Episode 77- Komal Darira, Women For World

Travel

May 18

Women are paving their way in the travel industry and around the world, making major impacts in architecture, culture, design, fashion, food and media. Women are defying stereotypes in every way possible.

The value of women in tourism has been progressively increasing. Studies have proven that women play a significant role in tourism, economics, culture and society. This episode aims to show how important women are specifically when it comes to traveling and exploring the globe. Women are the future of travel.

Christine’s guest today is a Food Lover, Explorer, and Innovator.

Komal Darira is the Founder of Women for World, a travel organization that aims at creating safer, sustainable, and memorable experiences for all. Komal became the first female tour leader/guide at the age of 19.

Her award-winning work has been featured in Teenvogue, Natgeo, Femina India Magazine, Hindustan Times Newspaper, Dainik Bhaskar and Bangkok Post. She was recently featured on TDs Inspiring Women in Travel Asia.

Her mission is to empower and create better opportunities for younger generations, especially females, and to create an impact by uplifting local businesses in the country.

Various speaking engagements have allowed her to empower young minds and talk about sustainable travel experiences. With a vision to make travel safer and industry more inclusive and tours more experiential, she wants to introduce the new India to the people and change perceptions through experience rich travels.

In our conversation, we talked about what it was like being the first female tour guide with her company and how that experience has motivated her to create more opportunities for women in the tourism industry as travelers and professionals.

Komal shares about Women For World and her emphasis on creating sustainable, memorable and experiential travel and how she is working to create mentorships and push for gender equity and the success of virtual tourism she found during the pandemic.

Join me now for my soulful conversation with Komal Darira.

In this episode, Christine and Komal discuss:

Komal’s journey into travel and why she’s passionate about create better opportunities for younger generations, especially females
How she became the first female tour guide for her company
Why Komal is dedicated to creating more opportunities for women in the tourism industry as travelers and professionals
Why Komal created Women For World and the services they offer
How Komal is working to create mentorships and push for gender equity

Resources & Links Mentioned in the Episode

To learn more about Komal Darira and Women For World, head to www.womenforworld.in

Follow Komal and Women For World on your favorite social platform: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn

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This is a unique experience that adds so much depth to your journey.

Registration for this Women's Wilderness Retreat closes on May 20 and our virtual coaching begins on June 6.

Visit Lotus sojourns website for more information www.lotussojourns.com

To watch this interview on YouTube HERE.

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About the Soul Of Travel Podcast

Soul of Travel honors the passion and dedication of the people making a positive impact in tourism. In each episode, you’ll hear the story of women who are industry professionals and seasoned travelers and community leaders who know travel is more than a vacation. It is an opportunity for personal awareness and it is a vehicle for change. We are thought leaders, action takers, and heart-centered change makers.

The guests work in all sectors of the tourism industry. You'll hear from adventure-based community organizations, social impact businesses, travel photographers and videographers, tourism boards and destination marketing organizations, and transformational travel experts. They all honor the idea that travel is more than a vacation and focus on sustainable travel, eco-travel, community-based tourism, and intentional travel.

These conversations are meant to educate, inspire and create community. They are directed to new travelers and seasoned travelers, as well as industry professionals and those who are curious about a career in travel.

If you want to learn about new destinations, types of travel, or how to be more intentional or live life on purpose, join Christine Winebrenner Irick for soulful conversations with her community of fellow travelers exploring the heart, the mind, and the globe. These conversations highlight what tourism really means for the world.

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Credits. Christine Winebrenner Irick (Host, creator, editor.) Komal Darira (Guest). Original music by Clark Adams. Editing and production by Rayna Booth.

Transcript

KEYWORDS

people, tour guide, travel, women, India, pandemic, tourism, world, community, travelers, opportunity, industry, job, country, workshops, virtual tours

Christine Winebrenner Irick 00:08

Thank you for joining me for soulful conversations with my community of fellow travelers, exploring the heart, the mind and the globe. These conversations highlight what travel really means for the world. Soul of Travel honors the passion and dedication of the people making a positive impact in tourism. Each week, I'll be speaking to women who are tourism professionals, world travelers and leaders in their communities will explore how travel has changed them and how that has rippled out and inspired them to change the world. These conversations are as much about travel as they are about passion, and living life with purpose, chasing dreams, building businesses, and having the desire to make the world a better place. This is a community of people who no travel is more than a vacation. It is an opportunity for personal awareness, and it is a vehicle for change. We are thought leaders, action takers, and heart centered change makers I'm Christine Winebrenner Irick. And this is the Soul of Travel.

Komal Durairaj is the founder of Women for world a travel organization that aims at creating safer, sustainable and memorable experiences for all Komal became the first female tour leader and guide at Delhi urban adventures at the age of 19. Her award-winning work has been featured in Teen Vogue, Nat Geo Fermina, India magazine, Hindustan Times newspaper, and Bangkok Post. She was recently featured on TVs inspiring women in travel Asia, her mission is to empower and create better opportunities for younger generations, especially females and to create an impact by uplifting local businesses in the country. Various speaking engagements have allowed her to empower young minds and talk about sustainable travel experiences. With a vision to make travel safer and industry more inclusive and tours more experiential. She wants to introduce the new India to people and change perceptions through experience-rich travels.

In our conversation, we talk about what it was like being the first female tour guide with her company and how that experience has motivated her to create more opportunity for women in the tourism industry as travelers and professionals. She shares about women for the world and her emphasis on creating sustainable, memorable and experiential travel and how she is working to create mentorships and push for gender equity and the success of virtual tourism she found during the pandemic.

Join me now for my soulful conversation with Komal Darira.

Welcome to the soul of travel. I am so excited and happy to be sitting down today with Komal Darira. And she is the founder of Women for world which is a travel organization or really more of a travel community that aims at creating safer sustainable travel and memorable experiences that really empower especially women to be a part in the industry and as travelers. So I'm so excited to bring you into this conversation today. Welcome.

03:49

Thank you so much, Christine. It's a pleasure to be here today. Thank you.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 03:53

Thank you. Well, as we begin our conversation, I would love to give you the space to introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about who you are in the space of travel right now and what you're working on.

04:08

Sure. So a very warm day everyone. My name is Komal. And, you know, this is a general introduction. I've been giving some years that I am your tour guide from India. But today I just want to say that I am from India, and I've been working in the travel and tourism industry for the past eight years. Yes, this is my eighth year in the industry. And if you talk about my background, I live in Delhi, the capital of India. I was born and brought up here. I did my education in journalism, because I was very keen to be a journalist. I want you to find out what's going on in the world with the dream to interview Barack Obama one day. That was my dream and that is why I wanted to be a journalist but then later on I was introduced to the world of tourism by a simple job which was out there in the newspaper and I went for the interview. And that is how I started my journey in travel and tourism as a tour guide. And I was very fortunate that I was given this opportunity at such a young age.

So I was 19 years old when I became the first tour guide, first female tour guide at Delhi urban adventures, which is one of the brands that does pay tours for this is how my journey started in travel and tourism. And then one year, when I started my journey in tourism, I was like, I just want to earn. And that's why I'm here like the general student does in the university. But I remember I still remember the time when I realized this isn't, this is the job I want for my life was when I met a lady, she traveled 80 countries all around the world. And she was the first one I traveled with. And I was taking her around. And I still remember she told me one thing, or she inspired me that life is not just live life is all about exploring. And that is what opened up my eyes, you know, I started thinking differently. And this is how I realized that it can shape my life in a completely different way. So for the past eight years, I have led a lot of teams. In urban adventures, I was a manager. And two years back in this pandemic, when I lost my job myself, I realized that life is not just about going to an office and coming back life is about creating an impact. And I still remember one of the questions that my mentor asked me, his name is Nicky window goes off. And he asked me one question, Christine, that, where do you see yourself in five years? Do you see yourself working in a company getting afraid of getting fired?

Again, when it's a pandemic? Or do you see yourself creating a company where there's no fear. And I realized that I see myself doing something good. I see myself creating a kind of a small spread or a kind of community where people see like, they're like home, they're at home, where I can motivate young girls to travel, where I can empower young minds to get into the industry without the fear of what is going to happen next. And this is how we've been fulfilled, and came into existence. And I'm so fortunate that I got partnered with Christie, who's my co founder, and we together started this journey of women forward, been two years doing so many good things and hosted so many amazing people getting so much support from the people from all corners of the world. And yes, we're just trying to grow every single day. So this is Coleman, like, in these eight years, from being the tour guide to a founder of a brand now.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 07:51

Yeah, thank you so much for walking us through that. It's really interesting that you started with a journalism background, I have the same space when I first went to college. That's also what I wanted to study. And I think that it's, it's interesting in that people that have that journalistic tie, I think, really have this deep curiosity and also really want to connect and want to tell a story. So I think that people that come into the industry, from that space, really create something different. What has that done for you on your path?

08:32

So because journalism helped me to do things in my thoughts, I would say I was doing journalism and communications. And what I wanted to be was PR, you know, that was my dream job that I want to be a public relations officer. But then when I got this job as a tour guide, I thought this is the best PR one could be. I am not just the PR of a company, but I am the PR of my country. And later I realized that Journalism and Communication helped me to connect with people, you know, to tell them what's happening in the country because I wanted to change their perceptions. And that's what journalism does. I mean, good journalism does. So that is something which is very rare nowadays. But that is what journalism does. It has the power to change the perceptions of the people about something, you know, it's a tool, it's, it's a great power. And I realized I can use this power in the knowledge which I have to change people's perception about my beautiful country, and to shape different kinds of perceptions and to change the way we see India. And this is how journalism has helped me to outdone my pastor to do things better than I would have, generally.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 09:48

Yeah, I love that. I just think it's, it was such a also I really resonate with when you realize that tourism helps you tell the story of where you're from. I have the opportunity of leading a trip really early on in the state of Montana, which is in the northwestern US where I'm from. And it was this first time of like seeing a place that I knew well through somebody else's eyes, and then getting to tell them really like my personal story about the destination, which for them, they could have come and learned about the landscape and the geology and the history and things like that. But I'm like, you know, this is where I learned to ride a horse with my grandparents. And this is like, you know, it's just so different when you have that storytelling and that deep personal connection, and then that really that wish to kind of paint the most beautiful picture of your home and share it with somebody else.

10:51

Exactly. I agree. I agree completely.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 10:56

Thank you. Well, you talked about coming, one of the first female or becoming the first female tour leader with this company. Why I guess why, up until this point, were women not involved in this part of tourism? I know this is a big part of your journey is bringing more women into this industry and creating gender equity in the industry. What barriers were in place prior to you taking that position? And what are you helping to create now?

11:29

So when you talk about eight years back, India, you know, I always say India is a huge country. And every year we see something changing from political things to mindset, it is a small shift, but it does change. And when I wanted to be a tour guide, or you can say I wanted to take this job mindset was one of the biggest barriers, because the problem is Christine the roots, the roots never taught us that tourism is a job opportunity. The roots in India always taught us that it's good to be an engineer, it's good to be a teacher. But it's bad to be a tour guide. Because for a female to be your tour guide, it's a big no tour guide is meant for me. And I remember one of the things told to me on their streets when I was leading the tour, that have you ever heard anybody notifying the tour guide, which she, we always say a tour guide is key. So how can you take this opportunity?

And that particular question was a big question mark in our mind, or on the mindset of the society we live in. And that was one of the biggest periods that I had to overcome when I took up this job and opportunity. Another thing, which is a big barrier, and your question is why were women not hired before. I was very fortunate to be working with open minded people who showed me the way, you know, like, it's always not men pulling women down. You know, it's never like that anybody can pull you down. But there were a lot of men at that time who supported me to grow, who told me that it's not gender specific, relax, you can be a tour guide. And they were looking for people, but they never got the right female to start the thing with. And when I interviewed, trust me, Christine, I always mentioned it every single place that if I would have interviewed myself, I would have never hired you.

13:24

That was my performance at the interview. But then also they see the potential that I want to learn, I want to grow. And they gave me the opportunity. And that is what I learned from that first opportunity that if you give the opportunity to a young mind, they feel empowered. And that is how you grow this community. That is how you spread the word about tourism. And that is what changed my life and inspired me to work towards gender equality, because I got this opportunity myself at a very young age. And then there was no looking back, they hired more females. When I became the manager, my agenda was to do 5050 In my team, and I outdone that. There was a time when I had 70% female in my team to 30% male and that was not intentional.

But that was because young girls were really looking forward to doing something like that. They were finding it fun, knowledgeable. And this is something which now has changed. And I feel very, very, very proud to share it with you that India now has become more like there's a lot of acceptance in the industry, which was not at the time when I was working. I remember walking in on the streets and people coming to me and saying this to me that you're stealing my job. This is not for you. Or you know some of your friends or your relatives coming to you and telling you oh you could have been an engineer you were so good and academics. Why stand in front of the monument? It's not The job for you. So this was the level they used to see tour guides at. And my agenda in these in these years has been to upgrade that level in the eyes of the Indian people and to change that mindset. And from the day I became a tour guide, I remember Christine, three years I worked without listening to anyone, I fought it out. And after three years, I still remember that day that changed the perception of the entire society. When the journalist of National Geographic was sitting at my home, it was the Festival of Colors holi. And he was interviewing my mom and dad.

They are so brave that they listen to their daughter, and they gave her passion a chance. And I remember my mom literally had tears in her eyes when I did it. And since then, everybody wants their daughters to be tour guides, or everybody comes to me and asks, what do you do? I want my children to be the way you are. And this is what changes with time. So I gave it time. And now after so many years, my agenda has always been being a manager and being a tour guide. And now as a founder of Women forward to spread this word out there in lots of universities, wherever the social media platforms are, so that the girls who have the passion and who don't have the courage to speak it up, I bring stories from the like you do, like you bring so many beautiful stories from all corners of the world. And that inspires all of us. And this is what I've been trying to do to bring stories that inspire them and motivate them to follow their passion. And yes, this is how I'm trying to bring a small change in the society and be more equity by talking more about it by raising awareness about

Christine Winebrenner Irick 16:50

Hi, it's Christine. Interrupting this episode for just a quick minute to invite you to join me for my get wild in Glacier women's wilderness retreat. I'm so excited to share because last year when I partnered with my friend Becky brought from Trailblazer wellness, we brought women to the top of a fourteener in Colorado and knew we had to do it again.

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Now let's hop back over to our soulful conversation.

Yeah, thank you so much for sharing that, and especially the moment of that interview and what that meant to you and to your parents to kind of have that recognition. I agree. I think those are like seemingly small moments that can create a huge shift. I remember another woman that I interviewed that works too, in Uganda to bring women into male driven occupations, like being a mechanic or electrician because they're higher paid and there are higher in demand.

And you know, similar, like so much resistance, why are you taking the work that's meant for a man, why aren't you doing this other thing that is expected of you and one young girl became the like the main electric electrician in their village. And when her dad said that my daughter is an electrician is like one of the most valued members in our community. That shifting that mindset to see daughters in those roles, I think, is huge. And to see that from that parental sense of acknowledgement and accomplishment I think is really important both for both generations, I think in changing that narrative.

19:44

I agree. I completely agree. And I've seen that shift in my parents' mindset myself. And I feel very proud that I was able to change some minds and I'm working everyday so that some young girls would be changing the mindset and that is how we're going to That's Oh,

Christine Winebrenner Irick 20:01

and I think the other thing I mean, for me personally, when I travel, I seek out connecting with other women. And I have had hard time finding female guides when I go to places, for, you know, many different reasons. I think it is so important when you're telling the story of the destination, and when you're coming as a traveler, to learn to be able to hear more parts of the story. And I also think women really connect with other women. And so I think that is also really important. Have you seen that response as you've been guiding and have people told you that they connect differently with a female guide versus a male guide? I feel like women are really inherent, like nurturers and storytellers. And they really kind of dive into like I was talking about earlier, like, this is the story of me growing up here versus, you know, this is the history, there's just like a different way, I think of showing the story.

21:01

Exactly. And I completely agree to it, because I still remember when I went for the first time as a tour guide, and I entered the hotel, that was my first tour. And the lady literally shouted and said, Oh, it's a girl. And I was literally shocked. Okay, why? And she said, because I've traveled to India three times, and I've never seen a female tour guide. And here you go. And that kind of response, as I think every woman who's the tour guide in India would have got that kind of response. And that changes a lot of perceptions.

Because if a woman is traveling, and she's a solo female traveler, obviously, there's so many perceptions that are built in India, so many guidelines that are sent to the travelers when they travel to India, especially solo female travelers, and then seeing a woman on the other side, who's going to take you around big relief. It's such a big relief. And I've seen that relief on the faces of not only women, but I have seen men like getting very excited to see your female tour guide because they want to see India from a woman's eyes. Or they want a freshness of the opinion so that they can ask different questions to them. And that kind of shift I've seen in tourism, and I've seen it with the women who I have worked with. And I have experienced that myself too, that people feel very comfortable. As you said that being a woman, it's like you do talk more about stories, you do try to indulge people into the situations into the things. And that is what makes it special. And I always say it's always good to see a country from a woman's eyes. And that doesn't mean that men are bad at their jobs. Not at all. But it's always a new perception and a new perspective. So one should always try

Christine Winebrenner Irick 22:49

I just think it's really important that the opportunity is available, because like you mentioned, it just wouldn't have been a possibility. And for people that want to have that experience, I think it's really important. Well, I would love to start to talk a little bit more about Women for Worlds. I know that that began in 2020 in the pandemic, really to inspire and empower young girls to travel in India, and to create community but has really evolved from that space. Can you tell me a little bit more about where the idea for this community came from?

23:28

Yes, I remember. It was the start of the pandemic in March, when the entire tourism got shot, we were all at our homes. And I remember it was giving me anxiety, because I was seeing my friends losing their jobs. I was seeing everybody feeling very distressed. It was happening everywhere in the world. And we were so helpless at that time. And at that time, what inspired me, I was talking to my mentor, Nick and I told him that I'm getting very anxious. I don't have any words. Obviously, I had a job, but there was no work at the job. So what should I do? So he said, maybe think of building something of your own?

Because or maybe working on your dream. And then I sat and I asked myself, What do I aim at? Like, what is my vision? Like, where do I see myself? And that is how this story came into my mind. I remember I invested two months to write things down. Where do I see myself in five years? What is my vision? When will I die? What do I want to do? Like? I remember one of the questions which was asked to me that when you die, you're on your deathbed. There are people standing all around you. What do you want them to think about you? Do you want them to feel inspired? Do you want them to feel like okay, she was just an employee or whatever. But then it gave me a vision and that is why once I was sitting with all the things listed down that I want to inspire young girls, what was lacking when I was there. I didn't have any help. I want to be that support to the young mind that is possible if you want to. And that is how women forward came into the picture. And I remember this name just came to my mind like that. I mean, people were asking me, what would you name it? What would you name it? And I said it would be women for the world.

And I don't know, it was just a thought in my mind. And then people started asking me the meaning of it. And I said, it's like, an organization or a community and by women, for all the people all around the world, for men, women, anybody from any part of the world, like for transgenders for people from LGBTQ plus community, we want to be there for everyone. So I got a lot of resistance to this name. That's why to name your company, women for words, no men would like to travel with you. This was the first answer I got when I needed this. And I said, when we can work with the companies that are owned by men, then why are you feeling resistant? Resistant to traveling with women? Why is that and that is the problem. This is the root cause I want to raise up. And that is why the name is women for the world if you cannot accept the name.

So how are you going to accept women in the industry, it's just a name. And this is how I started, this was my first step in creating acceptance in the industry. So this is how women forward came into existence. And I talked it out with Christy and she got involved in it. We build it up. We started by telling stories of the young girls, like I remember an 18 year old girl who fought her family, and she did her first track. And I wrote her story down. And a lot of young girls got inspired by that, wow, if she can do it, why can't we? I started connecting with different kinds of women all around the world who can share their stories and motivate people. And then one day, I realized that I want to make people feel this sense. So I should take people out to travel. In the pandemic, I took out my first trip, it was a full departure. All the young people joined us. It was a tour led by women and men.

And it was a great answer to the people in the industry, that anybody is happy to travel with women forward, because we are giving the services, we are trying to create responsible experiences. And we are trying to create a kind of new experience that would bring knowledge on the table as well, along with travel. And this is what I want to change the mindset of the Indian people when they travel. And this is how we built women forwards. It's been two years. And now as the industry is open, the borders are opening. And I'm so thankful that it is happening. We are looking forward to bringing more changes. And that is when our women poll came into the picture.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 27:52

Thank you for walking us through. I love the starting point. And I think probably very similarly to many people in this industry. At the beginning of the pandemic, there was this moment for really reconnecting to what we want for ourselves and, and for the industry as a whole. And that process. I do a similar process all the time where I think really about what I want my daughters to say about me, like if I envision them introducing or talking about me to their friends when they're older, you know, that's my kind of gauge. I'm like, Oh, well, I want them to be able to say this or be proud of this. So I mean, I really use that as a way of thinking about you. No, that isn't important to me.

But like I just really imagined that as this kind of way to think about the impact that I want to create. So I love that you started there with like really envisioning what is this end goal or this end image look like and then working towards it. I think that can really inspire other people who are listening to this conversation. Because I know a lot of times we have a hard time. Like I think we really feel what we want. And it's a hard time, it's hard to put words around it. And so doing an exercise like that can help you to make it a more attainable goal. And then thinking about the resistance that you initially had just to the name of women for the world. I think that's really interesting as well.

And you know how you worked through that and really recognized that, while you want this to be a women focused conversation you want the participants to be everyone. And I think that's something that comes up a lot is that we can't change and impact gender equity if we don't have conversations that include males and bring everyone into the conversation. So I love that you brought that up and that you're already really seeing that in the context of your business.

29:55

Thank you so much.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 29:57

You're welcome. Well, you mentioned And then you started with experiences. So I know that women for world really offers four different things which are experiences, workshops, virtual tours, and education and awareness. So for our listeners, let's just start with the experiences. You said you wanted to focus on sustainability, and then also really create these unique experiences. What happened after you ran this first trip? And where did you go from there?

30:29

For when I did my first trip, I was looking at the pattern, and I've always worked in the inbound, I've always worked for the people outside India, I it was a difficult task to make an experience for Indians, because the mindset is very different. So I started with a small experience. And I remember we connected with the lady. And she was, especially when she used to draw with a flick of feet. I met her in Rishikesh, we did an interview with her, and we decided we want to support her through the trip.

And this was our aim that on every trip, we are going to support some women oriented organization from day one, we're going to keep this as our value. And this is how we based our experience, our experiences were fun, where a mix of knowledge, knowledge, and also we were focusing on reducing over tourism, and taking people to the places where, which deserves attention and where you won't find any attention. And that is how we plan the first trip. It was a big success. And then we moved on to the second trip, which is very special to my heart. Because we took people to a village where they stayed in a home where they learned about village life villages or a sense of India, and then taking people to a community based tourism to talk about sustainability, to talk about responsibility towards the villages towards your culture, and how to preserve it.

I remember all the seven people were shocked, even though they lived in India, they didn't even know about this place. They didn't even know about the cultural food. And I felt very proud that I was able to do that. But again, when you're trying to create such products, people sometimes don't welcome it, it was a big task to put it out in front of the Indians and say that book it in, nobody wanted to book it. But then we also got some of the people who were interested and we started with small groups. And then the pandemic happened again, we again got locked down.

So a big case of this is if we talk about the experiences, we will focus on three things. One is sustainability, because we really want to focus on creating a sustainable environment, and focus on building local places. And that is what we're doing on all the experiences every product of ours focus on sustainability, educate our travelers, plastic use agent, so many things that are related to climate, that can lead to the destruction of the earth one day, but if we focus on it right now, we will be on the right path. Another is community, we want to improve community based tourism and to support women who are working in the communities and to create opportunities for them. And third, obviously, to make fun and memorable experiences, because that is what we travel for. So these are the three pillars that our experiences focus on, not only for Indians, but for now people coming from outside India, and we offer all these kinds of things. Yeah, that is what we focus on our experience.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 33:34

Thank you for sharing that. I think it's really interesting to I think a lot of, you know, many countries have rediscovered their own culture and heritage and kind of found these undiscovered moments because of the pandemic and not being able to travel outside of our country. And I love that. You know, while that might not have been a goal initially, because you maybe would have been bringing foreign travelers, you know, to these areas, I think it's really amazing that you're really able to introduce these different communities within India to each other.

And like you said, this, just creating this recognition of what the villages have to offer and the parts of the culture that maybe are being lost in the cities. And I mean, I think we find that in the US and many, many other countries. And so I love that that has been your experience. Then I know that you had some great success with your virtual tours. And I think you mentioned to me You offered over 400 Which seems mind boggling to me. How did that evolve? Who was taking these tours and what did you do? What was your experience and expectation with these?

34:55

When the tourism industry got introduced to the world, it wouldn't work. The first reaction was, No, it's not working for everyone. Like for me, I was also like, No, I don't want to spend my time creating these experiences. But later on, I realized the power of technology in the pandemic, how virtual tours are helping people to stay out of depression, how virtual tours are helping people to understand the city better, maybe they would want to travel in future, how virtual tours are educating people.

And that was one reason that is what inspired me to create virtual tours. And I started with a small virtual tour. And that was a cooking virtual tour. I got a great response on it. Because I remember my first client was from the United Kingdom. And she was super excited to create, to cook with me, she had all the ingredients, and we were talking for an hour, we were making Chai, we were gossiping. And she said that she felt like she was in my kitchen, and that she lives alone. And it's so cool that she could talk to me for an hour, it's a great start to her day. And that inspired me that we should create more experiences right now. And we should take virtual tours as they are a great way to connect with the audience, to show them what your country has. And wherever you travel, to show them the heritage, to show them the culture, to show them the cuisine and every other thing. And also, it's a great way to create a market like to market yourself out there so that once that the board is open up, people can connect with us, they like your services, and they can join you.

For our virtual tours, our main clientele has always been the United Kingdom, US and Australia. People from these regions, you can say mostly English speaking countries, because people really like to come with us and travel with us. Like our cooking is a big hit. One of my colleagues, Valerie, does a mandala session where she tells people how art can heal your body. And it has worked wonders, Christine people have given such great feedback to us. We've got 500 Plus Reviews still now on different kinds of platforms. And it's been a great journey, we are getting such good responses.

People love our perceptions. People love to hear the story of a woman living in Delhi, they can ask this question. And we try to take them to the market, we try to take them for festivals, we try to take them for weddings so that they can experience weddings. And this has been a great tool for changing perceptions of people about your country so that once everything is fine, they can come and we can host them. So virtual tours are a great strength. And I don't think they're going anywhere, because they are a great educational tool as well. The universities have started using it to educate their children, we educate their students on what is happening in the world right now. And who better than guides can do this? So yeah, our virtual tours have shaped the great, has put a great ship to the business and has been a great way for us to sustain ourselves in the time of pandemic, when nothing was supporting that.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 38:11

There's so many great things and what you were just saying I was thinking about one accessibility, which in travel is a topic that I think is much more to the forefront, whether it's, you know, a financial barrier, or a physical barrier that might not allow you to have these experiences, it really creates more accessibility, it also I think, goes to twofold. I mean, guides maybe would never have interacted with certain travelers, just depending on you know, their length of stay like this just creates open doors to so many more opportunities. And then as you were talking about this cooking experience, that level of intimacy and connection, you know, when you have 10 people standing around you doing a cooking class, you maybe aren't having that sense of connection.

And even if we're virtual, and there's 10 Other people cooking with us, I still feel like I'm getting my one on one connection to you on my screen. And so I think yeah, that that level of connection that you're really wanting to create is it seems like counterproductive that virtual wouldn't create connection, but I think many of us have seen I've certainly seen through just this podcast through speaking to women like yourself, I think none of this would have happened if we didn't have this technology. And so I agree with you that I don't think it's going anywhere. I think people are going to figure out how to do it better to do it more efficiently, easier, reach greater audiences, and I think it's really important.

39:53

Exactly, that's that's, that's agreeable. I just want to add something to it that with one of the If I was giving a virtual tour, I was in a cultural festival, which happens in rural parts of India and one of the ladies told me that she had cancer. And she hasn't traveled for seven years. And now through virtual tours, she feels like she's in a new city every single day. And she feels lively, she feels like she wants to stand up, she feels motivated. And I also do dance sessions, where I get comments, like, I never danced in these five years, because I never had anybody to dance with. But now when I see you dancing, I feel like standing up, I feel happy. And this is what travel is, isn't it, changing people's perception and bringing joy in their life, and this is what we're trying to do through our virtual tour.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 40:47

Thank you, I just think it's so amazing. And I think many of us felt that initial resistance, but I really love seeing what people have created. And the idea of attending a festival or a wedding, which even if I were traveling in India might not be something that I would have access to. And so I think it's just, it's really amazing to think about how to do that. And then to add a layer of education to it as well. So it feels like it's a very balanced exchange, you know, that you're not exploiting your culture to share these experiences, but you're able to create education and awareness and bring people into those spaces. Yeah, thank you. Well, and then you have workshops that you're offering. And so the workshops, as I understand it, are really geared towards bringing women into the industry, creating mentorships, looking at how you can create gender equity across the board. What have you done more specifically in those workshops?

41:54

So the first workshop, which we hosted was on tour leading and guiding, because we wanted to change the students perception on guiding? And how can you do that you can do that by telling them your story. And that is what we focused on. I still remember that generally, when you go to the university, what do you learn, you learn it in the books, who is the tour guide, or Tour Guide is a person who takes you to the places and tells you about it. But in reality, who is a tour guide, or Tour Guide is a brand ambassador of the country who tells you the story that changes perception about you, or about the country you are in. And that is the real job of a tour guide. And that is what we are trying to do with our workshops. We're trying to shape the mindset of the younger generation.

And we are trying to sell this to the young girls, that if you're planning to be a tour guide, come with us for a mini internship and understand in two days who the tour guide is and if you think this is the job for you, maybe you can polish your skills more. So this is how we started . I remember, we started our first workshop and we got a good bunch of students, around 20 Men and women both. And they learn so much that today, one of them is leading and she's a female, she's leading the groups and she's so young, she texts us and she tells us that she's so proud of what she's learned from us. And she's following our footsteps, footsteps. And it feels so special when we are able to do that just by kneeling.

So till now we have done so many workshops and communication, on tour guiding on mentorship, where we provide mentorship to the students on entrepreneurship, on how they can watch these skills, and all the other factors that help them to shape their future. And obviously, I've always been there personally for all the girls who contact me, and who want to learn from me who are young and who need a person who wants, you know, we can be a guidance for them. So we try to do that. And we try to support the young minds as much as we can.

Because I remember nobody was there to support me at that time. And I can be that support. So I will be able to help them to shape their futures better and more efficiently. So this is what we're doing to our workshops in this one year, we have given workshops to over 100 students. And a lot of them are following their passion now, like 30% of them are still in contact with us. And this makes me feel so proud that one of the visions which we had is to empower young minds, and especially girls with the knowledge so that they can follow their passion. We are trying to do that with our workshops and we hope we'll continue to do that in future as Yeah,

Christine Winebrenner Irick 44:37

Oh my goodness, thank you. I just what I love most about that is really feeling your passion for this and what it is for you to get to bring this into the world. And I kind of was imagining you know, the 19 year old version of yourself who didn't have that support, and I think we often create what we wish we had. And so I I love that you are really getting to show up and be the mentor and the leader that you were seeking when you entered this,

45:08

this path. Exactly, exactly. Thank you. Thank you.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 45:14

And the last thing is kind of tied into the workshops, but really with education and awareness, looking at gender equality wages, creating more acceptance across the board, what what are some of the the bigger goals that you are really working towards as a community.

45:36

There are four variables. And you can see there also the sustainable development goals on which our values are set up. Number one is tender equality and creating more acceptance. As I told you, our name itself is creating more acceptance, and we're trying to create more acceptance to our name. So wherever I talk, wherever I go, wherever I communicate, I try to raise awareness. So this is one of the most important things and agendas of women for the world so that we can create more acceptance and more acceptance would create more opportunities for the other genders and hopefully, would bring more equality in the industry.

That is one of the things which we're focusing on to create educational experiences, and not just fun experiences, we want fun in education, both. Because what is it to travel without knowledge, you know, travel is always a great education, I always say if you want to get educated about a country, don't google it, or try to talk to her to her guide, that person can tell you more about that place rather than Google. So education is one of the most important factors which we are working on. And through our workshops and through our virtual tools as well. We are trying to shape the mindset of the world towards our country. And yes, trying to bring a better perspective out there about how the country is changing.

Third value, which we are focusing on is sustainability, which is so important right now, you cannot actually grow if you're not working on sustainability, you cannot think of a future without sustainability. Because it's not only related to us, it's about the entire planet, its creator is its people. And sustainability is something which we focus on, whenever we even create a small workshop, we always put a factor of sustainability in it, the more we educate people, the better the messages, that is what we work on.

And fourth is responsibility towards your environment, towards the traveling country you are traveling to and responsibility of travelers and offer tour guides. So these are the four pillars which we are working on and which we aim at work aimed towards working on when we think of building our brand, building our community and expanding our community to other parts of India and also the world. And yes, one of the things which we aim at right now is, if we are even getting people out there on experiences, we want them that at the end of the tour, they should feel like they, they learned something, and they should feel proud that they did a tour with us. That feeling of happiness, and that feeling of pride should be there when they leave it there. And yes, that is how we shape our experience. You know,

Christine Winebrenner Irick 48:17

what I keep thinking about too is through this process, not only are you you know, bringing more women into this space and educating in general, but I think you're also creating more of an understanding of the value of guides, which I think is also something that is missing in the industry across the board. I've had other conversations about that as well on the podcast, but really understanding like you said that this, the guides are these global ambassadors of your country. And it's really important that they do have the education and support in the industry. And then that also the guys themselves have a sense of that responsibility, and the power that they wield to tell the story of their destination. So I just I love that that seems like that is kind of built into all of these pieces that you're creating.