We were lucky to catch up with Denella Ri’chard recently and have shared our conversation below.

Denella, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I was a cruise industry executive. I worked in the travel and cruise industry for over 20 years. On March 13, 2020, COVID-19 shut down the cruise industry. What we thought would be a one week shut down ended up being one year+ shut down. No passengers on cruise ships for over a year. During that time, I had to lay off my team of over 40 people and I found out I was losing my job also.

During the months of being home on lock down and countries were on lock down. For the first time in our history, we were not free to roam the world. Not even 911 was this this bad! I kept thinking, what can I do to inspire people that one day we will travel the world again?

That’s when I had the idea to start the travel television show, which originally launched on a streaming channel in a Zoom interview format with heavy beautiful travel b-roll. As borders opened, I started getting calls from countries and cruise lines saying feature us on your television show, tell the world our borders are open, and we can travel “safely” again. :-)

Well, I always through that once the cruise industry resumed operations I’d go back to my executive job. Well, four years later, seven-television Telly Awards, five travel industry Magellan Awards and 50 shows filmed to different destinations and on cruise ships later…. We’re still going! That show that started as a Zoom show on a streaming channel, now takes a four-person crew to film around the world and the show airs weekly in 40 US cities on ABC, CBS, NBC, CW and YurView (cable). It airs on American Forces Networks in 168 countries to military personnel around the world. And it’s streaming on TUBI, GoTraveler, Amazon Prime, GFNTV and don’t forget we’ve even inflight on Turkish Airways, Kuwait Airways, Ethiopian Airlines and WestJet.

I never returned to my executive job! Instead, I created my dream job, my dream business during the middle of the pandemic and now I ask myself….why didn’t I do this years ago! Being an entrepreneur, owning my own television production company and producing shows around the world is the BEST LIFE EVER!!!!

Denella, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I built a career in the travel industry before it was cool! I worked for the billion-dollar brands: Hilton Worldwide, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Carnival Corporation. I always worked in corporate positions. However, when I would tell people I worked for Hilton or Carnival, they automatically assumed I worked in housekeeping. This was especially true with people of color. As a person of color, I quickly realized “my people had no reference point” beyond being “THE HELP” regarding the careers in the travel industry.

I studied abroad in Africa during a time when Rwanda was in the middle of the genocide and South Africa was ending Apartheid and Nelson Madela had just become President. I was living and studying in neighboring Zimbabwe which was under the rule of Robert Mugabe, who some consider an evil dictator, while others see him as a revolutionary hero. It was the early 90’s when I studied in Zimbabwe, traveling to South Africa and interacting with Rwandan refugees. I was in Africa when it was not trending on social media. I was there when I found out my study abroad classmates from Duke had email and I had no clue what that was because my HBCU: Southern University had not introduced us to email yet :-)

I was an EXPAT in Brussels, Belgium when most people didn’t know what an EXPAT was. I lived and worked in Brussels for three years helping launch an online travel company…

Before all of that my first job out of college (HBCU: Southern University) was working for a television production company called SKY Television. We produced inflight television shows for United Airlines. One of our shows as a travel show called, Destinations and I was the Production Manager. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism, this is how full circle 30 years later….I am the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated, globally streaming television show, “Traveling With Denella Ri’chard.

“Look back on your life and say, “Thank God I Had The Courage To GO.” ~Denella Ri’chard

This quote explains my life…..my life in travel….my life in television….my life as a corporate executive….my life as an entrepreneur!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

COVID-19 stole my job. COVID-19 stole my career. COVID-19 shut down my entire industry globally for over a year. During that year of lockdown instead of feeling sorry for myself, I created something new. I created a new ME! I have a saying, “If you don’t see it, create it”. I created my dream job of traveling the world, producing and hosting my own television show, which is now award-winning, nationally syndicated and globally watched: Traveling With Denella Ri’chard. I became an entrepreneur when I started my television production company, Soar Entertainment & Media. My original life goal was to retire from corporate with money stocked away in my 401-K plan. I never imagined being an entrepreneur. I wish I would have done it sooner.

Our company works with 20 creatives each month. I have a team that travels the world with me filming and I have a team that brings the production to life and finalizes it for television. I didn’t know my own strength, my own capability, my own resilience. To create myself a new and create an opportunity for others, I am still amazed. I pinch myself. I can’t believe this is my life. My job. Wow! I’m an entrepreneur.

The television show, Traveling With Denella Ri’chard, was created from one desire, to inspire people that when country boarders opened again, we would travel the world again. You have to remember during COVID-19, we could barely leave our homes. We couldn’t even go to church. So, the thought of traveling the world again seemed farfetched. I knew we had to continue to motivate and inspire people to dream about traveling. Our industry and the millions of people like me, who lost their jobs depended on the travel industry coming back strong.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

My dad died when I was 8 years old. He died in a car accident one block from home. He was only 38 years old. My mom instantly became a single mother of two children. Once dad was gone, our life change in a big way financially. Growing up I felt there were things I could not achieve or did not have access to because we did not have the financial resources and my dad was not there to teach me, to show me the way.

I had to unlearn the script that I repeated over and over, “well my dad died and my mom’s single mother, so this or that is not possible for me”. I had to unlearn the script. I had to realize that it is not an excuse. When I stopped repeating the script, it freed me. It freed me to realize my life is a blank canvas. I have the power and the ability to create the life I want.

My mom always took us on trips growing up to California, Florida, Las Vegas. So, I loved to travel from a young age. Throwing away the script allowed me to tap into my passion, my passion for travel. Once the script was gone I realized that world really is my oyster! I realized, while mom didn’t have the opportunity for me to study abroad there were scholarships I could apply for. Which I was the recipient of one.

Throw away the script that is holding you back! I miss my dad every day and he’s been gone for 40 years. The backstory of dad dying is just that….a backstory. My life today, my future….is amazing because that script and that backstory do not define the person I am today and the person I continue to evolve to be.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.travelingwithdenella.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/travelingwithdenella
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/travelingwithdenellarichard/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denella/
• Other: Follow Me On TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@travelingwithdenella

  Watch My Show On Tubi: https://tubitv.com/series/300002144/traveling-with-denella-ri-chard/season-6

  Also, check your local program guide to watch my show.

  It is also streaming on @GoTraveler and @GFNTV