[BONUS] Info Session for Intro to Travel Journalism

Get the show’s transcript

[INTRODUCTION]

[00:00:00] YD: Hey everyone. Welcome back to the Travel Media Lab podcast. As you might have heard, we are opening enrollment for a six month group travel journalism program called Intro to Travel Journalism. This month, so today I'm popping into your podcast feed with a bonus episode that helps you understand what this program is all about.

[00:00:22] I designed this program as a starting point that kickstarts your trouble media career and helps you work with magazines and tourism boards, your own stories, and see your name on the pages of your favorite publications. And in this information session, I ran live recently. I cover all of the parts in the program that works together to help you get started in the industry this year.

[00:00:47] Enrollment for this program is opening very soon on Monday, May 22nd, and this will be the only time this year we're running this program. So if you're interested in getting notified when enrollment opens, Don't miss this announcement. Go to travel medialab.com/class to join our wait list. We will only be sending information about the program to people who join our wait list, so be sure to go and join that wait list.

[00:01:14] Now, during the six month program, students who have access to our amazing support inside our Circle membership, so they will get to experience the best of both a. Foundation of travel journalism knowledge that I give in the program, plus the ongoing support inside the membership for them to actually apply all of it, and most importantly, stick to it.

[00:01:35] So if getting your travel stories published is something you dream about, definitely listen to this episode that's going to give you all the information about the program and then come to travel me lab.com/class to get on the wait list and get more details. All right now onto this episode. 

[EPISODE]

[00:01:54] welcome everyone.

[00:01:56] I think that it is safe to say that the reason why you're here today is because one of the dreams in this life is, to become a trouble photographer, writer, it published trouble photographer and writer, but maybe it feels a little bit impossible. Maybe you also don't know where to begin with trying to get your work published, and maybe you have a lot of stories to tell, but the idea of reaching out to editors seems a A little bit intimidating and a little bit scary for you. if that is you, then you're definitely in the right place here because that is what our program is all about. It's about guiding people into this industry. It's about helping them overcome some of the fears that we all have. Some of the hesitations.

[00:02:39] It's about showing you the ropes of the industry,teaching you how to pitch, how to approach editors and tourism boards, and how to start working in this industry. I love teaching. This is something that I've been doing for almost three years now, which sounds crazy, but it's true. And, I really love this part of my work as well.

[00:03:00] and if you also wish that there was a roadmap for doing this work, then you're definitely in the right place today because one of the challenges with this industry is that there isn't really a clear cut pass to getting started. I often compare it to the legal industry, for example, where you know that if you go to law school and you pass the LSAT exam in the states, you pass the exam, you, you pass the bar, you join a law firm and then you have sort of your career path, uh, mapped out in front of you in this, in the street.

[00:03:29] It's not like that at all. It's not straightforward. So if you're kind of wondering which steps to take next, what you should do, then you're also, in the right place here. And if you also want to understand how the industry work, how to get better at pitching and how to be more proactive with your work, then you're also in the right place.

[00:03:48] and I know that for a lot of people when they don't know where to start, where they don't really have any contacts in the industry where they're doubting even their abilities to, to do this work effectively, that can feel very paralyzing. I know this from speaking to so many people who are interested in, in working in this industry, and there is a better way.

[00:04:11] That's what I want you to, Kind of take away from today. There is a lot of things that I will be sharing with you, but just know that wherever you are in this process, in this journey, you can get from point A to point B. It's absolutely possible. And the thing is that you can get there on your own too, right?

[00:04:28] It's not rocket science. Um, you can get there on your own, but how long is that gonna take you? That's the question. And are you actually going to do it? Are you actually gonna take action? Are you actually gonna write pitches and send them to editors? Are you gonna put yourself out there? Do you know how to do that?

[00:04:43] Right? I did it, it took me, long time, maybe three or four years to get established in the industry because I didn't really know anybody. I had no contacts. I was starting a new, and it was quite difficult for me to. To do it. But now that I am established, I'm very, excited to be sharing this with others and teaching others on this roadmap that, how I call it, on getting started in this industry.

[00:05:08] And I've actually helped already over 50 students to do this work, to get started in the industry. and it's so amazing for me to see always when, when that happens, when my students get published and start working in the industry. Um, and here's just some of the publications in which our students have been, published and yeah, it's, it's super exciting.

[00:05:30] It's definitely super exciting. I also wanted to say that as we go through this today, if you guys have any questions or anything that's not clear or something you want me to spend more time on, just please feel free to drop it in the chat. I don't like to do this, as a one way conversation or one way, Broadcast, right? I, I wanna engage in conversations. So if you have any questions, feel free to drop them in a chat. Uh, feel free to share with me also, what are your aspirations? What are you hoping to accomplish, in this career path? I'd love to hear from you guys, so don't be shy. Use the chat.

[00:06:02] that's what it's there for. So if you guys don't know me, my name is Yulia Dennis. I'm, a travel journalist, travel photographer and writer. I also wear many hats. I'm also an entrepreneur, a podcaster. We have a podcast, by the way, travel Media Lab, where we share a lot of these resources too. and travel media.

[00:06:20] Deal with the platform that I started at the beginning of Covid, actually. It's a start coalescing some of these, learnings, resources, and insights, in the industry. Start coalescing them in, in one place, in one platform. Like I mentioned, we have a podcast, we have a YouTube channel, we have Instagram.

[00:06:39] we have this program that I'm about to share with you. We also have a membership called The Circle. So we're doing a lot of things to support kind of people into the industry, and it's been an absolute joy for me to, to be part of this work or to do this work. and I've been in the industry for, six years now, and in that time I've worked with some of the, some of my dream publications and just been very fortunate to do this work and, To do the stories that really get me excited.

[00:07:07] so that's a little bit about me and on Instagram you can find me on in search of Perfect. Uh, that's my, personal account. And then Travel Media Lab is the account for this platform. Okay, so here's what no one teaches you about this industry. Like I mentioned before, it's so hard for people to get started in here because there is no clear cut path.

[00:07:28] However, with some thinking and with some guidance, you are able to forge your own path in this industry. And this sort of framework is something that I've came up with first based on my own experience, but then also, uh, based on teaching now other people on how to do this work.

[00:07:47] And it really, contains of three key components, right? So first of all, you need to imagine your new path. And what I mean by that is that you need to have a vision, right? What are you trying to accomplish? What do you want to do? Who do you wanna work with, right? What kind of story tower do you want to be?

[00:08:03] It's really important. And again, it's important because there is no roadmap into this industry. There is no clear cut career path. So a lot of this has to come from you, right? What do you want to do? You have to ask yourself these questions. The second piece of it is building your confidence. I see a lot of people people that come to Travel Media Lab that are interested in this work that I want to do this, but they're really.

[00:08:26] Have a lot of obstacles and a lot of them are internal obstacles where they don't believe that they have what it takes. Don't believe anybody's gonna be interested in what they have to say. Uh, they're working through imposter syndrome, all kinds of fears and things like that. So that's another big component that we're always working on throughout all of my programs and everything I'm teaching.

[00:08:47] And then finally, you have to act. You have to take action. Uh, if you've heard my podcast before, if you heard me speak before, you know that I believe this. And I always say that the difference between where you are today and where you wanna be tomorrow is taking action. If you don't take action, nothing's gonna happen, right?

[00:09:06] Nobody's gonna magically discover you. Although a lot of people who come to our. Uh, community also think that that might be the case. You know, if I just keep sharing my stuff on Instagram, if I keep, uh, sharing my TikTok, then one day somebody will notice it and they'll come knocking on my door, right? And it might happen, of course, it might.

[00:09:26] I I know a few examples of that happening to people. But the chances of happening in our very, very, very crowded space are very slim, right? So you can either wait, until somebody discovers you, or you can start putting yourself out there and putting your work out there and knocking on people's doors actually, so that you come to them instead of them coming to you.

[00:09:46] So this is the foundation on which everything we do inside Travel Media Lab is built. So again, we wanna start with what is my vision? Where am I trying to go? That gives me clarity that I'm building my confidence. And, boosting, working through some of that imposter syndrome that we all have.

[00:10:03] And then we wanna take action. We wanna take action, we wanna do it with conviction, and that's gonna help us build our portfolio, start getting published, and, uh, start making inroads in this industry, which is, again, the goal for this program. So, we, like I mentioned, we've had, amazing students,uh, go through this program already, uh, several times.

[00:10:25] And every time they go through the, through this program, the program gets better. So you guys are now benefiting from this program becoming even better than it was the first time I ran it because, you know, we always learn from every time we run it. one of our students, Hannah, was amazing, amazing student.

[00:10:41] She. was working, uh, in theater in London. She didn't, uh, really believe that this career is possible for her. She really thought it was so farfetched. And, uh, at the end of the program, she started thinking that it's in, or she said actually that it's entirely achievable and within her reach. and she is been published in many publications since then, and she's doing very well in the industry.

[00:11:06] She is, you know, going to conferences, going on press trips and stuff. So, really great student of ours. another student we had was Ashley. Ashley was, her challenge was that she, She was waiting to finish a perfect writing. So she had a little bit of perfection happening. You know, she thought that her work wasn't ready.

[00:11:26] Uh, it needed to be perfect before she, she had to, or before she could reach out to people. And so we helped her also overcome that. And, by showing her how this process works and that you actually don't need to have a perfect piece of writing in order to start reaching out to people, uh, she says that, uh, this program made the impossible feel possible for her.

[00:11:46] And she's been published in Con As Traveler, which for many people is a dream publication. for sure. and Vanessa, Vanessa was one of those people that I mentioned that was waiting to be discovered, right? She was a photographer. So by the way, our program is both for photographers and writers because I am both right?

[00:12:03] I'm kind of this weird hybrid. So I'm equally comfortable with photography and with writing, and I've done work in both spheres. and we talk about this a lot, in the program. So, Ashley and Hannah, who we just met, they were both writers and Vanessa was a photographer and she was waiting to get discovered by sharing her work on Instagram, but that discovery never came.

[00:12:27] and so we helped Vanessa to stop waiting and get some really great, uh, results with her work as well. Okay. and so what we're going to cover today, I'm gonna try to go, go pretty fast so that we have some time at the end for your questions because I see that you guys are not dropping your questions in the chat.

[00:12:46] So we'll have an opportunity to, to have time for our questions. At the end of today, what we're going to cover is who this program is for, how it works. I have a, a little bonus for you at the end for coming today, session, and then we'll cover questions. Okay. So, Is great for both photographers and writers at any stage in their journey.

[00:13:09] Who wants to break specifically into the travel industry, right? So maybe you've been published already, in some other,spaces, right? Maybe you've, you've been published in food magazines or maybe, uh, you've been published in, um, I don't know, architecture magazines. But you wanna do specifically work and travel.

[00:13:28] That's great for you. Or maybe you've never been published, right? Maybe this is one of your aspirations to start working with magazines, but you really don't know where to start. Then this is great for you too. We've had some people come, and join us who were reporters and journalists before, and then they kind of, uh, went and did something different with their lives and their careers, and then they wanted to kind of get back into the media space, but they felt a little bit o overwhelmed.

[00:13:56] So, you know, they had experience for sure in the industry, but it was years ago, and they felt like they needed a refresher, uh, delay of the land, if you will, on, on what's happening in the industry now. And, uh, that worked for them as well. So the point here is that any stage of your journey, right, it works.

[00:14:13] If you are not sure about how to do this, how to pitch, how to work with magazines, how to work with public, tourism words, this program is gonna be great for you if you already know all this stuff. If you are working in the industry. You're, you know, working with tourism boards and magazines, then great.

[00:14:29] You know, this program is probably not gonna be so useful to you. I would then direct you to our membership actually, because our membership is actually provides ongoing support and ongoing community for people in the industry. But this is really to get the lay of the land, to get that foundational knowledge, about how this industry works.

[00:14:48] We are looking for a diverse group of creators who are ready to take action. And that is a key word here, you guys, because with this program, you have to do the work, right? Like I mentioned earlier, if you don't do the work, nothing is gonna happen. You can, I can share with you this knowledge. and I will, right? When you join the program, I will share with you everything that I know about the industry. But then the key there is that you have to take that and you have to work with that, and you have to write your pitch, and you have to send your pitch out, and you have to do the work. If you don't do that, nothing is gonna happen, right? of course, I'm gonna be there every step of the way. I'm gonna be guiding you, I'm gonna be reviewing your pitches, I'm gonna be brainstorming with you. Um, in terms of where to send your ideas, which publications, et cetera. But if you don't do that, very important step of actually sending that email out, then nothing is gonna happen, right?

[00:15:42] That's, that's just how it works. And I say here, a diverse group of creator for the following reason. So historically, our program has attracted, uh, women, mostly women,and so traditionally we've kind of been talking about, you know, and this is a safe space for women. I have since kind of changed my stance on this a little bit.

[00:16:02] So, uh, we've had,uh, men come and join our program as well with great results. So the program is really open to everyone. If you are comfortable, with being in community with mostly women, then uh, you're welcome to join us. We're gonna be talking about some issues that affect women more than men. Uh, for example, imposter syndrome, even though it affects both, equally, it affects everybody for sure, but it, there are some specific ways in which imposter syndrome shows up in women.

[00:16:33] There are some specific ways in which women are afraid to ask for more money when they negotiate for, for rates, right? Which is an important part of this process when you work with magazines and they get your pitch accepted. You have to negotiate, you have to ask for more money, and it's hard for a lot of women, and many of the members that, that I've been working with, right?

[00:16:55] So we're gonna be focusing on some of these issues, but truly, this program is open for everyone. If you, if you wanna learn about this industry, if you have a sort of open mind, and if you wanna be in community, uh, with others who are on a similar path, then you're welcome to join us.

[00:17:12] All right, so this program, uh, does two things for you. It's, first of all, it's a six month program, right? So, gonna have six months to really go through all the material and really go deep into, uh, the industry, into writing your pitches and into me supporting you throughout this time.

[00:17:30] And there are two very important parts of this program. One is the fundamentals, right? Travel journalism. What is it? How do we write stories or, or how do we write pitches? How do we come up with ideas? What are angles, et cetera, et cetera. And the other part, uh, that's really important is support. It's the community.

[00:17:48] It's the membership. It's the place where you can ask me questions,you know, throughout the whole six months, you will learn how to take action, right? You will learn how to send those pitches out. You're gonna have community with other people on the same journey, and you're gonna actually send those pitches to your dream public is absolutely amazing.

[00:18:07] I think that feeling of getting your pitch accepted is such a rush, you guys, uh, it's amazing to, to get that feeling. And I want you guys to experience that feeling as well. And the other thing that really I think separates what we do here from some of the other things that you might have seen is that, this program is not gonna teach you how to become a better.

[00:18:29] Writer or a better photographer, right? That's not what we do here. It's not a writing class, it's not a photography class, what we teach you here is the how, how do you work in the industry? How do you work with tourism boards? How do you work with magazines? do you write a pitch?

[00:18:44] So we're gonna be spending time on writing pitches, right? But I'm not gonna be teaching you the craft of writing. So you have to be a pretty good writer already, or you have to be at least a little bit confident that you can write if you, you know, if you're a writer. And even if you're a photographer, you have to write the pitch, right?

[00:19:00] Because even with photography, there are pitches that you need to write, and send them to magazines. Of course, you know, when I review your pitches, I, I also give feedback on structure, on grammar, on language, maybe choice of words, but it's not the primary focus of this, right? the focus is not the what, it's not the craft.

[00:19:19] The focus is the how, right? How are we, uh, getting started in this industry? And to do that, there are six, uh, modules or systems that I call them that are part of this program. And I'm gonna go through each of this module, in detail, okay? So in the six months that you're here, you have six modules, to go through.

[00:19:40] and each system or module includes video lessons, homework. And the homework, you can do them via p d f worksheets. They're fillable. Um, and you can drop them into the, uh, the system that you know, that we're creating for this, for this program. So very important here. The video or, or the contents, the lessons, the foundational knowledge of the industry is delivered in video format.

[00:20:05] Each video is 20 15th to 20 minute long. They're not very big. They used to be much longer. You guys, when I first started, this used to be like, each lesson was like an hour, hour and a half long. And people told me, no, there's no way we can get through that. You know, people have such short attention spans nowadays. So I recreated everything. I rerecorded all the lessons. Now they're much shorter, much more snackable. and, uh, you have a much, hopefully much easier time to go through these, but that this is, this is key to understand here that these are done. It's me talking. You will be hearing from me. But the, these are video lessons, so you have to go through them on your own, right?

[00:20:45] And you go through homework and you submit the homework. I review your homework, and then we, we move forward together. to also make it easier for people. I created a private podcast uh, for this program, so that you can either listen to it as a video or you can listen, listen to it on your phone when you're walking the dog or making dinner, or whatever you are doing.

[00:21:07] You can listen to it this way as well. I, I try to find ways to make this easier for people to go through all this. Content. So the first two modules are really about shaping that vision, right? Where do you want to go? Who do you want to be? There are some foundational exercises that would do in these modules that really help us understand which direction you should be going to 

[00:21:30] have you given it any thought beyond, I wanna be a travel writer, or I wanna be a travel photographer. I talk about this a lot in the program, but that, that one sentence is just not enough information for us to know where to go next, right? Well, what does that mean for you? Who do you wanna work with? Do you wanna work with Vogue?

[00:21:48] Do you wanna be a travel in fashion and lifestyle writer? Or do you wanna focus on, let's say sustainability, right? because that's going to. Uh, guide our next steps with you, right? Which publications do you wanna start reaching out? So what kind of stories do you wanna tell? What is your mission?

[00:22:05] What is your vision? Like, all these very foundational questions that oftentimes we don't actually spend any time on in our busy lives, right? We're just kind of, uh, going with the flow. But I think, and I know I, you know, from experience, I know that this is really important to spend time with that foundation.

[00:22:23] and in the Know Your Work module, which is actually one of my favorite modules, we spent time on really boosting our confidence. That thing that I was talking about earlier, right? Really understanding that we have gifts. I truly believe that every single one of us has gifts and, uh, we are here to share these gifts with the world.

[00:22:43] So again, some really foundational work in this module, uh, before we ever even spend any time on understanding the industry or understanding what a pitch is. Okay. and, and one of the benefits of doing that work is that it's actually gonna help you dream bigger. One of our students said, this exercise is quickly showing me that while I said I was dreaming of being a writer and photographer, I've never actually let myself see it.

[00:23:08] it's helped me see that I can go bigger. So there's some really important breakthroughs that often happen for people when they go through this work and it's, um, super exciting. So, um, then once we've done that foundational work, we move into the basics, right? So what, how does the industry actually work, right?

[00:23:27] How do you find publications? How do you find the right editor? How do you choose which publications you should be reaching out to? How do you understand the finances, sort of side of the equation, right? Very, very important foundational stuff. And then further, we're gonna be working on developing your storytelling skills.

[00:23:45] Learning how to know if you have this idea or not, right? This is very important. A lot of people, and Instagram is the culprit here, I think, because nowadays if we go somewhere on a trip, we think we have an idea to, we have a story to pitch a publication. But just because you went somewhere, It doesn't automatically make it a story, right?

[00:24:05] It might if you're a blogger and you're blogging about your trip, your experience of traveling somewhere. But for magazine journalism, that's not the case. And there is some very important nuances there and, and things we talk about, like personal essays versus reported pieces, et cetera. But this is very, again, very foundational stuff, right?

[00:24:24] Do I have a story on my hands or do I not? Do I need to do more development? We're gonna understand the difference between frontal books and features, print and online. So, a lot of kind of, those details that are gonna, again, give you that confidence to then approach some of these publications.

[00:24:40] you know, again, this is gonna be the, the real advice that I, I will be sharing based on my years of working in the industry and all the in ins and outs. And like one of our students said, I wish I'd done program like this sooner. yeah, that's, that's really it. And, and of course it's also gonna help you get ahead because again, if you, if you try to do this on your own, eventually by knocking in outdoors and by going through enough dead ends, you are probably gonna end up in the same space.

[00:25:09] But what I'm offering to you is, uh, is a way to do this much faster, right? Because I'm gonna be guiding you into the industry. And then of course we're gonna, after we did all that work, after we understood how the industry works, we're gonna start writing our own pitches. And I'm gonna be giving you a lot of feedback on your pitches.

[00:25:27] You're gonna be looking at pitches that I've done, and understanding what makes them work and what doesn't make them work. And the goal here is for you to actually send at least one pitch, if not many more, but at least one, as you go through this program. Okay? And then finally, the last module is about keeping momentum.

[00:25:47] How do we do it? This is super important. It doesn't sound sexy, but it's super important because the key here is that to be prolific and to be successful, you need to be consistent. You cannot just pitch somebody once and expect that that's it, that it's enough effort, right? You need to give it a lot of effort.

[00:26:05] You need to pitch a lot of people with a lot of ideas in order to see some results. And there is a reason for that. And I, I talk about it a lot in the program. but at the end of the day, we're selling our ideas, right? And at the end of the day, we can do everything right. We can prepare, we can follow the guidelines of a publication.

[00:26:24] We can write an amazing pitch. We can send the pitch out. But for whatever reason, that's outside of your control. That idea is not gonna work for that publication at that time. The idea is great. You, you've done great work, you've done all you could, but for whatever reason, and again, we go into the reasons in the program, it's not, it's not a fit for the publication.

[00:26:45] If you've only pitched that publication one time and you've got a rejection from them, and you said, well, that's it. Well, that's it, right? You're not gonna get any results. So the key here is consistency. You have to keep doing this. And I, I go into a lot of the habits and the practices that I myself use, in order to keep going, to keep getting momentum, keep working, in the industry.

[00:27:08] Okay? and some of the results that our students have gotten. So one of them was super excited to sign a contract with a massive publication, and she was bouncing off the walls, which is, again, for me as a teacher, is absolutely amazing to see. or found out today that the editor wants to go forward with this.

[00:27:25] Awesome. alright, so again, based like, I, I build all these modules based on this map, right? Or, or this framework that I've created. So we're gonna start with building our vision, building our confidence, and then taking action. And this system has worked for my students and I'm, I'm super excited for it.

[00:27:46] But there is a missing piece and I've realized that after the first few iterations of this program, the missing piece was six months of amazing support from me because at the beginning, this program was kind of standalone on its own, and it was much shorter. It was, uh, weeks long, not months long.

[00:28:04] So starting last year I changed this program program and now it includes six months of support inside our membership, the circle. Okay. And that is really the missing piece here because that word where for six months you can come and ask me questions about, just about anything that you're going through and that you're struggling with is amazing.

[00:28:25] You guys, at the end of that, you will be so much more confident and so much more knowledgeable about the industry and how to navigate it. what does that support look like, right? So, On all the modules and everything that we already went through, you're gonna be getting weekly, 30 minute group calls for six months.

[00:28:42] So we call them vision Mindset. And these are done every Monday morning where we do a quick 30 minute check-in call. Hey, what are you working on with, with this week? What do you need help with? I share with you anything that's top of mind for me. Any fresh insights, any fresh opportunities that are happening in the industry, that check-in is covering that.

[00:29:02] We also have a monthly, group pitch brainstorming call where we do round robin style brainstorm. Which is also very helpful for our members. Uh, we have a private, private WhatsApp group where, again, any question you have, you can ask me. and we also have another monthly workshop where I set a theme for every month where we say, okay, what are we working on this month?

[00:29:23] Maybe it's about how to ask for more money. Maybe it's about how to work with tourism boards, right? Maybe it's about social media. So, lots of support and lots of different things that we're doing, inside the circle and the membership. Our members really love it. We always get really great feedback, uh, and I've been fortunate that we've been able to build this into a very safe.

[00:29:45] And supportive environments where we all lift each other up. It's a really great environment to be in, and I've seen people really flourish inside. So that's really the missing piece, is that an paro support for six months on top of the foundational knowledge that I just went through with you, to get started in the industry.

[00:30:06] Okay. So that's the program. And then,you will also be getting, if you join us, uh, this year is that, our official enrollment for this program starts on Monday, May 22nd. Okay. but for, for you guys, for people who came to this info session and who are interested in learning more about this, this program now, if you decide to join the program between now, between today, And between Monday, May 22nd, you will get one extra one-on-one hour long session with me.

[00:30:38] This program already includes one individual session with me. If you join us before May 22nd, you will get a second one. So you'll get two, individual sessions with me where we will again, work on any challenge that you wanna work through, work on brainstorming your pitches, maybe planning on reaching out to new publications, whatever it is that you need support with one-on-one individually, we are gonna do it then.

[00:31:02] Okay? So that's just a little something special for anyone who decides to join us between now and Monday, May 22nd when enrollment officially starts. All right. and another important thing to say here is that this year, and probably going forward in the future, I will not be opening this program more than once a year.

[00:31:22] So in prior years, we've run this program twice a year. It's not the case anymore. So if you wanna do something this year, there's your only opportunity to join this program because once enrollment closes, on, uh, last day of May, that's it. We're not enrolling anymore until, I don't know, sometime next year.

[00:31:39] But I don't know. It's gonna all depend on honestly, my own schedule, my own, availability and, and the projects that I, that I do. So for this year, this is the only time to join, only opportunity to join our group program. Okay. Um, so again, the six months inside the circle are included. Our online community, we have a really cool, website slash app that we are meeting in, which is kind of a blend between Facebook and Slack.

[00:32:05] has kind of a functionality of both. It's really cool. Uh, our members love it. We have one, one-on-one session. Like I mentioned. That one is already included in the program. Whenever you join, and again, if you join between now and May 22nd, you get a second one, uh, you get my pitch template. So the, the template that I use to pitch, uh, publications, you're gonna be getting that and by, kind of unofficial numbers I've heard, is that this industry averages about 10% acceptance rate.

[00:32:36] So out of every 10 pitches sent one gets accepted. My acceptance rate, is about 30%. So one, three pitches gets accepted. So I know that my sample, it works. Uh, you guys will be getting it with this program you're also gonna be getting some additional workshops, uh, that I found over the years people really needed some more guidance on.

[00:32:56] So they're included as well. And of course I already mentioned the one goal if you join between today and Monday, May 22nd. So just to kind of summarize, and then I'm gonna open for questions, uh, what is included, right? So six modules of foundational travel industry knowledge that I told you about. Six months of support inside our membership circle, which includes a weekly, 30 minute group call, a monthly brainstorming call, another monthly focus workshop that's actually not on here.

[00:33:28] Our private WhatsApp group, uh, private podcast version of the program so you can listen to it any time. A one-on-one coaching session individual. Our online community and the pitch template and the bonus workshops, and of course that extra one-on-one session as well if you join us before May 22nd. Okay.

[00:33:48] So there is a lot, that we're including in this program. And the program costs $2,497. That's if you, do a one payment, one time payment. And if you do six monthly payments, then it's $436 a month. So you, you pay for 4 36 when you join, and then 4 36 for five more months after. Okay. so that's that.

[00:34:13] And I think the most important thing hear you guys is that while you're gonna be learning about the industry, yes. While you're gonna be getting a lot of practical knowledge, yes. What I found is that people actually start believing in themselves more. And they really start approaching some of their decisions in life and some of the things that they're doing differently after taking this program, which is kind of, um,I guess an unexpected benefit of going through this.

[00:34:39] And I think it really comes down to that foundational work that we're doing in the beginning, right? Where we're asking those things, do I want? What is, where am I working towards, boosting our, our, confidence and really having that supportive environment, and, and seeing other people around you shine and thrive and succeed.

[00:34:59] You know, it's so, empowering is kind of an overused, uh, word nowadays. I don't even wanna use it anymore, but it's true. It's really gives you, gives you this amazing feeling that you can do whatever you want, uh, if you put your mind to it and if you have that support. Right? Again, support is super critical.

[00:35:15] Having that support and having that community, super important. See like another, student that went through this program also said that, you know, of course I learned how to pitch, how to do all this, but above all, it has helped me to have confidence in myself and to not be afraid of rejection, because that actually extends to other areas of your life too.

[00:35:34] you're thinking about rejection in, in much broader ways, right? And you're willing to take more risks maybe than before because you understand now how, how this works and, and you have. So some of the things here are really unexpected. another student has said, do it. I hesitated until very last minutes and I almost missed it.

[00:35:55] Um, this person felt that they weren't qualified, and they felt like they didn't belong because they didn't have any experience. again, I wanna reiterate, you don't need experience in the industry to join. Actually, you're gonna get that experience by going through the program and you're gonna get that, that food in the door, right?

[00:36:14] So hopefully that's not something you're worried about. And she says, I'm so glad I did it. the, the program was amazing. will learn about travel journalism, what to do to get started in this field, and a lovely lingering top note you will learn about yourself. So that's kind of what you're, um, You can expect.

[00:36:32] And again, just to recap the modules, the six modules, the six months inside the circle, and all the support, all the knowledge, all that for 24 97 or six month payments of 436. And that's it, you guys. So just think if you do this, if you join us, where would you be in six months, right? what kind of opportunities can start opening up for you because you're, you're doing this work and you're reaching out to people.

[00:37:00] is not something that people are aware of, but oftentimes all it takes is the one publication to alter the cour the course of your life. Uh, we are gonna have a guest on the podcast soon. On our Travel Media Lab podcast, which everybody can listen to on any app. and, uh, she's an editor-in-chief for Full-Time Travel.

[00:37:22] And she told me a story about she had this idea that she was pitching. she was pitching it everywhere, pitching it, pitching it. People kept saying no to her. She didn't give up. She continued pitching it. Finally, she landed this idea in L Magazine, and little did she know, and she, she didn't realize that, uh, that idea came across or that story when it was published.

[00:37:45] A producer, Hollywood producer came across that article and they approached her and the magazine and they optioned that idea for developing into a TV series. So kind of like white lots or kind of like some of the other, popular TV series out there. So For me, this is the beauty and the joy really of being in the creative industry that you just never know what kind of opportunities this work today will lead to tomorrow.

[00:38:13] Right? When you put yourself out there in this way, you never know where it might lead. You never know what kind of opportunities and doors will open in front of you, and that is just so exciting to think that you have the key, actually, you are the one holding the key, and the key is that you need to start doing the work and start putting yourself out there and putting your work and your ideas out there.

[00:38:34] for me, it's really exciting to think about that. So think about what, what happens six months from now when you do this work, right? How can getting your work out there, how can it change things for you? another thing that people don't realize, so we, we, we talked about, you know, getting your story optioned for a TV series development.

[00:38:51] That's kind of this huge thing that happened, can happen, right? Then there are also smaller things that can happen. Another student of us, ours, she got published in Con as Traveler, that was her first ever publication. Next thing she knows, she starts getting all these invitations from all these PR public relations companies on events in her area.

[00:39:12] You know, so just from that one publication, she all of a sudden got access to this whole network of people. Who are doing work, uh, or putting her in touch with all these, uh, interesting businesses and opportunities and events in her area that she didn't have access to before, uh, before she was published.

[00:39:31] So that's a smaller example of how, things can change for you when you get published. But that's, you know, both of them are super, super exciting. And of course, think about where you can travel, right When you start getting published, when you start working with publications, what kind of projects you can take on.

[00:39:46] it's really exciting you guys, and I'm excited for you. I hope that you decide to join us. of course, there's a spot waiting for you inside our program. Uh, you can decide to join us or you can decide to not do anything right now. Um, but again, I believe that if you do, if you do nothing, nothing will change.

[00:40:05] If you want something to change, if you want something new in your life, you have to do something new in your life as well. and finally, I just wanna leave you with this. I truly a hundred percent believe that every single one of us deserves to have their work be shared with the world. If you have ideas, if you have something to say, you're passionate about something, right?

[00:40:29] You deserve to have that works to be shared with the world. another conversation we just had on the podcast that's gonna be out very soon is with one of our current students. She's amazing. Her name is Jolene Adams. Um, and she told me something that just really sent yous,up my body.

[00:40:46] You know, because she said that when you're not participating in this, when you're not publishing your work, you have something inside of you that you wanna share, but you're not participating, right? For whatever reasons. Lack of knowledge, lack of confidence, whatever. You are not participating in that bigger conversation that's happening in the travel industry.

[00:41:05] And that conversation is super important right now, more than ever, right? There are so many conversations that are happening inside the industry about sustainability, about social justice, about the responsible traveling, all kinds of different things. And when you're not participating in that conversation, your voice is not added to that conversation.

[00:41:24] And, uh, your insight, your input is not added to that conversation. And we all, uh, lose as a result of that. You lose, of course, but also the industry loses. We all lose when we don't share what we have to say, you know? So I truly believe in that. And this is something that I try to instill into all of our members when they come into our community.

[00:41:46] That's, You know, when you don't share your gifts, then we all lose. So we have to share those gifts, you guys. Um, alright, so that's it for me and I see that there's some things in the chat. I'm going to check the chat now. and I also wanna share with you guys the link to join us right now. So I will send this link, as a follow in the email. When I send out the replay, I will send this link as well so you'll have it. So you can go into the chat right now and check it out. Or if you're watching this later as a replay, you can check it, uh, in the email that I will include this links to as well. And let me see. I think this is it.

[00:42:23] Oh, just real, really quick. I would just take you through the, questions that we often get, and then I will see if you have any additional questions. And I think we're doing pretty good on time. so how much time does this program take? This is a question that people often, ask. So the video lessons that I shared with you, those are self-paced, right?

[00:42:44] So those depend on you how, however much time you wanna dedicate each week or however little time you wanna dedicate each week, it's up to you. I recommend one module a week, or at least one module every two weeks. there are six modules total, right? And each module is about one to two hours with homework.

[00:43:04] So in terms of the lessons, the total is about six to eight hours. Right. So six to eight hours of learning spread that across six months. Okay? So it's up to you how you wanna manage that, but what I recommend is that the first three months inside the program to go through all the content and use the second three months inside the program to really engage inside our membership, into our weekly calls, into our, uh, group brainstorming sessions, you know, so that once you get that foundational knowledge, you can really engage, um, with everything else we have going on.

[00:43:44] Again, you can do it uh, whichever way makes sense, makes more sense for you, but that's kind of what we recommend here. another question that people often ask is that I don't really understand, uh, how travel journalism space works, and I don't really have a story that I could pitch to a publication right now.

[00:44:01] Is this right for me? And the answer to that is yes, because if you don't have a story idea that you think you wanna pitch right now, we have a process inside the program that helps you come up with that. Okay? So, Don't worry about that. We work on that together. And of course, if you don't know how the industry works, well that's exactly why you need to be here, right?

[00:44:19] Because I'm gonna share with you how the industry works. And another question we sometimes get is, is it worth the investment? Right? Is it worth the investment and time and the money? Well, can answer that question by you, but just think about the, that the fact that the knowledge that I'm gonna be sharing with you, you can use that knowledge for years to come, right?

[00:44:39] It's not something that you use once and it disappears. The confidence building alone, I think, is worth it. the, the thinking about what you wanna do with your creative vision alone, I think is worth it. Of course, all the community support and meeting people who are on a similar path, I think that's worth it as well.

[00:44:55] But at the end of the day, nobody can answer that by you. But that's why we, uh, try to be flexible and we have a payment plan. as well, if that is easier for you, to join us. All right. I think that is all that I have now. Let me see the chat. Let me see what's happening in the chat.

[00:45:12] And of course, thank you so much everyone. Thank you for sticking through the whole hour and, uh, listening to my, presentation. All right, so UAI is saying, I have a keen interest in photojournalism, but my focus goes beyond travel related topics. I'm curious to know if this program or membership would be beneficial for me.

[00:45:31] The answer to that is yes. SoThe process of pitching is the same, whether you're pitching a travel publication or whether you're pitching, New York Times main desk, or whether you're pitching a, Architectural Digest, right? Pitching process is the same. You can use it to pitch travel, you can use it to pitch food, you know, whatever your interest is.

[00:45:54] Now, there is an aspect of this that we cover, which is working with tourism boards, travel specific, but I would also say that those same tourism boards, you can find them helpful when you're working on other not travel related topics as well. So if you wanna do a story on the impact of, let's say, agricultural practices in Rwanda, just made this up, you can reach out to Rwanda tourism boards. And come and do that story and work with them, you know, so while my expertise is travel, and this is what I know the most, I will also say that the process of pitching, uh, the process of reaching out to magazines and tourism boards is the same across the board. Um, let me know if that makes sense and if you have an additional question.

[00:46:39] Donna says, what do you estimate is the weekly time commitment to excel in the course? And so, yeah, Donna, I covered it. So I recommend one module a week, maybe one module, two weeks, every two weeks. But again, you guys, we're all adults here and you know, you work with your schedule. We all have different schedules, so whatever schedule works best for you is what's gonna work.

[00:47:03] Again, there's six modules and each is one to two hours long. that's total of six to eight hours. Spread that across six months. It's very important to try to complete the course part of it as soon as you can instead of kind of waiting till the end. Because what sometimes happen is people procrastinate, right?

[00:47:24] People think, oh, I have so much time. I, I have whole six months to do it, but six months go by fast actually, you guys. So I recommend that as soon as you join, you start going through the modules. You get through them as much as you can or as soon as you can, ideally in the first three months, and you use the other three months, like I said, to really engage inside the circle.

[00:47:45] Okay. another question. We have time commitment. I work in a grueling corporate job and I need to balance it with this new creative career. I'm dreaming up for yourself. Yes. Yeah, this is very familiar to me, Koma, because, uh, that was, that was my background as well, right? I came from a corporate grueling corporate job environment too.

[00:48:04] I was a brand manager with very unsustainable hours, and it was very difficult to carve time for anything else when I had that job. So, again, this is no, no one to be honest. Nobody can answer that by you. Now, you know how much time it takes now you need to see how, how you can fit that within your schedule, right?

[00:48:24] Maybe it's the weekend thing that you do, right? Maybe it's, uh,to 11 every Sunday is when you commit to going through this. I will tell you that, and this is something that we actually have a discussion inside the, the membership all the time, is that we all have the same amount of time in our week and we all have a lot of things that, Demand our attention, right?

[00:48:46] Whether it's, uh, work, whether it's family, whether it's whatever kind of demands, we all have different demands on our time. Until you prioritize something for you that's important to you, it's not gonna get prioritized until you prioritize it, it's not gonna get prioritized. So that's, I guess, my best way to answer this question to you.

[00:49:07] If it's important to you, then you prioritize it and then you maybe drop something else. Because again, only 24 7, like we only, we all have the same amount of time in our days. we can't, you know, grow them beyond that 24 7, uh, restriction. So, what I often recommend to people is put a time on your calendar.

[00:49:26] Put, make an appointment with yourself on a calendar and stick to that appointment. Oftentimes in the program, we also do bodies program or body system where you pair up with another student and you independently, uh, reach out to each other and you say, okay, let's do, let's do a every, I don't know, Saturday at four.

[00:49:47] This will be our meeting time where we go through the modules together, or we work on the homeworks together, et cetera, et cetera. but again, if you don't prioritize it, it's not gonna get prioritized. And then the question is, well, what else can you drop from your schedule to fit this in? Important to you, right?

[00:50:04] If it's important to you to go through it. alright. Uh, do the students transition into travel journalism as full-time careers? some do, most don't actually. we've had some of our students who went on to become, full-time, contributors to publications. One student actually now, is got hired, by a publication, but a lot of our students also have other passions, believe it or not.

[00:50:31] So we have, we had a student who, who is also a travel agent and she continued being a trouble agent, but she's also now, being published, with publications as well. So, I would say that I teach. The elements to make this a full-time career. I cover finances, I cover all the elements that go into that, but then it's up to the students in, in how they wanna, you know, how they wanna go about that.

[00:50:56] so that's that. if we join now, do we get access to the program straight away or is there a particular start date? Yes. So if you join right away, you get access right away, you can start, uh, working on the modules right away. And,you, you basically get, in the existing schedule of the, uh, membership.

[00:51:18] So if you join today, our next call in the membership is, I believe next Monday. So you get on the next call on Monday. Now there is, in terms of a start day, there is a kickoff call that we're gonna have when enrollment closes at the end of May, we have a kickoff call for all the students who just joined, where I just kind of orient you guys.

[00:51:40] so that's kind of the, the one, the one call that's,specific. But other than that, as soon as you join uh, you get into the schedule. That's that we already have. Does the course cover trip funding, are people mostly pitching from trips they've already taken? Yes. So we do have, uh, we do talk about trip funding.

[00:51:57] and Most of the funding happens with tourism boards, uh, working with tourism boards, right? So I, I talk about how do you reach out to tourism boards, how does that relationship work and all of that. and people, when they come into the program, they are mostly pitching from trips they've already taken, or from this research by the way, because you don't necessarily have to go on a trip every time to pitch a story, right.

[00:52:19] This research is also a very valid approach and we cover that in the program. But in the beginning it's kind of a, a, a little bit of a chicken and the egg, situation because if you haven't been published, the chances of a tourism board approaching you would be very low, right? You need to st, you need to build up your portfolio a little bit until you can start working with the tourism boards.

[00:52:39] So for the first, however many pitches you are pitching, something that you've already done, based on a trip or an experience that you have, maybe you're also pitching something that's in your backyard, right? Or something that you can do as a weekend trip, uh, or again, desk research, as well.

[00:52:55] So that's, that's kind of how we approach that. alright. So I think that's it. Let me check if there's any other questions here. I think that covers everything that you guys have. Thank you so much for these questions. I really love getting questions. I think, It's always helpful for others as well to hear what you guys are thinking about.

[00:53:15] So again, thank you so much. We're a little bit over time here. Um, but thank you so much, for coming today and if you have any additional questions that I didn't cover yet today, let me know. You can reach out to me on Instagram, you can send me an email. I will be sending a replay shortly with this recording and with the link to join us, and I hope to see you guys inside the program.

[00:53:40] All right, so thank you so much for, for joining us today. It was lovely to talk to you guys and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day, everyone. Okay. Thank you everyone. 

[00:53:52] Did you hear something that resonated with you in this episode today? Maybe you were listening in and you were like, oh, I've had this question before. I've felt that I've wanted that. If you've resonated with what I had to share today during our. Program info session, then maybe just maybe our interested travel journalism program is for you.

[00:54:13] Program enrollment opens very soon, and we will only be sending details to folks on our wait list. So go to travel media lab.com/class to sign up for the wait list and get notified when we start enrolling. Thank you so much for listening today, and I'll see you very soon.