Foreign. Welcome to the Jody Mayberry Show. I'm so happy to introduce to you this episode Donella Richard. And I'm gonna tell you how we met and her story. But first, let's just say hello. Hi, Donnella. Hello, Jody. Jody. Jody. How are you today? Well, I'm. I'm smiling ear to ear because I get to talk to you. I have so enjoyed getting to know you and watch your travels. And so Donnella and I met at a magical vacation planner conference two or three years
ago. Yeah, three years ago, 2022. And this is why that's important. Where we met two years before Donella and I met, Dan Cockrell and I were speaking at a magical vacation planner conference in Orlando at Disney World. It was at the Yacht Club on the day that Disney World announced they were shutting down. And my goodness, Donella, to be there speaking to three or four hundred travel advisors, to have every cruise line there
represented. When the travel industry basically shut down indefinitely, not knowing when it would open, we saw people's careers, their lives, their livelihood just tumble away, maybe because they didn't know what was going on. Okay, so that was the setting two years before I met Donella. And Donella happened to work in the cruise industry. At that time, I didn't know her, but by the time I met her two years later, Donella had gone from an industry that
crumbled practically overnight. Now it has rebuilt very well. Maybe we'll talk about that. But she had a career in an industry that crumbled overnight and then in two years built something just spectacular. She's the star of the show, traveling with Donella. She wins awards. She's a real superstar. She's great on camera. And it all came after her career fell apart. And I think it is such a fascinating story, Danella. Now, did I represent that well? What happened to you?
Absolutely. That was a perfect representation. Okay, so now in 2020, you have this great thriving career you think is going to last forever because it's an industry you love, and all of a sudden you have to remake yourself. Tell us a little bit about the bottom and then how the steps. You started to do that. By the time I met you, two years after that happened, you're a superstar. Well, Jody, as you said, you know, that year was
2020, and everybody knows when. No one will ever forget that year, because I think it was life changing for everyone on the planet, including the animals in the marine life. Right. But in 2020, you know, I had a thriving career in the cruise industry. I absolutely love what I did. And I look forward to continuing my career and one day travel, I mean,
one day retiring right from the cruise industry. But on March 13, 2020, you know, we were notified that all ships around the world going to have to come to a halt. Come in. And our industry was getting ready to shut down due to COVID 19. And at that time, it was scary because we were still learning. What is this, COVID 19? At that point,
we didn't have vaccinations. We didn't have a lot of answers. It was scary. But needless to say, more than any other industry, COVID 19 brought the cruise industry to its knees because for a year, year and a half, there were ships that had no passengers. But the harsh reality for us, and I was working for Holland America at that time, was that with no passengers, you know, layoffs, they were imminent, right? So I ended up having to lay off over 40 people from my team. And then as I'm licking my
wounds, I find out the president of my company's being laid off, too. And then he tells me, well, wait a minute. You being laid off also? No. So it's like, oh, my God, I can't even feel sorry for myself because everyone around me, we're, you know, we were all losing our jobs. So, you know, during that time, you know, at home, everybody's on lockdown. We can't go to church, we can't go to the movies, right? We're at home, we're watching tv. The
only thing we could all do is order in food, right? So I started, you know, ordering in food. I had a bottle of wine almost every evening, and I started sipping and painting, you know, on my balcony. I became my own little Picasso and. And started painting every evening. And it was so funny because one evening my friend looked at me and he said, wait a minute, Danella. I think you are sipping more than you are painting. So it's time for you to figure out what's next. So
I already. My degree is in television. It's in broadcast journalism. But I, at that point, I had already spent over 20 years in the travel industry. But I had worked in the television and broadcast industry early in my career. So I had an opportunity. A friend called me who had launched a streaming television station platform at that time and was like, donnella, come back to tv. Create a travel show. You used to help produce a travel show for United Airlines back in the 90s. It was called
Destinations. He was like, create your own travel show this time. And, hey, I'm gonna give you a Prime time spot on my OTT streaming station. And let's rock and roll. So, sure enough, we created Traveling with Donella, and we were on lockdown. So at that time, it was like, you know, interviews, kind of like you and I are doing right now, right? More of kind of like zoom interview format, if you will, with heavy B roll. And we made this beautiful show. And about five episodes in Border started
opening, right? We could start to travel the world again. And so we started getting calls from destinations like Danello. You know, we saw your show and. But now you can bring a whole film crew. Come, come, come, come with the film crew. Come film. We have to show people that they can travel the world again. We have to give them hope, and you're going to show them how to do it. And so I'm like, okay, all right. So with that, you know, got the film crew together, two
videographers, my production manager, and we hit the road. You know, here we were filming all over the Caribbean. Then we went on over to South America, including filming in Ecuador. And as we filmed, we started getting calls from television stations. So first WSFL in Miami, Florida. And then before you knew it, the thing just started growing. So here we are, Jody. We are filming season eight right now, and we are in February, 40 different cities weekly. So you can see
traveling with Donella every week. And watch me as we go all over the world bringing these beautiful destination and cruise stories to life. So the interesting thing, I went from a corporate executive in a business suit to a swimsuit, because on any given episode, you know, I may be in the water swimming with sharks, swimming with stingrays, you know, swinging off a cliff at the edge of the world in Ecuador, or, you know, riding bikes, embracing the outdoors, meeting with five star
Michelin chefs. You name it, we do it. And it's really been amazing. So as you said, you know, how did we get here? It's called the pivot. How did I get here? You know, taking lemons and turning it into lemonade. And I'll be honest, originally I was like, oh, you know, a year or two, and I'll still go back to my corporate job in the cruise industry. Well, Jody, almost five years later, and
we are flying. You know, we are soaring over here. You know, traveling with Denella is doing very, very well. And I'm living my best life traveling the world and bringing these destination stories to television. So that's my story. Oh, it's just fantastic. And we'll talk a little more about the show before we do. I I want to look more at how you remake yourself because you did it so well. I get hearing your story. Some of it was opportunity. Sure. It just you got a
little lucky. But I understand that luck only happens when you're moving, when you're doing something. If you had just stayed on your couch sipping wine, the opportunities wouldn't have come. You were doing something. You were in the right place when the borders opened and it created this opportunity. So, yes, you were doing something at the right time, when the right doors opened. Beyond that, I
know there's way more to it. It's not like the borders opened and you got a call because you were already doing something. If someone came to you with that specific question and said, donnella, I've been laid off. I thought I had my dream job. I've been laid off. Now I want to remake myself. What are the steps to do
it? Believe in yourself first. Right? You have to have confidence to move forward because there are always going to be people around you who are going to want to give advice or, you know, just kind of be in your head. And I think, you know, once you decide that you. You want to reinvent, move in a different direction, you just gotta put the blinders on. Right. And just move forward. Move forward. So whatever that means putting those different things in
place. So for me, you know, I had a background in television. I had always wanted to go back. You know, I always wanted to do a travel show. So here we were. This was just the perfect opportunity to go ahead and bring that to life. And I can't take away from the fact that what made it easy for me is Jodi, you know, it's people like you. It's people like in our industry, the travel industry, we're like a big family, right. And we really do look out for each
other. So it made it easy. When I was, you know, when I said, when I announced that I'm doing the travel show, I was able to call on my friends at Disney. I was able to call on my friends at the various cruise lines at the different destination companies, or they had already seen press releases and different things, they started calling me. Right. So that made it a little bit easier in the sense that I wasn't just starting from fresh. It wasn't like people in my industry didn't know who I was.
Right. But I will tell, especially any young person, when they're thinking about getting out here and starting their own business, you have to at least have some form of a foundation first. I already worked for the billion Dollar brands, managing multi million dollar budgets. So I knew that if I could do this for these companies, why couldn't I do it for myself, right? And to be honest, the other reality was, as you said, we know millions of people during that period were laid off
from jobs. I knew coming back into the cruise industry, it was going to be competitive and I wanted to do something that was going to make me stand out. Because if I decided to go back into my corporate job, people better know that during COVID I was busy, I was making things happen. My name had already hit their desks. They were aware of what I was up to. So it was also a part of branding. Who is Donella?
Outside of just being with X company that I was with before, it was also brand building the brand of Donella and traveling with Donella and saying that this is who I am, right? This is who I am. And being able to take that background in television and media and merge it with travel, which were my two loves. And it just really, it all, it all came together. But if I had to say why I was able to do it, what made the pivot easier? It was my travel. Family. It was my family. That's what made
it. It was the relationships. That's what made it possible. That's what made it easier. Because you've heard the saying, you know, if you want to go far, you know, or what is it? If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. So it was, I knew, reach back out to those people who were friends, colleagues, co workers, you know, whatever the case, and they supported me. And that's how we were able to get to where we are today because
I was not alone. My industry looked out for me. Oh, it is so great to hear that. There's two big things that you talked about. I want to come back to the idea of reaching out. I will admit I'm a Midwestern middle child. And so sometimes people like me just think if I do hard work, people will notice. And sometimes that's true. That's not often true, though. You have to reach out and tell people what you're up to. You have to reach out and say, look at me, look what I'm doing. Midwestern middle
children are not good at that. And so I take inspiration from hearing your story to say, gosh, I need to reach out to more people and say, look at this, look what I've done. The other thing I want to touch on, you talked about how the cruise industry is competitive and you wanted to make sure when you came back in, people saw what you were doing. It reminds me of something. Lee Cockrell says he worked for three iconic
brands, Hilton, Marriott and Disney. But he will tell you, he's told me, I assume he would openly talk about it. I never worked for Hilton, Marriott or Disney. I worked for Lee Cockrell. I just happened to be at those places. And I think that is what a great way to look at it. Because it didn't matter to Lee where he worked. He was going to work just as hard. And he was working for Lee, not Marriott,
not Disney. And I think that makes such a difference because if you are working for Donnella, as you were, it wouldn't have mattered what cruise line you went back to if it had played out that way. It turned out you were so good, that never happened. But if you're working for Donnella, it doesn't matter where you end up. You're going to work the same, you're going to work just as hard. And you start to think about the idea of, I may have a corporate job, but Donnella Richard is a personal brand.
Jody Mayberry is a personal brand. I just happen to get a paycheck from. Fill in the blank. Whichever cruise line or maybe Marriott or Disney. And I think that is a great way to approach a career. You don't have to work for yourself to have that mindset. You just having a regular job, regular paycheck, that's how you should approach it. Exactly. And I love like what you said, what Lee said, and I'll tell you
why it's important. Because if you're out here and you are working a corporate job and you go through a layoff, if your identity is in that company, when you're no longer there, you no longer know who you are. So it's important that you build your own brand. I'm not saying go out there and look at me, you know, no, but you have to be very intentional on who you are, what your work ethic is, you know, what you're trying to build, what the end game is, where are you trying to get and where are
you trying to go, Right? And you have to be very intentional and building that for yourself, as selfish as that sounds. But the reality is, if everything about you is built in that job and it's gone one day you're going to be lost. You're going to be lost. So someone like a Lee Cockrell or me, when you no longer have those brands around, you just keep on going because you know, you know, you, you Know how to run, how to make companies successful because you've been a part of amazing,
successful brands. So now when you have the opportunity to do it for yourself, why wouldn't you? The only difference is that me being a Leo the lion now, you know, every day I actually get up and I hunt for my own food. You know, you go on the kill, if you will. Right. And that's the difference in being an entrepreneur. And I was blessed. A large part of my career was in sales or sales and marketing.
But the sales piece is so important because if you're going to go into business for yourself, you better have some sales skills behind you because you can't depend on somebody else to sell your business for you. And you can go hire a whole sales team and they will produce, but at the end of the day, to get the output that you really want, you're going to have to be really involved in your own sales.
You're going to have to be involved in that outreach. You're going to have to be involved in closing those deals, closing those contracts. So sales becomes a very important part of any business. And then when you're done with the sales, it's the marketing, it's keeping your product
out there that becomes an important part. And I'm sure while I can talk about marketing in a number of ways, I'm sure there are many young people out there that can even still teach me a little thing or two and are more about social media marketing and this new age that we live in. But there are certain skill sets that are vital if you're, you know, when, especially when you get out
here to start your own business. But I would tell anyone, start with that first sales master that if you master that, you can be successful. Yeah, right. When, when you master sales, it can cover up the other things you're not good at yet. Because. Because you could, for example, maybe you're great at spreadsheets and bookkeeping, but if there's no sales coming in, it doesn't matter. You could be great at marketing and creating reels for social media, but if there's no sales, doesn't matter.
Exactly, exactly. And you know, so many times we hear the word sales, people run from it, they feel like they're going to be sold older. You know, some people think of like the old used car salesman. You know, whatever the case, it's the most vital part of any business. That's where the revenue is coming from. Right. And there's a reason that when you look at any organization, the sales team Outside of the executive team, the sales team usually makes the most money
because they're incentivized. They're bonus to bring in the revenue. That revenue is important to keep any business functioning. Yeah. Including your own business. Yes. That is great. Okay, so let's turn to the wonderful show Traveling With Donella. One of the things I am curious about when I watch them, they're great, polished episodes. You look great. They're a lot of fun. I'm wondering
how the story of an episode comes together. So hypothetically, let's say Bimini reaches out and says, donella, we need more visitors to Bimini, which is my favorite island in the Caribbean that I've been to. They say, we need more visitors in Bimini. Come do an episode of Traveling with Donella. So that's what you start with? Yes. What research do you do before? What do you do when you get there? How do you start to put that episode together in your mind?
So, first and foremost, most people look at my life and they think, I just wake up and say, oh, I'm going to Bimini today. And I, you know, run around Bimini and I do all these things, and my film crew records it. No, that's not how it works. So the first step for me is working with the destination, you know, whether it's the tourism board or resort. But there's somebody on the island. Right. That I'm working with, and they're the ones that are helping to craft
the story that they want to tell. And as you said, Bimini is a beautiful island in the Bahamas. You know, one thing right now with the Bahamas, they want people to know about the family of islands, because so many people think Nassau, you know, when they think of the Bahamas. But you have Bimini, you have Exuma, you have Eleuthera, you have all these beautiful islands. So it's first and foremost working with the destination to identify what's the story
they want to tell. Right. Identifying who are the interesting people that can help tell that story. And then what do you want people to experience on your island beyond where they're going to stay? What are the things that you want to do? And so that's how we do it. We work very much in partnership to make sure we're bringing to life the story that the destination or that the cruise line wants to tell to our
television audience. Interesting. So once you understand the story, I imagine you have a pretty good grasp on that before you arrive in Bimini, now that you're on the island and you know what the Story is going to be what happens next. You probably book your activities based on that, I imagine. And how often do things come up where you say, now this just has to be part of the episode. I didn't see it
coming. But we have to include this, right? So as part of crafting that story, we also work, I work with them to craft that itinerary. So everything is already an itinerary, you know, it's already pre planned. So we just start to follow that itinerary, if you will. But absolutely. Things come up where I'm like, oh my God, you know, look at, you know, we gotta include this in the segment. Oh my God, look at the dolphins or,
or this, whatever it is. There absolutely are those natural moments that just were not on the itinerary that come up that we capture as well. And then another important part for us is making sure we support the locals and the small businesses, making sure we highlight them. Because so many times when it comes to destinations, people support the big names on the destination or the things that everybody knows, you know, like if you're in, in the Bahamas, going to the Atlantis or
whatever. But you know, it's making sure we highlight the locals, the people, so you get to know them, you get to understand the culture, you get to hear their personal stories as you know, and then also supporting the small businesses. So whether it's the local straw maker, right. Or it's guy on the beach that's doing the conch at a restaurant, you want to support the small businesses. Because when we visit destinations like the Bahamas, tourism is their
number one industry. And we have to remember that tourism has to feed down. We can't just support again the big boxes, support the little guy along the way. That reminds me of one of the reasons I love Bimini so much. You have, you've been there, right? Danella, you know what? Yes. We were recently in Bimini with Virgin Voyages. Yes. So Bimini is wonderful. I like to go there and give people my own guided golf cart tours because I've come to know the island so well. But why I love the island so
much is Ms. Antoinette. She owns a gift shop in town and I met her on my first trip there and I go see her every time she invites me to her house. We just sit and talk and drink tea. Ms. Antoinette is absolutely wonderful. And I think without Ms. Antoinette, I may have just said Bimini is beautiful. But it's that connection with the people and knowing someone and hearing the stories and that has made me fall in love with Bimini. That's it. It's the people.
It's the people that make the destination. And if you go anywhere in the world and you don't get a chance to connect with the people, it's just such a missed opportunity. Right. Because it's one thing if you go. You go to a resort, you stay on the beach, you know, you're. You're at the hotel, and you're, you know, on the beach all day and drinking sipping pina coladas, but you don't really get to know the locals. You don't really get to know the people. You really don't get to know what's
the backstory to this island. You know, what's the backstory. And you're only going to get that with connecting with the locals. Like Ms. Antoinette. Yes. Yes. Ms. Antoinette is wonderful. Okay, there's one more piece I want to make sure that we touch on, and that is Donella has also now ventured into books. She has her first couple of books out, which is. I was very excited to see. Tell us
a little bit about those. They're. One of them, at least, is perhaps much different than you would have expected from Danila. Yes, yes. So, Jody, where. I'm just super excited about our books that were recently released and are available on Amazon. But I'll start with the first one. The first one, we created a children's coloring book, and it is called Traveling around the World with
Donella. And in the children's coloring book, you will find, you know, it's not only teaching kids about geography, iconic landmarks around the world, as well as greetings, and in a fun and interactive way. You know, that was our goal because we wanted to. We want kids to start dreaming about travel early. Think about it, Jody. You're probably like me. The reason we became addicted to this industry is probably you. I'm sure you traveled as a kid. You know, my mom took us to Disney World. My
mom took us to Vegas. We went to San Francisco every year. We went to Florida every year. So when kids are exposed to travel at a young age, it just becomes a natural part of their story and of their life. And so that's what I wanted to start inspiring kids young about traveling and start to, you know, get them dreaming about travel and wanting to experience these destinations, but also because it breaks down barriers, right? It breaks down cultural barriers.
So as they start to learn about whether it's Japan or whether it's Kenya, they start to understand that while people may live in different places, we're all the same, right? We're all a part of, you know, of God's humanity, of beautiful people. So that was one of the reasons that, you know, one of the inspirations for starting the coloring book, traveling with Danella around the world. But the other one, as you mentioned, which is so, so special to me,
is Traveling Grace. And Traveling Grace is the travel and prayer journal. And I have always been a journaler. In 1995, I was a study abroad student in Harare, Zimbabwe. And during that time of living in Zimbabwe, I used to journal every day. And I spent a lot of time also in neighboring South Africa, where a new president was
Mr. Nelson Mandela. But no matter where I was, whether I was in Zimbabwe, whether I was in South Africa, I would write, you know, I would describe the colors of the rainbow or the monkeys that were running around around me if I was on safari or, you know, wherever I was. And it just became this vivid piece of work that when I got back to college at the end of that year and I was in my dorm room, you know, some of my suite mates wanted to
see my journal. They wanted to read about this journey. And before I knew it, my personal journal had made its way around my whole dorm, right? And people just loved it. But not only for them, for me to flip back through the years and go, oh, my God, this is what I was doing. This is how I was feeling. It really became a cherished, even legacy piece of my life, right? So it meant a lot to me to create Traveling Grace to give people a very special piece that
first and foremost, it is a faith based piece. All right? So it captures. Allows you to capture five trips. And each trip we start you off with a prayer, because wherever you're going, we want you to get there safely. And that's what Traveling Grace is all about, right? Giving you those prayers for safe travel. So the first, you know, that's the first thing you're going to come across, and then the second thing is starting is the thought starter. So, Jody, what do you
want to do while you're in Paris? Where do you want to go? What do you want to eat? You know, it starts to capture all of those thoughts in those moments. And then it goes into the free flowing pages where you can just start to capture your moments, your story, those important people who you never want to forget along the way. But that travel journal will
capture, like I said, up to five trips in their travel journal. And when you get through those five, then you get you another copy of Traveling Grits. But yes, that is, it is so Special. It is so special. And everyone that has gotten a copy of Traveling Grace, they open it and they go, my God, this is beautiful. It truly is beautiful. It truly is special. And it's something I'm really proud of and I look forward to hearing from people as they start
to capture their stories. I look forward to them sharing. And that's the next part of the evolution of Traveling Grace is establishing a community so that we can share. And then we also will be releasing an app soon where you can then maybe even upload, scan the pages and then it's put into a flip book that we
can all share. And like my, like my roommates back in college who pass my travel journal around, now we can start to pass it around online and let people read our story, let them read about our trips. And one day, one day when we're no longer here, whether it's your kids or your grandkids, they can read about all those amazing special moments that you had in different
places around the world. That's what I was thinking about this, that what a wonderful heirloom and legacy piece to pass on that imagine someday you find your grandmother's or your grandfather's travel journal where they included everything about that, where you get to see the planning all the way through. I mean, this, it is, it is wonderful. And from a business standpoint, Daniela, it's great that it fits five trips and you like it so much you'll want to buy more. So I think it's great because
you serve people really well and it's open ended. We have to keep buying more. Yes, absolutely. That's it. All right, DONNELL Where I know people are just going to be fascinated with you, as I have been since I first met you, and, and we're going to want to find out more, watch the show, see what you're up to. Where can we do that? So first and foremost, so where can you watch the show? So we're on television weekly in 40 different cities. So Seattle,
Atlanta, Miami. So if you go to, you can either go follow me on Instagram and go to my link tree and it'll give you the list of all the cities where we are so that you can watch it in your city or ask your remote control traveling with Donella and it'll usually tell you and take you to where to watch it. And then of course, we're also on Apple TV as well as on Tubi, so you can find a streaming as well. And you know what, we are even on some flights like
Turkish Airways and a Few others. So if you're flying overseas, then just look in the program guide and look up traveling with Donella and. And let me tell you, if you have family that are in the military, they're away from home. The military has a network called the American Forces Network. We are on AFN every week, also on their Prime Spectrum channel. So those are all the places where you can watch traveling with Donella and to just catch up, keep,
you know, catch up with what we're doing. Definitely follow me on Instagram and definitely with the streaming binge watch, binge watch, catch up. See, I mean, we've been to Tahiti, we've been to the Seychelles. We have been all over Europe, the Caribbean. We've been to so many places in the world. And the show is all about inspiring you to get out, travel, see the world, go beyond the resort and just the beach, right? Or just the city center.
Get out, experience the people, experience the culture, and also push yourself a little bit to your limits. Because I have done everything from being like, in Alaska and taking a helicopter and landing on a glacier. I never thought I would have done that. As I mentioned at the beginning of the show, I'm afraid of heights and I have swaying at the edge of the world. I never would have done that. Right. I have swam with sharks in the Bahamas. I'm not recommending that one, but I've done it. I
push myself to the limits. And even in Antigua, you know, out there at Stingray City, and. And don't be confused, because Stingray City is in the middle of the ocean. It's not like it's a little, nice little park, right? We're in the middle of the ocean where this beautiful stingray named Samantha came up to me, and she just let me hold her and let me swim with her, and I just swam backwards with her on top of me. So it's like all of those amazing
moments. Traveling pushes you to your limits, it breaks barriers, it helps you get rid of stereotypes, and at the end of the day, it just connects us all in realizing that we are all, you know, one people, human beings. We might have different likes or different dislikes, but it's the uniqueness of each and every one of us that makes us special. And Jodi, I have to add, you know, you asked me how is it possible to be brave enough to step forward and produce, you know, my own television
show and get it in national syndication? And I tell you, it's about the people. It's about the people. And the one thing in this travel industry. We are a worldly people, we're a global people. Right. And we truly look out for each other. I'm not going to say some people don't have their differences. In any group of people, you're going to have that. But what I have found in this global travel industry is that we are there for each other. We are truly there for each
other. And it's through this industry that I have been able to amass a portfolio of friends of people from different backgrounds that speak different languages from different geography. You know, it's just from different religions. It's amazing and it's just beautiful. And I think that's what travel will do for you. It breaks down the stereotypes, it breaks down the barriers, and it just makes you want to connect and embrace people who may not always look like us
and find out what's so special. And in finding that specialness, you're probably going to find out you really like it too. Donnella has made me want to end this episode and go pack my bag now and get back out there. Danella, this has been wonderful. Getting the chance to, to talk to you and hear your story and how just the way you remade yourself after 2020 is just phenomenal. It is. And I'm actually kind of glad it happened to you because without it, we wouldn't
have. Wouldn't have traveling with Donella. So it worked out well for all of us. I agree. You know, it's. You never know where God is going to take you. But embrace the moments. Even when in times of change, when it may seem hard, just be open minded and embrace it and pivot, rebuild, move forward. All right, that is a great note to end on. Thank you so much, Danello, for being here and thank you for listening to the Jody Mayberry Show. Jay, I don't think anyone's listening.