Special Bonus Episode: wmnsWORK Tourism Business Accelerator Cohort 5 Graduate Presentations!

In this special International Women’s Day episode of Soul of Travel, Season 6: Women's Wisdom + Mindful Travel, presented by @journeywoman_original, we are thrilled to share the inspiring wmnsWORK 2025 Demo Day presentations.

wmnsWORK helps women and non-binary folks build thriving tourism businesses through education, mentorship and community. wmnsWORK is an accelerator focused on women and non-binary early-stage entrepreneurs designed to help you get a leg up on your tourism business and rally a community while you build it. They do this through 3 main pillars: Education, Mentorship, and Community.

The goal of wmnsWORK is to flatten the learning curve when it comes to industry knowledge and entrepreneurship, helping you reach your goals faster and with more fun through 12 weeks of expert-led workshops, mentorship, and community.

Demo Day is your chance to learn more about what these inspiring wmnsWORK Cohort 5 grads have been up to. They've worked so hard to refine their pitches and business offerings, and are excited to share them with the tourism industry at large. Through each company's 5-minute pitch, you'll get a glimpse of their passion and dedication as they unveil their unique ventures to fellow members of the tourism industry, and learn how YOU can support them. From tour operators to travel designers, it's a diverse lineup that captures the essence of the evolving tourism landscape. We encourage you to connect and collaborate with these fabulous wmn+!

Featuring Buoyant Travel, GINI, Common Healing, AdventurUs, Transformative Journeys, ATWASI, Komasa Collection, Scotland Hikes and Tours, Immersive Local Adventures (ILA), and Off Da Rock Bahamas.

Join us for this special soulful presentation from the graduates of WmnsWork Cohort 5 in celebration of both International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month. 

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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. 

Make a difference by making a donation on Buy Me a Coffee. Click here to subscribe to Apple Podcasts, so you don’t miss the latest episodes!

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Visit https://wmnswork.com/ to learn more about the Tourism Business Accelerator program and support their efforts to support women and non-binary early-stage entrepreneurs.

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Looking for ways to be a part of the Lotus Sojourns community? Learn more here!

Find Lotus Sojourns on Facebook, or join the Lotus Sojourns Collective, our FB community for like-hearted women. Find solo travel trips for women over 50 on JourneyWoman.

Follow us on Instagram: @journeywoman_original, @lotussojourns and @souloftravelpodcast.

Credits. Christine Winebrenner Irick (Host, creator, editor). wmnsWORK Tourism Business Accelerator Cohort 5 Graduates. Original music by Clark Adams. Editing, production, and content writing by

Transcript

Chris Chow: hello. Welcome. Welcome everyone. Everyone's gonna be trickling in, but in the interest of time and wanting to stay on schedule and also honor your time, I'm gonna get started. So welcome officially to Women's Work Demo Day 2025. I am Chris Chow and I'm the program manager at Women's Work. And I'm also your host today, and I really hope you're all ready for an exciting time.

You're gonna hear pitches from 10 incredible graduates of Cohort five in the Women's work program. You know, we couldn't be more proud of them, and I cannot wait for you to see all of their ideas in action. Today's event is really about strengthening the travel industry by empowering more women in leadership and ownership roles.

And we're all here to support the talented graduates as they showcase their skills. So be prepared to be inspired. You are gonna hear from a range of diverse businesses today. We've got inbound, DMCs and outbound tour operators, as well as a representation company. And each presenter has been given five minutes to share their vision about what they need from you.

So whether that's funding or media coverage, strategic partnerships, this is your chance to connect and support. So I want you to start thinking about how you can make an impact. And the graduates here of Women's Work Program have spent weeks perfecting their pitches and with just five minutes each, you know, every moment counts.

So be sure to show your support in the chat. And now, if you're looking for new suppliers or brand partners in the industry, this really is the perfect place to be. Or perhaps maybe you're curious about women's work, you know, our mission here, or you're thinking about applying for the next cohort. You're also in the right place.

Our incredible founder and CEO, Iris Serbanescu launched women's work in 2022. She wanted to create a space where women and non-binary entrepreneurs can grow their tourism business with a lens of self-compassion, sustainability, and inclusivity, and with over a decade in the travel industry. She's also founded by Iris, which is a tourism representation agency that connects women owned and locally owned tourism suppliers with North American travel trade.

You know, after two years in Spain connecting with the European tourism community out there, she's now back home in Toronto. And with that, I'd like to hand it off to Iris. 

Iris Serbanescu: Thank you, Chris, for that lovely intro and yes, indeed. I am coming to you from a very cold and snowy Toronto, Ontario. I just wanna acknowledge that Toronto is on the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the credit on Nish, NABE, Chippewa, the Ani, and the Wenda peoples.

I wanted to share a little bit about women's work and our mission to set the stage for this event. Women's work is the tourism industry's first global virtual accelerator program for women, entrepreneur, women and non-binary entrepreneurs in the early stages of their businesses. So up to three years in business.

And our 12 week program aims to provide or arms participants with the industry knowledge, network, and confidence to reach their version of success with more fun along the way. Of course. Um, I launched women's work in January of 2022. As Chris mentioned, after a decade of being in. Increasingly aware of the gender gap in the tourism industry.

There are many women on the front lines and middle management positions, but so few in the executive and C-suite positions. So I wanted to create a network focused educational program that allowed women and non-binary early stage entrepreneurs to gain support, knowledge and connections to the wider tourism industry that would foster their best chances of success.

My vision is to move the needle even a little bit on women's ownership, especially diverse ownership in our industry. So I did what any determined and somewhat delusional person would do and quit my full-time job to pursue this dream. Now, three years later, I'm happy to report that we've had almost 60 entrepreneurs go through the program since its inception in 2022, from 21 different countries.

Diversity in leadership and ownership is really important to a thriving industry. So I'm also proud to report that 40% of our graduates have been bipoc and 10% LGBTQ plus. We've also seen some incredible results coming out of the program that I'm proud to share with you today on the screen. Um, I'll give you a second to just look through those, but they involve revenue goals, um, product goals being reached, and just overall success for these women defined on their own terms.

Women's Work's. 12 week virtual program operates on three pillars, education, mentorship, and support. We run weekly workshops that are really tailored to what is essential to learn in the first three years of running a business. Um, the program's quite diverse, as you'll see. We have mindset on here alongside financials and, you know, may not think that you need to worry about growing a team just yet, but we like to arm early stage entrepreneurs with the information they need, not just now, but also in the future.

So we take a lot of pride in our, in our curriculum and in our program. And in addition to these expert led workshops who are run by folks in the industry who have amazing experience in all of these domains and are subject matter experts in their own right, we have a one-on-one mentorship program where we match each participant with a mentor who can support them in the stages of growth.

The exact stage of growth that they're in. We also have peer support circles, which are essentially every two weeks we get together and work through program work through roadblocks in our business and, um, support each other through those. So we're really proud of the program that we've built here at Women's Work and the successes that we've seen and that you'll see through the next little while.

In summary, this is our mission, and if you're here, you are part of it. So thank you so much for taking the time to support women and non-binary entrepreneurs so that we can better serve the needs of the market and build a diverse industry. Now that you know a little bit about women's work and the problem we're solving, I'm super excited to let you know that you're gonna hear from our incredible sponsors on our work together.

These travel brands have shown their tangible commitment to a more equitable industry through sponsoring scholarships for women and non-binary folks who identify as bipoc, LGBTQ plus, and or disabled, to attend this program at a fraction of the cost. Many of our sponsors have renewed their support year after year and cohort after cohort.

These companies believe deeply that creating equity for women is the key to a more successful and sustainable industry. Basically, they know that when women are at the helm, good things happen. Thanks to them, we've been able to offer 26 scholarships to our participants since 2022. So I wanna give you all the chance to hear from each of our sponsors as they take the stage for one minute each.

First up, we have our equity champions. Title sponsor for 2025 Za Sheik, who's the head of brand, content and community at Tour Radar. So Za, if you're here, come on up and um, say a few words. Thanks so much. 

Aizaz Sheik: Hi everyone. Great to be here and, um, very proud to be once again the equity champion sponsor for women's work.

And also very proud to say that when Iris quit her job, it was tore that she left. So, um, just goes to show how highly we think of her and her work that we continue to support her in this venture, which is obviously so rewarding on so many levels, uh, to we are a platform for. Booking, searching and booking organized adventures of multi datas.

And we are tech first, which is actually quite progressive in an industry that's very product first. And, you know, you can experience so many amazing, um, different experiences with all kind of operators. And we just wanted to take the tech side and take it to another level. So that's a quick bit about who to is.

Um, and you know, just as my minute wraps up, I just wanna say, um, very excited to see the, the demo day today. I was here last year too, and incredibly inspirational. So give it your hearts, minds and ears, and you'll learn a lot today. 

Iris Serbanescu: Thank you so much for being here as Oz. We're really, really lucky to have Tour Radar back on board again.

Um, Katie Rocket, regional Director North America at Explore Worldwide, one of our newest sponsors. We're so excited to hear from you, Katie. Come on up. 

Katie Rocket: Great, thank you. Um, so as Iris said, I am Katie Rocket, um, and the regional director for Explore in North America. Um, so a bit about explore. We're a leading, um, adventure travel company.

We have over 40 years of experience in crafting sustainable small group trips, um, to destinations all over the world. Uh, we specialize in immersive responsible travel experiences that connect travelers with local cultures, landscapes, and communities. We have over 350 trips across more than a hundred countries, and that's growing constantly.

 Our itineraries range from cultural discovery tours and walking and cycling experiences to wildlife adventures. And we've got our newly launched, um, line of upgraded trips. We partnered with women's work because it's so aligned with our brand values. We really wanna have a positive impact on people and the planet.

And a big part of that is working towards gender equity and tourism. We're a certified B Corp, so sustainability is really at the heart of what we do. We're committed to low impact travel, carbon reduction, and giving back to the destinations that we visit. We appeal to travelers from all walks of life, whether they're new to adventure travel or experienced explorers.

And we have something for everyone, with an adventurous spirit. So no matter what style of travel we offer, , it's really authentic, unforgettable journeys, um, that just really bring the world to life. And we're really excited to be a sponsor for women's work and to, to see what you all have are working on.

Iris Serbanescu: Thank you so much, Katie. If you haven't heard of Explore before, please check them out. They're an incredible adventure travel company and love that they're B Corp. Um, next up Luann VP of Communications at the I-G-L-T-A Foundation. Thanks for joining us Luann. 

Luanne Holden: Thank you, Iris. I'm Luann Holden. My pronouns are she and her, and I am so excited to be back also for my second demo day and to move into our second year of supporting scholarships for the women's work program at the International LGBTQ plus Travel Association.

You can imagine just from our name that we are incredibly committed to supporting marginalized communities and businesses around the world to create a more safe, welcoming and inclusive travel landscape for everyone. We have been around since 1983 and our mission is to enable authentic travel that enriches lives and connects the LGBTQ plus community and the tourism industry.

And our philanthropic foundation, which specifically supports the Women's work program, is built around three pillars of leadership, research, and education. And under that leadership pillar is supporting future leaders in LGBTQ plus tourism. So I have to give a very proud and special shout out to Annalise from Con Common Healing, who's here today and was a recipient of our support.

So I can't wait to hear you pitch girl. So excited. Um, and to everyone, um, here, have a great demo day. We're with you all the way. 

Iris Serbanescu: Thank you so much, Anne. Amazing, amazing stuff. Uh, finally, last but not least, we have Tanya Zco, GM Global Marketing at Intrepid. Tanya, come on up.

Tanya Zelco: Hi everybody. Really great to be here.

As Ira said, I'm Tanya Zco. I'm the GM of Global Marketing for Intrepid. I am based in the very snowy Toronto. Um, a little bit about Intrepid. If you haven't heard of us. So Intrepid Hass been a world leader in responsible travel for 35 years as the world's largest adventure travel company and also a Travel B Corp.

Our mission really is to create positive change through the joy of travel. And we bring this to life on more than 900 trips, all designed to truly experience local culture in a way that positively impacts the host companies or communities, sorry, that we visit. Um, our goal really is to be the best travel company for the world.

So globally, we're recognized for our commitment to transparency and ethical travel. We're the first, first tour operator that has near term science-based climate targets that are through the Science-Based Targets initiative. We also have a, not not-for-profit, the Intrepid Foundation. And through that group we've raised more than 17 million for more than 160 partners.

And so today super, super proud to be able to sponsor this session and this group. Um. Can't wait to hear everybody's presentations, can't hear to hear what everybody's been working on. Uh, so super excited for today and wishing everybody best of luck and thank you for having us. 

Iris Serbanescu: Thank you very much, Tanya.

Great to have Intrepid on board. Thank you immensely to our sponsors. Without them, we could not have had the impact that we've had and supported some of the amazing businesses that you're gonna hear from today. So again, do yourselves a favor. Check out these amazing travel brands and thank you again to Tour Radar.

The I-G-L-T-A Foundation Explore Worldwide and Intrepid. We also have a women's work scholarship fund. Folks may not know this, but we make it a little bit more accessible for companies to contribute to a scholarship by not sponsoring a full spot, but by kind of contributing what they can, um, to help. Uh, support a woman who identifies as bipoc, LGBTQ plus and or disabled to attend the program.

So big thank you to Flexpay Meant Law Group and Propell, who are all part of our scholarship fund for our next cohort. Um, I'm not sure if they're here today. If they are, feel free to say hello in the chat. Um, otherwise I'm gonna hand it back over to Chris, our program manager and host for today. Chris helps curate our program and facilitate all of our sessions.

She's amazing. She's a small business owner and coach who has provided foundational expertise and a fresh perspective outside of the travel industry, so we're really lucky to have her here to lead us through these pitches today. Chris, I'll hand it back over to you. 

Chris Chow: Thank you so much, Iris. You know, we're also joined today by another key member of the women's work team, and that's our program coordinator, Claire Burt.

Claire's gonna be managing the chat today and sharing some important links. I think I saw one just drop just now. So look out for those throughout the event. And thank you so much, Claire, for all of that. And a quick reminder to you all, we are here to celebrate, right? We've got these incredible graduates who are here to do their pitches that they've worked so hard to perfect.

And our goal is ultimately to find them opportunities either within your business or your networks to support their entrepreneurial journey. So don't be shy. We wanna see all the chat lighting up with your support as we move through the showcase. And if you know somebody or an organization that would benefit from connecting with today's presenters, please don't hesitate to reach out and make those introductions.

We all know that networking is a powerful tool, and especially for entrepreneurs, it's gonna open doors for new opportunities. It's gonna share insights and valuable resources that can really elevate their businesses to the next level, and that's what we're all about. Alright, so today's schedule of events, in a short few minutes here, we're going to be hearing from our inbound tour operator group and DMCs, followed by our outbound tour operators representation company.

And then we have a few fun bonus items before we wrap up. So a few housekeeping notes here. Each business is given five minutes to wow you. And we're really gonna stick to that schedule to ensure every presenter gets their moment in the spotlight. So for women's work presenters, I've got a five minute countdown that you're gonna see displayed on the screen.

And when your time is up, you're gonna hear a song. I want you to think of this as your Oscar moment. Don't get flustered. Just wrap up quickly. And for the audience, if you are interested in working with any of these businesses, or you have some you wanted to introduce to your network, we're gonna share all of their contact details in a follow-up email along with the event recording.

And lastly, if you do have a question, please drop us in the q and a box along with the presenter's name. This is gonna ensure that we capture everything, 'cause it can get lost in the main chat. And we're gonna compile all of the questions with answers and send that in a follow-up email. If we can have the next slide up, I wanna do a shout out here to all of the graduates of cohort five.

You know, we actually had a total of 17 incredible entrepreneurs who I had the pleasure of leading through the program, along with our sponsors, our industry experts and mentors. So a big thanks to all of them. And out of all of these 17 amazing women, 10 chose to present to you today. So let's dive in and get things started.

As I mentioned, we're gonna start with our inbound tour operator. First up, we have Yasmine Halasa. She is coming into Jordan, and she is the co-founder of ILA Travel. 

Yasmine Halasa: Thank you so much, Chris. It's lovely to be here. My name is Yasin and I'm the co-founder and CEO of Immersive local Adventures. And I'm actually a scholarship recipient, um, for Cohort five. So really grateful for Intrepid, for providing the scholarship. And the way that I'm gonna pitch today is that I'm actually gonna take you on an adventure.

Jordan has been on your bucket list for quite a while, and you made the very wise decision to choose ILA as your partner, as your company to organize everything for you. So we're gonna take a trip through Jordan. You've just arrived, you've settled in the capital. Aman and as you settle in because you chose ila, instead of wandering the streets of a city you've never been to relying on websites and reviews and being flustered, you have an incredible, authentic street tour organized for you with a local guide who takes you around, shops lets you meet people, gets you really closer to people, allows you to meet artists, shop owners in a way that you've never really seen a city exactly through the people's eyes.

You end the day with a cooking class, learning how to make authentic Arabic Jordanian dishes you are really excited about the next day because it's Petra, uh, a place that's almost synonymous with Jordan and you've always wanted to visit. Because you chose ila, instead of seeing it, uh, with hundreds and thousands of tourists with a guide that you can barely hear, you actually do the backdoor hike with a local adventure guide that lets you learn more about not only the site that you're seeing in the history, but also the people, the landscapes.

After lunch, you get to go to a local community and you learn how to do carpet weaving or attempt to do carpet weaving with a local craftsperson. It's not just about the activity, it's also about learning and appreciating this craft and hearing directly from the people while also creating and leaving some impact.

You learn how to make natural makeup, as we say, kaha in Arabic. Um, an ancient eyeliner made with olive oil. You are so excited because also the next day, just a few hours away is the desert of which actually looks like another planet and feels like you're on another planet instead of staying somewhere like this, which does not represent the local culture, staying in bubble camps, bubble tents that are made with plastic, um, boasting different features that don't really represent how people live.

You stay somewhere here, one of the only eco camps in Waam run by a local family, where you get to immerse yourself in hands-on experiences. Just like this one, you're making traditional bread underground, you're forging for wood. You sit around the fire, you have some tea and coffee, and you. You open up and you can ask any question you want, um, and learn about the people and how they live.

The Bedwin people you end the night with stargazing, but you don't just look at stars. You actually learn how they used to navigate, um, the solar system and the stars. An ancient wisdom that's actually lost today day.

You wake up at Sunset and you go not only on a, on a regular, um, camel ride, but you actually learn how the local bed ones care for these animals and actually treat them like family before you head out. You don't just drink coffee, you actually make it from local spices with the locals themselves. These are just a few of the experiences that we offer in our programs at ila.

And this is who we are. We are a a hundred percent women owned inbound tour operator focusing on multi-day, uh, small group travel in Jordan. Some words that describe us. We practice responsible travel. We're community-based, focused on authenticity, are programs are customized and everything that we do, we have hands-on experiences infused, um, throughout our programs and itineraries.

We pride ourselves because we actually do A to Z operations allow me to have seamless travel. Um, in Jordan. This is currently the team. Um, myself and Fatima have started this very small boutique company in 2020 and we have, um, over 12 years of combined experience in the travel space. So we know that we are in a growing market.

Uh, the lo, the Global Sustainable Tourism Market, which includes community-based tourism, is projected to to grow by, uh, to 135 billion by 2030. 72% of millennials and Gen Z travelers. And this is exactly our market. Prioritize experiences that allow them to interact with local communities and contribute to local economies.

Some numbers to show our traction to date, we are so proud to have had 22 international groups since 2022, ranging from two to 18 people, four to 12 days. So far it's been B2C, uh, proud of our, uh, satisfaction score of 4.9 out of five. On average, we've welcomed travelers from 10 countries and we're counting from the us, uk, Australia, Canada, Netherlands, Peru, Columbia, Mexico, India, and more.

We've organized four wildness retreats and 26 1 day experiences locally in Jordan, including CAN lit concerts, hikes, canyon Treks and more.

Some of the sponsors and partners that we've had, uh, are Lexus, uh, a local, uh, coffee place called BLA or Chain rather. Uh, and Jo, I can speak to those later, but for time reasons I'll be moving on. So this is what we're looking for. We're actually looking to partner and collaborate with OTOs or travel agencies or businesses that want to offer set programs or group trips to Jordan.

So I'm really happy to connect so that we can discuss how we can create seamless travel experiences for your clients. And with that, thank you so much. Um, I'm really grateful for the opportunity and I really hope that we get to connect. Thank you so much.

Chris Chow: Thank you so much, Yasmine. That was beautiful imagery of Jordan, and I'm sure all of us have our thinking caps on 'cause we wanna get over there as soon as possible.

Gorgeous. Um, okay, up next we have Andrea Basket P. She is the founder and CEO of at Wasi. I believe she's joining us from Jamaica. I'm trying to get this timer to work, so hopefully it does this time for you. All Over to you Andrea. 

Andrea Baskett-Pee: Morning everybody. I'm Andrea Basket P. And I am CEO of at Wasi. As a first generation American now living in Kingston, my journey began here as a child. But in 2017, I made Jamaica my permanent home together with my husband Jordan.

I founded C Rry and we were the first Salesforce consultancy headquartered in the English speaking Caribbean. But something unexpected happened, friends started noticing the hidden gems of Jamaica I was sharing on Instagram and what began as casual recommendations for friends and family evolved into curating exceptional experiences and at Wasi was born.

Today, we're revolutionizing travel in Jamaica by bridging authentic local experiences with world-class luxury service. Today's conscious, modern traveler craves more than just a resort experience. They want to connect with contemporary traditions, meet real people, and experience vibrant local culture.

But with comfort and reliability, traditional tourism often fails to deliver this balance, leaving travelers either stuck in a resort, bubbles, or struggling to access authentic experiences both safely and comfortably. At quasi, we've built a new model for luxury Caribbean travel. At its core, we're a seamless blend of technology, local expertise, and white glove service.

We partner with travel advisors through commission-based programs and white label services. We curate an exclusive portfolio of villas and uniquely Jamaican experiences. And thirdly, we provide round the clock support that ensures flawless execution. But what truly sets us apart is our impact. While others show you Jamaica, through a resort window, we unlock its hidden treasures.

We're transforming expectations of Caribbean luxury, creating access to exclusive experiences and building meaningful connections with local communities. Every journey we design, not only simplifies travel logistics, but actively preserves and celebrates Jamaican heritage. Now, most recently we've been tapped by MasterCard who selected us to curate their first ever luxury Jamaican experiences for the Caribbean launch of priceless.com a half Moon Jamaica.

These exclusive experiences are available for booking right now on their platform. We've built strategic partnerships with prestigious properties like Trial, Jamaica Inn and goldeneye, and innovative companies like Giana, through whom we offer our clients premium cannabis and exclusive behind the scenes tours of their state of the art facilities.

I'd like to share with you a recent success story. We were approached by a female CEO of a fast growing tech startup to plan their executive leadership retreat. Pretty much we had to design a five day program for six executives with a 25 to 30 5K budget focusing on team building and wellness while ensuring luxury accommodation and authentic cultural immersion.

With under just two weeks to plan, we delivered an amazing experience for accommodations. We secured a staff six bedroom beach villa in Discovery Bay with tech enabled meeting spaces for their strategic sessions. The central location provided easy access to all experiences while maintaining privacy and exclusivity.

We also crafted a wellness journey that blended luxury with local tradition morning spa treatments, paired with evening sessions from a local well, my herbalist, who shared centuries old Jamaican healing practices for cultural immersion. Arranged VIP access to the Rebel Salute reggae concert offering an authentic taste of Jamaican music culture.

We complimented this with traditional market, brave river rafting and curated local culinary experiences. Every detail was managed from private airport transfers to dedicated ground transport, from menu planning to tech setup. This is the level of comprehensive service we deliver, combining luxury, authenticity, and flawless execution, so to travel advisors and host agencies.

If you have discerning clients seeking exceptional experiences beyond the ordinary resort stay, we wanna work with you for property owners and investors. If you have a passion for operational excellence and design with Jamaican flair, we want your property in our portfolio, and to travel writers. If you're tired of writing about Duns River Falls and Jerk Chicken and want to tell Jamaica's untold stories, we wanna work with you.

This is your invitation to join Jamaica's new inner circle of luxury travel. What we're building at at Wase goes beyond transforming luxury travel. It's about reshaping how the world experiences Jamaica. Our deep relationships with property owners and intimate understanding of what discerning travelers want is laying the foundation for Jamaica's next chapter in luxury, hospitality and real estate.

Join our inner circle today and be a part of this transformative journey. You can visit@wasi.com or connect with us directly to explore how we can elevate your client's Jamaican experience, and thank you very much for your time.

Chris Chow: Thank you so much, Andrea. That was amazing. Can we not all agree that that was brilliant? And I love hearing about the other side of Jamaica because yes, we need to talk about going to visit those untold spaces and, and, and sharing that with everyone. So, uh, I just got an update. We actually are going to fix things by using the q and a for our chat as well.

So if you wanna share your support or if you wanna share any questions, please use the q and a button and thank you again for your patience as we go through all of this. Alright, next up we have Fiona McLean, who is the founder of Scotland Hikes and Tours. As she gets set up here, I wanna remind everyone, we do have a cohort launching in March, and if you are seeing all of these entrepreneurs and their successes and you wanna share that with someone in your network, please spread the word.

All right, over to you Fiona. 

Fiona McLean: Hi, I'm Fiona. I'm the founder of Scotland Hikes and Tours, and its new parent company, five C Adventures. A little bit about me if I can get the screen to change. Yeah, so I'm a dual national, splitting my year between Scotland and Canada, mainly Vancouver, where I'm from.

I'm a hiking guide, qualified in the UK and Ireland, and also a four season hiking guide, snowshoeing and hiking in Canada. I'm a landscape and travel photographer and drone pilot. I have a background in environment and sustainability. I'm a keen traveler like we all are here. I have, uh, hiked in 25 countries in six continents.

Out of the 45 I've been to and obviously want to increase that. And I speak fluent French, Italian and Spanish and intermediate German. So I think we probably all know this quote. And so this is, this embodies what I do. Uh, the only thing is, I think this last sentence, I don't think that being taught is alone is enough for people to understand something.

I think they need to see it and experience it. And to me, that's what travel is all about. And that's what I try to incorporate in everything I do. So what am I doing? So I've been working in Scotland for four years and this year I'm starting to work in Canada as well. I run group hikes and tours, especially women only, but I also do language-based tours and theme-based.

So that could be wildlife viewing or visiting conservation sites. I work with DMCs and agencies that have trips that they've already set up and that they need a, a tour leader or a hiking guide for. I also do custom trips and travel planning. So that could be a single individual person or a group that want me to guide them and take them on, uh, an experience that's created, especially for them.

And I also do self-guided trips from helping people that want to be self-sufficient to know where to go and what to do and how to get there. On the photography side, sorry, uh, I, I create content. So all the images you'll see in this presentation are my own. I run photo tours, I do group workshops, single and multi-day for women, and I do one-to-one tuition and mentoring for, um, for all genders.

I. Okay, so what makes, uh, my company different? So, as you can see, I have a nature and conservation focus. I try as much as possible for it to be slow and, and sustainable travel. So staying longer in one place, uh, plant-based meals using public transport or bus and train where possible. There's usually an education and training elements, so that could be as simple as teaching people about the local biodiversity issues in the place that we're visiting.

It could be teaching a skill, so it could be hiking or camping, or photography. As I said, I work a lot with women and they're usually in the 40 plus age category and in different languages. So what's coming up? Uh, so I have a program this spring that I'm launching called My First Monroe. So the Monroes are the mountains in Scotland, over 3000 feet.

There are 282 of them. Uh, Monroe Bagging in Scotland is a big thing, but not so much with women. So this is gonna be a women's program with women's speakers, with women guides. There'll be a webinar series. Um, so teaching them what they need to know in order to get out and do a Monroe. Then there'll be a multi-week training program, so getting them out on the hills to get them fit enough and confident enough to do a Monroe.

There will then be single day outings, and again, all women guides. And even though it's mainly aimed at women in Scotland, especially the single days, it could be a woman from anywhere. So launching five C Adventures, I mentioned the new parent company, so in French and the five C Stand for connection, community, curiosity, creativity, and Conservation.

And that it encompasses everything I do in believe in both in my personal and professional life. I'll be doing some retreats and immersives and some collaborations. So for example, working with a yoga retreat leader to add in a hiking component or working with someone who's a forest bathing, uh, therapist to do some mindful photography.

And I'll also be adding new destinations as of next year. So today I've had consistent five star reviews. I've had clients say that the hikes they did with me were the highlight of the trip, so I'm really proud of that. I've had clients return and referrals, both from clients and guides I've worked with, and agencies I've worked with.

I have some freelance guides on my books for when it's not me guiding or when I have big groups, mainly women. I've been on a couple of podcast episodes. I have 130,000 followers on social media across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, blue Sky, et cetera. I have some upcoming and current partnerships and ambassadorships, uh, with camera gear and, um, companies in the outdoor industry.

Here's how we can work together. So I'm looking for referrals. So FIT clients that are looking for a trip to join, or groups that want a custom trip created for them. I am looking to work with DMCs or agencies that are needing a tour leader or a hiking guide. I'm also looking for collaboration. So someone has a trip that they want to add a hiking element to it, or perhaps photography.

So that could be coming on the trip and teaching the participants some photography skills so they get better images from their trip. Or it could be coming along on the trip as a photographer to document it and to create content. And as I said, all of these images you've seen are my own, and here is how you can contact me.

So thanks very much.

Chris Chow: Amazing. Congratulations on that, Fiona. I know she was worried about her time, but she did it. That was great. And again, let's think about how we can give someone like Fiona a leg up. Is it in your own business? Is it the context that you have? Whatever it is, put those thinking caps on and let's continue to show our support for these incredible entrepreneurs.

Okay, so next up we're moving on to our outbound tour operators. And first up we have Annise. I say she's the founder of Common Healing and she was mentioned in a shout out from Intrepid earlier. I am so excited to hand this over to you. She's gonna get ready to set up her screen and share for us. And, uh, as we are doing that, I also wanna say, you know, if you wanna contribute as an industry expert, a sponsor or a mentor.

Please get in touch with Iris as she is preparing and I'm taking all of this information for us to get ready for cohort number six. All right, Annise, over to you. 

Anna Leese: Thank you so much. Um, my name is Annise and I am the founder of Common Healing, a boutique travel company where we empower both travelers and communities to thrive.

I am not African because I was born in Africa. I, but because Africa was born in me, this quote from Kwame Nkrumah, the Ghanaian president who led Ghana to become the first Sub-Saharan African country to gain independence from their colonizers, reflects the memory embodied in all African people throughout the world.

Over many generations, forces have attempted to sever this connection to the richness of African soil through forceful removals, resource extraction, violence. It's a radical act to gather Africans in the diaspora around their shared history, fostering unity and restoring connection. It's a radical act to choose to swim in the waters that have endured as much AF as African people carrying an intention of healing and wellness.

Our trips go much deeper than a vacation through intentional programming, local relationships and wellness experiences, or ending cycles of trauma and initiating cycles of healing. We don't just bring travelers to extract from a destination and then go home. Through genuine friendship and professional partnerships, we connect travelers with locals and seed meaningful relationships through our relationships on the ground.

In a growing list of countries, including South Africa, Ghana, and Columbia, we organize healing centered retreats that foster international connections and take the stress of planning travel to Africa out of the equation for travelers. Our retreats are typically seven days long. We arrive in a city such as Accra or Johannesburg, so travelers can land.

While in urban centers, we offer villa stays, dining experiences, and live music to show the vibrancy of a place. After two nights, we head into a more rural environments, exposing travelers to the vast experiences of African living. We immersed in nature through wellness, activities, sports, farm visits, ceremony, and ritual.

We adhere to a slow travel inspired by indigenous ways of life. I had like to read a testimonial from Naya, who was just pictured in the last slide, surfing. She had never surfed before, by the way. Um, she also came on my South Africa trip, and this is from her experience there. Our recent journey to Johannesburg and Emfa Malanga in South Africa with common healing was nothing short of life changing.

This wasn't just a trip, it was a profound experience, rooted in the wisdom of natural healers and Omas, deeply immersed in the rich Pan-African history of Johannesburg. From the moment we arrived, we were immersed in cultural legacy of this vibrant city. A visit to Nelson Mandela's home was a powerful reminder of the enduring spirit of resilience and freedom.

We also had the chance to explore the cradle of humankind where the oldest human remains ever found. Testify to our shared origins. Our journey culminated at an incredible eco farm. The lush land coupled with delicious food from an onsite restaurant and private guided art tour provided a serene, enriching end to our travels.

It was here that we truly felt the interconnected web of sustenance, that common healing aims to cultivate. What made this trip even more special was the group of African descendant people we traveled with, ranging from babies to elders. The sense of community and shared heritage added layers of meaning to every experience.

My partner and I learned so much and felt deeply connected to both the land and our fellow travelers. If you have an opportunity to book with this incredible founder and Elise, do not hesitate her vision of creating travel experiences that go beyond extraction and foster mutual reciprocity is evident in every aspect of the journey.

Common healing connects you with the authenticity of a place through reverence of the land and the wisdom of the people. As you can see here on the slide, in our first two retreats, we generated over $30,000 in revenue, a majority of which was invested into the communities we brought travelers to. We don't simply visit a destination through a voyeuristic and extractive manner.

We connect our travelers to local culture and land stewards, fostering international relationships that can advance our mission to restore the ties that have been broken and continue to be under attack due to Western imperialism. To enable this, Africa is often painted as a poor continent with any, when any lack is due to the theft from colonial forces.

Africa is an extremely rich place. Currently, those resources are largely taken away from the continent to the global North, perpetuating these narratives that keep Africa oppressed. Despite this, the African consumer expenditure is expected to reach 2.5 trillion. By the year 2030, there's an opportunity to bring offerings to the African consumer with the intention of reciprocity, economic development, and environmental preservation.

My ask of you today is for connection to brands who are interested in intentional partnerships in the form of financial sponsorship, and in exchange want access to African markets and global travelers to raise awareness for their offerings. My vision is for these trips to be free to participants so we can intentionally curate a group of travelers and locals who will benefit from immersing in an African retreat experience with one another.

We have a network of influencers, artists, organizers, wellness practitioners, and sports hosts with social capital, who will not only offer visibility to partner brands, but will create lasting artifacts that will guide us collectively into new worlds that leave extraction and domination behind. Imagine a world marked by global unity and equitable resource allocation.

You can reach me at hello@commonhealing.org or DM me on Instagram at Common Healing. I'd like to give a thank you to I-G-L-T-A for believing in the vision of Common healing and offering me a scholarship to participate in women's.

Chris Chow: Amazing. Thank you. Our first Oscar moment there. Thanks so much, Annise. That's, that was incredible. And you know, I think we can all agree that the more women we get into leadership and ownership positions, you know, it's going to better our industry because we're gonna be able to serve the diverse needs of the buyers, right?

There's a market for this in travel and clearly Annalise's company is doing that. So definitely think about her and connect. Okay, so next up we have got Candace Mortimer, who is the co-founder of Transformative Journeys. And as Candace gets ready here with her presentation to share, I just wanna remind everybody that, uh, the q and a chat is open like a chat at this point, so you can drop a question, but you can also share where you're from and share your support and love for these incredible entrepreneurs.

'cause I'm so blown away by them all today so far. All right, over to you Candace. 

Candace Mortimer: Thanks Chris. Um, hello everyone. My name is Candace Mortimer. I am the co-founder of Transformative Journeys. We are a wellness centric inbound and outbound tour operator. Our motto is, you are the destination.

Let the journey be your guide. This is my business partner Rita, and myself. Um, after hearing lots about each other from mutual friends, we came together about two years ago to, um, start this journey of forming transformative journeys. Um, we discovered that we had a lot of similarities and a shared passion for wellbeing.

Our company was born, um, our company CRA crafts transformative travel experiences that blend mindful exploration with deep cultural connection. We specialize in curating personalized journeys that go beyond traditional tourism and drawing on our extensive travel experience in Africa, Asia, and Europe, where we've developed strong partnerships, um, on the ground with, , authentic, , partners.

Here is a little bit about our backgrounds and what led us to get here. We both moved to Africa over a decade ago, Rita, to work in marketing for a luxury safari tour operator and myself to consult for a Tanzanian Tourism Association. Both were supposed to be short term contracts, but a love of Africa was born down the line.

We found ourselves working within travel from living safaris to the African continent, and it was there that we discovered the power that these types of trips have. Um, on the clients that experience them and the true healing power of travel from their transformative journeys was born together. We have over 25 years of travel experience of, uh, sorry, work experience in the luxury travel sector, and we look forward to sharing that with our clients 

prior to launching in March of 2024, we spent about eight months, um, really digging into the needs of the modern traveler. And it was there that we discovered that, um, you know, the growing, uh, industry that the wellness travel features, um, specifically within the tourism industry. So here are some statistics on that.

And, you know, research shows that clients are seeking holistic experiences, um, not just at home, but also when they travel, they wanna continue that journey of. Taking wellness with them throughout their travels. Um, there's a strong growth within the specific sector of tourism, and we look to be at the forefront of this.

Our custom journeys always include the following components, so personal growth. Um, each journey is thoughtfully designed to create space for self discovery and inner transformation. Guided by our deep understanding of wellness practices and personalized development, um, cultural immersion. Through our carefully crafted local partnerships, our travelers engaged meaningfully with communities, traditions and customs, fostering genuine connections and um, mutual understanding, mindful experiences.

Our journeys incorporate moments for reflection and presence. Through our travel journal, um, which we're developing, um, or through yoga at sunrise, meditation and nature sound healing or simply savoring local cuisine with intention. Sustainable impacts. We partner primarily with owner running operated properties, service providers committed to environmental conservation and community empowerment.

Um, ensuring each journey creates positive ripples in the places that they visit. Authentic accommodation. We select sanctuaries that honor local heritage and natural surroundings run by people who understand the delicate balance between luxury and authenticity. Since our launch, we have curated eight trips, um, and destinations ranging from Rowan to to Vietnam recently became members of 1% for the planet dedicated to donating 1% of our sales to, environmental organizations.

We've attended a few industry con uh, conferences, , furthering our partnerships with locals on the ground. Um, there's a review from one of our clients. I'm running out of time, so I'm just gonna skip quick to our ask. , we're looking for partnerships with wellness centers, um, coaches, um, we any travel agents that are looking for dynamic, um, personalized itineraries.

Um, and we'll be launching our travel journal next month. So any press that, you know that might be interested in that, um, I think I'm done. Thank you. 

Chris Chow: Thank you so much, Candace. I know five minutes goes by really quickly, so you know, we all, we all get it, you know, we have some grace for everyone here because it's a lot and it's, they're doing so well and I'm so incredibly proud.

I hope all of you are enjoying these incredible pitch presentations. So, up next we have Virginia Shield and she is the founder of Ginny. As she gets set up here, I am seeing some amazing conversations happening in the chat, um, and call to actions, which is fantastic. That's what we wanna see. Keep the support up and again, keep those thinking caps on.

All right, over to you, Virginia. . 

Virginia Shiela: Hi, my name's Virginia ela and I'm the founder of Jenny. I'm on a mission towards greater equality through travel and storytelling. I'm doing that through connecting people across cultures and empowering the overlooks, by which I mean, uh, bicultural people, queer folks, those with accessibility needs and many more.

I'm offering trips, retreats, and workshops to these communities that not only are fun to do, but also really give back infants or indeeds. Of course, I'm not doing that alone. I have amazing, uh, partners, one of which is also in this call, positive impact tourism from, uh, Esther. And if you want to have these experiences, uh, included as well, please connect with her as well.

But first, to make it more, um, tangible, I will give two, um, examples of trips that, uh, could really give back. The first one to Surinam, I'm roots at Sese Indian and Dutch, though I've never been to Surinam, it's South America. Just, uh, just the states. Surinam has a rich history in culture, um, people and much more.

For an example, for this trip I have, um. The bony trail included, and that's a trail that you can do where you really experience how it was to be enslaved. That's not fun, but I really believe that, um, well cultural connection happens when you really experience certain things. So that's one part of the sur surname trip.

Another part is visiting indigenous communities, , and not just visiting, but cooking together with them. So that means making cas, but that makes, making roti, uh, or maybe nothing. Bamboo and those kind of things. And of course, the local parties over there are also bicultural people. The second example is about Madeira, Portugal, and it's not about the destination itself, it's more about the people, because this will be a group trip for the queer community.

But not just for the queer community. It's also hosted locally in Madea by queer entrepreneurs. Two examples of giving back, actions we do over there is, um, for the strip. , Madea is famous for their lavas, so the waterfalls, and you can do beautiful hikes, but during your hike you can really do something back.

So you can, , do, , a cleanup, so you actually contribute with keeping the place clean. Another example is, um, there are a lot of stray animals. So there's a shelter there where you can take some dogs out to, yeah. To go for a walk and a hike. So that's really fun for the traveler, but also for the local communities.

It's amazing to take the work out of their hands so they can work on other stuff. Right? So do those are true experiences that my company offers specifically for these communities. Next to this, I'm also hosting a podcast Genie's Voices, where I amplify the voices of those often and heard, and those stories are journeys beyond travel.

So it can be like physical travel stories, it can be migration stories, um, but it can also be deeper stories, towards, , personal development. So, um, the journey towards healing, so to say. Um, I'm currently fundraising. I'm based in the Netherlands. And even in a wealthy country like this, it has been almost impossible to get proper access to funding.

Just to state some facts, only 2% of female founders get access to funding, and if you add the layer of color on top of that, uh, it drops to 0.8%. So this is why I, in the end, chose for crowdfunding and I'm in the middle of my crowdfunding round. So I'm very happy with this opportunity. And I chose crowdfunding because one, I'm empowering, overlooked communities and that means I need the whole ecosystem.

So I need all sorts of people and I need all sorts of Yeah. Support I can get. Um, second, yeah, fundraising has been really a challenge and well, to grow my company, I need some funding. So yeah, you all get the chance to help me shine. Um, that is by one contributing. And if everyone in this call just contributes 10 euros, I'm already 500 euros further.

Uh, but of course for those who have the means. Bigger contributions will really help because at the moment, the, , campaign can use a little bit of traction. Second, please share the story. Um, so three people, you might think this company or my company is valuable to them, so that would be really helpful.

And another one is, this is a big ask. I'm also looking for famous people to get connected to, to amplify, uh, the story because I feel like this deserves to be heard. Uh, so I'm looking for people that's connect, can connect me to famous people, um, maybe minorities or people that really make an impact.

Sean Rhymes is an example. Maybe, uh, a big ask, but if anyone can connect me to someone famous, that would be amazing. So if you, uh, want to join this mission towards greater equality through travel and storytelling, then please join the Journey Movement.

Chris Chow: Thank you so much, Virginia. Um, I know it's, again, the five minutes goes so fast, but, uh, what I really loved about your pitch there too is, you know, you gave some really actual items, just sharing something. I think people forget about the impact that we can have by sharing something. It does not have to always be monetary.

If we can spread the word, help, support a business, comment on their profiles, or, you know, give them a Google Review, all of these things give them that advantage that they need to survive. Okay, up next, we are joined by Alexandria Newbold. She is the founder and CEO of off Rock, Bahamas. And, uh, Andrea was sharing some, or Alexandra, sorry, was sharing some really great news before, uh, we jumped on.

So I, I know she's pumped and we're ready to hear you go over to you.

Alexandria Newbold: Good morning again. Good afternoon everyone. If I told you about a destination where you could adventure through untouched mangroves, have a hands-on experience learning how to fish alongside local experts, swim in deep blue holes that feel like portals to another world, and dance in the streets of the rhythms of an island culture centuries in the making.

Where would you think I'm talking about, uh, Costa Rica, the Galapagos, maybe Thailand. Well, what if I told you that this place was The Bahamas? Not The Bahamas of major resorts and cruise ship filled, crowded beaches, but a Bahamas that is raw and real and ready to be discovered? I'm Alexandria New Bull, and I found it.

Author Rock Bahamas, women Adventures to Change the Way Women Experience my Home. The industry often writes The Bahamas off as just another typical tourist escape, but I'm here to show you why I deserve its place among the world's most authentic, immersive, and culturally rich adventure destination. The problem, the perception is The Bahamas is overpriced and lacks meaningful experiences.

The reality is The Bahamas offers just as much death as any other adventure destination. But lately that has been lost in our marketing. Don't get me wrong, we are a premier destination for sun, sand, and sea, but we are so much more. And at off the rock, Bahamas, we provide immersive cultural and fishing experiences that offer travel as a deeper, more authentic connection to The Bahamas.

Through our hands-on exploration of our heritage and our environment, we empower women to embrace new challenges, uh, learned valuable skills, and confidently navigate new spaces. We are not a Torah company. We are experienced architects crafting adventures that show the soul of The Bahamas. We offer intimate corporate team building retreats designed for companies looking for purpose-driven travel.

Our experiences teach resilience and teamwork through local craft workshops, nature excursions, and communal cooking experiences, our immersive cultural experiences. For example, guests would participate in Jon Cano, the Heartbeat of Bahamian culture. They would not just watch the parade, they would craft their own costumes, learn the rhythms and the music, and become a part of the celebration.

We also offer guided eco adventures for wading through our national parks to learning sustainable fishing techniques with our local fishermen. We take visitors deep into the unspoiled beauty of The Bahamas as a company rooted in local tradition and knowledge. We offer insights and experiences. Beyond the reach of larger operators supporting the local economy and fostering genuine interactions with community.

We have found that there's a high demand for immersive travel, and our pilot trips have shown that women are actively seeking authentic bohemian experiences. Our final pilot trip was fully booked with six women. Our customized itineraries have attracted adventurous solo women and a few local corporate groups looking for new experiences.

A time was had, as you can see from some of the feedback from our latest adventure.

I believe that Off the Rock is special and what we can bring to the women adventure landscape is very unique in that regard. Today I am looking for partnerships B2B partnerships with tow operators and travel agents. Uh, let's work together to offer your clients something truly different. We'll handle the planning, the logistics, and the customization, and you'll provide them with an experience that they will never forget.

We are also looking to work with corporate and team retreats, organizers. We are actively seeking organizations that want to offer their teams purposeful, high impact travel that fosters personal and professional growth. Additionally, we need partners willing to work with us to get the word out there that there is something here, an adventure that awaits beyond the resorts.

I want to leave you with this. Travel should be more than a vacation. It should be an awakening. The Bahamas says everything needed to offer that, but most don't know where to find it. And with Author World, Bahamas, I think you will. And with your help, I. We can change the way the people experience this country forever.

So let's connect, let's collaborate, let's take The Bahamas off the rock and into the adventure world. Thank you guys. 

Chris Chow: Oh, thank you so much, Alexandria. I loved your enthusiasm and your energy there and it really does make me wanna see the other side of, uh, Bahamas, you know, and fishing. I actually had my first deep sea fishing experience and I know that there's some more to be done there, so I really would love to have you lead me on that.

So again, if you are here joining us today and you have a client that you think would, might, you know, fit with this experience, connect and reach out to Off the Rock Bahamas. Okay, so up next we have Brianna Loach and she is the founder and CEO of Buoyant Travel. She is going to be taking us through her incredible company and what she has established so far.

As a reminder, you know, the q and A is going, I see people and support is happening. We love it. You know, don't forget to spread the word about women's work. You're seeing the impact live. You're seeing what can happen, and we want you all to be part of this and amplify all of these entrepreneur success.

Brianna, are you set up and ready to go? Yep. I'm sharing my screen now. Amazing. I'll leave it over to you. Thank you.

Brianna Loach: All right. Hi everyone. I am Brianna and this is buoyant. So you might've seen this stat before. A little birdie just told me it's actually higher now, but in 2020, A-M-M-G-Y study revealed that black US travelers spent over a billion dollars, um, on travel in 2019. These are my folks. So a little bit about Buoyant.

In 2017, I started this company in my dorm room, , as a part of a pitch competition similar to this one, , at my university. And I won $600 in startup funds, but really I gained the confidence to, to make this happen. So in 2019, I launched my first group trip to Accra, Ghana, and in 2025 we're hosting trips to Puerto Rico, Senegal, Brazil, Ghana, plus I have an alumni community now.

Um, and we're going to places like Charleston, South Carolina. So this is the team. Small but mighty me. Um, besides being an entrepreneur and the founder at Buoyant, I'm also an award-winning travel journalist. Um, my sister pretty much helps me with everything. Um, but she's an, , events and operations expert.

And then some of the folks at the bottom who I wouldn't be able to do this without., buoyant helps connect the diaspora with cool, cool people, places, and businesses where people, experts with years worth of contacts that our travelers get access to on our experiences, places we intentionally design our trips to go to destinations, rich and black history and culture.

So we're not just going anywhere just to say we've been, we're going to places like Ghana, like Brazil, um, and businesses we're committed to supporting at least two black businesses on every trip. But it's often more, as you'll see later from Baltimore, where I'm from to Baia, here's how we connect our kinfolk, what we call our travelers with.

Cool. So group trips, as I mentioned, local experiences that I'm building. This is some of our chem folk in Ghana in this past December. They were a family traveling and they were looking for, uh, a cooking class and they wouldn't have been able to find this experience without Buoyant 'cause it's not on Google.

And we connected them with some local folks who deliver the experience, travel guides. And then what's forthcoming a members club. So this is the numbers and the impacts. So far. Three to five partners on average is the amount of black creatives, entrepreneurs, and businesses that we support on every trip.

That's intentional. That's always, this ain't about DEI, this is what it has been from the beginning. Uh, 70 plus travelers, uh, on trips since 2019 on both our private and public, uh, group trips. And then in 2024, very proud to say that, uh, I hit six figures. We hit six figures in revenue for the first time ever with our flagship Ghana trip, generating 59 k of that alone.

So this is my ask for anyone who is here or people in your network who you can connect me to. , first I mentioned that I'm building a membership community. , so I'm looking for, I have the foundation, I have alum and people that are interested in this, but I'm looking for like the backend support. So people who have connections or themselves to people who have successfully scaled membership communities.

Please connect me and just overall insights, best practices for growing and retaining a membership community. , email marketing is the second thing that I'm really doubling down on in 2025. So again, looking to be connected to anyone who is an expert on email marketing, especially within the travel space, um, and how all those marketing funnels lead to conversions.

And then investment two asks here, , I would love. Funding to be able to sponsor two of our travelers this year for one of our experiences in Senegal, Brazil, or Ghana. Senegal's in May. Brazil is in both August and November and Ghana is in December. And beyond that, if you or someone here, um, someone in your network here, um, would love to come on one of our 2025 trips.

We're going to Puerto Rico, Senal, Brazil, and Ghana as I mentioned, and you can use the code demo Day $400 off. We would love to welcome you and your kinfolk. , here's why you can get in contact with me, buoyant travel.com. There's my email, buoyant Travel across social, and then I'm Brianna LaBeck Again, as a reminder, you can find me on LinkedIn, um, and I would love to connect with anyone that wants to connect with me.

Thanks so much for listening. I appreciate it. 

Chris Chow: Wow. Thank you so much, Brianna. I love your journey knowing that you started this in your dorm room, getting some funding. $600 doesn't seem like a lot, but it means the world to somebody when it can be confidence, when it can give you that leg up to start. So again, keep those minds.

Turn in as to how you might be able to support an incredible entrepreneur like Brianna. Okay, up next, we are gonna be joined by SAVI Tilden. She is the founder and CEO of Adventure Us. I'm gonna pass it along to her. 

Savi Tilden: Hi everyone. Adventure is defined as an exciting or remarkable experience for many.

Adventure is something aspirational, maybe inspirational, and unfortunately often inaccessible something that only lives on other people's social media feeds. There are many potential barriers when it comes to getting outdoors and accessing adventure, finding welcoming places to learn financial limitations, proximity to the activities you wanna try.

Fear fitting in self-doubt, and not seeing when self-represented in the outdoor communities that you wanna be a part of. I'm here because I envision a world where all women can find empowerment, connection, and community through transformative outdoor experiences. And I believe that there's adventure in all of us.

My name is Aria Tilden, and I'm the founder of Adventurous. At Adventurous, we create inclusive, welcoming experiences for women of all ages, races, sizes, backgrounds, and skill levels, and for our friends of all gender identities and expressions who are seeking a women-centered space for their adventures.

As unique as we are as individuals, so is the way we define adventure. We wanna help women discover what adventure means to them and how to bring the magic of adventure into their lives. In 2019, we started offering our signature US-based adventure retreats for women. This year, our adventure retreats are taking place in the Pacific Northwest and the southeast.

In 2022, we started offering international women only adventure travel opportunities, and so far we have explored in Europe, Canada, and South Africa. And in that journey we realized we may have become an tour operator. Over 300 women from 32 states and four countries have joined us on over 23 experiences, each women seeking and finding adventure on their own terms and having fun doing it.

Many returning year after year, year after year to join us on a new adventure. We believe in not only empowering our travelers, but as a woman in LGBTQ plus owned business, I believe in uplifting other women entrepreneurs and uplifting women in the outdoor industry, prioritizing, working with and hiring women.

We want our clients to see women in leadership roles and in the outdoors, and to see themselves reflected in the women they're learning from. Over the last six years, we have paid over $254,000 to women owned businesses, guides, and instructors. Our adventure retreats are women led, beginner friendly and all inclusive, creating a welcoming environment for women to come and seek adventure.

We bring together women from their twenties to their seventies, mothers and daughters, solo travelers, those who are adventure, curious, and those who are just seeking adventure in their lives. By creating an environment where women can show up and find unconditional acceptance and support, we see women showing up as their authentic selves and thriving.

We prioritize learning, building community and genuine connection, not only to the outdoors, but to each other. Something we need now more than ever. My dream is for our retreats to become accessible to as many women as possible, and this is where you can come in. Since 2019, we've been able to offer $49,000 in scholarships for our bipoc and LGBTQ plus participants through partner sponsorships.

These scholarships reduce the financial barrier of attending our retreats and have resulted in a diverse group of women being able to attend our retreats. This is where I'm asking for your help and hopefully to become a sponsor or to share this with somebody who you think would be a great sponsor for us.

Fiscal sponsorships allow us to create scholarship opportunities and potentially bring down the overall cost for everyone. Making adventure accessible for all our trips are retreats, our great gateways to adventure. My background of almost 20 years in experiential marketing and events ensures that each sponsorship package provides our partners with great marketing benefits, authentic connections, to engage to an engaged and targeted demographic, and the opportunity for you to help get underrepresented communities outdoors.

We think of ourselves as a trusted partner in adventure for our women and hope that you'll join us in creating opportunities for women who seek a fuller life through adventure. I'd like to share a quote from one of our scholarship recipients. Helen. The Bend Retreat weekend left a lasting impact, one that I will remember for a very long time, the best part of the weekend, including meeting all the different women who came from all over the US from all walks of life and sharing the love of the outdoors.

This was a weekend of self-care and the kind of self-care kind of weekend, and an opportunity for community building, and I was beyond moved by the people, the experiences, and the welcoming environment. It was refreshing to be in an environment where there wasn't any social pressure, but only words of encouragement, guidance, acceptance, and Badass Lady Ladies teaching these courses.

The adventurous retreat revived me for the future of the outdoors. I wish to create one that brings more inclusivity and diversity.

I would love to connect with you and bring you into our magical world of joy, fun, and thriving together through adventure. We invite you to be one of the adventurous. Thank you. I would also like to note that um, we have been working under adventurous women, but are in the midst of a rebrand to adventurous.

So our social media is adventure, US women, and as is our website still, but we are transitioning to adventurous. So just wanted to throw that out there. Thanks everyone. 

Chris Chow: Thank you so much. The area. That was great. I love the imagery of everyone coming together and the impact that you're already making. And yeah, we can truly help these entrepreneurs when we listen to their specific ask.

It's not necessarily about what you can do, but perhaps somebody in your network because as we know, networking is so important to their success. Okay, well that wraps up all of our in, or sorry, outbound tour operators and we have a representation company with us today. We're very excited to introduce you to Sophia Hatchett.

She's the founder of Kamasa Collection. So I'm gonna pass this off to Sophia. She's getting her presentation ready as I can see. And over to you.

Sophia Hatchett: Hi everyone. My name is Sophia Hatchett and I am founder of Kamasa Collection, a boutique marketing and representation company focused entirely on Asia. Um, a little bit about me because this collection pulls from my personal experiences living and traveling in Asia, um, and then working in the luxury market in the us.

Um, so my experience started 10 years ago in Japan. I worked at a resort there in Okinawa and that steamrolled my love for the entire region of Asia. Um, I studied tourism in Hong Kong. My first job out of college was in Singapore, working for a travel tech company. Um, and then I moved to New York to work for luxury tour operators and DMCs focused solely on Asia.

Um, I then joined a travel agency startup, where I was able to really understand the inner our workings of a travel agency. And I left in May to start my own marketing representation, company based, focused entirely on Asia. I officially launched in July 20, 24 to the trade, and I launched with two clients, um, two DMCs, one in Thailand, one in Japan.

 My mission was really to work with local partners on the ground, predominantly family owned businesses. Um, I really wanted the luxury dollars to be Scott to go to the people on the ground. I wanted to really start small, , with destinations I'm super familiar with. So our mission has really been to strengthen relationships between the North American tribal market and also with unique partners in Asia who are pulling from their own networks and their own experiences to cultivate really unique trips for North American Open to all, but has been North American Travel Advisors.

And I've done this solely remotely, um, since launching in July, 2024. Um. My goal is to obviously expand, to be in person, , but my in-service representation, , kind of factors into remote at the moment. Um, so what we do is typical representation, um, bringing my col my connection of travel advisor colleagues of the past seven, eight years to my partners on the ground.

Um, and because my partners on the ground, typically, uh, the two of them family owned, very, very small, came from not a lot of experience in the travel industry, um, has kind of formed into this representation in business consulting service. So, , my clients pay me essentially to bring the business, but also to do business development with them.

And that is ongoing through the partnership. Um, our traction to date, um, again in just six months. Um, our travel partners in Japan and Thailand have engaged with 226 unique travel advisors from a variety of travel agencies. Um, we had 54 upcoming trips on the books as of December, 2024. Um, and then we had 11 completed trips in this first six months, meaning from, you know, initial contact to December, we were able to have 11 people travel with us.

I'm sorry, 11 travelers from travel agents travel with us. Um, and we had almost a million dollars in upcoming bookings as of December, 2024. We've seen essential growth since then just in January, February already. Um, and it's proven growth and strong demand and obviously measurable impact for the region of Asia, um, which is one that I never, ever get tired of talking about.

, however, our ask for all of this is potential partners in Asia, so I'm keeping it very small and boutique. I am hands on with all the trips that have come through. I jump on calls with travel advisors and their clients to talk about the two destinations we have in our portfolio. But my reach is throughout Asia, not just Japan and Thailand.

And I'd like to expand outside of that. Currently we just have DMCs, but I'm open to boutique hotels and resorts. Um. Priority is family owned, but I'm open. Um, I really wanna help companies that are getting their feet off the ground start strong, um, in the North American travel market. Um, and because I worked for a tour company, a tour operator, pardon, of me and a DMC that focused entirely on Asia and I've been to many countries within the region, I am happy to talk about, um, any country and represent any of the services within that country.

So I'm looking for potential partners. Um, if you know of anybody who is looking for representation in the US luxury market that is based in Asia, I. I would love to be connected. Um, and my goal for 2026 is expansion to South America. Um, I have been fortunate enough to travel down. I'm, I'm based in Florida, so it's a quick fight down, um, down south and I fell in love with the countries that I visited and I'm looking to expand my company to represent more, um, companies in South America that share the similar ethos of my clients in Asia.

So thank you all for your time. I really appreciate it. 

Chris Chow: Amazing. Well done. Sophia. Honestly, I am so proud of all of the participants today, the presenters. You've done so incredible. I think we can all agree that, you know, these women are remarkable in their own right and they are doing things that ha, they are creating businesses that have impact as well.

So it's this ripple effect that we're all contributing to. So I hope you are all feeling good about yourself and being part of this incredible event. Let's give them all a well-rounded virtual applause, and I want you all to think again about how you might be able to truly support these graduates. Is there a space in your world, you know, your business or your professional network, maybe even it's your personal context that could help elevate their success.

Even a small introduction or opportunity can make a huge difference. All right, so for yourselves, please check your inbox tomorrow. You're going to get an email that has the contact information of all of these incredible businesses that pitch today. And later next week we're going to answer, um, any of the questions that were dropped into the q and a box.

And then four, um, all of you being such a fantastic audience and sharing your enthusiasm and support for our graduates. We wanna thank you and each attendee has been entered to win a free one-on-one business consulting session with Women's Work Founder Iris. If this doesn't work for you, you can pay it forward.

That's what we're all about here. So the winner is going to be announced on social media, so be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram. I know Claire's gonna be sharing those links for us, and it's been an absolute honor and pleasure being your host here today. I wanna thank everyone for your support.

I'm gonna pass this back to Iris to do a quick wrap up on things. Have a great day everyone.

Iris Serbanescu: Thank 

you so much, Chris. That was amazing and congratulations to everyone who pitched today. It is incredible to how far you've come from when I met you all. September when we launched women's work. So congratulations to everyone who pitched your businesses.

Your passion, your energy is just so inspiring and I'm sure the audience here will agree and have some great opportunities to, um, pay it forward to you all. So, before we wrap up, I just wanna reiterate that we have a special offer for anyone who registered today that's interested in joining the next cohort of women's work.

If you're here and you have a business and you're thinking you wanna make 20, 25 a year to feel confident, grow your revenue and make new connections in the industry. And beyond this stage in six months, we'd love to have you apply for our next cohort. It launches on March 31st, and applications are open until February 21st.

So as a big thank you to you for registering, you will get $300 off. Um, if you decide to join our March 31st cohort, we just ask that you apply by tomorrow, February 14th, while you're still excited. Um, but if you do need a few more days for your application, no problem, please just let us know. We'll still honor that.

Once again, thank you to all of you who took the time to join to support our community, and huge congrats to the businesses who pitched today and did such an incredible job. Uh, I just want to end by especially thanking Chris and Claire who made this event run as smoothly as possible and just killed it.

So thank you to the women's work team. Round of applause for them. Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions. If you're interested in becoming a sponsor, applying for a cohort, or have any general questions about anything travel related, I'm always here to chat and thanks again for joining us.

Have a wonderful day everybody. Bye-bye.