Podcast

Jackie Kai Ellis (@jackiekaiellis) had an extremely successful life in her late-twenties; she was a designer and living with her husband in the beautiful city of Vancouver. Yet, Jackie was struggling with depression and felt emptier than ever. On today’s episode, Jackie shares the circumstances that led her to enroll in a Parisian patisserie school – an experience that restored her joy for life leading her to open the award-winning pâtisserie, Beaucoup Bakery & Café in Vancouver and later writing the national bestselling book, The Measure of My Powers: A Memoir of Food, Misery, and Paris.

 

Mallory was born with an entrepreneurial spirit, and though she loved working with businesses to strategize and further their objectives, she was overworked and under-inspired at her NYC advertising agency. After cancelling several solo trips, she finally committed to a much-needed getaway in Morocco. On today's episode, Mallory shares experiences from that trip that inspired her to create Salam Hello – a textile company which champions the women artisans behind Morocco's famous rugs and pays them fairly.

Jessica Nabongo (@thecatchmeifyoucan) has been traveling internationally since she was just four years old, born to Ugandan immigrant parents who were no strangers to adventure and exploration. At a young age, she set a lofty goal for herself – to travel the entire world – and officially met her goal at just 35 years old. On today’s episode, Jessica shares stories from her experience as the first black woman to visit all 195 countries and document her journey along the way.

Nicole Smith is the founder and CEO of Flytographer (@flytographer), a marketplace that connects travelers with local photographers in cities around the world for fun vacation photo shoots. In just six years, Nicole has grown Flytographer into a multi-million dollar business that operates in 300 cities across six continents. On today’s episode, Nicole shares how a reunion with her best friend in Paris gave her the idea to start the company.

Nicole Vargas (@niknakvargas) is a Colombian-American and New York-based editor. She is the Travel Editor of The Infatuation and the Co-Founder and Editor of Unearth Women with a travel book due to come out in Spring 2021. In this episode, Nikki recounts the journey that inspired her to quit her job, call off her wedding, and wholeheartedly pursue a career in travel writing.

Jacqueline Gifford is Editor in Chief of Travel + Leisure. Most recently, she was Travel + Leisure's Travel Director, and has held various senior editorial positions since she joined the brand in 2013. Born in Japan, and raised in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Philadelphia, Gifford has traveled the world extensively. On today’s episode, Jacqueline shares a nostalgic trip to Japan, the country where she was born, at a particularly pivotal moment: her own pregnancy.

Rachel Friedman is the author of The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost: A Memoir of Three Continents, Two Friends, and One Unexpected Adventure. It was chosen as a Target Breakout Book and selected by Goodreads’ readers as one of the best travel books of 2011. Rachel’s second book, And Then We Grew Up: On Creativity, Potential, and the Imperfect Art of Adulthood, is forthcoming and has already received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. In this episode, Rachel shares how the story of an impromptu trip to Ireland changed her self-perception and became inspiration for her first book.

Atticus is an anonymous poet from Vancouver, known online as @atticuspoetry and “the masked poet". His handwritten and typewriter-printed poems are popular on social, where he has more than 1,000,000 followers, including celebrities like Karlie Kloss and Alicia Keys. He is a New York Times best selling author and an avid-traveler. Atticus sat down with us to discuss his trip to Paris.

Known for his role as a contestant on both The Bachelorette and The Bachelor, Ben Higgins (@higgens.ben) grew up in the small town of Warsaw, Indiana and graduated from Indiana University. Now living in Denver, Colorado, Ben is the founder and CEO of Generous International, a coffee company rooted in fair trade that donates its proceeds to nonprofits worldwide. In this episode, Ben shares the story of how a trip to Honduras when he was 15 ignited his humanitarian passion.