We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Vanessa Fondeur-Adams. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Vanessa below.
Vanessa , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.
I started Latino World Travelers in 2015 due to the lack of representation in marketing and advertising in the travel industry. I wanted to see more people who looked like me traveling the world, and being featured at conferences, TV shows, magazines, ads, etc. I believe representation matters because being included makes you feel like you belong in travel spaces. That’s why I made it my mission to create a movement, share knowledge, and feature the Latinx community.
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 am a fierce and adventurous Dominican Jefa. As a NYC educator for 15+ years with insatiable wanderlust, I wanted my hugely underrepresented high school students to experience the world beyond the textbooks and become more global-minded so I began leading students on educational tours to countries such as China, England, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Morocco, and Spain.
As founder of Latino World Travelers, I looked to expand on my passion for travel in this community, amplify Latinx voices, provide a platform to spotlight travel content creators, influencers, bloggers, and thought-leaders, and provide a safe space to bring the community together and share our collective experiences with pride.
Then I launched the first-ever Latino Travel Fest three years ago virtually. And for the first time, this past March 2023, we gathered in-person in Washington Heights, NYC with 130 members, 30 speakers in 16 panels and workshops, and 12 local small-business vendors at the Mercadito (marketplace). Our goals were to educate our community, provide resources to make travel more accessible, inspire one another, and empower them to experience the world and diversify the face of travel.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
As I was traveling with my students to numerous destinations, people started asking me about group trips for adults. I noticed that some people wanted to travel, but they were afraid to navigate the world alone. So I decided to start curating and hosting immersive cultural experiences to Spain, Mexico, and the Catskills in NY. I wanted to expand to other countries, so I quit teaching to dedicate myself full-time to this new venture. Within 3 months, the pandemic hit, and here we were without being able to travel.
It was then when I decided that just because we can’t travel physically doesn’t mean we can travel virtually. So I pivoted and started bringing the world to my community. To nurture my community, I hosted cultural experiences online such as Champeta dance classes, Pakistani cooking classes, Bingo games, Travel Trivia, Happy Hours, and more! However, I also wanted to keep highlighting our community of travelers so I hosted webinars called “Virtual Travel Parties” where Latinos/x would share their experiences in a country: how they budgeted for it, what cities they visited, where they stayed, how they navigated the country, what foods they ate, what activities they did, and much more. So far I’ve recorded 65 episodes, but the goal is to cover all 193 UN countries with a different Latino/x. Check them out in our YouTube Channel.
Now, I’ve focused on bringing the community together in-person by hosting meet-ups all around the U.S. in states such as California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York. Our next stop is Texas.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
I have been part of many masterminds, attended a lot of webinars, and masterclasses, met with several business coaches, read a lot of books, and completed multiple programs for Latina entrepreneurs because at the end, I am not only a teacher, but also an eternal student.
I consider myself a soul-led entrepreneur which means I listen within, and follow my heart. I listen to my own guidance, and do it my way. I create vision boards for myself and for business. I manifest my desires, and share my dreams with the universe and my ancestors. I don’t rush to achieve success and don’t obsess over how to make it happen. I want to grow organically while still making an impact. I understand that everything I want will come when I’m aligned.
I will leave you with two of the books that have made the biggest impact in my personal and entrepreneurial journey, “The Universe Has Your Back” by Gabby Bernstein and “We Should All Be Millionaires” by Rachel Rogers.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://vanessafondeur.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latinaworldtraveler/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/bonvivantwanderlust
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/VanessaFondeurAdams/
- Other: Business social media handles https://www.latinoworldtravelers.com https://www.latinotravelfest.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/latinoworldtravelers https://www.instagram.com/latinoworldtravelers/ https://www.instagram.com/latinotravelfest/ https://m.facebook.com/groups/latinoworldtravelers https://m.facebook.com/latinoworldtravelers/ https://twitter.com/LatinoWorldTrav https://youtube.com/@latinoworldtravelers
Image Credits
Cindy Cruz (Latino Travel Fest images only).