Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jeannie Ralston. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jeannie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?

I see that women in our demographic–45 and up–are the driving force in the travel industry. They book trips for travel with their partners, with their extended family (children and maybe grandchildren), with girlfriends and increasingly for themselves. I don’t believe they get the recognition for their economic power that they should. I see that many women in this age group do not want to travel with their husbands. Often I hear that husbands don’t want to travel at all, or want to travel in a way they don’t like (maybe a golf excursion or an all-inclusive resort). And many single women don’t want to wait for a romantic partner to explore the world. All reports show that women traveling alone, especially in this age group, is on the rise.

Our trips are specially designed to make all our guests feel comfortable, part of a Tribe even before they get on an airplane to our destination. We keep our groups small (rarely more than 14 women). We have Zoom meetings before a trip so women can start to know each other. For each trip, we create a group on our proprietary social network and also a text group–all so we can share information about each other, ask questions, see the faces of fellow travelers.

When we finally come together at our destination, we find that the bonding is quick and deep. Partly because we have taken the time to lay that ground work before the trip, but also because we have a filter system, of sorts. The women who come on our trips are a self-selected group. They have read our articles, our newsletters and if they respond to our theme of Age Boldly, then they are automatically a more compatible group right from the start. They believe in the same philosophy of life at this age and it shows in how well they travel together.

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

NextTribe offers community and travel for smart, engaged women over 45. I originally started NextTribe in 2017 as a digital magazine because my career until then had been as a magazine journalist. I didn’t like the messages I was receiving about getting older. I was 55 at the time and I was made to feel like I was walking toward the end of a plank and I would disappear into a great vast abyss in a few years.

I knew that I still felt about 18 inside and that my friends and I were still doing amazing, crazy things–going out, having fun, drinking too much, going on road trips. But I couldn’t find anything–no print magazine, no website–that acknowledged that life could still be exciting, challenging, brimming with opportunities.

So, I created NextTribe for women over 45 who wanted to Age Boldly, which was our first tag line. Not only did we (and do we) publish great articles by top writers about what it was like to be this age in the 21st Century, we started forming communities, both in person and online. And because I had experience as a travel writer and as a travel planner (for extensive international trips I took with my family as we homeschooled our sons), I started offering trips for women in this age group.

We now are leaning more into our trips, though we still publish our magazine and have our communities in various cities and through our own proprietary social network. It is so rewarding to see like-minded women (those who believe their lives are far from done) bonding and laughing and relishing their time together. Our mission in everything we do is to fight stereotypes about women in this age group and help them feel more relevant, understood and connected.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

We started as a digital magazine, and I was full of optimism that we could make a profit because we had such a special product. Articles for women in the 45 plus age group that had an optimistic, irreverent voice, written by top writers in the magazine field who could put into words what many readers likely feel but rarely see discussed. However, it soon became apparent that even though our readership had reached 150K per month, we weren’t getting the advertising revenue or support from sponsors that we were hoping for.

We did develop a new revenue source with a lot of potential–events we called “NextTribe Out Loud.” The idea was to have accomplished women speak about the possibilities and opportunities of being this age. We put these on in Austin, NYC, and LA, and had great speakers–Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Judy Collins, Norma Kamali, Fran Drescher, E. Jean Carroll, Marta Kaufmann. We were able to turn a profit on these events thanks to sponsorship dollars and hefty ticket sales. However, the pandemic squelched that opportunity. We tried to start them up again after the pandemic, but attendance patterns had changed (people weren’t wanting to go out as much), plus sponsors weren’t willing to pay what they had before.

In fall 2022, I decided that we would not host any more Out Loud events (at least for the time being) and concentrate instead on a revenue source that was providing the most potential: Travel. That’s when we really leaned into travel, doubling the number of trips offered for 2023. This shift has been the best decision for our company. We had a profitable 2023 and in 2024, when we’re offering 20 trips, we expect to double our revenue over 2023.

To support this change, we relaunched our website, hired a new marketing manager with travel experience, and stepped up our email marketing strategy. Before we were a digital magazine that offered cool trips. Now, we’re a travel company that publishes a cool magazine. This pivot is represented in our new tagline that replaces “Age Boldly.” We now use “Join the Journey” because it encompasses all we do–travel, of course, but also the journey through this chapter of life when we need a supportive tribe to make it the best it can be.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think we’ve built our reputation because I and others I’ve hired truly live this Age Boldly ideal. It comes from an authentic place, and I believe our readers and travelers can feel that. They are bolstered by what we say and do that demonstrates that this can be a peak time in our lives.

Also, I think people respond to our sense of fun. Yes, we’re talking about some serious subjects when it comes to aging well, but I try to infuse all that we do with humor and irreverence. A guiding principle of NextTribe is something I learned from my feisty 95-year-old mother: “If you get older without a sense of humor, there’s no hope for you.”

This idea is especially true on our trips. I want our trips to be times for people to explore the world and themselves, to connect and celebrate. But above all, I want our trips to be fun. I work really hard at that–giving our travelers the opportunity to relax and let their hair down, kick up their heels and let out some guffaws. There’s nothing that makes you feel more alive, I believe, than a good laugh.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nexttribe.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/next_tribe/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NextTribeAgeBoldly/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeannie-ralston-4095448/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCjZHsk2WW_o_18ud4fSx3A

Image Credits
Last photo, portrait of Jeannie Ralston in a light blue top, photo credit: Susie Lang