Jodie Hewson disrupting and reinventing the tourism industry

Feeling under-appreciated as an employee, a nonexistent work-life balance, financial struggles, getting out of bad relationships – these are the most common triggers that push women to become entrepreneurs. Tell us about your trigger?

The first trigger that made me question my place and my purpose was when I did my 16 personalities test for a company exercise. I was an ENFJ, and they listed other people who fit that category. Obama, Oprah, Khaleesi from Game of Thrones were just a few of the names that came up. Seeing all these strong, powerful figures pop up made me stop and think “who could I be if I stopped bringing everyone else’s dreams to life and focused on my own?” 

A month later, a series of circumstances on a vacation with my husband made me realize I was spending over 60 hours a week on miserable work, only to contribute to the problems of the world that kept me up at night. At the same time, I realized I had the power to create a better solution for the world. It all hit me hard, and in a second I knew I was just not doing what I was supposed to be doing.

How did you come up with your business idea?

On that same trip I also realized I was not where I was supposed to be, I realized exactly what I wanted to do instead. 

My husband and I were burnt out and miserable in our jobs, so we went traveling. We spent three weeks exploring gorgeous islands in the Philippines, but with every island we went to, I was just getting more and more upset about the damage of tourism on local ecosystems and people. 

I realized we were literally paying hotels to sweep garbage into the ocean, pollute local streams, and pay people unfairly. 

I knew that there had to be a way to make eco-friendly accommodations more affordable and a better option than traditional accommodations – I’d just have to figure out how. 

Within a few months, I’d quit my job and set out to figure out how we could make eco-travel easily scalable to a global level, yet local to each location, while still being affordable for the average traveler.

Have you had support from someone, even if just encouragement? Who was that and how did it help you?

I’m lucky to have the endless support of my husband and a few choice people in my inner circle. I think it’s important to have different types of people in your life, who offer varied perspectives and ways of support. My husband and close friends are my confidants and cheerleaders. I know I can share fears, risks and issues with them and have their endless support and encouragement – they’ll usually tell me to take a break and be less hard on myself, which is most often the advice I need most. 

I also have a couple of friends who will most often give advice about getting back to our vision/why and purpose and help me realize what my gut is telling me. These friendships are so valuable when I’m feeling off-course. 

Lastly I have two other hyper-rationale pragmatic friends, who will always give me straight up reality checks, ask me questions I know I’m avoiding, and tell me exactly what they think without holding back. These voices are so important for staying rooted in reality.

Female entrepreneurs are often underestimated and overlooked. Have you ever felt at a disadvantage?

On one hand, I feel like the women’s business community in Vancouver, Canada, is extremely strong. I feel incredibly grateful for being a woman and getting to connect with so many other amazing woman entrepreneurs. We do work with women more often than men, and so I do think this shifts dynamics and makes things a lot easier. 

On the other hand, I recently set up an Upwork account under my husband’s name to hire some contractors when I couldn’t figure out my password. I was blown away by the freedom and simplicity I felt of just being a man, and not being labeled a b***ch for avoiding excessive exclamation marks and extra compliments. 

It made me think about everything else I unconsciously do, as a woman, that’s been ingrained in me from day one.

Some say it’s hard work, others say it’s talent and resourcefulness that play a crucial role for success in entrepreneurship? Which traits have been instrumental for your success so far? And why?

In a world of burnout and overworking, I want to stop portraying the idea that hard work is all it takes to make a business work. This mentality tricks people into thinking that if they just put in more hours, everything will be okay. 

This is limiting for a lot of people and creates a vicious cycle for entrepreneurs of continuing to work instead of addressing issues in their business. Doing more, less well, is rarely the answer that will solve your company’s problems.

I would say instead a trait entrepreneurs need is conscious vigilance. Be vigilant at knowing your customers, at creating the best, most amazing products for their problems, at guarding your time, at supporting your own wellness so you have the capacity to be creative and innovative. Be vigilant at studying your market, other markets, and other successful businesses and what they’re doing and not doing well. Be vigilant about your own learning and development. 

If there are problems in your business that are affecting sales, operations, or your profitability, be vigilant about finding the true root cause and solving it, instead of forcing everyone to work harder, faster, and do more. 

Being successful doesn’t just happen. But hard work isn’t the all-access pass to success – and it’s not healthy. You need to be consciously vigilant about finding your own path to success that will work for you.

What excites you the most about being an entrepreneur?

For me, it’s the potential to create an alternate future for myself, for the travel industry, and for the planet. 

When you’re an entrepreneur you’re creating your own path, you’re defining where it’s leading and with every step you take it gets a little bit clearer. It’s very different from a corporate job where a path is more defined, but also not yours to define.  

I’ve always looked at what’s possible versus what isn’t, and entrepreneurship is made for that type of thinking.

Share with us some of the worst business advice you’ve ever received?

At multiple points in my career, I’ve had men tell me that I shouldn’t do what I wanted to do, because they didn’t think I was ready yet, but I could be soon.

Not surprisingly, both would have benefited from me staying where I was.

That said, I’m grateful for both instances, because it was helpful for me to realize that every piece of advice someone gives you, is always filtered through their own experiences, hopes and fears.

Once I had this realization, I could get to know the people in my network and understand how they think, and ask for advice based on their perspectives – but not see anything as truth.

I know some of my contacts are very low-risk thinkers, so if I ask them what they think, they’ll give me a very low-risk perspective that I wouldn’t see because I don’t think that way. Others are very visionary, big picture, or ultra-creative – so they’ll give me big ideas and possibilities that I might be too afraid to think of.

Sometimes I think to myself “all advice is bad advice until someone tells you what you know you needed to hear,” and while that seems a little bit flighty, in my mind, it’s more just reflective that I often do know what I want to do, and people’s advice just mirrors that back to me.

You’ve got a high stake investment opportunity. Pitch your business in 150 words.

We’re making eco-travel scalable, affordable and appealing to millennial travelers, so we can replace the destructive way we travel with a way that regenerates the planet.

What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to inspire aspiring entrepreneurs?

Don’t rush. Don’t go too slow.
Don’t underestimate the importance of your gut.
Don’t underestimate the importance of data.
The most important thing you can do is find product market fit and create a loveable product.

What are your goals for the upcoming year?

Our company goals are to launch our first location(s) (details to come!), raise our Seed round, plant 2000 trees, divert 27,000 pieces of plastic from our waste streams, get carbon neutral certified, and donate one percent of our revenues to the planet. Just a few things on our list!

My personal goals are to bring more simplicity and ease into my life. My goal is to transition to working four days a week to leave me more time to learn, create, design, and explore, and hopefully embark on some exciting new adventures in our new sea kayaks.

Any final words to end this interview? 

We’re super excited to have officially opened our waitlist for our first Stay Wilder location on December 1st. Future guests will receive a discount on their first stay and will stay up to date on all our exciting progress as we get closer to opening our doors.