Today we’d like to introduce you to Cole Banks.
Cole, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
The idea of Sisters Traveling Solo (STS) came when I read an online post discouraging black women from traveling solo. As a woman of color, who frequently travels around the world solo I knew she was not alone. My passion for traveling solo and wanting to help other sisters led to the creation of STS. Our STS Facebook community of over 70,000 women from all over the world is a positive space.
Within this space, women get to share their experiences, share tips and most importantly are exposed to other women that doing things and going places they may have never imagined before.
Our STS Facebook community was created to empower women of color to travel solo…..to travel in general. STS members are located throughout the world, offering diverse thought and engagement.
Our Facebook group has gone from just an online community into a business. What we learned is that people still want to travel solo with other people so we started to offer group trips back in 2017.
In August 2018 I left my corporate job at Coca-Cola to pursue my business full time. So now my personal passion for travel is my full-time business.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
With any new venture, there have been challenges. The major struggle I think for any entrepreneur is learning how to turn your idea/passion into a profitable business. In addition to trying to really stand up the business without having someone help step by step along the way. Things like ensuring that your customer agreements are in order, that you have the right team in place, and or trying to determine how to properly scale can all be struggles.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Sisters Traveling Solo story. Tell us more about the business.
Sisters Traveling Solo is a travel company focused on connecting, empowering, inspiring and supporting sisters on their travel journey. Our Facebook group is known for it’s positively. It is one of the most positive spaces you will find on Facebook. And what sets our company apart from any of the others is the Sisterhood. On each of our trips, we see women who were once strangers two days ago become life long friends.
We offer trip groups, solo getaway, and trip planning services. We offer group trips because we know that people still want to travel solo but in a group. We offer traditional trips which are touristy, and cultural trips that are non-touristy and focused on getting to the know people of the country we are visiting.
I am most proud of the fact that we are actually changing lives everyday. Women who were once were afraid to traveling the world on their own are stepping outside of their comfort zones and taking their power back. They are conquering their fears and truly living their best life on their own terms. It is amazing to see the 1st time solo traveler come back from a trip with a new outlook on life; ready to take their next solo trip.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t believe in luck, I believe in faith. Faith has played a major part in my business and life. It took faith to leave my corporate job in August to pursue my travel business full time. And it takes faith everything to push the envelope and step outside of my comfort zone to grow this business into what I envision it to be.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sisterstravelingsolo.com
- Instagram: sisterstravelingsolo
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1522969971346336/
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/SistersTravelingSolo/?eid=ARBRlStOpLvQJhotMc73sPkwiM-5xjKkcHt1km8Tztq0p4vGy-ALqzHpSk2Oj5vRjiPKFIEFBgadi31Z
Image Credit:
All credits Sisters Traveling Solo
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
