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

Jeff, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

We started Chubby Diaries because there was no representation in the travel industry for Plus-size travelers. The lack of accessibility, comfort, and overall inclusivity jumped out to us. By creating this space, we found that we filled a need for a marginalized group of people who were not being served. This has been especially apparent after the launch of our “Never Say Never with Jeff Jenkins.” People are reaching out, asking for guided tours, asking where I got my scuba gear. The need is there companies just have to be willing to listen. I’ve taken it upon myself to show it’s not that people don’t want to go out and travel; it’s that the resources don’t exist or are hard to access.

Jeff, 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?

Jeff Jenkins is an award-winning Travel/ Food Blogger, speaker, podcast host, and Influencer based out of Austin, Texas. Jeff most recently is proud to add
travel documentarian to his list of adventures as he stars in a show that
explores diverse cultures, locations and overcoming fears, backed by National
Geographic.
He is a proud Floridian, being born and raised in Orlando and graduating from
the HBCU Florida A&M University. In the summer of 2002, Jeff got on his first
plane and started his journey as a camp counselor on American Military bases
around the world through the program, Camp Adventure. He continued this
work for six summers exploring new places, cultures and creating a love for
adventure. After college, Jeff guided young minds as an educator in Florida
and Texas for a decade, nurturing lasting and meaningful relationships with his
Students.
Upon moving away from a life as a public school educator he went with Africa
New Life to build Keyhole Gardens in Kageyo, Rwanda. While on the trip his
group saw a water shortage in the town of Kageyo. They decided upon
returning they would start a water well project and they did. Quickly learning
how and returning to transition their idea to reality. It was in that opportunity
that Jeff realized he wanted to Travel the world, Help people, and get paid to
do it.
Jeff knew he wanted to blog about traveling, it was then that he found, or
rather didn’t find Fat Black Men represented, with that, Chubby Diaries was
born. Since starting Chubby Diaries in 2017, Jeff has added a podcast, Chubby
Diaries Annual Travel Awards, and most recently a campaign to give people in
his community financial access to passports. He has been featured in Forbes,
New York Times, Washington Post, Google, Travel Noire, Essence, Travel +
Leisure, Lonely Planet, Texas Monthly, Outdoor Retailers, and The Points Guy.
Jeff was most recently named one of Travel + Leisure’s 50 Notable People in
Travel. Jeff is currently working on multiple projects and is excited for the
National Geographic show to launch. Continuing his work and mission to
“Redefine what it looks like to travel.”

How did you build your audience on social media?

Consistency, Brant Cardone says “the biggest obstacle that new brands face is obscurity; people just don’t know who you are.” So you have to consistently promote yourself and not only post once every other week. You need to be posting every day and producing content that is engaging, entertaining or educational. Look up five accounts that you aspire to be like and take the best of each of those and let those inform you.

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

For me, it was back in August 2021, I was ready to call it quits. I met with a friend who is in the same field as me. She said, “Jeff, you are o.k.. You are in the right place. Don’t, compare yourself to where I’m at right now. Stay focused and keep pushing because it will all change one day!” Three weeks after that I hit a stride and haven’t stopped since

Contact Info:

• Website: https://chubbydiaries.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chubbydiaries/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffjenkinschubbydiaries/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEAMJe2-AwcKjE_iq1HMhzw