We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bianca Willis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Bianca , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Along with taking care of clients, taking care of our team is one of the most important things we can do as leaders. Looking back on your journey, did you have a boss that was really great? Maybe you can tell us about that boss and what made them a wonderful person to work for?

My favorite boss is my current boss, Joe Valeri. One, I don’t have to feel like I have a boss that I have to report to every day. He allows me to freely do my job and make important decisions and if I slack he will let me know. Two, he has pushed, supported, and educated me in ways that most people would have to pay for. He owns the wine shop (V-NO Fells Point) and I run the day-to operations. While I was just a few years into this industry he saw potential in me, understood what I needed, and allowed me to fly. While growing in my position Joe has supported me in building my nonprofit organization as well. He’s more than just a boss, he’s my mentor, his family is my family, and I can’t wait to see what we will do in business in the future.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

I am a change maker, who is passionate about travel, entrepreneurship, and community.
I always had a vision for life that is beyond local constructs. Growing up I knew life had to be different than what I was seeing every day. When I was 19 I moved to California and since then I began to travel around the world. As I visited more places I adopted ways of living from each culture and embraced their teachings into my own style of living.

In 2015, I established Learning To Live Movement Inc, a non-profit that provides travel opportunities to high school students of color. I wanted to expose students to the world beyond the borders of Baltimore and understand they had the power to create the life they wanted to live. After 4 years of learning how to run a business, falling, and picking myself back up I finally got to take 3 students to Belize in 2019 with the help of my community in Baltimore. After watching those students experience life differently I knew I was living in my purpose. Those same students still call me, travel with me, and are doing their part to put out good in their lives and others, and that gives me life. Since then we have been traveling and supplying passports for our students. Our passport program was created due to COVID. Donae, Founder of La Fete Rose supported the idea of supplying students with passports until we could travel again. That idea became a reality thanks to La Fete Rose and Wide Roots LLC. Now the passport program is one of our most popular initiatives.

While building Learning To Live I was also building a career in the hospitality industry working in restaurants, hotels, and resorts across the US.

I am currently the Operations and Events Manager at V-NO Wine Bar and Shop. I now utilize my position and network to help grow Learning to Live Movement and to expose the youth to non-traditional career paths in the Hospitality and Travel industry. Our mantra is “Travel is the school of life” and we will continue to be the place teens turn to when they want to learn a little more about life outside of their comfort zones.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Word of mouth. Building Relationships. Everywhere I turn it’s like I’m constantly being told “more marketing, email marketing, social media, online this and that” While I know all of this advice is 100% true and I needs to get better at it, the other part in me still says to myself “but what if I can accomplish my goals my way”. From the time I started my business until now word of mouth has been the core source of funding and new students. I am a walking billboard for my business. I build positive relationships and they have taken my business far. I probably can accomplish a lot more with some serious marketing so I am in the process of getting that done but I want people to remember that building the right relationships is just as important. Old school ways aren’t completely dead, yet:)

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I left Hawaii and moved back to Baltimore I felt like my world was crashing down. Life events put me in a position where if I wanted to be successful in my business and life I had to take some steps back and start fresh. It probably was the best decision I ever made. It was rough at first but I was dedicated and focused. I built my community, worked on my business hands-on with my target audience every day. I grew in my hospitality career. I was able to build relationships that helped accomplish business and personal goals. Now after 4 years of starting all over, I successfully run my business from my home in Southern Florida, I’m learning to fly airplanes like I always wanted to and I get to do it all with support from my future husband. So what I thought was a horror story ended up being a blessing. I’m not sure I would be where I am today if I didn’t take a couple of steps back regardless of what people thought. A fresh start never hurts. When it’s time to pivot, do it, create a plan, and don’t give up.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.learningtolivemovement.com
• Instagram: @bjanay_ @l2live_
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bianca.willis67. https://www.facebook.com/learningtolivemovement
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bjanay/

Image Credits
Midg3tproductionz