We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Farrin Stanton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Farrin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us about a time where you or your team really helped a customer get an amazing result?
Recently Be HUEmane curated a couple of trips in Africa and it has been a pleasure to send those impacted by the diaspora back home. One of my favorite parts of doing what I do is hearing clients’ travel stories. I love hearing the accommodations are nice and/or that they had a cool adventure, but what draws me in is when I hear a client’s perspective has shifted based on their travel experience.
Hearing people that look like me exclaim their time in the motherland has “changed them forever”, is one of the most rewarding outcomes.
Seeing Cape Coast Castle in Elmina, Ghana earlier this year was a powerful experience. Walking the very grounds where our enslaved ancestors fought for their survival was profound. The emotions displayed by members of my group as they learned about the history and journey of our ancestors is a moment I will cherish forever. We saw firsthand the living quarters that our forebears had to withstand for us to be able to stand there on that day. We saw firsthand the chains that were placed on them to keep them enslaved. We saw where they put those who continued to fight and rebel against the enslavers to die.
And we also were welcomed home by an Elder. An Elder who prayed for our safe return home to enlighten others about our connection with our mother country.
As a result, members of my group have returned to their respective homes and are eager to return to Africa to focus on different ways to further connect our cultures.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My family prioritized travel early on in my life. I’m thankful for the experiences I had that began my love for experiencing the world. My aunt was a travel agent and she always returned from countries with stories and trinkets that kept me dreaming. When I decided to document my travels on an online blog people started to reach out to me requesting to travel with me or for me to help them travel.
In 2018, I founded my travel business to connect people of the diaspora by creating travel experiences for us.
Be HUEmane provides services that intersect travel and education. We provide personalized opportunities for those who wish to learn through the wonders of travel and focus on socioeconomic issues, as well as highly captivating cultural experiences. We enjoy bringing awareness to global issues facing marginalized communities all over the world.
My goal is to create a travel community where we not only experience different places for a holiday but to also create a sustainable connection with people who are interested in becoming positive influencers wherever we go. Be HUEmane finds a balance in curating trips inclusive of sightseeing, exploring, partying, and service.
This means including activities like bringing supplies to organizations in countries that struggle with child abandonment, providing unique experiences for children in school systems unable to to provide them, or connecting educators to new and sustainable teaching practices they can incorporate into their classrooms upon their return home, just to name a few. Our hosted group experiences leave our travelers with a connection to a region or country that lasts for a lifetime.
People who are first-time travelers gain confidence to travel and meet new people, try new foods, solo travel, return to places they enjoyed with their families, purchase properties in foreign countries and so much more. Our reach is beyond the “trip” because we are focused on encouraging our travelers to connect and form a community so they can grow in the world. Put simply, what sets Be HUEmane apart is our success in linking those of the diaspora through travel and bridging communities of different cultures throughout the world.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
One of the things I had to unlearn as a travel consultant was my preconceived notions about certain destinations. Before I became a travel consultant, I had a narrow view of what certain places had to offer based on what I was taught in the United States eEducational system., and I was often surprised to find out just how much I didn’t know and how much there was to explore. I also had to unlearn my habit of relying solely on the internet for research., I’ve come to realize that realized globally talking to locals and other travelers is often the best way to get a true sense of a place. Finally, I had to unlearn my tendency to plan every detail of a trip, as the best experiences often come from embracing the unexpected.
Have you ever had to pivot?
In 2014, I started a travel blog while closing in on 8 years of government service. Blogging was not only to document my travels but as a way to hold myself accountable as I grew into adulthood. After completing the checklist of goals set mainly by my mentors and parents, such as graduating from college, getting a “good job”, buying a house, etc., I realized my work-life balance negatively impacted my mental health.
And although on paper everything was going great and I was on track to continue to excel on this path, my passion was not in what I was doing. I learned that after taking vacations, I always returned feeling recharged, but the feeling was only temporary. Later I realized this was because I was not walking in my purpose, one that allowed me to live and experience different places as a career. Thus, blending my passion and my career into one. Blogging helped expose the thing I really loved most about travel is learning. Combining my passion, and career all while providing an opportunity for others to experience learning through travel is my optimal goal. I came to understand that if I was to spend most of my life working, it would benefit me to love what I’m doing. Quitting my job in 2017 and leaning into my purpose was one of the best pivot’s in life I’ve made to date.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.BeHUEmane.com
- Instagram: Be_HUEmane
Image Credits
The Egypt pyramid picture is from Push the Button Creative Studio in Baltimore Maryland.