We recently connected with ROMIRA YOUNG and have shared our conversation below.

ROMIRA, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the toughest things about entrepreneurship is that there is almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

Two words. The pandemic. I was not expecting this. It’s like one day, business was booming, we were meeting people from all over the country, and hosting large groups, monthly, and the next thing you know, the world completely shut down. Over the past two years, we’ve experienced more growing pains than what some would consider normal. While I can look back, and know that each test served us well, and taught me how to handle tough challenges, sometimes I wish the lessons we had to endure were much lighter. There were hundreds of travelers that we had to refund within 60 days of being notified of the shut down, and there were a few who did not respect that we too were experiencing this, and trolled our social media pages. The mental toll within itself was a traumatic experience, one I am thankful for now, but will never forget. I didn’t realize until this started happening, how ugly the world could be. Our business structure has changed, forever, for the better. The pandemic taught me how to be a real business owner.

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

I was 25, planning a trip with my friends out of the country, and our experience went viral. It’s funny how life works, because I was supposed to go to the police academy, and I ended up building a e-commerce business, with absolutely no training, just the trust in God. Our travel company will celebrate 7 years in business in 2023, and we’ve traveled to 6 out of the 7 continents, with some of the most amazing people, from all over the world. I am most proud of the fact that that through every challenge we’ve had to face, we overcame them, and came out much stronger on the other side. What I look forward to sharing with our new travelers, as we move forward, is a great experience. When I first started, they received the best I had to give, with the limited amount of information I knew. Now, we’re so far ahead of the game, when it comes to professionalism, we look forward to opening opportunities for new members to join us on trips!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

We’re authentic in everything that we post on our social media platforms. If you check out our Instagram page, @melaninglobe, all of the photos are from our trip experiences. These are our travelers, our tribe members, those who trusted us to provide them with a great experience, and the opportunity to meet new people. What sets us apart is that we do not attempt to keep up with aesthetics. It is important to show what really happens behind the scenes, what our travelers really look like. Everybody doesn’t have a slim waist, or the longest hair, or the latest designer attire. When we take pictures, we’re showing you what we look like in real time, while we’re having a good time. There is no judgment, nor do we pick and choose what you need to look like to be posted on our platforms. Come as you are, bring good energy, and get in front of our camera!

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

It’s important to find ways to stay connected with your consumers, even after a service is complete. Most of our tribe continue to follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletters on our site. This is so important to have a subscription tab, some place. Remember that time social media shut down for a day, and everybody lost it. Make sure that you have an email address to stay connected with your people, in the event that this ever happens again. Think about it. If you cannot connect with them on social media, and you have no site, no email subscription tab, what’s next? What would you do? If you haven’t done this already, now is a great time to begin.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.melaninglobe.com
• Instagram: @melaninglobe
• Facebook: Melanin Globe
• Twitter: @melaninglobe
• Youtube: Melanin Globe