it down is if everyone was traveling And not like expensive travel, but just getting out and seeing the world from a different perspective and embracing the different cultures and cuisines and just learning new things about the world. I like to say we'd probably all be a happier place because we'd understand each other a little better and the different perspectives.

Madi: And so that's really what that expansive mindset is all about is, you know, we're all coming from different places around the world from different. backgrounds and creators and jobs and all this different stuff, but the love of travel brings us all together. Uh, and this love to discover new things and these hidden gems and to work with the locals and, you know, give your tourism dollars when you do have them to the actual people that are from that area that have been there for generations, just wanting to share the love of what they've learned.

Madi: That's kind of what that's all about.

Christine: and then I noticed something and I don't know if this is the same as something we've already talked about, but it's said that you launched a mini marketplace. Is that kind of the one side of this?

Madi: Yeah, so the mini marketplace specifically is a product for short term rental hosts like property managers. It's their way of connecting to the local businesses. So if you are a property manager in Denver, Colorado, for example, you can go create a mini marketplace and it will pull in all the hidden gems we have for Denver and that, and it pulls it into like a store type front.

Madi: And then as a host, you get a link and you can put that in your guest messaging guidebook, that type of stuff. So that's one of the ways that we brought all the markets together is like, if you are a traveler and you've never heard of Mount, but you heard of Airbnb and you booked on there, Chances are you're actually going to now know about Mount because the hidden gems you're going on are going to be ours and it's, uh, powered by us.

Christine: I think that's so great. And I love that, like, way back when, the things that would set apart an experience for me in a, in a short term rental or, you know, Airbnb type property would be when you would arrive. And there was this one in Seattle, I stayed at like three times because they did this so well.

Christine: You would arrive and they had like a local beer or a local wine and coffee and chocolates and then they were all And and also I probably just loved this host because we had aligned values but they also explained like that they were fair trade or woman owned and then They had a list of some of their favorite like local pizza places and things and I thought oh my gosh, this is Brilliant.

Christine: You know, they obviously don't have to do this. I just signed up for a room and that's what they've given me. But because of that, I booked with them three summers in a row because I just, I valued that they cared I was there and they cared that I was having a good experience. So I think, um, this is just such a cool idea because it, it, um, creates a framework, I guess, for that experience to happen, whereas, you know, it may, might not have been easy or also might just not been on the radar for people creating those rentals, like knowing that they are also facilitators of experience.

Madi: Yeah, you know, it's interesting. That's a huge topic that we talk about specifically on the short term rental side. Because from my perspective, that's why Airbnb started and what their mission was when they set out to become a company was we want to empower individuals that have extra places for you to stay, to welcome you into their culture, their cuisine, you know, whatever it is in the local market.

Madi: And so leaving that stuff there shows that that host actually cares about it. And then, you know, as capitalism goes, and as people figure out, you can make a lot of money by being a host. And in COVID, a lot of people figured out, oh, I can get a, I can go buy a property. Like, there's a lot of private equity groups that have done this now, where they'll buy up property to then become an Airbnb host.

Madi: And that's why a ton of us these days are staying in these properties where the sheets are awful, like it's an Ikea showroom, basically. Um, and you are, you've lost the entire magic of what Airbnb set out to do, which is I'm staying at an Airbnb so I can have that more local feel and really figure what that's all about.

Madi: So hopefully Mount can bring that flair back to all these properties that have kind of forgotten what their main job is, which is to introduce us to that local market.

Christine: Yeah, well, one of the other things I noticed and again, I'm just like reading your website and I was like, Oh, that looks interesting. I actually want to learn more about something like that. So this is where we're just throwing your website. You're and then you hopefully don't go. Oh, yeah, that's still on my website. I don't think you would probably do that you seem like you're on top of it, but I have those pages. So one was the reduced waste shared economy and give a gear give gear a second life and why this resonated for me. For me, as I was trying to kind of create a more sustainable packing list. And one of the items I wanted to put on there was.

Christine: gear somewhere else before you buy it. And so I wanted to talk to you a little bit about where that came from, how that works and what that looks like.

Madi: Yeah, honestly, super cool. So this is going to be one of those moments where I'm like, Oh, it might not be on there anymore just because that. mantra was actually from the time when we were a shared economy. So our, our old slogan actually used to be travel with just a backpack and get everything you need in destination from the locals.

Madi: It's kind of why the sign behind me says sharing the journey. Um, I wish like hopefully one day there's an ability for us to come back to that because having the shared economy for travelers where you're producing less waste. You are just really getting what you need for that trip from someone who already has it That is the dream like hopefully we can get back there once we're up and running and a bit more stable Um, but yeah, that would be one of the things that's old Like we're very much still a sustainable company but I would say now instead of getting that from a local you'd get that from like a local shop and we do try and Make those like prevalent.

Madi: So like specifically if you travel to iceland, uh me living in new york I'm gonna have none of the gear that I need for iceland, especially in the wintertime. Um But there are gear shops set up specifically in Iceland that have, like, the snow pants, the snow jackets, the shoes, like, everything you would need, where I would, if I was a bad traveler, I'd go buy that from REI, use it once, and put it in the storage closet.

Madi: Uh, if I'm a responsible traveler, And connected to mount I can actually find all that stuff ahead of time and know it's going to be there When I get there and then I don't need to go buy it So one we save you a lot of money, but two you're saving the environment. So seems like a win win to me

Christine: Yeah. Well, and I think it's just a great, um, conversation started to maybe people listening, hadn't thought about that because that in the industry, you know, one of the things, and one of the things I did early on, When I was working in tourism was put together the packet that you mail out to all of the travelers.

Christine: So this is in the context of group travel. Um, but it's always that shopping list or, you know, what you need for this trip. So in, especially cause I worked in adventure travel, it's maybe not things that you have, like you said, like especially if you're going to like Antarctica, you probably don't have the right gear or, you know, it, you know, and a lot of places that you travel, even if it's just the right, Hiking shoes or socks or things that make a big difference.

Christine: Thinking about how you can find the most, the gear with the least impact. So, and then maybe also with the most benefits. So like you were saying, like local, shared, asking friends. Like, many of us have probably three or four backpacks that we've used once and never used again, and we don't know where to put them, um, what to do with them.

Christine: So I think, um, I think it's really great to just get people maybe thinking about that in their own journey and, and what that looks like, because it's one of those choices that is pretty easy to create a shift, but also to have a positive impact.

Madi: Yeah, absolutely I would say that was one of the harder things when we were trying to go down that road of building a shared economy Because this was like two years ago was just the whole education uphill battle of uh, One I think now There are some startups just trying to Do the shared economy locally where it's like close, which also is quite cool.

Madi: But I think it is a mindset shift. Like, you know, 10 years ago, I wouldn't have gotten into someone else's car. That's driving it for me, which is now known as Uber. Uh, same with Airbnb. So I think there is just like that educational barrier, uh, and also market timing, it's like, is the market actually ready for this?

Madi: Uh,

Christine: Yeah,

Madi: and if the answer is yes, you're onto something.

Christine: yeah. Oh, and that's such a good question, too, is, is the market ready for this? Because I feel like, again, having been in the industry for a long time and sustainability being something that's close to my heart when I studied first, I feel like it's like, again, back to the Austin Powers car, like, we've been like, okay, are we having this conversation?

Christine: Yes, no. Yes, no. And like, okay, are we talking about it slightly different right now? Is it now more in this vein? But knowing, for me, that that's been at the core of everything, no matter how many steps forward we've taken in the moment, but now it feels like. More travelers and more businesses are ready to tackle this conversation.

Christine: I mean, hopefully we're ready. It's beyond necessary, but, you know, I think it is a time where you can out and out say I'm an impact driven business or I have sustainability as one of my core values and people are. Are excited to hear that they're not confused as much they're not, you know Overwhelmed by that.

Christine: So I think it's great. Um, okay, so Let me see. I have like four more things on here and we have just a few more minutes um, I wanted to maybe i'll just give you space to talk about some of your new innovations because I think this is Where i've learned so much. I love seeing like The gaps that you see and what you're doing.

Christine: So I know you have two things that are kind of next step that I've seen launching your app and also, um, an influencer marketing summit. So I'd love for you to just share maybe a little bit about what those look like and who they're for and maybe what meet what need they're meeting.

Madi: Yeah. So the travel wrap is really exciting for us. It was essentially born out of when we were marketing our hidden gems through Airbnb properties. The guests would love those but then they'd always find my email somehow and be like, hey Maddie I'm now traveling to x y and z and i'm not staying at an airbnb Like how on earth do I find these hidden gems or the vert the reverse where it's like?

Madi: I just discovered a hidden gem. How do I get it into the mount ecosystem? I'm like, oh, these are excellent questions I used to have to write back being like here's a list. So it was taking up a lot of my time Uh, so we decided to launch a consumer facing app for our traveler community. It's very basic, right now it will grow as the community grows, but essentially it has two functions.

Madi: You one, you get to create your account, tell us who you are as a traveler, and you get to do one of two things. You get to discover all the amazing hidden gems that the rest of the community has nominated, and we then verify. So you can have these amazing recommendations, trip planning, tools, all that stuff when you travel.

Madi: And then you can also nominate, so you can give back to the community. Let's say you found something that isn't in Mount, which will happen often until we're large. Uh, you can actually go and nominate it to join the community. We'll reach out to the business, talk to them, make sure they're a good fit. Um, but then they're in the app and ready to go.

Madi: So, that launched, it's in the app store, it's called Mount Travelers. You will be a beta user if you download it right now though So just know you're going to hit some bumps along the way and it's not completely polished But you will get to say 10 years from now that you were an og mount user Uh, which is kind of can be a claim to fame.

Madi: So Uh, that's been really exciting for us. Now. This content creator summit is very cool So we are doing it december 6th It's going to be an in person event and a virtual event if you can't join us in person It's in St. Augustine, Florida, so I'm assuming a majority of people are not going to be able to make it in person.

Madi: Uh, but we are bringing 10 content creators to the stage and giving them a voice and a place to share their experiences and learnings, because I think Everyone talks about, especially at conferences, trying to bring new voices to the stage. They holler about trying to bring women to the stage, and I'm like, you can talk about it all you want, but until you actually reach out to me and ask me to speak to your conference, I know you aren't doing enough.

Madi: Um, so I took it upon myself to do that. We are bringing, uh, some amazing creators, female content creators, to the stage to talk about how they've worked with businesses, how they work with property managers, how they create content, too, because that's another black hole. It's like, how do I even get started?

Madi: And what do I make content about? Um, so you are welcome to join if you are a fellow content creator, if you're a property manager, a host, if you're a local business, honestly, it's open to pretty much anyone that wants to understand social media and content from the perspective of people that are doing it.

Madi: Uh, so, yeah, come with open arms and open mind, and hopefully you'll leave with a lot of knowledge.

Christine: Yeah. Thank you so much. And, um, I, uh. Just want to amplify the comment about, uh, events wanting to say that they're supporting, uh, diversity on stage and. Not really following suit with that. I think I have had that same conversation We just kind of came off conference season like the fall conference season um, and that has been something that has really been brought to my attention, especially with the space that I curate and you know, I have an endless supply of Very knowledgeable, influential women in tourism who should be on stages at many events and it's really frustrating when, when that, when it, when you keep hearing like, yes, that's the action we want to take and then you go to the event and you see that's not what's happening.

Christine: Um, so yeah, I'm just like underlining that and putting a little exclamation point that there's so many places. Uh, to reach out and I really appreciate you creating a space that echoes what you want to stand for because I think it's, it's really important, um, to do that and also builds confidence of the people speaking and then maybe it's their first time or second time speaking they're going to be even more confident when they reach out or when someone reaches out to them to have them on the stage in the future.

Christine: So thank you for doing that.

Madi: Absolutely, yes. That's, I like to make an impact.

Christine: Yes. Okay. Well, the last thing we have is the rapid fire question. So we'll get to those. Uh, the first is what are you reading right now?

Madi: That's a great question. I, uh, people are going to kill me, but I don't read. Um, I have to consume content initially. Because I'm highly dyslexic, so. Uh, the reading is a no. I have read one book over and over again. I read it every year. Shoe Dog by It's his founding story of Nike, and that's my favorite book ever.

Christine: Nice. Well, you know, there's Audible books. That's where I love and I actually was listening to someone to Because I'm always consuming information I can't ever remember where it came from But they were saying that podcasts and Audible actually allow you to retain the most information Because you're not getting distracted by your other senses.

Christine: So

Madi: Oh, it

Christine: a great tool. So, um, okay. What is always in your suitcase or backpack when you travel, which apparently used to be nothing, but maybe today it is.

Madi: didn't used to be nothing. Um, let's see what is always in my backpack. Um, so I grew up with a, um, stuffed animal. We call him old bear. He's basically a rag now because I'm 27. Uh, but I like to show him the world. So he will always be in my backpack, no matter how old I get. Cause, you know, you gotta see the world just like I

Christine: Yeah. Oh my gosh, I love that so much. Um, okay. To sojourn is to travel somewhere as if you live there for a short while. Where is somewhere that you would still love to sojourn?

Madi: I think, uh, Norway. I have a lot of family, relatives, um, and so being able to go hang out with them and see them in person would be very cool.

Christine: What is something you eat that immediately connects you to a place you've been?

Madi: Um, the beer, actually, which is not eating, but drinking. Um, I like to try and get a beer locally everywhere I go so that then I can try and find it when I'm home.

Christine: Yeah, I also have heard that sometimes that helps you not get like all the traveler stomachs I don't know It could be just a farce But I used I used

Madi: I don't know.

Christine: because it has like the local water and stuff typically I don't know it could be totally made up but it used to feel like a really good reason to try local beer

Madi: I'm gonna use that now. That's great.

Christine: Yeah. Um, who was the person that inspired or encouraged you to set out and travel the world?

Madi: Um I feel like definitely my grandparents, uh, Rella and Monty Rifkin, both still alive. Um, very, very old now, so they don't do much traveling, but they were, they had kids pretty young, so they were traveling. I think if I asked, they'd probably been to like 140 countries together. Um, and that's who took us in all my travels when I was really young.

Madi: So they very much just encouraged it, wanted us to see the world. And I got to see them do it too. Their photos are incredible. So. Yeah, that was pretty cool.

Christine: Thank you. If you could take an adventure with one person, fictional or real, alive or past, who would it be?

Madi: Oh, man. Uh, none of you guys are gonna know this person, but I, one of our creators, Talia, Traveling with Tals, or, yeah, I think that's her handle, um, she's the most eccentric traveler I've ever met. I'm like, how are you still alive? Uh, cause she solo travels, gets the stomach bug pretty much everywhere she goes cause she tries all the local food, has been deep in the rainforest with locals just exploring.

Madi: Um, And I'm like, I just need to go on one of your adventures because you just do it so down to earth too. Uh, and so locally that she, she is Mount, um, and super cool. You should all go follow her.

Christine: Yeah, I've just met her in San Diego, so I have been following her, so that's really cool to know, like, I've been seeing some of that, and I'm always like, oh, that looks like so much fun, and also having traveled that way when I was young, like, I know some of the agony of those moments, but it's always worth it in some weird way.

Christine: Um, okay, so the last question kind of takes us back to Uh, celebrating and, um, bringing women to the space. Uh, who is one woman in the travel industry you admire and would love to recognize here on the podcast?

Madi: Oh, I definitely say Beth, the CEO and founder of Wonderful. Uh, I went to the Wonderful conference two years ago, whenever it was in Puerto Rico. And I didn't know much about it. I just knew there were travel creators there and I wanted to go see what that was all about. And I saw her speak on stage to, Open the conference and I was like, holy shit.

Madi: Who is this? And why are they so amazing? And just she's done it right like she started a travel company They are a huge brand have stayed true to their core values of helping women and giving us a voice and giving us a stage And she's so authentic And I'm like, yeah, that's the idol right there. And then I actually got to meet her on arrival, like more in person.

Madi: She came on the retreat for like a day and talk to our creators. And I'm like, okay, I can call you a friends now, but still idol. She's very cool.

Christine: Yeah, I agree. I was so glad that we were there together and got to spend so much time together because normally, If I'm at another event or her event, certainly you never see her. So that was really special, um, to get that, that, uh, one on one time. And she's definitely a fan here on the podcast. I think she's probably the most recognized person here in this seventh question of Rapid Fire.

Christine: I need to go back and look, but I'm sure she would. I don't know if she'd be excited or not to hear that. Um, but yeah, thank you. I mean, I don't know if she'd be excited or humble. That's all I meant. She's so good at just, um, uh, she's so relatable and approachable, which is, I think, what makes everyone. Love the work that she's doing so much and, and appreciate who she is.

Christine: So, okay. That felt like we just like went through a million things. Um, Maddie, I really appreciate it. Like I've been really looking forward to this conversation since you and I met, and I'm so glad to have been able to share your journey and I hope that it really inspires other people who are on the entrepreneurial journey to just like keep at it and know that kind of the best version of what they're hoping to create is probably.

Christine: You know, still out there for them. So

Madi: Absolutely. Thank you for having me on.

Christine: thank you.