We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Hanny Lerida-Fester. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Hanny below.

Hi Hanny, thanks for joining us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

When I first started, blogging was just a hobby. It was something I had started due to all the travel I was doing and I wanted a way to keep my family and friends posted. I started out as ‘TravlJunkie’, but the more I blogged, the more I started to learn that this could ultimately become a company and a full-time job. This led me to go to my first blogging conference ever and learned about trademarking.

Unfortunately for me, I could not trademark my chosen name, so I came up with ‘The Global Wanderess’. I was doing so much traveling at the time that it suited the blog.

Hanny, 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?

The Global Wanderess started out as a hobby. It was something for me to do, while I sat in airplanes avoiding the anxiety that crept up from all the turbulence, it was also a way for me to share my traveling life abroad. The more I shared stories, the more I realized that I was also providing information on things that we didn’t have in the U.S. and also tips that people could use. Since my blog was public to everyone, I started to gain an audience, which made me believe that I could do more with the blog.

I started to share more tips, write travel guides and even started to share international food recipes.

After going to a blogging conference, I decided to make my blog into a company and less of a hobby. I started to work with different companies and even offered more services. I’ve been able to work with tourism boards in promoting destinations I’ve been to, I’ve worked with numerous companies in promoting products I use, and have even published my own photos in magazines.

Of course, my content has evolved throughout the years and I now offer my audience resources to find their dream remote job. I also offer mini travel guides, more descriptive travel guides, reviews on certain travel products and places as well as Bucket list destinations, Florida centered content and hidden gems.

The content I provide is to help those that want tips on both touristic places and hidden gems as well as those seeking a great vacation. I also help people find the work-life balance we all seek by providing more resources on remote jobs and starting your own company.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect for me is when one of my readers/followers reaches out to thank me for the mini guide or travel tip I provided. My readers will sometimes send me images of the places they’ve been to thanks to me and that absolutely makes my day! I’m here creating content to share with others, so that they feel inspired to explore this beautiful earth.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

When I first started blogging, I only had personal social media. I didn’t have one for the blog. Gradually as I started to grow on the blog, I decided I needed to change my social media to my business and so I changed my personal Instagram account to my business one. The rest of the platforms, I created a separate business one.

My social media presence isn’t as big as others, but I do have a good engagement on my platforms. I may not have 20,000 on Instagram or TikTok, but I do have a community of people I talk to. This is what is important, not the number of followers you have.

My advice is keep working on content and building a community rather than focusing on numbers. The more you can build that community, the more they will help spread word of your account and the more you’ll grow. Less numbers, more engagement!

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.theglobalwanderess.com
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/theglobalwanderess
• Facebook: Www.Facebook.com/theglobalwanderess
• Twitter: Www.Twitter.com/globalwanderes