We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Vanessa Rivers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Vanessa, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
The We Are Travel Girls Community was founded in 2016 with the mission to inspire, connect, educate, and empower female travelers. Recognizing the lack of a dedicated platform to promote female travel bloggers, we set out to create a community that celebrates and elevates the voices of female travelers.
In 2015, when we began working on We Are Travel Girls, being a travel blogger / travel “influencer” was just becoming popular. We saw thousands of women around the world sharing their travels online but struggling to be heard with so much competition. We thought, what if we can build a platform that promotes and elevates female travelers around the world? That’s how the idea of We Are Travel Girls was born.
We Are Travel Girls was built by women for women and has become a leading website for female travel advice, tips, and inspiration and a go-to resource for adventure lovers around the world.
We curate and publish new, authentic travel stories every week on WeAreTravelGirls.com. These stories are written by female travelers from all around the globe. And we inspire female travel every day on our popular instagram account @WeAreTravelGirls.
Since its launch, We Are Travel Girls has grown to become more than just a trusted resource read by over 9 million travelers. We host events and meet ups in cities around the globe, curate bespoke luxury women’s trips through Travel Girls Getaways, and give back through Travel Girls Giving.
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’m Vanessa Rivers, an award-winning travel writer, photographer, international bestselling author, surfer, fitness lover, eco advocate, proud mom, and Co-Founder & CEO of We Are Travel Girls.
I’ve worked in the marketing, PR, entertainment, travel and hospitality space for over 20 years and have successfully turned my greatest passion – helping people travel better – into a rewarding job that I love. I’ve visited over 70 countries and specialize in luxury, adventure, female travel – and fun!
I grew up on a solar-powered farm on the Central Coast of California. I’m knowledgeable and very passionate about promoting responsible travel and using my platform to give back.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
We Are Travel Girls was built on a strong affiliate, PR, and marketing strategy – key components that led the company to become a six-figure business within three years – with zero start-up capital and zero paid advertising.
We partner with iconic brands in the travel space, consistently delivering high-quality campaigns across our platforms. We work with clients such as Google, Pepsi Group, Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, 1 Hotels, TUMI, Herbal Essences, Kayak, Alaska Airlines and Sports Illustrated. Our work has been featured in Forbes, NY Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, HuffPost, NY Magazine, CNN, FOX, Oprah, and more.
Can you talk to us about your experience with buying businesses?
I’m not sure if this counts, but I bought my business out of We Are Travel Girls in 2023. She was ready to move on to a new career and new chapter in her life. But I felt that We Are Travel Girls still had a great deal of untapped potential. I also never imagined building my dream career, and then selling it. So I acquired her part of the business and am now the sole owner.
The experience of buying my previous partner out was actually quite difficult and emotional. I never wanted to run the business on my own. I was terrified I would fail. Every day I still wish I had a partner to bounce ideas off and work with on a daily basis. But on the other had, through the process I discovered I am capable of a lot more than I gave myself credit for, and I now get to run full speed ahead with all my wild ideas and that’s empowering – and very fun!
Our community was built on the belief that travel is not just about seeing new places, but about discovering oneself and breaking out of comfort zones. In life, there will be many times that you’ll be unsure and scared and have to take a leap of faith, and this is what We Are Travel Girls is all about – believing that anything is possible, and most importantly believing in yourself. As Helen Keller said, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wearetravelgirls.com
- Instagram: @WeAreTravelGirls and @VanessaRivers
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wearetravelgirls
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/we-are-travel-girls/
Image Credits
N/A – these are all my photos