S5 E63: Season Finale: Your Voice Matters

Get the show’s transcript

[00:00:28.3] YD: Welcome to the Travel Media Lab podcast. I’m your host, Yulia Densiyuk, an award-winning travel photographer and writer, entrepreneur, community builder and firm believer that every one of us can go after the stories we've always wanted to tell with the right support, encouragement and structure. I’m on a mission to help women's storytellers everywhere break into and thrive in the travel media space.

If you're ready to ditch your fears to the side, grow your knowledge and confidence, and publish your travel stories, you're in the right place. Let's go.

[INTRODUCTION]

[0:00:39.1] YD: Welcome back everyone. Today, we’re closing the fifth season of our podcast t and what an incredible season that was. I hope you enjoyed coming along on this journey with us. This season was very important to us because, at the beginning of it, we changed our name and as you can imagine, changing a name is a huge deal. We went from being called Genius Women to being called Travel Media Lab and it was an important step to better reflect what we’re focusing on in this community. Getting your voice out there and your stories published, supporting you on this path and hopefully, inspiring you along the way. 

You know, my amazing podcast producer, Noelia Sanchez, shout out to you Noelia, she keeps telling me that numbers don’t sell the whole story and I absolutely believe that but still, our human brains love reflecting on numbers and, in this season, we’ve crossed over 15,000 downloads and close to 7,000 people listen to our show. 

Wow, that is just incredible. I never thought that I started this podcast that that’s the kind of impact and the kind of reach that are message and our platform and our podcast would get. I want to thank every single one of you who has been listening to our show and supporting us by sharing our podcast episodes and by leaving us reviews every single one of these things helped us get these milestones. What an honor and a privilege it has been for me to come and share and create the space with you, so thank you. Thank you so much. 

In this final episode of season five, I would like to look back and share with you a couple of wonderful moments we had on the podcast this season and celebrate our amazing guests. This season, we did a lot of interesting things. First and foremost, we started an NFT photography journey and if you’ve been listening to this podcast this season, you know that somehow that reference to NFTs makes its way to almost every episode. That’s how excited I am about the NFT photography space and its potential and I shared with you my own entrance into NFTs in episode 51 and what I’ve learned from it so far in episode 56.

So if that’s something that you're considering dipping your toes in, I really encourage you to go back and listen to those episodes, there is a lot of information there and I’ve learned a lot from being in this exciting space in the last couple of months.

[0:03:29.2] YD: I do have those moments of doubt that say, “Okay, maybe my work is not good enough” but then, I come back to myself and I look at my work and I look at my portfolio and all of the things that I’ve done over the years and I say, “No, Yulia, your work is great and it just needs the right moment and just needs to be placed in front of the right person who will connect with it and who will want to collect it.”

This season, we also learned how to pitch Conde Nast traveler magazine during an interview with Conde Nast traveler Middle East editor in chief, Sarah Khan, in episode 49 which was the most popular episode of the season by the way so if you haven’t already listened to it, definitely go check it out. Sarah gives so many insights and so many tips to anyone who wants to work with that magazine. So definitely check it out.

[0:04:28.3] SK: the things that stand out to me are just really strong local coverage of this region. We know Dubai really well, because we're based in Dubai in the UAE, but I want to hear more from Oman. I want to hear more from Jordan. I want to hear more from Egypt, Tunisia. Just really thoughtful, nuanced stories of the kinds of stories I like to write as a freelancer, I want to empower other people to write for me from this entire region. Just focusing on the arts and the design, and just entrepreneurship. There's so much happening. It's such a dynamic, really exciting time to be in this part of the world. I really want to showcase that as best as I can.

[0:05:07.3] YD: This season, we also explored who gets to be a writer with an incredible thoughtful and compassionate creator who I also call my friends, her name is Ashley Halligan and she is the founder of Pilgrim Magazine and in episode 50, we had probably one of the most soul affirming conversations on this podcast to date and she also talked a lot about Pilgrim Magazine and how she started it, why she started it and for anyone who is interested in working with Pilgrim, she also gave a lot of tips on how to approach pitching that magazine and developing stories for them. So definitely check that episode out.

[0:05:52.3] AH: We do have this misconception that you have to create constantly, all day, every day, you write, or you paint, or whatever your medium is. We get these narratives in our minds that we are not something because we think that we have to achieve X, Y and Z, or we have to produce so much material or we have to be given a particular accolade and I just don't think that that's true. And I think those self-limiting beliefs are really – They can be very devastating. You don't have to be published to call yourself a writer. You don't have to have an exhibit to call yourself a photographer. As long as you commit to your art in some capacity, you are that thing, and you can be many things.

[0:06:30.6] YD: This season, we also embarked on a successful Travel Media bootcamp event in Texas where 12 people joined us for three days of workshops, conversations and media trip activities and I was very excited to share parts of those conversations and parts of those insights and learnings that we had with you in episode’s 52 and 53 and by the way, stay tuned, Paula, my travel public relations partner for this bootcamp and for our upcoming events. We’re working on our next location. I can give you a little hint that it will be outside of the United States so that’s really exciting so stay tuned for that. And in the meantime, go check out those two episodes, 52 and 53 where you can hear a little bit about how that whole trip and that whole conversation went.

[0:07:30.2] YD: If you manage to go to the destination by yourself, you can really organize the trip the same way as I do it yourself. You don’t need me, you can reach in contact with stakeholders by yourself. You have far more flexibility, you can bring your plus one out here. There is less competition. You can contact me saying, “Hey! I am going to the destination, either you want me or not” and yeah, you are talking from another point of view. Right now, you have the power. “I am going to this, your destination. This is what I’d like to visit and what can you offer?” or “Can you help me with the hotel?” or “Can you help me with the restaurant experience? Can you help me with that tour experience?” and I’m like, “Okay, if you are going there by yourself and I just have to manage to offer you this and we’ll still get credit of what you’re doing, I am listening.” 

So that’s one thing versus coming to me and pitching, “Okay can you offer me a trip to Panama?” or to any destination and now I will have to bet you. But in this case, you are just going by yourself. 

[0:08:43.0] YD: Of course, we also celebrated our dear Travel Media Lab community members in episode 57, with travel writer Hannah Foster-Roe, who just attended her first successful Travel Media Conference and shared her learnings with us in her episode. 

[0:09:03.6] HFR: I think just because on a simple level, because I've got more bylines under my belt, but also because I felt I'd grown more in confidence as well, and I felt more, like I was still really scared going into it but I felt like I had more of a right to be there. Which is silly, because I know exactly what you're going to say, that I would have had just as much a right to have been there in 2021 with less bylines. But I just I just felt more like I could talk from a place of experience and a place of just knowing myself better as well this year, and knowing better the sort of stories that that excite me and inspire me. Yeah, just having a clearer idea of what I can offer someone and what stories I want to put out into the world.

[0:09:58.3] YD: In episode 61 with travel writer, Ashley Brooks, who has just published at Conde Nast Traveler. 

[0:10:06.5] AB: There's a power of with surrounding yourself with people with the similar goal like it does. It's just a current that keeps you can go in a little bit. There's been more than once in the last 18 months that I have been feeling stuck or it just, no pitches were coming back for a moment or whatever. It was literally the group and people that I knew were keeping me accountable a little bit, that kind of kept me going.

[0:10:32.8] YD: Congratulations to you both on your recent success. It’s been just so wonderful to watch you grow and become the wonderful confident, beautiful creators that you are. 

What I’d like to leave you with this season dear listeners is this thought, more of our voices need to be out there. We live in a very precarious time, there is a lot of things that are happening around us, in our communities but also in the larger world that often make us feel disinspired, tired frankly and I believe that it is more important right now than ever before that more of our voices are out there that we share our perspectives, that we share stories of people and places around the world, that we inspire others to be more open minded, more open hearted even. All of that starts with you pitching your stories and creating your stories and believing that you have what it takes and having the confidence to be the creator, the storyteller that you want to be. It’s just so-so-so important. It is critical in fact. I think our missions right now are critical. 

You know, I have just returned from the Women in Travel Summit Conference ran by the amazing wonderful community and it was such an incredible event. Where I led two travel journalism workshops and I also met amazing women storytellers, travelers and creators and at that conference, one panelist said something that really struck a chord with me and I just keep thinking about it ever since the conference. She said, “It’s easier to break the rules when you’re in charge.” Wow, that just affected me so much, that sentence that she had and that to me is another reason why more of us needs to step into the light. Need to lead, lead conversations, lead communities, work with publications that we want to work with and ensure that our voices are heard. 

There is no use in staying small, when you step into the light, when you go after the things that you’ve always wanted, I want you to know that you’re not only helping yourself to advance your dreams to accomplish the goals that you might have for yourself but you’re also helping others. You are helping others see that you are shinning and when they see you shinning that makes them feel like they can shine too and that is not only incredible, it is critical. Right now in this moment in time, it is critical that we do that. So that’s what I want for all of you listening to this podcast. I want more of you participating in travel media, in the creative industry, I want more of you pitching editors. I want more of you believing that what you have to say matters because it does. It absolutely does. 

I hope you join us on this journey and I hope you continue listening to our podcast into season six that starts this July and beyond. We have some amazing interviews brewing for you and I just can’t wait to share it with you and in the meantime, we’re taking a little break for the month of June but that doesn’t mean that we’re going to go silent. 

I will be sharing with you bonus episodes all throughout June, so stay tuned for that. This bonus episodes are based on the discussions and the work we do inside our membership, The Circle. The Circle is our membership for creators who want to get their travel stories published. We have weekly check-in calls, monthly idea brainstorming sessions, curated opportunities to pursue in the travel media space, pitch reviews where I give you feedback on your pitches and much more. 

Enrollment in The Circle is open and it is ongoing actually. You can join us at any time and you can join us at three different levels that give you the flexibility to decide how little or how much you’d like to engage with us in The Circle. You can visit travelmedialab.com/circle to get started onwards and upwards on this journey, my friends and don’t forget about what I said just a few minutes ago, I want more of you believing that what you have to say matters because it does and until then, see you next time. 

[END OF INTERVIEW]

[0:15:14.5] YD: Thank you again for listening to our show today. I hope that you had just as much fun as I did revisiting some of our favorite episodes from this season. If you enjoyed listening to this season of the Travel Media Lab Podcast, please consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcast. It means to world to me and it helps us get discovered by more people who love travel and who are on the creative path. 

Thank you so much and stay tuned for our bonus episodes coming your way all throughout this break this June from inside our Circle membership. 

[END]