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

Janay, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I created a brand that connects culture and humanity together by inspiring people to travel not only for the scenery, but also to learn the history in their destinations, explore the food culture, and truly grasp the entire travel experience. I named it Hey Travoodies

Why Hey Travoodies? Simple. We all want to travel and eat well. Hey Travoodies serves as a guide that shares the beauty and exposes misconceptions of places, pushing folks to go beyond our comfort zones and travel with purpose. I am fostering a community that will have knowledge and understanding through guides, blog posts, and media to help aid in making a vacation memorable with cultural exposure.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Everyone has at least one trip experience they will never forget. Mine began when my family and I made the decision to travel to California to see my dad’s sister. We’ve always been road warriors, so we’d rather drive than fly any day! However, my mother decided that going by Greyhound from Louisiana to California would be better this time. A 35-hour drive across the United States to have family time. That morning, we got up with our luggage packed and were eager to start the trek. Although it wasn’t my first ride on a Greyhound, this one was the longest I’d ever experienced. I slept most of the way. When we had longer stops, I enjoyed different foods and took breaks. The best part of the ride was the scenery; some beautiful and heavenly, while others appeared desolate and lonely. The worst part…our bus broke down. Somewhere in Arizona, in the heat of the day. We waited for hours–the most uncomfortable moments of our lives.

Despite being one of the worst trips, it taught me the value of spending time with family. After my father passed away, I realized the importance of living, so I traveled in his memory and honor. In my travels, I found a passion for the cultures and history of the places I visited.

I have my own history with food from generational traditions, recipes, and storytelling.

I loved food. Eating a good meal was the highlight of my adolescence. I stood in the kitchen and watched my grandmother cook. She was my favorite to watch from her meticulous measuring, prepping the food, and adding the final touches to a delicious dish. She was an old-school cook; everything was fresh. The vegetables came from her garden, the fruits from her trees, and we could taste the love in her meals. Sunday’s menu included collard greens and my favorite hot water cornbread. It wasn’t long before I was old enough to dip my hands in the meal mixture in the hopes of secretly rolling cornbread.

Then, my day came! I was alongside my grandmother helping her cook. I wanted to learn everything and listening to my grandmother’s stories and watching my mother collect recipes, I learned a lot. If my mother saw an interesting recipe, she would try it. We all did. Over the years, we added our own twists and signatures to those collected recipes. As the family’s Taste Tester, it was only natural for me to grow a passion for food.

We are a cooking family and still to this date, Sunday dinners are at my grandmother’s house. The rich history of food was ingrained in me at an early age

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Deciding to push forward with Hey Travoodies is resilience within itself, I would like to say that I was blessed to be able to operate in any gifting and abilities. However, often that can be overwhelming. Find a journey and staying with it without getting board, or admitting that you are struggling when you hit a wall. Just like many, the pandemic was hard for everyone. Recovering after loosing a job, struggling when you are still undecided of the next move and frustrated with having to start over. That was me. Before I moved into building this brand out fully, I realized that I needed to change my mindset and my environment for a while so that I could focus. I hung on to the thought that anything is possible and believe that we would be a traveling country again. Here we are now doing more flying than ever and I want to help showcase the world to people.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

The best books that I believe greatly impacted my drive to entrepreneurial thinking is The E Myth by Michael E. Gerber and Atomic Habits by James Clear. The E Myth taught me how to understand business while Atomic Habits taught me how to remain consistent with my intentions.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thetravoodies.com
• Instagram: @HeyTravoodies
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/heyTravoodies
• Twitter: @HeyTravoodies
• Youtube: HeyTravoodies

Image Credits
TRAVEL FRIENDS