Episode 87- Yulia Denisyuk, Travel Media Lab

Travel

Jul 27

Everyone works but everyone isn't in a career they love. Today’s guest should know because she has worked in the corporate world for over a decade & went through a lot of soul searching to find her passion. She had a great life, with nice things but wasn’t happy. So, at she left it all behind and did some exploring. And when it was over, she found herself bouncing around the world and not wanting anything more than to continue traveling indefinitely.

Today’s guest always thought that if she climbed the corporate ladder and became the CEO of an established company, she could finally travel around the world. But after being in a high-level position at her job, working so many hours that there wasn't any time for her to enjoy herself and it just felt like she was living in a perpetual cycle of work and nothing else.

Finally one morning, she told herself the corporate world was no longer for her. It was kind of a wake-up call that she desperately wanted to travel around the world. She has always been driven to succeed. The type of person that was willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead.

Yulia Denisyuk is an award-winning travel photographer and writer who turned to travel journalism after working as a US Navy Sailor and a Fortune 500 brand manager. Yulia's work appears in National Geographic Traveller, TIME, Conde Nast Traveler, BBC Travel, Lonely Planet, and more. For past assignments, she’s shared a roof with nomads in Mongolia, traced the origins of Iznik tiles with artisans in Turkey, and learned the art of Imigongo with artist collectives in Rwanda.

Yulia is the founder of NOMⴷD + JULES, a small-group travel company with trips to the Middle East. She’s also the founder of Travel Media Lab, a platform for women and allies in travel media, where she teaches the Introduction to Travel Journalism program and runs a membership for travel photographers and writers.

In this conversation, Christine and Yulia explore Yulia’s journey from climbing the corporate ladder to chasing her dream of becoming a freelance photographer and writer. She shares why storytelling is so powerful, and how travel can be a tool and becoming a more tolerant and open minded person.

Yulia truly is a gifted storyteller and loves helping others to pursue their passions.

Christine loved listening to workshops of Yulia’s in the travel community and learning more from her here in this conversation.

Join Christine for her soulful conversation with Yulia Denisyuk.

In this episode, Christine and Yulia discuss:

Yulia’s background and how travel has shaped who she is today
How travel evolved into capturing the images and stories of people and communities she encounters
Yulia’s journey from climbing the corporate ladder to chasing her dream of becoming a freelance photographer and writer
Why her work is rooted in the Middle East
She shares why storytelling is so powerful
How travel can be a tool and becoming a more tolerant and open minded person
Her work at Travel Media lab - who it’s for and what it is?

Resources & Links Mentioned in the Episode

For more information about Yulia and Travel Media Lab visit travelmedialab.co

Follow Yulia & Travel Media Lab on your favorite social platform Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Join me for my Women’s Wilderness and Yoga Retreat in Alaska in March 2023!

We’ll be traveling 63 miles north of the Arctic Circle to stay at Arctic Hive, owned by my friend Mollie Busby and her husband Sean. This boutique property nestled in the Brooks Range is way off the beaten path and also off grid. We’ll stay in beautiful cabins built by hand by our hosts, practice yoga in their yoga dome lovingly referred to as The Hive, with gorgeous views of the surrounding nature.

We’ll explore the wilderness by snowshoe and dog sled, connect with members of the local community to learn about living in this remote environment, enjoy daily yoga practice and vegan meals all while keeping our eye out for the beautiful northern lights that like to show off their magic this time of year.

I only have 6 spaces for this unique adventure and a few are already taken. Hop over to the Lotus Sojourns website to book yours today.

Please share this experience with anyone you know would love this restorative adventure.

Want to learn more, you can listen to my Soul of Travel conversation, episode 67 with Mollie Busby

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WE WON A BESSIE AWARD! The Bessie Awards recognize the achievements of women and gender-diverse people making an impact in the travel industry. To view the complete list of this year’s winners, visit bessieawards.org.

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.) Yulia Denisyuk (Guest). Original music by Clark Adams. Editing and production by Rayna Booth.

Transcript

KEYWORDS

travel, people, world, conversation, women, share, feel, listening, storytelling, space, building, community, create, podcast, incredible, question, connect

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.

Yulia Denisyuk is an award winning freelance travel photographer, writer and entrepreneur. She strongly believes that travel makes us better human beings, more tolerant, open minded and sensitive to cultures and viewpoints that differ from our own. She was born in Kazakhstan, grew up in Estonia and now lives in the United States. Her work has appeared in National Geographic Traveler, BBC travel afar Conde Nast Traveler, Lonely Planet and more. She specializes in art culture, artists and craft and ancient traditions. She traveled the world extensively and turned to a career in travel media after getting an MBA and working for more than a decade for large organizations. First as a Navy sailor, then as a brand manager at Fortune 500 companies.

In 2018, Yulia founded Nomad + Jules, a small group travel company to destinations that are often misunderstood, including experiences in Jordan, Oman, Morocco, and more. She is also the founder of Travel Media Lab and the host of the Travel Media Lab podcast, where she helps women storytellers get knowledge, support and confidence to publish their travel stories. In our conversation, Yulia and I explore her journey from climbing the corporate ladder to chasing her dream of becoming a freelance photographer and writer. She shares why storytelling is so powerful, and how travel can be a tool and becoming a more tolerant and open minded person. Yulia truly is a gifted storyteller, and loves helping others to pursue their passions. I've loved listening to the workshops of hers I've heard in the wonderful community and learning more from her here in this conversation.

Join me now for my soulful conversation with Yulia Denisyuk.

Welcome to Soul Of Travel, I am so excited today to be sitting down with Yulia Denisyuk, to talk about freelance travel photography and writing and the power of storytelling. And today feels like an extra special conversation. Yulia and I were just talking about the fact that we saw each other in real life last weekend, which feels like an anomaly to me still to start connecting with people and getting to get out from behind zoom, and really come back to the world of travel. So it's so exciting to see you here. And I'm also just so grateful that we got to connect last weekend so welcome to solo travel.

04:22

Thank you, Christine. Thank you so much for having me. And yeah, it's so special to meet somebody in person and then be able to connect like this as well. So I'm excited as well. I'm so glad I got to meet you in person and celebrate with you for your incredible win this weekend. Congratulations again.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 04:40

Thank you. Yeah, for those of you listening I had mentioned probably several months ago that sold travel was nominated for a Bessie award with wonderful community for my work and elevating the voices of women in the travel industry. And so as Yulia mentioned I won, which I was just because I'm so kind. Have tried to soak that in and realize even what that means. But it really means a lot given that that was the mission of this podcast. So I'm so grateful. You were there to celebrate, it just feels like this kind of full circle moment. Many of my other guests were there as well as their leaders in the travel industry. So yeah, it's just a pretty exciting time to think about, like all the possibilities, and try not to plan too many things. Once I had something like that. I'm like, oh, what's the next thing? Next thing? Next thing? I feel like you are a kindred spirit in trying to figure out how else can I create connection and community? And what else can I do to serve and so I'm trying to rein myself in, I already got told not to do anything else by several friends. This man, as I was leaning into the next thing, they're like, Christine, just stay still for a second.

05:57

And by the way, just a quick note on that. So there's this framework that I use for one of the programs I teach, called Dragon dreaming framework. And I love it so much, because it says that, for any project or anything that we want to do in life, there are four phases: dream, plan, do and celebrate. And what I love about that framework is that the Celebrate phase is just as long as the other three. And where else in our lives do we devote so much time to celebrating we don't write, we just move on right away. It's the next thing. So I encourage you as well. I'll just keep celebrating for now.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 06:36

That's so helpful. I was just talking with a friend. I'm like, I feel like I don't even know how to do that part of business. Like anytime I hit a goal. I'm like, Yes. Next goal. I'm very, very bad at celebrating. And I don't know if that's like not wanting to put attention on myself or just like not really knowing how to sit in that stillness and always wanting to move on to the next thing. So I'm sure for our listeners that I'm probably not the only one. So that's already some super valuable wisdom that you're sharing. So thank you so much. Yeah, so for those of you joining us, I have been so lucky to sit in on a few classes. This is how I met Yulia, in the wonderful community. If you aren't already a part of it, I know that we both would definitely encourage you to seek that out. But what I really love so much was this wisdom, and also this magical storytelling ability that you have, whether you're talking about travel, or photography, or just anything, you have a very captivating presence. And so that's what drew me in and I'm so excited for those joining us to get to learn a little bit more about you. As we begin, Yulia, would you mind just sharing a little bit about who you are in the space of travel right now?

08:01

Sure. And thank you for that. That's so wonderful to hear. I am a travel photographer, writer, and journalist. And I am very fortunate to be ungrateful to work with different publications around the world, that focus on travel, in selling stories about travel about people and places around the world. And hopefully inspiring others to travel a little bit deeper next time around and try to connect with people because I believe that's really the power of travel is when we connect with people from various places around the world. I also run Travel Media Lab, which is a community for women who want to break into the travel media industry. We do a lot of support there. And I also bring groups to Jordan which is like my second home now I just returned from Jordan last week actually. So bring small groups there because it just makes me so happy to share the love I have for that country with other people. So that's me in a nutshell, everything I do revolves around travel and storytelling. So I love that part of my life.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 09:11

Yeah, thank you so much for sharing that. Again, like I feel like that love is really present and very something aligned with how I believe travel feels and how I believe travel looks. And again, I think that's what really resonated. I was like, oh, that's someone who sees travel the way I see travel like full of opportunity and connection and stories and like magic. And so yeah, I can't wait to share that more as we go through this conversation. To get to understand a little bit more about you. When did you start traveling or when did travel start to become a part of shaping who you are now Yeah,

10:01

Well, honestly, since the beginning, since as long as I remember, my first solo trip was happening when I was five years old. My mom put me on a plane. And, you know, the plane took me to Kazakhstan, which is where my grandma was. And the flight attendant was the one sort of keeping an eye on me. But because of our family geography, my grandma was in Kazakhstan, which is where I was born. But my mom and I were in Estonia, where we moved when I was three. So ever since being three years old, we would every summer would travel back and forth, from Estonia, to Kazakhstan. And if you kind of know geography, it's a huge distance. And we usually cover that on the train. So I would, you know, be looking at all these huge, different landscapes traveling most of Russia, most of Kazakhstan on a train. And it's just, I don't know, there was something special about being on a train so early. And I absolutely love this idea of exposing kids to traveling into different environments early on, I think it shapes people in ways that we probably don't even fully understand. So travel was always a part of my life, you know, then I moved, I moved to the United States when I was 16.

And I continued to travel all throughout my formative years. And even when I, you know, years later, down the road, I ended up in corporate America, which anyone who has ever been in corporate America knows that traveling, while working in corporate America is quite hard, because the vacation policy is just abominable. You know, the kind of travel I wanted to do 14 days a year just was never enough. But I always try to manage to sneak it in. I remember going to Dubai, for example, on a weekend. So taking Friday off and taking Monday off and fitting a trip to Dubai in that time, like it was just insane. You know, so travel has always been part of my life, for as long as I can remember. And like I mentioned earlier, I'm just so grateful that now it has become an central part of my life, basically, in the past five or six years,

Christine Winebrenner Irick 12:14

I love that you mentioned kind of that wide eyed looking out at the world, as a young child, I feel like so many of the people that I've talked to have been lucky to have those experiences. And I really do think it shapes who you are, and how you see the world, you just have such a greater sense of the scale of the world. And, and at the same time, like I think it really gives you this humble sense of your place in the world. Like it really just shifts, how you feel about, about everything. I mean, I think this is why travel is so important. But like you mentioned for children to really become grounded in that sense of space and, and environment at such a young age. I don't know if I've mentioned it to you, but I'm getting ready to start planning a year of traveling with my daughters. And we're going to be leaving in a year from June. So actually, today, we were just there watching some cartoon about Scotland right now.

So they're obsessed with Scotland. And so we were listening to Scottish dialects, and they were practicing like language, but it's already really fun to just see them get curious about the world. And then thinking about, you know, what, then they'll know about the world after that period of time. I'm just so grateful to be able to even consider having an experience like that with them. But especially being the person I am in the space of travel. I'm really excited to witness their evolution. And I think maybe I should be more aware of that as it's happening than maybe some people would be because I'm always kind of focusing on that. And then you did mention that you ended up in corporate America, you know, working a lot and really dreaming about travel. I feel like that's definitely something we can relate to. I mean, even for me, even for me right now, I feel like I'm working, working, working, hoping to get to travel. There's something about shaping your life so that it can involve more of what you really love out of life. What was the catalyst for you to say, Okay, I'm tired of trying to do a quick trip to Dubai on the weekend, which really seems really crazy actually. Just that flight feels like a weekend's worth of traveling. But what made you feel like now is the time and what really gave you the permission I guess to take that step?

14:47

Yeah. It's a really excellent question, because the reality is that it's really hard to do that. When we are on that path, let's say a more traditional path to success. It is so hard. You get off that path, you have a job, you are growing in that job, you are starting to become respected and listened to, and you have a nice salary, you have security for that job, you know, 401, K, health insurance, all of that, right? Those things they draw you in. They keep you very much rooted to this lifestyle. And, you know, it's hard, it's hard to leave that's why, you know, it's still quite a difficult transition for a lot of people. So for me, it actually, I thought about it for many years, I dreamt about it, but I never did anything with it. Because of that reason, you know, because it's just really hard. And plus, being an immigrant, you know, we are very, there's a lot of pressure on us to succeed in the most traditional way of the world, my family still sort of thinks I'm crazy, by giving all of that away. But for me, the impetus was really my health. Because it was my last year in corporate, I just started. First of all, I reached the point of burnout, because I was working incredibly, like crazy hours. I wasn't happy doing what I was doing.

And I just I, at some point, I couldn't even understand why I'm doing this. I hated going to the office, I hated the environment I was working in, you know, but I was on this path. And so my body started giving me the science like, hey, something needs to change, you know. So that was my breaking point. Honestly, it was my body, I started having back issues, I couldn't even sit down at my desk at the office anymore. I had to work standing up. Every time I would come to the office, I started having anxiety, you know, it was like it was like that, that's how bad it got. So for anyone listening, if you're starting to see the signs, don't let them go to that stage. See the science before that, you know, so that was the impetus for me at some i One day, I just said no, something has to change here. I can't continue like this. And that's that's what, that's what gave it away. And the other thing is, the more practical consideration is that, at my job, my brand that I was in charge of, I was a brand manager.

So I was in charge of a brand, I was in charge of ap & l profit and loss for the brand, which is a huge responsibility, if it's a mill, you know, several million dollars brand. And the brand wasn't doing so well for many years now, due to different reasons in the industry. But I sort of suffered for it. The team let me go, they gave me a severance package. And they said, You know what, this is my cue. This is my cue that I can do something different with it. Because I could just easily very easily just pick up the call, I worked in a huge corporation that was very well known. I could just easily pick up the phone and say, hey, you know what, you know, give me a nice job for recruiters. But I didn't, I said, let me use this as an opportunity to jump off into the unknown, and do what I've actually always wanted to do, which is travel journalism. So that was the story.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 18:14

Wow, thank you so much for sharing that and for sharing it. So honestly, I think that so many of us see those signs in ourselves. And we're really taught as a culture to repress that or to not create the connection. And like you said, you know, you've set out on this path, you've had your checklist, you have followed all the rules, you've played all the things just right, and you've gotten to where you thought you needed to be. And again, this feels like a story that I have heard from many women that you know, we really feel like that's the path that we're meant to take. And it feels like you're doing all the right things. And yet all of a sudden, like for me, I really had stomach issues, and I got migraines, and I would get just really tired, just very tired. It's like my body's not interested in playing this game. You're just going to sleep. And when I start to notice that I'm like, Oh, wait, where now I know to say like, where am I out of alignment? Where am I pushing too hard with what's maybe not the thing that I should be doing right now.

But before I didn't know I just kind of like you just like crashed. And I am on my trajectory. I ended up getting laid off from a position right after 911. And so like, so things where you're like, Oh, it's just one more thing. You know, just one more thing and I've worked so hard and this and that and like the instinct might be to be like, fight harder, right? Instead of saying like, Wait, was I given space? I was like, given a gift like I have, I have to stop. My body's telling me to stop and then we feel like no, no, no, no, no, like, don't let the checkboxes fall. And that panic mode will sometimes rebound right into something the same or even with another level of disconnection from our real alignment.

20:16

Yeah, that's so well said. And I mean, I think it's a it's a, it can be a topic of a conversation on its own, you know, because we are, we live in a society and it's changing, by the way I see like now in the past few years, it's been changing, but for by and large, we live in a society where this trajectory, if you will, that you're supposed to take it's like, it's like the only thing that you can do. The only thing that will be considered successful in life. And that's just not true. There are so many different ways to be successful. And let's even you know, talk about what success is, it's so many different things to so many different people. But as I've been on this path, I've told, I've thought about it so much. Like, why is it so hard for us to get out of that thinking that, you know, unless you're working in a corporation and receiving a salary, you are not successful? Or how hard it is for us to take those steps that we're outside of that norm. It took a real effort for me to shed that thinking, because, you know, I lived in that system for so many years, it was hard. But travel, by the way, is what helped me get out of it. Because of what I did, right after this happened, I booked a six month trip around the world.

And I said, you know, okay, let's jump right into this new lifestyle. Let's try to figure out how to be a travel journalist in those six months. But what was happening is that as I slowly slowly moved through the world, in those six months, I met people who are leaving differently than the corporate world that I left behind. And that helped me see Ah, okay, so there isn't a different way to be in this world and to operate and to live. And that was really monumental. I came back to the States, a very changed person. And then I could no longer see myself in corporate ever and still can't, you know, it's been six years now. I still can't imagine going back to that world where you're leaving, you know, for the paycheck for the mortgage for the car, for the promotion. I don't know, I just can't imagine that anymore.

Christine Winebrenner Irick 22:28

Hey, it's Christine. Interrupting this episode for just a minute to invite you to join me for my Lotus sojourns, women's wilderness and yoga retreat in Alaska in March of 2023. We'll be traveling 63 miles north of the Arctic Circle to stay at Arctic hive owned by my friend Molly Busbee and her husband Sean. This boutique property nestled in the Brooks Range is way off the beaten path and also off grid will stay in beautiful and cozy cabins built by hand by our hosts practice yoga in their yoga dome, lovingly referred to as the hive with gorgeous views of surrounding nature will explore the wilderness by snowshoe and dog sled. Connect with members of the local community to learn about living in this remote environment.

Enjoy daily yoga practice and vegan meals, all while keeping our eye out for the beautiful northern lights that like to show off their magic this time of year. I only have six spaces for this unique adventure and a few are already taken. I'd suggest pausing this episode and hopping over to the lotus sojourns website to book yours today. Please share this experience with anyone you know who would love this restorative adventure. Want to learn more? You can listen to my soul of travel conversation with Molly Busby, check out episode 67. Now let's hop back to our soulful conversation. Yeah, I think it definitely I see that too and relate to that. And there's something about, as you mentioned, when you travel, and I think you start to witness joy, and you witness connection in a way that isn't valuable.

As often as much in this again, in this mindset in this culture, it's so self sacrificing, and family sacrificing like so many things, and you you set off somewhere and all of a sudden, you know, you're someplace where maybe you're expecting to come in face to face with, for instance, poverty or desperation or isolation and what you end up seeing is like, simplicity and connection and joy and you have these powerful moments and like you said, you're so changed you just you it like awakens a part of us that has just been sleeping in order to really kind of succumb to this other rhythm and that's like And once you wake that beast or I don't know, it's like better than a beast, I don't know the opposite. But like, it's amazing. It really, it really allows you to continue to say yes to the things that fill you up. And I know like, especially the past two years, I've been like, well, maybe I'll just look for another job. Like, maybe it's really time and I start looking. And then they're like, and the hours are nine to five. And you have and I just, I can feel it in my chest right now. And I'm just like, No, no, no, no, no, no, no. And not to say that that's wrong. It's just not right for me. And there's just something so valuable in being able to have that conversation with yourself.