The Transformative Power of Travel: Taking Flight with Sanya Weston

In this engaging conversation, Melissa Halpin reconnects with Sanya Weston, founder of Young People Travel Global Edge, to discuss their journeys as entrepreneurs, the importance of mentorship, and the transformative power of travel. They explore the challenges and joys of entrepreneurship, the significance of community support, and the lessons learned from their experiences. Sanya shares insights on resilience, the necessity of strategic planning, and the upcoming release of her book, 'Take Flight,' which aims to inspire others to embrace change and pursue their passions. In this conversation, Melissa Halpin and Sanya Weston explore the themes of enjoying life's journey, redefining midlife for Gen X women, and the importance of community and mentorship. They discuss the significance of finding joy in hobbies, the power of mothering energy, and the need for supportive relationships among women. The conversation emphasizes the balance between success and wellness, the role of collaboration, and the impact of mentorship in personal and professional growth.

• The journey of entrepreneurship is filled with ups and downs.
• Having an accountability partner is crucial for success.
• Travel provides invaluable perspectives on life and culture.
• It's important to embrace change and pivot when necessary.
• Failure is a part of growth; it's okay to restart.
• Community support is vital for women entrepreneurs.
• Strategic planning includes considering exit strategies.
• Mentorship can significantly impact personal and professional growth.
• Resilience is key to overcoming challenges in business.

You can learn more about and support Sanya's non-profit here: https://yptglobaledge.org/

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Contact us via email at podcast@thekindlingproject.com for further inquiries or discussions.

Transcript

Melissa Halpin (00:02.156)
Welcome back to the killing project podcast. Today I have my friend Sonia Weston with us and she was one of our early first podcast guests about three years ago. I can't believe we're sitting here again for catching up with Sonia and to remind you all Sonia is the founder of young people travel global edge. They're on their fifth year. I cannot believe that Sonia fifth year of

building the global leaders of tomorrow, taking youth around the world and teaching them about other cultures and about international business. And it's just so impressive. I'm honored to be on the board and to help wherever I can. Sanya is also a 35-year veteran of the travel industry. She owns your premier travel group, which has a luxury division, an African division.

Sanya Weston (00:31.008)
Hey.

Melissa Halpin (00:55.662)
And with all that knowledge, she's now really committed to mentoring and bringing other people into the travel and hospitality industry, along with being just an amazing speaker, philanthropist, and educator. So hey, friend, welcome back.

Sanya Weston (01:14.678)
Hey, hello. my goodness, I can't believe that it's been how many years for you here? This is an amazing project.

Melissa Halpin (01:21.986)
The Kinley Project three years.

Sanya Weston (01:24.032)
three years, so it's been three years since I've been on your show and when I tell you how proud I am of this organization and all the women that have joined together, it is so amazing. So congratulations to you and it's always good to be in your space. So I'm glad to be here.

Melissa Halpin (01:41.176)
Thank you.

Thanks. Yeah, we're lucky. We found each other through Goldman Sachs. And we talked about that before, that we both did 10,000 small businesses. And we have a couple other close female friends that we share from that experience. And now we're connected through the Kidling Project, and we're connected through your amazing nonprofit organization. And I just want everybody to get to know you better and to catch up with what have you been up to.

Sanya Weston (02:12.596)
you know, boy, time has gone by so fast and.

I know we've always talked about entrepreneurs and the joy of being an entrepreneur, but it's even more enlightening when we're able to assist others. And as an entrepreneur, we go through our ups and our downs and to have an accountability partner, to have someone that you can reach out to when you're celebrating something. And also when you just need that lift is great. And I can contribute a lot to the

ladies around us, in our organization. But to know that these years that have passed by so quickly, I couldn't have done it without other entrepreneurs, the women in my circle to keep me going. So I know there's women out there that's like you and I that are either getting started or they've been in the industry of their choice for some time and hopefully hearing the connection that we get.

by coming together, starting fires, I like to say, you know, and just igniting ourselves and others around us. woo, three years for you, five years for the nonprofit. Boy, time is going by so fast.

Melissa Halpin (03:19.288)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (03:34.338)
It really has. it's, it's always something, right? It's always something new. And sometimes when you're in it and, you know, last we talked, I think we were just coming out of the pandemic, which I, know, many of us business owners are still recovering from that. And then you and I, you know, we were joking before we came on camera about like midlife stuff and, you know, empty nest and all the things that women in their fifties deal with.

You know, it's just all coming at you so fast. And it's just good to sit and sit with it and share what you learn and hopefully save other people time and hopefully allow other female entrepreneurs, particularly in my mind, to just feel less alone. Less alone, give them permission, you know.

permission to share their ups and celebrate themselves and also permission to yell and scream and cry and like sometimes this is hard sometimes sometimes Sometimes you take some hits

Sanya Weston (04:30.604)
Thanks for watching.

Sanya Weston (04:35.156)
And dance, don't forget about dance.

Yeah, you know, having the ability to hit a reset button, you know, I used to say, you know, you get 100 chances for an entire year. And once you use up the last chance, you hit the reset button and give yourself another 100. I've kind of narrowed that down to like 90 days now because we use those opportunities so quickly.

Melissa Halpin (04:45.452)
Yes.

Sanya Weston (05:04.97)
because we're always thinking of how we can reinvent ourselves. So it's okay. is, you know, I tell the students that I talk to on a university level, as they are beginning to get into a space of really believing in themselves, it's okay.

To fail is okay, to pick yourself back up and restart. we need to know that as mature women and as mature entrepreneurs. And I'm excited that we have that opportunity. so we rename our businesses or change our logos or change our processes. All those things fall right into that category of resetting.

Melissa Halpin (05:49.314)
Right. And to feel like we have permission to change our mind. Right? And what doesn't serve me today doesn't mean that it was necessarily a failure. It just ran its course. And I want to do something new or different. Or I'm responding to the economy. Or I'm responding to the demand or the need.

I know when you're young, I mean, you and I both have young ladies in college right now. It's in it, in it lasts way past college in your twenties, but you start out with this idea of like, I am going to stay committed. I'm going to stay on the course. I'm going to, you know, never give up. And we're kind of given that sort of grind mentality from our culture of like, just keep pushing, just keep pushing. And I tend to feel at this stage in my life.

If we're pushing too hard uphill too long, that's the answer. It shouldn't be that rough.

Sanya Weston (06:51.39)
But it's funny you say that because just recently I put a post on my LinkedIn.

And it was the experience of a young lady who had traveled outside of the country to Europe and had decided to stay. And she decided to come home to visit. And she was amazed with the stress that we have here in the United States on our kids, on ourselves. And she pretty much just outlined the differences of how much pressure is put on our youth.

Melissa Halpin (07:03.0)
Mm-hmm.

Melissa Halpin (07:09.39)
Mm.

Melissa Halpin (07:23.523)
Yeah.

Sanya Weston (07:23.882)
here to be the best of the best and pick professions that they are really not interested in compared to how it's more of a relaxed success story in Europe. it just made me...

really appreciate travel because until you actually go out of your normal space, your routines, until you travel to other places to see how they live, you have nothing to compare it to. And that's the importance. As you know, what we try to do with Young People Travel Global Edge with the students there, it's...

We're giving them an outlook. We're allowing them to see what the world has to offer. And then they can take that information and take it in. And they all tend to flourish into something different. And I love that. But if we limit them, we're not doing our due diligence to make them the best that they can be.

Melissa Halpin (08:25.774)
Yeah, I 100 % support this mission. I had the experience of being able to, I don't think we call them this anymore, but I was foreign exchange student, or I went to Japan on exchange program when I was in high school. And it changed my life. And I think that going to another culture, getting away from your family, your friends, and all the, having completely new messages.

Sanya Weston (08:37.29)
Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (08:52.96)
even if you decide they're not for you, just having that perspective. And it's important in everything we do, right? It's important in how we raise our families and how we build our businesses, how we participate in our society. I think sometimes perspective is often what's missing, It's understanding there's another way to do this.

Sanya Weston (09:16.972)
And then conversation wise, you tend to talk about a larger...

conversation starter. When you have experiences, you're able to challenge other people. And it's really important for us to have it in our stages as entrepreneurs. If we don't research our competitors or if we don't know what our goals and our strategies are, then we don't have anything to talk about our organizations that we are a part of. But just like with life, with our

students if they only know what is taught to them you know and what has been taught for years you know your your basic math and a language and

you know, in history, they're able to just jump a little head and say, well, I've seen this, you know, or I've experienced this. And, you know, now let's talk about it because I feel a certain kind of way than if I would have read it in a book. So, you know, my students are when they come to me and they give me these aha experiences that they've had, I could have never dreamed of it. You know, I can't even put myself in their position because I didn't have it when I grew up. And there's so much

Melissa Halpin (10:14.296)
Right.

Melissa Halpin (10:34.05)
Right.

Sanya Weston (10:38.062)
smarter and they look at things differently. remember when the girls went to, and I have to, this is one of the examples I use all the time. When the girls, we had some girls go to Dubai. That was our very first trip. And we would have our touch bases conversations in the morning. And so we asked them, you know, what is the difference of being here in Dubai versus being at home? And you know, we're thinking they're going to say the architecture was beautiful or the weather.

was different and they all agreed the way that men looked at them made them feel safe and confident and being in a country you know where they said there's so many restrictions for women for our young ladies to experience safety and feel like they were respected versus when they're at home was really really

Melissa Halpin (11:23.054)
Mm-hmm.

Melissa Halpin (11:31.63)
Right.

Sanya Weston (11:34.858)
I mean, as mentors, we had to pause to take up for the United States because we're like, it's very nice experiences in the US, but we didn't know that the girls were even looking at that as an important thing in life. so that's just some of those things that the students bring to your attention that we may not ever think about.

Melissa Halpin (11:40.174)
Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (11:44.632)
Right.

Melissa Halpin (12:00.414)
I wouldn't have thought of that. And it's super profound. And of course, there are good things about a restrictive society and negatives. But also, we have a very permissive society, and there's good things about it, and there's negatives. And so just being able to weigh the balances or the pros or the cons of different approaches, because not necessarily is one right or wrong.

Sanya Weston (12:08.81)
Yes.

Sanya Weston (12:12.864)
There's nothing else.

Sanya Weston (12:24.992)
Yes, that is true.

And like I said, just can't be experiences. You know what they use to tell us in school until you read the book, you know, you don't know what's in it. You just can't look at the covers. So it's the same thing. can't just look at television. You have to go out and experience it and relate it back to your success because not all experiences is going to be like an asset for our students, but it will allow them to either communicate it to someone else

Melissa Halpin (12:33.954)
Right.

Melissa Halpin (12:46.722)
Right.

Sanya Weston (12:56.807)
or encourage someone else to have that experience to help them to succeed.

Melissa Halpin (13:01.784)
love that you're doing this. I'm so proud of you.

Sanya Weston (13:03.116)
You know, Melissa, we have this backing for just smiling about the approach we have with our youth. And it makes me feel so happy every time we have a conversation about them. And that's just the beginning, because this is our fifth year. I cannot believe that.

Melissa Halpin (13:08.546)
Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (13:19.778)
Yeah, I know. It's shocking to me. What can you share with other women who, you know, it may not be travel, it may not be building a community for women like myself, but they're at a midpoint in life or they're having a crossroads where maybe they want to pivot or they want to...

either change direction or they want to add something. What can you share about what you learned and how you've managed it this far?

Sanya Weston (13:53.544)
Well, you know, being an entrepreneur for over 35 years.

you're gonna hit some turbulence. because travel is what I do, I always relate things back to travel. It's just, don't know how I can not. It's in my blood, I tell people. So I always think about taking flight. When I get on an aircraft, or preparing myself to go somewhere, it's just processes that you just have to, there's things you just have to do, or you wouldn't be able to travel.

Melissa Halpin (14:10.752)
It is.

Sanya Weston (14:29.016)
myself every day if I'm going to take flight.

What do I need? And, you know, of course, I start every day with with praying, you know, that is I'm very spiritual, so that's important to me. And, you know, family is important. But then I throw something in there that makes my friends laugh. say skincare. So the top three things that keeps me going every day is, you know, God, my family. And I have the best skincare. And I'll always tell people that because when I take flight, I want to

look good, right?

Melissa Halpin (15:04.27)
You know what? I mean this midlife skincare game is no joke. It's no joke I went to I have I have a good friend who has a med spa and I You know went to her as you know as a friend, but also as a patient a client And I was like I need you know my midlife skincare hookup, and I mean I left there with like a house payment worth of products

Sanya Weston (15:08.68)
It is no joke.

Sanya Weston (15:23.18)
you

Sanya Weston (15:29.864)
It is so easy to

Melissa Halpin (15:30.56)
I can't be doing this more than once a year. This is insane.

Sanya Weston (15:35.562)
You know, whatever it is, mean, some of my friends, say they, you know, they have certain things they have to eat and, know, you know, we all have our daily regimen, but it puts a smile on my face when I think about it. But to get back to other women, you know, as we mature in our careers, we are going to hit turbulence. We are going to have things happen that is out of our control. And it's important to know is how you react during those things.

Melissa Halpin (15:42.614)
Yeah. Right.

Sanya Weston (16:05.506)
you do? Do you grow? Do you you haunt all of your progress? You know, how do you react on that? And you know, we have to not only have a strategic plan to grow, but you have to have a strategic plan if you hit a bump in the road. And it's very important to have a support group to have

Melissa Halpin (16:27.576)
Yeah.

Sanya Weston (16:29.502)
an outlet, and then believe in yourself that you can pick up and keep on going. And in the past couple of years, it allowed me to step back and allow myself to grow, to...

Melissa Halpin (16:41.998)
Mm-hmm.

Sanya Weston (16:46.038)
pivot however I needed to change things to accommodate the changes with, like you say, with the economy or with our client base. It also allowed me to focus on areas when you look in the mirror and you say, what do I need to change? You accept all the things that you need to do to make yourself and also to make your clients happy and be proud that you're able to do that. So I've been doing that.

Melissa Halpin (17:04.034)
Right.

Sanya Weston (17:16.074)
It's amazing all the blessings and the opportunities that have come my way by allowing me to open up and to realize that there's more out there for me and there's people that will be willing to take you to the next level. so with that, travel obviously is what our family has done for years, but we've been able to open two additional divisions of our company, which is our Africa.

have a joint company in Africa now. So I love that. I've gone like four times in the past two years and it has really opened up a window of opportunity outside of the safari that I had to experience too. that was a great thing. So I tell women, you never know what's out there for you.

Don't allow anything to knock you down and you can't get back up because you're going to fall. That's, mean, things happen. But allow it to keep you down and be resilient. You know what? We always talk about the circle of women around us. my God, that is so important. You have control of...

Melissa Halpin (18:17.442)
Yeah. Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (18:24.386)
Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (18:31.341)
It is.

Sanya Weston (18:34.41)
the women that you put around you, and you have control of your clients. And I remember the first time someone said, you need to fire your client. And I'm like, fire your client? How do you do that? Why would you do that? But everyone is not a perfect client for you.

Melissa Halpin (18:45.87)
Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (18:53.826)
Right. It's more like you need to qualify your clients. Are they the right fit for me? Is it time for them, for me to hand them off to somebody else or for us to part ways? And it's the same thing with business relationships and partnerships. And I mean, I think that you and I, we've been blessed to be friends with each other and some of the circles that we are in. And I want that for others, because I know, I know without that.

Sanya Weston (19:03.817)
over there.

Melissa Halpin (19:24.13)
You know, there's been plenty of days I would not have gotten through without being able to talk to my sisters, my fellow entrepreneurs, like just the women that have my back and that you can be real with because there's so much pressure on us to, you know, the perfectionism and the presentation and to always show up all in order and life is not always in order.

Sanya Weston (19:49.76)
That is so true. And you're not always perfect. And I know we talked about this within our friend group, but...

Melissa Halpin (19:53.218)
Right.

Sanya Weston (20:00.746)
When someone is having a hard day, don't you love how we all get together and try to, know, whatever we have to do, we put together a plan and say, she needs flowers or she just needs us or, you know, you have to have that. And to all the ladies listening, if you don't have that, that is definitely something to put on your business plan. You have to have the accountability partner. You have to have the support partner and,

Melissa Halpin (20:11.478)
Right. Right. Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (20:20.408)
Yeah.

Sanya Weston (20:28.336)
those things will help to keep you motivated and alive in this entrepreneurship world. It's amazing to have that.

Melissa Halpin (20:42.232)
Well, I think I heard a little birdie said that you are going to take some of these hard earned lessons that we're talking about and put them in a book. You want to tell us about that?

Sanya Weston (20:52.312)
Yes, yes, yes, yes. So I love the birdie because of Comet because the name of the book is Take Flight. And I it's so amazing how I started the book and then I stopped. I stopped writing and, you know, everything becomes so much more important. But what happens to me, I believe, is.

Melissa Halpin (21:00.643)
Yo!

Sanya Weston (21:19.498)
I experienced my final chapter.

So I could not finish the book until I experienced that final chapter in life. And once I realized that, it motivated me to continue on. yes, the book is, we'll be doing pre-selling this spring, so I'm excited. It's coming out and it's just talking about resilience, how to take flight in life, in relationships, and then also with our children. We have to make sure that we include

Melissa Halpin (21:23.214)
Hmm.

Sanya Weston (21:52.364)
all those things as a level of success if they apply to you. And I believe that my gift, my superpower is to be a mother, first of all, and then an entrepreneur. And then I also learned how to step back.

So I want to teach other women it's okay to step back and realize, know, I think it's time to retire from this part of my life and start something different. And until we realize that or things happen, we...

Melissa Halpin (22:21.39)
Right.

Sanya Weston (22:28.136)
we kind of stay in that mode and we're wondering why either we're stressed or we're not as successful because just like people retire from their jobs, the corporate jobs, it's okay to retire from parts of your business that you're in. I've been educating students to take on the positions that I used to be so excited about, but now

Melissa Halpin (22:54.328)
Yeah.

Sanya Weston (22:56.458)
I'm able to say, you know, I have other gifts and I have a roadmap and I will have that in the book as well. So I'm excited about that. So thanks for asking.

Melissa Halpin (23:00.12)
Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (23:08.236)
Yeah, that reminds me, mean, was, you know, gosh, it was almost a decade ago that we were doing the Goldman Sachs program. And there was that, I don't remember if it was a whole day or half a day, but there was a section of the program about exit strategy. And at that time for me personally, I was still in launch mode. Like there was no concept of an exit strategy.

Sanya Weston (23:21.42)
Yes.

Sanya Weston (23:28.512)
You

Melissa Halpin (23:32.62)
I mean, now I've had my business for 12 years. It's, I think, seven or eight years since I graduated from that program. And I really do understand that power of the exit strategy isn't that you're going to exit today. It's that you're actually thinking about how you want to exit and what you might want to do after this and like building the right business and the right strategy for an exit strategy. And so it's more, you know, as time goes by, I really understand.

that is really an important part of your business plan.

Sanya Weston (24:05.692)
It is, and you can have a couple of different exit strategies. I you know, I'm down to five-year plan. Like, I talk about it all the time, you know, I set a five-year plan and that allows me to celebrate my successes. And then if there things that are, you know, that are not working, then I can change them. But then at the end of the five years, you have the data, you have the experience for you.

Melissa Halpin (24:09.943)
Right.

Sanya Weston (24:32.19)
to either make a change or continue doing what you're doing. Or like you say, it's time to just go and be a grandmother. We have the option as well.

Melissa Halpin (24:41.315)
Right.

Sanya Weston (24:44.008)
Allow yourself that strategic plan to say, in five years, if I want to get out of this business, what does that look like? Am I going to give it to my children? Am I going to sell? Am I going to transition out of it or am I going to stay? And when you know where you're going, you know what the result would be, then it gives you something to work toward too. yes, exit plan is definitely important. And then join the ride.

Melissa Halpin (24:51.363)
Right?

Sanya Weston (25:13.964)
as important as the exit plan because if you don't enjoy the ride, especially at our stage in life, our young stage in life.

Melissa Halpin (25:14.305)
Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (25:24.204)
Yeah. Yep.

Sanya Weston (25:27.432)
If you're not enjoying it, that means you may not be doing the right thing. And enjoying life doesn't mean that you don't hit a roadblock or things are going to always be perfect. It just means that you are doing the things that require you to present the best of who you can be. And that is important. Always preparing to give the best of you and your authentic self.

Melissa Halpin (25:31.757)
Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (25:55.918)
I really think for us Gen X women, this is one of our missions is redefining midlife. I really think. hear it, I hear it in a lot of conversations. I see it in my friends, I see it in the mirror. I joke with you like, I'm not young anymore, but I don't feel old, but what am I? I'm in the middle.

Sanya Weston (26:19.404)
Thank

Melissa Halpin (26:21.068)
I feel like just generationally and as women and as entrepreneurs, we're just redefining. What does that mean? Because I'm not counting down the days to retirement. I mean, if I were to sell my design agency, maybe I would work full time in the Kindling Project for another decade. If I were somehow to merge those two things with other businesses and be less involved, I'd probably paint. There's a million things.

I think redefining what's possible is, that's what a lot of us are doing.

Sanya Weston (26:55.628)
Yeah. And you know, I remember someone asked, what was my hobby? That was like the hardest question to answer. I was like, what is a hobby and when do you have time for a hobby? It's really the question. But.

Melissa Halpin (27:01.774)
Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (27:06.794)
Work.

Melissa Halpin (27:11.246)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Sanya Weston (27:14.348)
It got me thinking. And I said, I need to have a hobby. And what does that look like? And hobbies are supposed to bring you joy and keep you calm and that kind of thing. So once my daughter actually asked me that question, she sent me a list of hobbies. And I'm going through the list like, no, right? None of these things.

Melissa Halpin (27:18.68)
Right.

Melissa Halpin (27:36.354)
No, I'm not taking up knitting.

Sanya Weston (27:39.452)
not knitting, you know, I'm not doing a lot of these things that you're putting before me. But what it did put me in the frame of mind of thinking, what am I going to do to have it, you know, some relaxed time and bring a lot of joy just to me in my space? And I determined that my hobby are the youth, you know, and I had to

trace it back to being a Girl Scout leader for almost, you know, 12 years. And the joy that that brought me, not, yes, it was a, you know, work, but that was that joy. So continuing to, um,

be the executive director of a nonprofit for youth, it gives me that same joy. And stepping out of the, as what Goldman Sachs would always tell us to do, step out of your business and let everyone else do the work. yeah, so it allowed me to step out of being the travel professional, booking travel, but just being an owner and educating those that are motivated to do it.

Melissa Halpin (28:35.436)
Right, Yes.

Melissa Halpin (28:46.894)
Right. An executive. Like the business is your craft and other people are running it. You know, it makes so much sense to me that you would say your hobby is youth. You said just 15 minutes ago that your superpower was mothering and you do really have like a very mothering, nurturing energy. I mean, sometimes, you know, I had some rough patches last year myself and I called you and it's like, I just want to...

Sanya Weston (28:51.276)
Exactly. Exactly.

Melissa Halpin (29:15.416)
cry on your shoulder. I think you have that mothering energy and you know we all have our different gifts like if we lean into them that's gonna work out right that's gonna work out for us because that's why we have them.

Sanya Weston (29:16.512)
Hey.

Sanya Weston (29:26.796)
Exactly.

Exactly. Well, you know, I challenge you. In fact, I have done this before, but someone posted on social media, one of actually a friend of the both of us, and she put on there, ask AI, who am I? So like, who is Sonia or who is Melissa? And when I did that, it was hilarious because it literally and I didn't use like my own personal account. I was just asking in general. So I didn't really have anything

to pull from that I have, I guess, communicated to AI. But all of the attributes that forms that mothering superpower, AI knew all of them. It was hilarious.

Melissa Halpin (30:04.472)
Right.

Melissa Halpin (30:13.87)
It already had you figured out right? Yeah, that's powerful. Yeah

Sanya Weston (30:15.82)
So I challenge everyone to confirm who they are by asking AI and get a little funny moment to see if they have it right.

Melissa Halpin (30:24.333)
Right.

Melissa Halpin (30:30.766)
I'm going to do that after this call. I have a good sense that my superpower has to do with designing and creating and arranging and color. And I always gravitate towards those things. someone said something to me about, what do you do in your own time, in your own mind? What do you fall back on?

Sanya Weston (30:32.886)
Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (30:58.412)
You know, to me, even when I am just stealing a few moments out of my busy day for myself, like I'm rearranging the furniture or I'm arranging flowers or I'm putting colors together. And so it, so my natural like affinity has something to do with design and creation and art and balance and color. And I suspect that AI will pick up on that. I suspect that it'll be like.

Sanya Weston (31:19.926)
Pick up on that. Well, keep me posted on that and.

Melissa Halpin (31:25.89)
Melissa likes arranging things and organizing things and designing things.

Sanya Weston (31:30.228)
Yeah, we need to have everyone in the kindling group reintroduce themselves based on.

Melissa Halpin (31:35.468)
Yes. It's really something that, I mean, as you know, like building an organization is so much work and just getting the brand up and the website and getting through the first few events. I think we're gonna be, I'm pretty sure this recording is the 76th or 77th podcast. So we're inching up towards a hundred podcasts. So there's just been a lot of doing.

But one of the things that I feel that has always been on my list and I want to get it back to the top of the priority list is there's almost 3,000 amazing women in the Facebook group. And then when I do the analytics on how many women have downloaded the podcast or joined the other social media channels, we have a footprint of about 10,000 women. So in that sense, it's a success and I'm proud of it and it must be resonating with some.

like a fair number. But I have this dream of connecting those women, building connections, building, you know, like our little personal business besties group where we get together and we support each other. I would like to build the stages or build the retreats or build the spaces or the places where that sort of connection can happen for the other women in our community.

Cause it's one thing to listen to a podcast when you're alone in your car. And I'm sure, you know, I know for me, it makes me feel less alone. And it's another thing to go to an event once a year, but to belong to something, to be able to identify this is my, this is my little medley, my little community, my little foursome or my, fivesome of people. We have each other's back. So that's something I want to craft for sure.

Sanya Weston (33:21.738)
Yeah, and it's an outlet, you know. We can, you know, that would be a, it's a great idea and I know we kind of toss it around, but what's key with what you just said is something to look forward to that like once a year, you know, no matter what happens throughout the year, no matter how successful you are, no matter how you lend yourself to other people.

Melissa Halpin (33:35.544)
Yes.

Sanya Weston (33:47.946)
You know, no matter how your kids are growing within that year, you're able to just kind of put it down and just focus on yourself with people of like mind that, like we always say, no drama, no life, right? So we want to all the drama and still have a life, you know? But no, let's do it.

Melissa Halpin (33:55.053)
Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (33:59.587)
Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (34:06.924)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's do it. I feel like you and I can come together. We can definitely organize. mean, between the two of us, I mean, we can do anything. Let's organize that Kindling Project retreat, that event, that getaway, whether it's, I know we've talked about Mexico or we've talked about Southwest. I almost, it doesn't matter to me. We could take a survey, but let's take some.

Sanya Weston (34:16.982)
Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (34:34.902)
women in our community away for that experience and see what that generates.

Sanya Weston (34:41.42)
them to come back energized and just wanting more for themselves. is to me, you know, when I think about my journey and you know the journeys of the women that we know.

Melissa Halpin (34:44.76)
Yeah.

Sanya Weston (34:59.692)
these new entrepreneurs that are amazing. I mean, this new generation of women, I wish we would have known what they are coming in knowing at 25, but they're going to get to our stage of life and we wanna make sure that they're prepared. So it's also an opportunity to let them know that we know the road, we've traveled it and allow us to...

Melissa Halpin (35:08.226)
Yes.

Sanya Weston (35:26.816)
give you as much knowledge and support now so that you are even more successful than we have dreamed of being and what we are also celebrating that you are. So I think that's an amazing idea.

Melissa Halpin (35:40.696)
Yeah. And in a balance of success and wellness, right? Because

Sanya Weston (35:45.546)
Yes, yes, sisterhood though, they'll know the real.

Melissa Halpin (35:49.73)
Success at the cost of your health, whether it's your physical health or your mental health, it's not a good trade-off.

Sanya Weston (35:55.404)
It's not worth it. It's not a good trade off. Or even not spending time with your family. know, the past, boy, okay, so now this is that time where the kindling effect makes you want to cry, right? Because, you know, when we make choices to invest in our families and we know it's working against our success.

Melissa Halpin (36:01.24)
Right.

Melissa Halpin (36:12.94)
Yeah.

Sanya Weston (36:25.343)
because of time, you know, just, you know, enough mind space to get it done. You have to make a choice sometimes. And I remember when I made that choice and...

Melissa Halpin (36:34.712)
You do.

Sanya Weston (36:41.023)
you know, as having COVID teenagers, I like to say, right? We both knew it was tough. We had to make a decision. And as much as our client base or, you know, other people around us may have not known what we were going through, we tried to get it done. And what I've learned from that is sometimes you just need to check out because if you're not able to give your best,

Melissa Halpin (36:45.336)
Yep.

Melissa Halpin (37:06.456)
You do.

Sanya Weston (37:09.536)
during those challenging times, especially with family. If I was to go back, I would just have taken what, vacation time or a leave of absence from my business to handle the family situations and then jump back in healthy. And I want other women to know it's okay to do that. They need to know, I had no one to tell me it was okay.

Melissa Halpin (37:20.323)
Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (37:32.482)
Me too. Me too.

Melissa Halpin (37:37.986)
Yeah.

Sanya Weston (37:39.036)
I, you know, that's why we have this wonderful group of women. And it's why I want to tell my story because I know there's going to be more women to come after us that need to know it's okay. It's okay to, to set aside some time for yourself.

Melissa Halpin (37:48.707)
Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (38:01.494)
And it's a normal part of life. It's a normal part of life. we're always told that we're supposed to walk some sort of tightrope, some sort of work-life balance where every day is going to be half work and half life. And it's not like that at all. Actually, sometimes you have a life crisis and it's like 90 days head down, I have a parent with cancer, or I have a child in a crisis, or

You know, my roof is leaking, whatever it is. You know, I have a relationship that's coming to a messy end. I mean, I've had all the things. We've all had all the things. And sometimes you can only focus on one of them at a time because it's so big, it's so consuming, and it requires all your energy and the other things have to wait. And you do find out, you do learn some hard lessons about who's there when you come back or...

Sanya Weston (38:59.286)
That's true. That's who gives you grace. that is a huge word. Who's just open for your success no matter what. Who's rooting for you and...

Melissa Halpin (39:00.258)
who gives new grace.

Melissa Halpin (39:05.452)
Yeah.

Right. Yeah, who's rooting for you? Right. And there's a difference between are you rooting for me or are you rooting for what I can do for you? It's a big difference. And I have bumped up against that quite a few times and I think you have too.

Sanya Weston (39:18.784)
What, what, exactly, exactly.

Sanya Weston (39:27.948)
And we're not the only ones. I know that there's other people out there, but I tell you, I've learned that people show their true colors when things are not going right. And that's when you know, you just mentioned who's rooting for you, who's on your team, who's supporting you.

Melissa Halpin (39:29.838)
No, no, no, no.

Melissa Halpin (39:44.566)
Yeah.

Sanya Weston (39:53.258)
You you don't want people out there because there's something that may not be right. They're trying to, you know, do something negative. Women should all work together as much as possible. I've been hearing the word collaboration within the business world more and more. And that's great because collaboration should have always been part of your success.

Melissa Halpin (40:02.05)
Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (40:18.051)
Right?

Sanya Weston (40:21.098)
You know, my mom started this business and anytime I speak in front of a crowd, I talk about her being one of the top travel agency owners in Detroit and, you know, and her, I guess, counterpart or competition, Linda Burgess was another amazing travel agency owner in Southfield. And I watched them. They were competitors.

but you would have never known that. know, my mom, Shirley Hogue, who was into trade, they worked not only together, but they were aligned with each other. And there may have been clients that say, I like you better, or you do the job better, or whatever the clients would say. Those two business women would have, it was just amazing to watch them work in the same business. And that's just an example of...

Melissa Halpin (41:19.544)
Yeah.

Sanya Weston (41:20.224)
What I saw as a young person in my 20s, developing the entrepreneurship itch.

That's what I carried on from that. And it even becomes even more important when one of them are not there. Because I remember my mom passed away. I was running her agency. And Linda Burgess says, I want you to come and work out of my office because you need support. So she wasn't a family member. She was just another entrepreneur. But she knew that that helped. She knew the love that we were.

Melissa Halpin (41:55.917)
mentor.

Sanya Weston (41:58.318)
We had for the travel industry and it was so funny because you know, we talked about the name of my book is take flight But she allowed me to fly away when she said it was time She knew when it was time for me to go off leave her office and open up and my own office and to this day and that's been over 20 years ago. I I Just hold on to that and I hope that a lot of women

Melissa Halpin (42:13.325)
Yeah.

Sanya Weston (42:28.406)
just by hearing that story, will know how important it is for women to wrap their arms around another entrepreneur and just wish for their success. Talk to them and say, what do you need?

I mean, it's just so important because it dictates who we are, no matter what color we are, no matter what religion we are, we all need to stick together and help each other as much as we can. And I believe that the success will be there for all of us. I didn't mean to get so passionate at this. I'm just.

Melissa Halpin (42:54.456)
Yeah. Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (43:02.594)
Yeah, me too.

Melissa Halpin (43:06.51)
I know, I know you're gonna make me cry. It's true, that's a beautiful story of like a one-on-one mentorship and relationship, but you've also done a really great job. I've watched it evolve, building an advisory committee for your nonprofit. And I think being able to have those one-on-one mentor mentee relationships are super powerful.

but also being willing to have trusted advisors and know how to surround yourself in your company or in your nonprofit or raising your kids. It applies to everything. Being able to see wisdom and expertise and specialties and superpowers outside of your own and build a board, in your case an advisory board in whatever capacity where you can

where you can take from each other's experiences and share in each other's businesses. Super important.

Sanya Weston (44:06.484)
Yeah. Well, know, mentorship is it. You know, it goes both ways. You mentor the most to get to the...

Melissa Halpin (44:10.924)
Yeah. Yeah.

Sanya Weston (44:14.186)
the seats at the table that we tend to get introduced to so that they can also continue to mentor others. And thank you for acknowledging that. But that's one of the joys that keep me going every day is what I can give back to our students through mentorship, allowing them an opportunity to take on leadership roles, and then surrounding them around people that can also assist them. And I'm hearing that.

my adults are learning more than our students, you know, from those relationships. Yeah. Yes. Wow. Well, I love this platform. I guess we're doing exactly what you wanted to do three years ago, having these conversations.

Melissa Halpin (44:48.696)
I don't doubt it. I don't doubt it. Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (45:00.43)
Yeah, we are. We're doing what we said we were going to do and it feels good and it feels safe and it feels important.

Sanya Weston (45:05.312)
Yes.

Sanya Weston (45:09.492)
And if we can just help one person change someone's heart, give them that extra lift to allow them to reinvent themselves or just continue their success. I think our job is done.

Melissa Halpin (45:23.83)
Yeah, yeah. you have any final thoughts on how to keep going?

Sanya Weston (45:30.026)
Well, get a daily regimen, whatever that looks like. So if it's yoga, riding a bike, drinking some green juice, we're in a new era now. I challenge all of the women to find three things that will assist them every morning in being the best person or version of themselves.

Melissa Halpin (45:55.918)
Mm-hmm.

Sanya Weston (45:56.352)
With that, make sure it allows you to smile, allows you to motivate, and allows you to grow. And if you're doing those three things on a consistent basis, the sky's the limit, and you'll be able to take flight in all that you do. So, yeah.

Melissa Halpin (46:00.354)
Mm-hmm.

Melissa Halpin (46:15.296)
Yay, well, we will definitely connect the podcast show notes and any of the social media content to where our audience can find you, where they can find young people travel global edge, how they can purchase the book. I know you're getting all kinds of PR, you're winning awards, you're out there, you're doing speaking engagements. So reach out to Sonia, reach out to myself. You can find both of us in the Kindling Project Ignite Facebook group.

And you can find us on LinkedIn and all the places where we all are these days. So connect with us. And I hope this was an inspiring talk. I always find talking to you inspiring and just kind of soothing to my nervous system. You do have a really awesome mothering energy.

Sanya Weston (46:50.924)
Exactly.

Sanya Weston (47:08.428)
Duty calls.

Melissa Halpin (47:08.982)
I know, we might be the same age, but I still appreciate a little extra nurturing. Maybe I need it.

Sanya Weston (47:14.07)
Well, thank you so much. I accept that because that is my superpower. am, you know. Absolutely, absolutely. Well, thank you again. All right. Thank you so much. Thank you. It's a pleasure. All right. OK, ciao.

Melissa Halpin (47:20.578)
You're on the job. You call me if you need colors. I'll call you if I need a shoulder to cry on.

Melissa Halpin (47:29.774)
All right, my friend, thanks for coming back to the podcast. You can come back anytime with any news.

All right, we'll talk soon. Bye.