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

Roger, appreciate you joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

Our HBCU international experience is a curated trip series that gives you all the vibes of your favorite HBCU homecoming experience, without having to wait until October to feel the love. With this curated travel series, we focus on bringing HBCU alumni & friends to carefully selected locations within the African Diaspora, and reconnecting what has been broken over the years by exchanging food, fun, history & culture.

By additionally providing volunteer opportunities in-country, and focusing on immersive cultural events, we have curated a unique pocket in our industry that fills the need of extending the reach of HBCU homecoming season and reconnecting descendants of the African Diaspora. Our goal is to help our community to see more of themselves in others through connective experiences.

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.

I originally got into curating group travel after being invited by a college friend to Cartagena, Colombia in 2017. The pure energy and excitement of Colombia was magical and I immediately wanted to show my family & friends the truth about this wonderful country. I began bringing groups in droves to see, feel & touch the beauty of Colombia. When the pandemic hit, and borders closed everywhere, I knew I could no longer solely focus on Colombia.

On a trip to Jamaica, while looking at the ocean and saying “Where to next?”, MOOD Travel Club was born. MOOD, which stands for “Making Our Own Destiny” was to be a travel agency that redefined bucket list travel. Giving our community the ability to make their own destiny and travel to the best food, fun, history, and culture of the world was something the people craved.

Over the years, we have curated travel for over 750 global explorers, held the 1st international book tour stop for Dr. Viviana Coles, formerly of Married at First Sight, and hosted dozens of celebrity clientele and VIP in their favorite destinations. Whether it is a destination wedding, celebrating a birthday, or a good old fashioned friends trip, we pride ourselves in the ability to connect our community with what they want to do most, travel. The experience has been humbling to see what came out of my heart be able to live in the memories of people around the world.

Now, with our HBCU International Experience travel series, we have yet again elevated our offerings by curating targeted experiences into the African Diaspora, connecting Black American traditions with what was lost over time with the displacement of Africans abroad.

Our Roots & Routes TV & Podcast series, dives deep into life abroad, giving you unique angles and perspectives into expat life. Get to know how to travel more responsibly, how to connect to communities, and learn more about the traditions and past times of those in the African Diaspora. Our focus is to provide our community with as many opportunities to celebrate and reconnect their blackness globally.

With these initiatives, our community has grown into a global travel family where you can connect with any of us, anywhere, and be given useful tips and insight into how to travel to any destination. We also offer opportunities for those who travel frequently to take solo or trips for 2 adults for unbeatable rates with our monthly travel program. Our community gets access to take 1 bucket list trip each year as well as receive monthly hotel discounts and consumer promotions with our extensive lineup of curated business partnerships.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I am a big believer in the universe always bringing you exactly what you need, exactly when you need it, as long as you are open to receive it.

Backstory, my videographer and I were on a plane headed to Cartagena to shoot footage. I am very deliberate about certain things, and as a person that sees their “angel number” 11 all of the time, I usually end up choosing row 11 to sit in when I can.

Most times, once I get on the plane, I don’t want to talk to anyone, all I want is sleep. Well this plane ride turned into exactly what I didn’t know I needed.

Sitting next to me was a woman who, which I found out over a 3 hour conversation, was named Eve. It was as if I had known Eve all my life. We sat there and spoke about Colombia, what made us come to Colombia first & so much more. She gave me her number and said to make sure I contacted her that night if I took my guests out so we could meet up. it was the craziest interaction & plane ride of my life. I had found what seemed like my older sister in a hopeless place, an exit row of a low budget airline.

Since that day, we have been working together to merge our talents and continue to build MOOD Travel Club into a travel community that transcends language & borders.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I may have a very unique story with initially funding my business as its completely organic. I mentioned heading to Colombia the 1st time in 2017 after accepting my college friends invitation. Well I took so many pictures and videos and posted them on social media that everyone of my close, as well as distant family saw them and started asking questions! For years, Colombia had seen as a place the average traveler wouldn’t travel to without extensive knowledge of the region and a hold on the Spanish language.

All I had to do to have my first group trip was to invite my friends. Our first group trip was only 2 people, but by our second, we were up to 6, and within the 1st year, hosted 15 in 2 Colombian cities! We were able to take that money and start net positive which is definitely not the case for most small businesses. Our organic growth allowed us to niche down on experience over pouring into unproven marketing strategies and it has worked over the years.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.moodtravelclub.com
• Instagram: moodtravelclub, rjmood
• Facebook: moodtravelclub, roger leysath jr
• Twitter: moodtravelclub
• Youtube: moodtravelclub

Image Credits
Mawusi Mears