Hello, and welcome to another episode of the traveling introvert career conversations. I am very excited to talk to this guest. They have done amazing things and I'm very excited. So go. I would like to introduce you to and please say hello. Hi everybody. Hi, Janice. All right, so oh, see, I've lost my train of thought. I'm that excited. First question as always, is do you consider yourself to be an introvert? I
go both ways. I actually grew up as an introvert for most of my life and at this point in stage where I'm in my forty s, I feel like I can do both. So that makes me ask, what does introversion mean to you? So to me it means where I draw my energy from being around people or being on my own. Think about like when you go to a meeting, a networking session and do you come back feeling like oh, I'm so beat now, I do not have energy to talk to people?
Or do you get very excited and you just come back with full of ideas and you just want to talk more and more? And I feel like depending on the crowd, I can go both ways. I'm very comfortable being on my own, but I also draw energy being around people. And you mentioned that you think that you started off earlier in your life being an introvert and moved into being more of an ambivert. Now, what made you think that things have changed? Or has anything happened in your
life that makes you think that you've changed? Absolutely. So when I was growing up in India, I was a very quiet kid. I was one of those people who my friends thought there was something wrong with you because I hardly ever spoke. And at home, yes, with my family I was pretty talkative, but the moment I went outside I was just a good listener. But I never felt
like I always needed to be heard. But when I came to the United States and I went to college, I started feeling that if you are not heard, if you don't speak up, then you are construed a certain way that you're not smart enough or you don't have enough to contribute. But even the I think the turning point in my life was travel. I am a travel writer, but starting off in college, I was just going to
school for business. One of the organizations that was for students was doing travel for as part of their student body to go on conferences. And my friend came to me and said, if you want free travel, you should join this leadership honor society. And I said, Well, I do want free travel, so what do I need to get there? And she said, well, your GPA is high enough so you'll qualify, but if you join the board as a student body leader, you're assured that you will get to travel for free.
So I went next day and I signed up for the presidential election to be the president of the student body organization. And I did not know that that if I did get elected, which I did, my first job would be to speak in front of 500 people. And I think that was the turning point of my life when I was put in a
position where I had to speak in front of people. And that's not going to say that I had to become an extrovert at that point, but I really had to break out of my shell and get comfortable being in front of people and being around them and speaking to them, addressing board meetings and conferences. Okay. And so you said that it didn't mean that you became an extrovert. You just had to address people. Do you feel that that is harder for introverts
to address a crowd of 500 people? I do feel that introvert have a little bit of an easier handle on that just because they're more comfortable speaking in front of people, addressing bigger crowds. But as I said, being an introvert and not being comfortable talking in front of people and not feeling like I needed to, constantly being heard, that was a bold move for me. You said that you became president and you got free travel
is the assumption after that. Yeah. So I got to go on our regional and national conferences as the president, and I also picked who all went with me. And when I went to these conferences, I had to meet people from all parts of the world who had also come as student leaders. And that was where I really felt like my introvert was coming out, because we would interact in workshops, we would have dinners together, we would share ideas, we would even janice and learn
about each other's culture. And it was a turning point in my life because I always felt like I want to learn about other people through travel, but at that moment, I had the opportunity to do it. And so with that travel and all the people you met, was there anyone specific that sort of maybe changed your life or changed the trajectory of your life? There were several people along the way, starting with my advisor in grad school who really pushed me to take on those leadership roles.
But even from there, going into my first job where I was working in consulting, and they sent me for leadership training, for public speaking training, and then all the clients I made, I worked with through those different positions I've held. I feel like those are the people who impacted me the most because they have seen me grow in different career paths but being the same
person and having a different outlook of life. And they've seen me drawing my energy from being an introvert to now being a super introvert at times where I'm the one who's connecting people and speaking in front of crowds and having these very unique experiences. And so you mentioned attending all these conferences as a leader. Did you have any tips or things that you did to help deal with going to conferences all the time?
Some of the tips at that point, it was very different than now because I was a student at that time, but I still go to a lot of conferences now as a speaker and as a leader. So I would say I would speak more on where I'm in my life right now. Some of the tips for attending and networking
with conferences. I always try to get stage time, whether it is doing a workshop, a panel or just speaking up in some of the other sessions where I introduce myself and if I have a question or comment to add, I would make sure that people know my name, who I work for, what do I do, and then ask my question. And I feel that makes it easier for people to come and speak to me afterwards and it opens up new
conversations as well. And you mentioned that you go into leadership positions and you'll be sent on leadership training. I know. Public speaking you mentioned was one thing that was covered with leadership training. Was there anything else that you felt that was covered in leadership training that was useful? Yes, a lot of it was useful. And the public speaking actually was a completely different training program that I went for aside from the leadership
training. And a lot of it was around how to present yourself to your clients, how to network, and never take a no for an answer. When you reach out to people and people don't know who you're not familiar with and maybe you're just sending them a message on LinkedIn and how you can add value to their lives, rather than just say, oh,
I want to connect. We are in the same group or we are in the same city or the same company, rather than just opening with that, maybe saying, here, I can help you be more successful in your role or your career path and what is it that you're offering to them rather than just making that friendly connection? Okay, so as follow on from that, is this something that you do regularly that has improved your career? Absolutely.
This is something I do on a daily basis for all aspects of my job, from speaking, traveling, to writing, everything that I do. What is it? It is connecting with people and offering value to them. Okay, and is there anything else that you would recommend that people do sort of weekly or monthly as a ritual to improve their career or business?
I think the importance of networking is often misconstrued because networking is not just always going into a room full of people and having a drink, but it is also keeping in touch on a regular basis, whether you pick up the phone and call them or send them an email. But I feel like that constant communication with people I've come to know over my lifetime, whether they are in the same
industry or not. But that value of holding on to that network and telling them what you're doing at this point in your career and how they can help you or how you can help them or just having a friendly chat and know, well, I just had a wonderful trip to New Mexico, and if you are ever thinking about going, you going there. Let me give you some advice on how you can have a more meaningful experience
when you travel there. And so that leads me to a question for you with your travel, what constitutes a meaningful experience? Great question. So I've traveled to over 100 countries and I feel like a lot of people tend to repeat the same experience over and over again when they go to a destination. They are staying in a hotel, eating at a restaurant they may have read about in a tour, in a magazine and then they bring the same photographs as all of their friends
do of the destination. To me that becomes repetitive and does not add any value to you as a traveler. A meaningful travel on the other hand, would be something that enriches your life as well as the life of
the others at the destination you visit. And that could be having a learning lesson that you may have not known about that culture or the place or the food that you come back and have a personal connection with someone you met there or something you learned about their customs, their religions and then the choices you make as a destination.
So I'm a big proponent of sustainable travel and I feel that every opportunity you have as a traveler you are able to make those decisions on which hotel that you will stay with, which restaurant you would dine with, who you're going to take a tour with and making sure that those dollars that you spend are invested in the local community. And so how would you go about doing that research?
Well, that's a great question because a lot of the online platforms, if you book on a tour or a packaged tour, does not really allow you to do that. So I connect with local tour operators who are often women led and women owned small businesses in those countries and they have a deeper connection to the community. I tell them that this is what I'm interested in, whether it's art or food or nature and have them make a tailor made itinerary for me. And while I'm there, I have these people guide me
through my tours. So it's not just about send me off to check out all these attractions, but have someone with me to talk to me about your culture and those are the people that I connect with and ask them questions, and I ask them to connect me further. To what restaurants do you go to with your family on the weekend? Or if you're going on a vacation to a different part of your country, where would you go? And just asking those questions to people and making those personal connections,
I think that is the best way to do it. And so can you let us know where you currently are, sort of in your career, your current job and industry, and the can you let me know about some misconceptions people have about your job and industry? Yes. So I'm a full time food and travel writer, and I work as a freelancer for a few publications, including Time Magazine, CNN, Travel and Leisure Photos. And I have two columns I write I also write a series of children's books
about travel, and I speak about travel. So the most common misconception I get from people who look at my social media posts is that I am eating and drinking all the time and just on vacation, taking these glamorous shots, and I don't work. So eating and drinking is a big part of my job, where I have to taste sometimes hundreds of dishes a week, and I have to talk to the chefs, learn about the food, the ingredients, where they're sourced from. So there's a lot of backstory that happens behind
each dish that I taste. And people are just looking at, oh, having a great time, you're out for dinner again, or you're off to another destination. But it is work. It is a fun work, and I would not do anything else. But there are very long hours, and my whole itinerary each day is defined by the destinations or my sponsors. And every waking hour I have is filled with activities, meetings, interviews, photograph
sessions, social media posts. And so I really never have time to sit by the pool and have a drink, which most people would imagine to at least do once during their vacation. So I think that's a very different viewpoint of what the life of a travel writer could be and funny. Janice I have invited some of my friends to come with me occasionally on my trips, and I said, well, you can observe me in action. And after the first day, they say, I quit. I cannot eat another ten course meal. I am jet
lagged. I just want to go to my room and go to sleep, and I don't want to be a part of this anymore. Can't keep up with the pace. Exactly. And so you mentioned that on your Instagram and your social media. That's what
it looks like. Do you ever do something that goes behind the scenes, gives more in depth information on what an average I don't know if there is an average day that's probably misconception a day might look like to give people more depth about what your industry does and what you do as a creator? Yes. I've actually done several YouTube videos on my own channel where I talked about how people could get into this business and what to expect if they wanted to become a
food and travel writer. I've talked about what the typical day life is and what are some of the pitfalls. Why is it not for everybody? Because you definitely need to have a lot of stamina and be persistent with your work. It is not just about traveling and eating, but you have to sell those stories. You got to write them on paper and then you got to pitch yourself. Why are you the right person to be
telling these stories? And then you have to make the connections with editors and constantly be updating your portfolio with what you're doing. So it is not just a one day when you go to work eight to five and then you're done. Your work basically goes 24 hours a day. And so now you are where you are. Can you tell me the last three jobs you did before you got to where you are today? I've been a food and travel writer
full time for about twelve years. Before that I used to work in Human Capital Consulting for Gallup Organization, and before that I was in investment banking for a Dutch company. So completely different jobs, different paths. But I feel like every job I've had has prepared me to be where I am today. Adding some skills in different ways, like I told you, with leadership, with speaking, with networking, but helping me build to who I am as a travel writer.
Awesome. Thank you for letting us know about that path. And final question for you that I ask everybody, is a hot dog a sandwich? I'm sorry, what's your question? Is a hot dog a sandwich? That's a funny question. I guess it is because a piece of meat between two pieces of bread is what they define sandwich as when it first came out. So it probably is, but it's not something actually it's not my favorite food. And I'm sure you get asked this all the time. So what is your favorite food
as you brought it up? I gravitate more towards Asian because that is my heritage. So anything spicy, like Indian, Thai, Malaysian is what my favorite is. Not that I can eat it every day, but if you want to treat me to a great meal, that's what I would expect people to make for me. Okay, you've been told people, if you want to invite around for dinner, that's what the menu should look like. Thank you so much. Can you tell the wonderful listeners where they can find
you? Yeah. So I am on all social media platforms as my full name, which is sucheta ravel, and I also have a blog which is called Go Eat Give. And my series of books are called Beato goes to awesome. Thank you so much for joining us today. It was a real pleasure. Thank you very much. This is Janice@thecareintrovert.com helping you build your brand and get hired. Have a great rest of your week.