In January 2024, Postcard Travel Club had confidence in the value it was creating for both the partner community, which had grown to 71 properties across 23 countries, as well as the community of +2,500 conscious travelers that we had built. The foundation had been established in terms of getting the “right people in the room” who were values-aligned, and now it was time to shift towards strengthening the organization’s ability to deliver on the next phase of the concept, which included continued growth of the community, enhanced user experience, increased engagement with the platform, all to build towards launching a number of revenue streams. Based upon this, I stepped in with my background in Organizational Development and working with other start-ups who were preparing to scale, to help activate the organizational capacity of the Postcard Travel Club team.

In January 2023, I initiated a pilot Mastermind Group Coaching Cohort as a complementary offering to the 1:1 coaching sessions I conducted throughout the fall of 2022. Recognizing a shift away from the traditional "guru model" of teaching, I observed a growing desire for more intimate and curated communities that fostered positive, reciprocal relationships. This led me to explore a structure that could resonate with a group of values-aligned individuals with whom I had previously engaged in coaching.

In Spring of 2023, I took a course with the Transformational Travel Council (TTC) focused on “Experience Design” as I started to imagine whether I would want to design my own retreats, sabbaticals, or immersive voluntourism experiences as part of my coaching offerings.

Through my involvement with the TTC and the course, I met a number of inspiring leaders who had visions to make travel a force for good. In listening to their challenges, I realized my passion was most alive around playing a role in raising consumer awareness about the offerings this community was creating, which facilitated positive impact for both the traveler and the destinations they visited.

In the fall of 2021, while traveling through Nebraska after relocating from Seattle during the pandemic, I had a fortuitous meeting with Blayne Sharpe, who was managing a portfolio of projects for University of Nebraska-Lincoln as the Director of Partnerships and Exchange - Africa. He recognized the synergy between my background in leadership development, career development, entrepreneurship training, and diversity & inclusion and it’s alignment with an existing partnership they had with the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture (RICA).