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

Hi Kenyada, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?

As a content creator and an independent travel agent it’s definitely hard to get your family and friends to support you. Everyone see your travels and know that you have access to create vacation packages etc. but they rarely use you for travel or like any of your social media post. My family and friends do offer words of encouragement for me to keep going but I do not receive any sales from them. I think that someone having the expectation to always receive a discount especially family and friends is highly inappropriate and that is where I draw the line. In my opinion, anyone who expects you to forgo any type of commission or put you in a position where you are not able to make any money is quite selfish because you are in the business to make money not lose it or give it away.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

So I got into food & travel by accident. I have always been a huge fan of good food (because my family can cook their behinds off) however the only traveling I had done as a child was going to family reunions and visiting my dad when he lived out of state. I took my love for food to Instagram after I moved from Atlanta to Frisco (which is a suburb of Dallas) because I feel like in order to get to know a city you need to experience the food, learn about the culture, and get to know the people. I initially started my Instagram page to show off my cooking skills because people seemed to really like my food and how creative it was. I started out making and selling pound cakes because my family is known for making some of the best pound cakes you will EVER have in your life. I am naturally a creative so I made pound cakes like my family but put an extra spin on them by incorporating different flavors like white chocolate peppermint, lemon blueberry, as well as making homemade ice cream. After my younger cousin seen what I was doing on Instagram she encouraged me to look into becoming a Yelp Elite. Once I became a Yelp Elite my whole world changed because not only was I able to attend restaurant openings and menu revisions, I was able to try out a lot of fun attractions for free which was a win win for me. I was already a lover of the theme parks due to taking my son to Orlando every year for vacation so learning about things I could do in Texas that wasn’t theme park related was exciting to me. Eating and being entertained for free was appealing because although I worked for a very well known organization I was barely making enough money to make ends meet let alone take my kid on vacation which brings me to what sets me a part from other content creators. I was a single mom and taking my son on vacations became a priority for me because I wasn’t a vacation kid. Money was scarce so I had to figure out how to take my son on a vacation when I barely had any money. While figuring it out I learned that there is a peak season and an off peak season and knowing this information is the difference between a stressful, and extremely expensive vacation or affordable and relaxing vacation. I am personally not a huge fan of crowds so traveling during off peak times became my thing. I noticed that if you are someone who likes to save money but still want to have a great vacation experience you have to travel during off peak times. I then became a serial solo traveler and started doing so back in 2017 and I haven’t looked back. I started traveling alone because I often feel stressed when I am traveling in groups and traveling during peak times overwhelm me. My travel style is different because I am looking to save as much money as possible while getting the most bang for my buck. I do this by researching and finding out when I can take a vacation for half the price it is when its is peak season. I research dates for flights, hotels, ticket prices for attractions, as well as codes for ride share apps & rental car prices. By doing this in 2022 I was able to take 5 trips and in 2023 I took 4 trips and two were last minute trips due to the deals I had found. I am really proud of the content that I have created over the years because I mainly do it to encourage people to live a balanced life. We can’t just work hard and pay bills (unless we don’t have a choice). I use my Social Media to show people that you don’t have to have a lot of money to have an amazingly affordable vacation. For example my 2023 trip to New York was called my Bucket List Trip of Free things to do in NYC. I was there for two days and I only paid for one attraction while I was there but did a total of 8 things. The weekend I chose to go would’ve been almost triple the price a week after I had gone so I made a choice. I played with the dates to get the best rates then I booked it. I researched all of the things I wanted to do and see that were free and it was one of the most amazing trips I had ever been on. My primary source of transportation was the subway because I learned that your rides are free after you hit $34 in subway fees within a 7 days which is called fare capping. I also researched ride share pricing to get around to the places that I wanted to visit and found discount codes for certain ride share apps like Revel which is NYC based and their fleet is Teslas which I thought was extremely cool because it is good for the environment and their drivers do not put any wear and tear on their vehicles. I was able to experience 7 free bucket list items in two days. I want my followers to look at what I am doing and know that they can do it too. I know that everyone doesn’t have a flexible schedule to vacation when they want however it can be done in an affordable manner if you do the research or hire an independent travel agent if you do not have the time to research it yourself.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn the phrase, “I Can’t.” As I have gotten older I have grown to realize that anything is possible you just have to find a way. When I was younger I remember seeing the Universal Studios and Disney Parks commercials as well as their movies and never thought in a million years I’d be able to vacation there every year let alone share the experience with my parents who I treated to a Universal Orlando vacation later in life. I am from a small town in Michigan and if you don’t leave for school or work or don’t grow up going on vacations all you see is your reality and what’s on television. I have grown to be resilient and hard working because I had no choice but to be those things. I had young parents so I eventually had to learn a lot on my own. My Grandmother was my primary mother figure and she was the example I needed to learn that Can’t is not in your vocabulary. It was nothing that she couldn’t do which inspired me to be better.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect about being a creative is being able to share my experiences with everyone. I love that I am able to create something that connects with people. I love it when a supporter sends me a message and says, “I am going to Napa or Universal because I seen your posts or can you send me the recipe for that because I want to make it for a family gathering?” It makes me want to do more because I love inspiring people through cooking and my love for traveling. Traveling has been a healthy way for me to connect with myself and broaden my outlook on the world through experiencing different cultures and food. I love to tell stories through my content so everything has to have purpose and flow perfectly. Just for context I edit my own videos so having the right sound, text placement, and the length of the video are key to putting out great content. If I only get one like for a video a day I am truly humbled and inspired.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: rklairsdelectibleeats
• Youtube: KNikki Sunshine Travels
• Yelp: KNikki N.
• Other: TikTok is @knikkisunshine