Guest Bio
Sarah O. Vidal is the founder of Cultured Creative, a brand strategy and design studio that guides responsible tourism brands to attract the right guests. She’s seen many purpose-driven travel businesses struggle with visibility. The issue isn’t a lack of heart, but a lack of the right tools and guidance. Drawing on her Nigerian-American roots, passion for cultural travel, and 12 years of branding and marketing experience, Sarah shares strategies to help travel brands tell their stories and grow in ways that honor purpose, people, and profit.
Show Summary
In this episode of the Big World Made Small Adventure Travel Podcast, host Jason Elkins speaks with Sarah O. Vidal, founder of Cultured Creative, a branding studio focused on responsible tourism. Sarah shares her journey from Nigeria to the U.S., her experiences with cultural communication, and the importance of storytelling in branding. They discuss the challenges of fitting in, the significance of clarity in communication, and how active listening can enhance connections.
Sarah also talks about her seasonal digital nomad lifestyle and the purpose behind her work in supporting travel brands that prioritize community and cultural experiences.
Key Takeaways
- ✓ Cultured Creative focuses on branding for responsible tourism brands.
- ✓ Visibility is crucial for travel businesses to thrive.
- ✓ Storytelling is essential for connecting with audiences.
- ✓ Active listening enhances communication and relationships.
- ✓ Clarity in communication is more important than accent.
- ✓ Travel experiences shape understanding of clients’ needs.
- ✓ Managing expectations can lead to better travel experiences.
- ✓ Cultural travel supports local businesses and communities.
- ✓ Networking events can foster collaboration in the travel industry.
- ✓ Communication skills can be developed through practice and experience.
What You’ll Find on Cultured Creative
- ✓ Brand strategy and design for responsible tourism businesses
- ✓ Storytelling that connects with mindful travelers
- ✓ Communication expertise shaped by years of cultural travel
- ✓ Values-driven branding that balances profit and purpose
Learn more about Cultured Creative and connect with Sarah at:
https://www.culturedcreative.studio/
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Podcast Transcript
This transcript is auto-generated on recording, and has not been edited by a human. It may contain lots of mistakes, crazy words, and stuff that makes no sense. The host and the guest are not responsible for the accuracy of the transcript.
Jason Elkins (00:01.54)
Welcome back everybody to another episode of the Big World Made Small podcast for the adventure traveler. Today we’ve got a special guest. We’ve got Sarah O. Vidal. Sarah is the founder and brand consultant of Cultured to Creative. Sarah, we joked about how easy your name was. Did I get it right?
Sarah O. Vidal (00:19.252)
Yes, you did. And thank you very much for that. It’s Vidal
Jason Elkins (00:20.484)
Is it Vidal or Vidal? that’s what I thought you said. Okay, good. So I did say it right. So, and we’re going to say it a few times just so everybody remembers your name so they know how to find you, Sarah O. Vidal. Cause you said there’s a lot of other Sarah Vidal’s. So you like to include the middle initial. That’s smart. Geez, you must be like a brand consultant or something.
Sarah O. Vidal (00:41.23)
It’s part of the little tips and tricks we throw in there. It’s like you have to be memorable. So do what you can to be memorable.
Jason Elkins (00:48.518)
Well, I think we just did it I think anybody that’s still listening One minute into the show knows your name and knows that it’s the Sarah Vidal. So Sarah welcome I’m really really happy to have you on the show
Sarah O. Vidal (01:04.12)
Thank you, Jason, and I appreciate that introduction.
Jason Elkins (01:07.558)
Let’s do this because I’m not going to sit here and read your bio. Your story sounds so much better from you. We’re going to get into your story, but before we do that, let’s at least give our listeners an idea of what is Cultured Creative so they can at least kind of plant something in their head for what that is. then we’ll come back at some point during the conversation, we’ll come back and discuss it even more. So what’s your 30, 60 second elevator pitch?
Sarah O. Vidal (01:34.646)
Yeah, so Cultured Creative is a branding and studio for responsible tourism brands. And the seeds were sown for it when I started noticing travel businesses that I personally love and they were struggling with one thing, which was visibility. And we all know that problem, right? Because there so many travel brands out there. And so I wanted to use my 12 years of experience in brand development to really channel it into supporting those businesses.
so that they can have the right tools and foundation to grow their brand. And we do this in three core ways. So the first one is articulating what makes the brand different so that people understand why they’re unique in the market from other people, from other brands. And then we also use storytelling to just make sure that they connect with mindful travelers. And finally, we develop their visual identity.
So think everything from logos to websites so that they can actually communicate consistently, compellingly, and also convert this guest through that journey. So that’s what we do in a nutshell.
Jason Elkins (02:41.594)
very clear. knew you were going to nail that. And very, very well said. And, you know, on the show, we’ve got a listeners, it’s, you know, adventure travel podcast, however you define adventure travel, I’m sure you have, this is a conversation you probably have with your clients. We’ve got people that are listening that are adventurous travelers that don’t work in the industry. We’ve got a lot of people listening that, that are tour operators, travel agents, aspiring tour guides, a wide variety of people.
And I would suggest that for the tour operators, they’re going to resonate obviously with what we’re going to discuss today. But also just the travelers. A lot of the stuff you just said would apply towards somebody that’s got a roofing company, or they’re a lawyer, or a dentist, or whatever they are doing.
so anybody that’s listening, that’s like, she’s not a travel tour operator, whatever. I’m not going to get anything out of this. would argue that no stick around because we’re going to, we’re going to hear your story, which is going to be fascinating, but I suspect you’re going to drop some little nuggets in there that can help anybody that’s listening to the show. Is that if it, do you think that that’s the promise we can live up to?
Sarah O. Vidal (03:54.956)
I would say that’s a fair analysis because Brandon can actually apply, of course, to any business out there. So it’s really about understanding what makes you different and unique, but it can definitely apply. You don’t have to be a Tor reader, but we will definitely talk more about it as we go forward. So yes, I will agree with that.
Jason Elkins (04:15.384)
All right, very cool. And again, I’ll just remind everybody that if you’ve heard a few episodes of this, you realize this is not a business podcast. So it’s not going to be all about branding and marketing and messages. So with that segue, Sarah, me about your mom and dad. Tell me about your childhood. Tell me about things growing up. What I really want to get at with that is let’s hear your story. want to hear, you kind of told us what you do. Let’s figure out how you got from where you were to where you are now.
So how far back do you think we need to go to understand you?
Sarah O. Vidal (04:49.902)
Yeah, so I’m actually from Nigeria, which you can probably hear a little bit of the accent in there, but you’ll hear it. It’ll come out as we go forward. But yeah, definitely. But yeah, so I’m originally from Nigeria and my dad actually was in the Rotary Club.
Jason Elkins (04:56.846)
Honestly, honestly, I don’t hear it at all. And I’m guessing if you I’ll it’ll it’ll come out. All right. When you get to know me better, you’ll. OK.
Sarah O. Vidal (05:15.928)
growing up. that was a very interesting perspective for me because I got to, we got to host different travelers from all over the world because they would come for conventions in Nigeria, they would have different activities and experiences. So we got to host them and it was very fascinating for me because I just got to see, learn about the cultures through those people, hear their stories and I wanted to experience it for myself as well.
But my dad was also a traveler, so he would go to all of these countries. He would come back, he would tell us adventures, he would tell us stories. And I was a little bit jealous, you know, because I didn’t get to have that experience, but I really wanted to. And I think that was what sparked that desire to want to travel and to see the world for myself. But the interesting thing is that I did not start traveling until I was 16. So…
Jason Elkins (05:53.651)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Sarah O. Vidal (06:10.668)
The first time I when I say traveling, mean international.
Jason Elkins (06:12.326)
Wait, you make that sound like I didn’t start traveling until I was, was expecting you to say 27 and you said 16. I’m like, oh, you weren’t able to travel internationally until you were 16. Wow.
Sarah O. Vidal (06:25.326)
That sounds pretty late to me, so I don’t know about you, but it sounds a little late to me.
Jason Elkins (06:31.462)
I love it. No, well, it just shows where you put your priorities even early on. was like, you know, so and your family, of course, encouragement. So anyway, go ahead. At 16, you traveled outside the country.
Sarah O. Vidal (06:44.638)
Yes, that was my first time getting in a plane, but also the time I was relocated to the US. So the first time I got in a plane was to actually migrate from my country and move to the US. So that was a really interesting perspective for me because it was excitement. Of course, you get to move to another country, you get to see another culture. But I moved from Abuja in Nigeria to Ohio in December.
Jason Elkins (06:57.763)
Okay.
Jason Elkins (07:12.582)
yeah.
Sarah O. Vidal (07:14.066)
Yeah, yeah, you can imagine how that felt for me. I was coming from this nice tropical destination to Ohio, which was freezing cold that I thought I would have like icicles coming down my eyebrows coming out of that airport into into you know, that area where you get picked up and and it was just like so bone chillingly cold for me.
Jason Elkins (07:36.742)
And based on what you said about having not really traveled outside the country, I don’t know Nigeria that well. I don’t know Nigeria well at all, but I’m guessing there’s no place in Nigeria that gets as cold as Ohio in December. So I’m guessing that was probably the first time you’d ever been anywhere that cold.
Sarah O. Vidal (07:52.942)
Absolutely not. Definitely. I never experienced winter before. We’re below the equator in Nigeria, so it’s blazingly hot. There is no winter. There’s no cold. We don’t have four seasons. So that was my first time experiencing winter.
Jason Elkins (08:01.178)
Yeah.
Jason Elkins (08:08.846)
I kinda do that and I’m sure there some listeners right? Come on, come on Jason.
Jason Elkins (08:16.4)
Of course there’s nothing cold in Nigeria, but thank you for, you sometimes I ask questions just for those people out there that might be thinking them, you know? But anyway, so a couple of questions. I guess the big one is why did you move? That’s always a good question for people that immigrate to a new country. But I’m also curious, like why Ohio? Not that there’s anything wrong with Ohio. And then I guess the third part of the question is why in December?
Sarah O. Vidal (08:23.854)
Just for those people, for sure.
Jason Elkins (08:44.526)
So have you figured out the answers to those questions?
Sarah O. Vidal (08:47.63)
The answers are all related, so this will be hopefully easy to explain. So yes, my dad was a pastor at the time, and that’s actually why we relocated to the States, which is very fascinating because it’s usually the other way around where you have pastors from the States going to Nigeria. But in this case, the church wanted to bring us to the States to help with some of the ministry in Florida.
Jason Elkins (08:51.086)
Okay.
Jason Elkins (09:07.302)
Mm-hmm.
Sarah O. Vidal (09:15.104)
So we had to go to the church’s headquarters in Ohio, first of all, for training. My dad had to do that and then eventually move to Florida. So that was the trajectory and why we had to end up in Ohio in December in a state that most people wouldn’t consider very exciting. But…
Jason Elkins (09:20.645)
Okay.
Jason Elkins (09:33.83)
No, it’s great. What are you talking about? How long were you in Ohio before you made it to Florida? I’m guessing until it started to warm up in Ohio, then you left it to Florida when it was really hot.
Sarah O. Vidal (09:44.974)
Thankfully not. So it was two months, first of all. So stayed in Ohio for two months and then gradually moved to drove down to Florida. Actually, I still remember the day because it was snowing like crazy in Ohio and we had to do that long drive all the way from Ohio to Florida. So yes, it was about a two month period.
Jason Elkins (09:50.906)
Okay.
Jason Elkins (10:07.654)
curious the congregations or this church in general, or maybe the congregation at the church in Florida, was it primarily Nigerian or African? Was that the connection? I am just trying to figure out why, why the church would say, we really need this guy from Nigeria to come, you know, do whatever you do with, with your, with, you know, your congregation in Florida. So
Do know what the connection there was?
Sarah O. Vidal (10:40.472)
So yes, it was not a predominantly African church by any stretch of the imagination. The church itself, it’s pretty global. So they have people from all over the world attending, but the congregation in Florida was very representative of the people in that location, because it was Miami, Orlando, several different cities in Florida. So it just was basically represented.
representative of the people in those cities. But really why they brought my dad from Africa, from Nigeria, was because they were experiencing a shortage of pastors, ministers here in the states. And so that’s why they needed to bring people from other countries to come help out in areas where they needed them. So that’s really the back story.
Jason Elkins (11:09.456)
Gotcha.
Jason Elkins (11:18.736)
Okay.
Jason Elkins (11:27.11)
All right. That’s cool. did you actually, so if you were 16, did you start school in Ohio for like a month and a half because you’ve got Christmas and New Year’s mixed right into that? did you, yeah, I guess that’s question. Did you go to school in Ohio?
Sarah O. Vidal (11:46.07)
No, I did not. So thankfully I had graduated from school, from high school before I came to the States. So at 16, yes, yes, yes I did. I skipped a couple classes. So I had graduated from high school. I was done, thankfully, because I didn’t really want to experience high school in a different country. You know how it goes. So.
Jason Elkins (11:54.296)
At 16, at about 16? Okay.
Jason Elkins (12:08.74)
Man, I know I was hoping that you were going to have some great stories about trying to show up from Nigeria and Ohio in December and get used to that whole transition and then pick up two months later and go to Florida and do it again. But I guess we don’t have those stories.
Sarah O. Vidal (12:27.412)
We don’t have those stories, but I will tell you that it was still definitely a huge cultural transition for me because the culture shock was still there and I would get the most interesting questions from people. When I first came to the States, it was interesting because people would ask me questions like, do you live in huts back in Nigeria?
Jason Elkins (12:33.057)
I’m sure.
Jason Elkins (12:42.956)
OK, do share. Give me some questions.
Sarah O. Vidal (12:55.05)
and why do you sound different? So at the time my accent was definitely much stronger. was more Nigerian than it is now. I kind of assimilated, but people would ask me, why do you sound different? Or what did you say? And it was all the reminder, you know, just reminded me that I was from a different country, from a different place. And it kind of ties back to the whole.
traveling thing because it was a good reminder for me that when you don’t really leave where you’re from, when you don’t really leave your little corner of the world, you kind of tend to form stereotypes about people and you kind of, you make assumptions and it’s not, it’s not your fault per se. It’s not a negative thing always because it’s what the media feeds us is what we hear around us is what we see on social media. So we make assumptions.
And it was just a good reminder for me that, okay, this is why we travel so that we get to experience something from our own perspective and be able to speak to it from our own lived experiences as opposed to what we see on TV.
Jason Elkins (14:04.326)
Right. Do you, so as a 16 year old, you’re not starting in a new school, that’s great. But do you remember how you felt when you got those questions? Did it feel like, were you happy to hear those questions? Like, oh, this is great. I get to share my life and my background and my culture with all these people. Or was it like, oh my gosh, just, because a lot of 16 year old.
boys, people tend to want to kind of be invisible at that age. They kind of want to look and feel like everybody else and sound like everybody else. I’m not trying to put words in your mouth, but do you remember how you felt? Was that a big challenge for you or did you just embrace it and think, this is great. Everybody wants to talk to me.
Sarah O. Vidal (14:52.206)
No, I was definitely more of an introverted kid, still am introverted, so I definitely wanted to blend into the wall as much as possible. However, when I got those questions, was more of the initial reaction was more of the eye roll, where it’s like, really, this is a real question. Sometimes I would have to ask people like, this is a real question, like, this isn’t a joke that you’re asking. But then I came to realize that
Jason Elkins (14:57.432)
huh, okay.
Jason Elkins (15:11.928)
my God. Here we go again.
Sarah O. Vidal (15:21.962)
It’s not, people just don’t know what they don’t know, right? It’s not, it wasn’t negative. It wasn’t coming from a bad place per se. It was just coming from curiosity. And so eventually I came to realize that and it’s like, okay, it’s an opportunity for me to educate them about my own culture and kind of tell people that there’s something else up there besides what they may be familiar with.
Jason Elkins (15:25.968)
They, yeah.
Sarah O. Vidal (15:47.054)
from their own assumptions that they’ve had. So it grew, it didn’t start out that way, but it developed to become that.
Jason Elkins (15:55.238)
because now I’m a little nervous about asking any more questions about Nigeria. But I’m going to do it anyway. Part of why I asked that question is you have very little what I would, I mean, we all have accents. I don’t think I have an accent, but you know, a lot of people think I do.
Sarah O. Vidal (15:58.414)
You’re fine, you’re totally fine. No judgment here.
Jason Elkins (16:21.808)
But I don’t sense a very strong Nigerian accent in your voice. And I’m trying really hard not to sound offensive in any way. But I wondered if because you came here at that age of wanting to kind of fit in, if maybe your brain, your subconscious went on, or conscious went on overdrive, I need to kill this accent as quickly as possible so that I can fit in. And that’s why now at this age of you’re like 26,
I don’t know. But I’m just saying that that that now you have almost no accent. And I wonder, do you attribute that to your desire to fit in or did it just happen naturally? Because I because here’s the thing, I know Nigerian women and women from just a lot of places that came to the US when they were a teenager and they’re 70 years old and they still sound like
Sarah O. Vidal (16:53.518)
Thank you.
Jason Elkins (17:21.355)
the accent is still very, very strong. So just curious with you, what do think it was?
Sarah O. Vidal (17:27.594)
Yeah, so for me, it was definitely the wanting to fit in because like I mentioned, I was an introvert. I did not like standing out very interestingly now that I work with people to help them stand out. But I did not like standing out at all. Yeah, the cycle of life, right? But but it was
Jason Elkins (17:34.064)
Yeah.
Jason Elkins (17:42.734)
Isn’t that interesting?
Sarah O. Vidal (17:49.588)
just more so that I didn’t want people to pick me out of a crowd and be like this person is from a different place or is from a different culture. I just wanted to be invisible in some ways. And so it really started out with me doing super weird things like going on YouTube and listening to people speak in American accents. And actually, this was a really, really conscious thing for me.
Jason Elkins (18:10.822)
so this was a really conscious effort.
Sarah O. Vidal (18:17.998)
I guess I was also experiencing an identity crisis where you move and you’re just like, okay, I want to feel like I belong to this place. But at the same time, I still don’t want to lose my own roots and heritage, but I still want to really fit into this place so that I don’t seem different, so that I don’t sound different. And so I started doing this intentional acts of trying to learn to speak like an American, practice in certain words, they’re American.
I remember being at an event where I said, okay, I am going to turn on my American accent and I’m going to speak like an American. And so I started speaking with this fake and very, I would say fake, but just really weird American accent because it was a hard switch from Nigerian to American. And so one of my friends came up to me and she’s like, why are you speaking like that? You sound really weird.
Jason Elkins (19:05.55)
Mm-hmm.
Sarah O. Vidal (19:16.94)
I was like, okay, well, I guess I am not going to do this anymore. So I actually stopped. I stopped and I just reverted to speaking with my Nigerian accent. But then I started going to school to college. So I went to college in Florida and I had to take speech classes compulsorily. So I did a compulsory speech class one and two. And in those classes, of course, is where they really started to make me
sound more American because my speech teacher would always say, you’re not enunciating properly. You’re not pronouncing this properly, or you’re not saying this correctly. And so it became even more of a conscious effort to try to enunciate as much as possible. And from then on, it was more so just becoming more familiar hearing other Americans speak and kind of subconsciously.
Jason Elkins (19:56.87)
Mmm.
Sarah O. Vidal (20:12.32)
integrating that into my own vocabulary, into my own brain. And then going to, so I moved back to Ohio eventually, and to work for the same nonprofit organization. And when I moved back, I was in suburban Ohio. If you’ve ever been to suburban Ohio, you know that there is very, very little diversity in that area.
Jason Elkins (20:31.289)
I have.
Sarah O. Vidal (20:37.886)
And so being there for almost eight years was very interesting as well because you start to subconsciously pick up attitudes, sounds, behaviors from other people around you. And so it really became that I just was hearing a lot of like standard American accent and then subconsciously picking that up and eventually sounding like that. So what started out as a
very intentional process kind of moved into more of a, you know, it just happened over time and it wasn’t something like you really force it to happen. So.
Jason Elkins (21:16.56)
So if you met, let’s say you’re in Ohio and you meet a 16 year old girl that just moved there from Nigeria, like you’re meeting yourself at a younger age, right? Would you hear her voice and say, my God, your voice is so beautiful and your accent and don’t give into the pressure to change it and just stick with it. It’s beautiful. part, it’s unique. It’s part of what makes you who you are.
or would you counsel her to, yeah, you’re gonna go further in life and fit in better and get more job opportunities, da da da da, if you can drop the accent? What counsel do you give to someone?
Sarah O. Vidal (21:59.822)
That is a very interesting question and just reflecting on it more, I would say it’s not about the accent because yes, your accent definitely is what makes you who you are. And if I could go back, I probably wouldn’t have tried so hard to change my accent, but it is about the communication. It’s about the clarity.
So you can have an accent and still have very good clarity. And that’s what I was missing because even speaking with my Nigerian accent, was very, very, I wasn’t shy, but I was just quiet. I was more reserved. So I would speak and I would speak like this and I would never open my mouth. And so you can imagine that where I was speaking with an accent and never really opening my mouth to talk. And so
Jason Elkins (22:45.222)
Sarah O. Vidal (22:54.156)
It was difficult for people to understand me. And at that age, I thought it’s because of the accent, but it wasn’t because of the accent. It was because of the lack of clarity in how I was communicating. So it’s not about changing your accent. It’s simply about understanding how to communicate clearly.
Jason Elkins (23:01.203)
okay.
Jason Elkins (23:14.498)
So what I just heard you say was it sounded like mumbling. That you take the accent and the low volume and it’s difficult. I mean, I’ve been traveling full time for four years, almost all of that in countries where they don’t speak a lot of English. And I’ve been learning Spanish and…
can understand like if someone speaks loud enough and hopefully clearly enough, it doesn’t have to be English. I can understand them. But when if they start and and I look at them like I can’t quite understand maybe they’re speaking real fast. They have a tendency to get quieter. It’s like they think, I’m criticizing them or they don’t feel or if they’re trying to speak English with me, they get quieter.
and hold it back and then it makes it worse for me and then it creates a situation where if it was just like, know what, just stick with the accent, don’t try and change the accent, just speak loud. Of course I’m 52 and I’m going deaf, so that doesn’t help. But anyway, so that’s what I got out of what you said. Is that what you were trying to say? Did I get it?
Sarah O. Vidal (24:27.052)
Definitely. It’s about the clarity and so many things come into effect here, right? Because you’re speaking, you just mentioned one of them, how fast you’re speaking or how slow you’re speaking, it can impede how people understand you. So the nervousness from speaking to someone from a different culture, from a different language, you may start to speak faster than you typically would speak, or you may start to speak a little too slow than you typically would speak.
And know what kind of impacts the way that you communicate your message and that clarity that comes across through the message. And so, yes, it’s a lot of factors that come into play there when it just comes to really communicating what you’re trying to see. But I found that it’s not really about the accent itself. It’s just other bad habits that we’ve kind of picked up along the way. So.
Jason Elkins (25:16.714)
you get into this with your clients because I understand that you help them a lot with their messaging and their branding. Do you actually have conversations with clients because you probably have clients from around the world dealing with clients from around the world. So it’s not just all written, what’s written on your website or what’s written in your emails or what’s written in your social media posts, but it’s also like a lot of times we book calls with clients.
We do video calls, video consults. We maybe want to go on a podcast. Today I’ve spoke with people from all around the world. And so if you’ve got a client that wants to get out there, get their message out there, you might even advise them to go be on podcasts. So you have conversations with them about this type of thing.
Sarah O. Vidal (26:06.702)
So it’s mostly the core of what we do is mostly written communication. So it’s definitely very much what is on their pitch decks, what is on their website, what is things that people would read typically. However, we started doing this.
Jason Elkins (26:11.461)
Mm-hmm.
Sarah O. Vidal (26:24.632)
program where we do workshops or webinars or we host events basically and bring on some of these business owners. there’s some of them are my clients. Some of them are people that I’m trying to feature or spotlight. And we host an event where they get to talk and communicate about their brand, about what they do about their business. And it is really helpful because I go through the process with them and actually give them tips and advice. actually run through
the different things about communicating spoken in a spoken way verbally, basically. So yes, we do go through all of those principles because written communication is one thing you can excel at reading communication and be so good having that pitch deck that’s all you know that has all the bells and whistles. But then when you go to communicate it physically verbally, you struggle because you don’t understand the mechanics of communication.
And so yes, we sit down and walk through it. Okay, how are you coming across? What are you saying? What is your rate of speech? What is the volume you’re using? How are you articulated or highlighting every important element of what you’re saying to come across in a way that people understand you because that is the goal of this whole process. So yes, we do that when we talk about workshops, when we talk about events, when we talk about
things where they have to speak publicly.
Jason Elkins (27:54.198)
I think that’s great. And I also recognize because I’ve got clients around the world as well. And we can spend a lot of time on copy for the website. yeah, I’ll share this. I have had clients in the past. I’m not, not right now. I’m not going to say anybody, my name, whatever, but let’s just say I’ve had clients in the past that I really enjoy working with them and.
put together great written content, website stuff. And I haven’t invited them to come on the podcast because I know that it’s not going to benefit them. You know, for whatever reason, it’s not going to be something that they’re going to want to run out and put on their website and say, my gosh, I was on the big world made a small podcast and you should listen to my episode. This feels very weird saying this, but it’s like, I
as they’re my client and I don’t want to set them up for failure. They’ve got a great website that’s generating bookings and leads and all that stuff. They probably don’t need a video right on their landing page that’s gonna maybe interfere with that. It feels very weird to say that. But the reason I’m saying that is because I love this conversation is value added, just speak louder.
Open your mouth, make eye contact. So if we can help coach our clients with that, then it opens up a whole new world of opportunities for them to communicate their message. Because as you know, videos, video is a big thing. If you’re a tour operator and you don’t have any video out there, you’re probably getting in the way of yourself a little bit. But also you mentioned like trade shows. I asked you early on, said, give us the 36.
30 to 60 second elevator pitch, you had it nailed. You knew exactly what you were getting. I didn’t tell you ahead of time we’re going to have this conversation, but you’re brand strategist, right? And so if you can work with clients to figure out that, then when they go to a trade, they spend thousands of dollars to go to a trade show somewhere and spend thousands of dollars to go to a trade show somewhere. And then they get there and don’t know what to say when they actually get in front of somebody.
Sarah O. Vidal (30:17.952)
Yeah, exactly. And the one thing that we have to realize is that communication, spoken communication is a skill and it’s a skill that can be learned. Most people think, I’m either a good speaker or I’m not a good speaker, but it’s not binary. So it’s never just I can do it or I can’t do it. It’s something that you have to learn like everything else. But what helps is having those right frameworks that you can use.
when you’re speaking to people, understanding, okay, if I know what I am going to say in the way that I’m going to say it, and I’m going to borrow something here because I’ve actually been taking a speaking class myself just to understand better those communication frameworks for myself, but also for my clients. And just throw in and borrow in a speaking framework from Vin, Vin Zhang, he’s a communicator, a speaker.
And he has this three to one framework. it’s basically using every time you’re being asked a question, using this framework to think through how you want to answer the question. And so it goes the three things, the two types and the one lesson. I may have mixed that up a little bit, but just when you’re being asked a question, think about how do I want to frame this question? I can either say there are three things that
or there are two types of, or there’s one lesson that. So you’re using a framework to answer the question and it brings so much clarity because you’re not just going, let me just ramble about this really huge subject. So it’s bringing it in.
Jason Elkins (31:49.286)
Mmm.
Jason Elkins (32:01.894)
I bet that the listeners to my show wish that I would come up with a framework for asking questions. So I’m going to work on that. Good, good advice.
Sarah O. Vidal (32:08.948)
Hahaha
Sarah O. Vidal (32:13.13)
And the spontaneity does bring a little bit of interest as well, but you can still have that spontaneity in answering or asking questions. But really it’s understanding how to phrase it for the most maximum clarity and for the most maximum impact because that’s really what communication is about. It’s about providing clarity.
Jason Elkins (32:17.318)
you
Jason Elkins (32:36.774)
Do you, I’m curious, I know in Ohio they have Toastmasters. I know they’ve got Toastmasters in a lot of places. Are you familiar with the Toastmasters organization? And that seems like something that would be really, really great for probably a lot of people. I, not just tour operators, but especially maybe tour operators that work in other countries where English isn’t there. I shouldn’t even say English isn’t their primary language. Let’s just say that they’re.
Sarah O. Vidal (32:47.819)
I am.
Jason Elkins (33:05.018)
their birth language or their primary language is different than the primary language of their clients. It doesn’t matter which languages that are, which languages, but it seems like that would be a good tip for somebody to do that’s not going to cost them money. They don’t need to go spend a lot of money to take speech lessons or whatever. What do you think?
Sarah O. Vidal (33:24.564)
I always encourage my clients if you can do a speech class, if you can do something like Toastmasters, if you can do even improv, which sounds really silly, but all of those things, they’re just putting you in a position where you get to speak on your feet and think on your feet. You’re not tied into a script. You’re not tied into looking down at your notes and your
Jason Elkins (33:33.734)
It’s a great idea.
Sarah O. Vidal (33:52.746)
entering a question in a way that is very impromptu and it makes you think faster. So definitely encourage anyone that’s a business owner really, this is something that’s good for you because you’re going to find yourself in so many situations where you have to speak. So for me, I never thought I would ever be speaking in public to this degree, which I do today, but I had to because of my work and because of my business, because that’s what it comes back to that visibility we talked about, right?
If you want to be more visible, if you want to connect with people, especially in this age of video connection where it’s like the world is a global village, now that we have video, now that we have this kind of interactions, you want to come across as that person that they remember because there are so many people out there. And if you go to a large trade show, for example, and there are so many speakers.
If you’re not memorable enough for them to say, okay, this one horror creator, remember them because of the message they gave because of the communication that they had because they had such good presence. And that presence is what makes you want to take the next step of going on their website to check in out what is it that they actually offer. So it’s a doorway. It’s that entryway. And it’s so, so, so crucial.
Jason Elkins (35:00.016)
Mm-hmm.
Sarah O. Vidal (35:12.374)
Most people don’t understand it, but that is why communication is crucial because it takes people through to making that next step along the funnel.
Jason Elkins (35:23.12)
think you mentioned the word and I definitely what I’m hearing you say is it’s that connection. Right? We need to feel connected. That’s why you and I, know, whether somebody is watching a video of us or right now, or they’re just listening to the podcast, you and I are looking face to face. We see each other. know, we can hear our voices that creates a better connection. It’s really hard to create a connection with written words.
Not that it doesn’t happen. I mean, there’s some really good novelists out there that have written some great books or maybe autobiographies and people read them and think, wow, this book really touched me or this poem really touched me. But man, that’s hard. You got to be a really good writer to be able to consistently do that. And when people are considering things like vacation, that’s an emotional thing. They want to feel a connection.
They probably want to go on the trip because they want to feel a connection with their partner or their family, or maybe they want to connect with local community. So if you can connect with them ahead of time during the shopping or the sales process or that stage of it, that’s pretty important. I’m rambling. I don’t know where I’m going with this other than.
Yeah, this is where I’m going with this. mentioned, because, okay, so if you’re going to a trade show and you’re giving a presentation, that’s one thing, right? Needing to stand in front of room and be comfortable and to be able to connect with the audience, that’s one thing. But maybe you’re going to a trade show and you’re just going as an attendee. Maybe you’ve got a booth set up. Maybe you’re just, you know, walking the floors, just meeting people. You still got to be able to communicate and connect. Otherwise you’re going to be that one person with
a huge bag full of brochures because it’s all you did the whole time you were there was can I get one of your brochures because you don’t want to talk to anybody so you go home with a bunch of brochures and if you ever reach out to somebody and say yeah I met you at the you know San Francisco show and they’re they’re not gonna remember so I think that that’s important but I’m ending this with you mentioned improv
Jason Elkins (37:43.622)
That’s a really, really cool one that I hadn’t thought of until recently. I went to an improv thing in here in Georgia and I thought this is going to be really weird. And I went, I was a theater major in high school and I went to school on a theater and music scholarship and I still thought improv was going to be goofy. I was like, that’s so goofy. And I was blown away by just how much fun it was and how it was really all about just, just thinking, listening to what the other person’s saying and,
and coming up with a response, and it was just so much fun. And I could see where that would be great for tour guides, tour operators, anybody really that has conversations, because it’s very conversational, as opposed to standing in front of a room and giving a speech. So that was my long way of saying, I like your improv idea.
Sarah O. Vidal (38:36.014)
Yeah, but to circle back to something you said here, the connection element of things and the storytelling element of things, it’s like people remember people because of the stories that you tell. That’s how they connect with people. So if you are able to tell a story that draws people in and that emphasizes your point at the same time, you are
Jason Elkins (38:51.27)
Mm-hmm.
Sarah O. Vidal (39:03.214)
way like one step ahead of the next person already because that is the thing that makes you memorable. They remember that story. So let me give an example here because I was having a conversation with a business owner. She runs a travel education platform and she was telling me, I actually remember this story on your about page because you were talked about this three businesses that closed down and you got into
travel brand in because you wanted to help these businesses, their purpose driven businesses and they didn’t have visibility and you wanted to help businesses like them. And so that’s part of why you started your journey. And I actually remember that story. So I’m to make two points here because you’d mentioned about making that connection with reading words. You can definitely do that. It’s, it’s a, it’s usually a first, it’s usually a very first step to get in people because typically people would jump on your website. They read a couple of lines.
Jason Elkins (39:50.212)
Yeah, apparently so.
Sarah O. Vidal (39:59.436)
before they may click on a video. So if you’re able to channel the right emotions, which is the very emotional aspect of connection and of traveling, and you can channel those emotions early on through the written words, you’re doing a good job. But the next step, the next level is being able to do it verbally as well. So it’s the icing on the cake where you’re telling your story.
and you’re helping people understand, okay, this is why I do what I do, this is how I can serve you. But because there are so many more layers to the verbal communication, there is the eye contact, there is the tonality, there is the emotional aspect, you’re seeing my expressions, you’re seeing how I talk, you may have those good vibes, as we would say.
with you and it’s like okay this person shares my values and they also seem like a friendly approachable person so it takes it to the next level but I say all of this because yes you cannot run away from having conversations and telling stories so people remember you and so people can actually take action and the example you gave at the trade show where it’s like you may not be the person speaking but you are still attending
and you still want people to go home and say, met Jason at this trade show and I remember Jason because he was such a good communicator and storyteller. And that’s part of what the improv helps you do. It’s part of what storytelling classes, vocal lessons, all of those things they help you do is just bring in out that side of you that is much more engaging than you typically maybe just.
in your own personality.
Jason Elkins (41:49.382)
You know, I agree completely. And you know, I’d heard about a study. I don’t remember. was something along the lines of, you know, they take 100 people, put them in a room. And then at the end of the evening, they’ll be like, who do you remember the most? And they looked at, you know, and they had some actors in there. So actors would go in there and behave in a certain way.
to see who was memorable for whatever reason. And I guess the conclusion they came to was it wasn’t necessarily the person with the best stories. It wasn’t the person with the best stories. It was actually the person that showed the most interest in other people’s stories. So I think being able to tell a story is obviously important, obviously in sales activism and trying to get people to book your trips or whatever.
but it was super interesting that it was the person that pretty much is all they said the whole evening was, really? That’s fascinating, tell me more. really, wow. And how did you figure that out? So they’d had this actor that went in, didn’t tell any stories, didn’t share any information about himself. And most of the people at the end of the night said, who do you remember most? it was that one guy in the red shirt. He was really interesting.
And they’re like, really? What did you learn about him? Well, I don’t know. He was just really interesting. And it’s because he was interested in them. So I’m sharing this because I think it’s a hack. If you’re just like, I don’t have any stories to share, if you don’t think you’re interesting or you don’t feel comfortable sharing, just try the other approach. Just go in and just ask them a bunch of questions. And I think it’d probably get you somewhere. that? What do you think?
Sarah O. Vidal (43:46.254)
Yeah, actually, that’s a great point because active listening is part of communication. So that is what we call active listening. You learn to communicate by not just speaking, but also by listening to other people and asking them questions. And that’s what draws them in as well to you as a person. So the person you’re talking about that goes to the literature one doesn’t say very much about themselves, but
Jason Elkins (43:51.718)
Yeah.
Sarah O. Vidal (44:10.286)
they ask good questions and why do you ask good questions? Because you’re actually listening to what the other person is saying and you can pull out information from what they’re saying and go, oh, so can you tell me more about X, Y and Z that you mentioned earlier on? And it is a skill, a core skill in communication is active listening. So it’s not just passively being there and nodding along and going, okay, sure, great. But also being taken in what they’re seeing and asking
Jason Elkins (44:25.605)
Mm-hmm.
Sarah O. Vidal (44:39.736)
good questions, reasonable questions that make them feel like they’re, they’re, they’re, it’s a little attachment to that, little, denim as we would say, but, but yes, it is asking questions based on what they’re putting out there. So they feel heard as well. And it’s definitely a core skill in communication, verbal communication altogether.
Jason Elkins (44:43.984)
That’s the trick.
Mm-hmm.
Jason Elkins (45:08.166)
Right. So we’ve been chatting for almost an hour about community language, accents, communication, fascinating. I love it. And I want to make sure because, and what brought me back to this, as you mentioned, your about page. so let’s figure out, let’s make sure we dive into that because you’d mentioned that you, you’d moved back to Ohio for awhile. How did, yeah, basically how did you get into this, into this niche with
purpose-driven business. Did you use the word purpose-driven? I believe that’s what you, the terminology used. So tell us how you got into that.
Sarah O. Vidal (45:45.558)
Yeah, so I’ll start from the move to Ohio because I first worked in a marketing agency in Florida. So I did my internship there and it was fun because at time I was studying graphic design and I was doing brand design specifically for this marketing agency and it was great because I got to experience, you know, working with different brands, travel hospitality brands were part of the niche that we served in a marketing agency.
However, it was just so much focus on how do we convert? How do we get money in the door? How do we, you know, just do the hamster will of like turning, grinding your gears and focusing so much in the profit, profit, profit, profit, which there’s nothing wrong with making money. But if that’s all you focus on, it becomes this really difficult stage of why are we doing what we’re doing?
Like why? And I guess for me as a person, I just like understanding and having some kind of sense of purpose as to why I’m doing what I’m doing, unless I burn out. So I was starting to feel that burnout, that sense of just lack of direction working in that marketing agency. So I ended up leaving and I moved into working in nonprofit. So I went to Ohio for the job.
Jason Elkins (46:45.883)
Mm-hmm.
Sarah O. Vidal (47:04.734)
Immediately after graduating from college, my first years of college went to Ohio and started working there for this. It was summer this time, so it was July, nice, nice good weather. So that was when I moved back and I worked for this nonprofit and it felt much more fulfilling to me.
Jason Elkins (47:10.17)
You didn’t, did you go to Ohio in December again? Or did you learn your-
Okay, all right, okay.
Sarah O. Vidal (47:26.382)
because what I was doing, I did several things from editorial design to brand design and brand management. So it kind of like moved up as I went along, but we were able to pass across a message for this organization and the non-profit, was a religious non-profit still. So I just felt much more fulfilling for me. However, after staying there for about eight years, almost eight years, about year five, six, I started to notice that
what this organization was putting out there was just not matching what they were really doing internally. So it was an identity crisis again, where it just felt like they were saying a lot of things, but not really doing it internally. And working at the headquarters, I could really see some of those things. And it made me uncomfortable. I didn’t want to keep working there. I was just…
Jason Elkins (48:00.902)
Mmm.
Jason Elkins (48:18.206)
And did you feel like you were on the side of saying those things, but then it wasn’t getting backed up? So I mean, for me, that would feel kind of the same way. It’s like, if I’m out there, if let’s say I’m your spokesperson, I’m out there, oh, we’re doing all these great things. And then I realized, we’re not. siphoning money and putting it into something else. that becomes a problem, doesn’t it?
Sarah O. Vidal (48:41.418)
that’s exactly what was happening where it’s like because it was a non-profit you understand non-profits they take money the people contribute to them to do a specific work and and so that was happening where they would take the money and then it would be used for something that just was not aligned with the work that they claimed to be doing and that was a huge
Jason Elkins (48:43.406)
Yeah.
Jason Elkins (48:53.934)
Yeah.
Jason Elkins (49:02.322)
It might be a good thing, but it’s not what we told the donors we were going to do. Is that what I meant?
Sarah O. Vidal (49:07.374)
That, that even now it was questionable if it’s a good thing. But…
Jason Elkins (49:11.842)
I’m trying to keep you from, in case anybody you used to work with listens to this podcast. I’m trying really hard to keep this friendly. anyway, okay, so go ahead.
Sarah O. Vidal (49:18.028)
not take goat. Yeah.
Sarah O. Vidal (49:25.626)
Yeah, I, but yeah, so it was just a very huge issue for me because I saw things like that happening and I was like, I don’t want to be here doing this anymore because I feel like we are not being honest. We’re not being upfront. We are there’s a lot of mismanagement financially, but otherwise as well. There was a lot of mistreatment of people and if you can’t treat your people well, then
are we even doing, you know. So I decided it’s time for me to leave and that’s when I left that place. So took me almost eight years, regrettably, but I mean, I learned a lot from the experience, but ended up leaving.
Jason Elkins (50:08.912)
Sarah, Sarah, there anything, I don’t know if they’re listed on your LinkedIn profile, that’s your job history. Is there anything you want to say before we move on? Because I’m sure that organization has changed since then and everything’s got sorted out, right? Or whatever, but anyway.
Sarah O. Vidal (50:15.662)
You
Sarah O. Vidal (50:26.67)
Let’s hope that’s the…
Jason Elkins (50:29.548)
While you while you were there, you you felt like there were some internal struggles and yeah, OK. So anyway, so you left there and then what?
Sarah O. Vidal (50:35.39)
Yes, yes. And so I left there and it was kind of a point of, I’d say confusion for me because I was trying to figure out, what do I want to do from here? Where do I want to go from here? Because this is very, very complicated spot. Basically, do I go back into working for an agency?
do I go do another nonprofit? But at this time, I was kind of a little bit skeptical. If you can say that it left it left a bad taste in my mouth. So I wanted to find something that I’d be comfortable doing. And it was around this time that I found the principle of Ikigai. So I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. It’s a Japanese principle called Ikigai. And I was
Jason Elkins (51:03.291)
Mm-hmm.
Jason Elkins (51:19.576)
I have heard of it, but please explain it for our listeners and me.
Sarah O. Vidal (51:24.298)
I was listening to a podcast like this, I believe that’s where I first heard of it and went and research and so it’s basically just about finding purpose. And the way we’ve interpreted it in modern day world is purpose finding your purpose in life. So it’s a combination of four things. And the four things is what you love, what the world needs, what you can be paid for and what you’re good at.
And at the intersection of this four things, if you’re thinking about it, like circles, the Venn diagram, at the middle point intersection is where you find purpose. Yeah, that’s what you do. And I know.
Jason Elkins (51:51.334)
Mmm.
Jason Elkins (51:59.878)
That’s what you do. That’s your purpose. That sounds so easy. my gosh. Wow. I wish somebody would have told me about this a long time ago. A little, what, the Venn diagram? My life would have been so much easier. I’m doing that as soon as we get off this call.
Sarah O. Vidal (52:14.734)
Yeah, I know. It simplified it. It simplified the process for me because I was looking for something that I could basically just write out and that’s what I did. I took H4 element and I wrote down, okay, what are the things I love? What does the world need right now? What can I be paid for? What am I good at? And writing all of those things down kind of led me to travel brand in but not just travel brand in but for purpose driven travel brands because I personally
am a cultural travel, culture and adventure. So I do love to work with businesses or just experience businesses, tours, you know, all the different aspects of tourism that focus more on the cultural elements of things and supporting local businesses. And so I thought, why not do travel brand in for this businesses that are already doing this things and help them amplify their message? Because like I said,
earlier on in the process here, I had seen so many of these businesses that were struggling. So it’s like, if I have a strength in that, and I can support them in their brand development, then this is something I can channel my energy and resource into and actually build up as a brand in studios. So it kind of came full circle. I never thought I would be doing traveling, working in travel at all, but it came full circle and just ended up.
doing focusing on that travel Brennan.
Jason Elkins (53:45.186)
I it. I love it. Love it. Love it. I think I left out that circle of will people pay me or can I make money at it? I think that’s the circle I kept forgetting about. I kept picking stuff that I was good at and I really enjoyed. so anyway, so thanks for the refresher. I’ll do that later. And also, you you touched on it actually before I hit the record button. So I want to make it clear to our listeners is you’re not a brand consultant. It just happens to
Sarah O. Vidal (53:54.11)
Ha ha ha!
Jason Elkins (54:15.546)
do well with tourism-based purpose-driven organizations. mean, your travel experience is not limited to your migration from Nigeria to Ohio to Florida, back to Ohio to where are you now?
Sarah O. Vidal (54:31.83)
I mean Texas, no.
Jason Elkins (54:33.346)
in Texas, right? Before I hit the record button, you said, I’m going to be in Albania probably in December. And I said, I might be there in December. And then you said, but I’ll also be in Turkey for a while. doing this and that. tell us kind of about your lifestyle, because you meant you described yourself to me anyway, as kind of a part time digital nomad, which is can be the best of both worlds. So help our listeners understand what your plans are here for the next.
year or so what that lifestyle is all about and whatever it excites you about it.
Sarah O. Vidal (55:06.7)
Yeah, so I started embracing the whole journey of solo travel plus being a digital nomad recently. So just over the last year now, trying to explore more so because I want to understand what brands are doing out there when it comes to tourism, it helps me get a better perspective of it than sitting in an office or sitting in my house because of course I work from home and
Jason Elkins (55:29.519)
Mm-hmm.
Sarah O. Vidal (55:35.712)
not really understanding what my clients are going through. That’s one part of it. So I wanted to go out there and be in the field. It’s like, okay, when I experienced different brands, whether it’s lodges, restaurants, tours, I can speak better to, okay, how can I help my clients? Because I’ve seen different aspects of travel and what’s working and what’s not working. I can analyze it from my own frame and viewpoint. And that’s part of the reason that I embraced this whole digital nomad life. But
Jason Elkins (55:39.238)
Mm-hmm.
Sarah O. Vidal (56:05.641)
I, like you mentioned.
Jason Elkins (56:05.978)
That sounds like a pretty, that sounds like a pretty good justification for going, enjoying yourself. I think I need to travel full time so I can understand or not full time, but long-term or whatever for extended periods. so I can understand my clients better. Bullshit sir. But you made it sound really good. Market research.
Sarah O. Vidal (56:28.51)
it’s market research. Market research. Of course, I do enjoy traveling as well, just personally. So it’s the exploring places that are lesser known as well, where it’s just a lot of people want to go to the same places. A lot of people want to go here and there because there are places that everybody talks about. But for me, it’s like, how can I go? Where can I go to?
that I get a sense of the culture that I’m not familiar with. So it’s also experience in culture that I’m not familiar with, but it’s also experience in cultures that I have come to learn about over the years, like my last trip. So I was in South Korea for about six weeks and I went to South Korea because I had learned about South Korean culture for quite a bit of time. So it was about five years and I never just made that trip because it was one of those things like
I think we were talking about in the beginning as well, where it’s like, I do want to do it, but you never do it just because of whatever reason you think you can travel at the time or whatever it is. But eventually I met this couple from South Korea and here in Texas. And they told me, why don’t you just go, just go experience the country in person instead of just learning about the culture, learning about the food, learning about the language, go see it for yourself. And I thought,
That is actually a good idea. I don’t know why I haven’t done that. So I finally made that trip because I had known about the culture for so long and I just wanted to see it. And with that little encouragement, I went over to South Korea, traveled around the country for about six weeks and just got to explore it. And it also shaped me in the way that I work now because I was picking up a lot of things. Like South Korea is very much into the whole
sustainable travel movement, but not just travel, but as a country as a whole, they are very much into that. And so I was learning a lot as I was experiencing these businesses, because I was like, wow, this is good. I was taking notes, this can help. And so it was just a good experience all around, both on the personal side of things and the business side of things where I was learning in both perspectives.
Jason Elkins (58:46.097)
huh, yeah.
Good thing you went there to help your clients. That’s good. And what’s the thing about, because I haven’t had many conversations, at least on the show here, about South Korea. So I’m just going to ask you two specific questions about South Korea. What’s the thing that most pleasantly surprised you about South Korea?
Sarah O. Vidal (58:51.764)
Hahaha
Sarah O. Vidal (59:09.55)
wow. Let’s see, there were a lot of things. I have to think here. Pleasantly. Yeah, okay. I would say the people because it’s just, hard not to fall in love with them when you get to know them. So the funny thing about South Korea is that when you first go, people may come off as not so friendly.
Jason Elkins (59:15.558)
The next question is going to be harder. So don’t overthink this one too much.
Sarah O. Vidal (59:38.35)
And that’s only because of course the whole culture, it’s not one where it’s like America where people just randomly come up to you on the street and be like, I like your top or, you know, it’s not like that. There’s very much awareness of other people not knowing other people. If you’re not in the same circle, if you’re not in the same space or group or community, it’s not something that you just do. So when you first arrive, it may feel like, this is dependent on where you’re from, obviously.
may feel like it’s not as friendly a culture, but once you’re in a situation where you are with other people and you’re actually in a shared space, then you get to see, these are people that are so welcoming. These are people that are so warm. I never felt like I was alone throughout that whole trip, even though that was my first solo travel.
Jason Elkins (01:00:27.046)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Sarah O. Vidal (01:00:27.438)
So I felt like I was in this community where people understood me, where people got me, and they were super, super helpful because English is not the first language in South Korea. So you meet a few people that can speak English, but they’re so willing to go out of their way and help you and support you where you need that support. So I would say that that was one of the things that definitely stood out to me while I was there.
Jason Elkins (01:00:54.758)
Okay, before I ask you the next question, that resonates completely and maybe you can tell from conversations with me, I’m sure our listeners probably figured it out. I’m that guy that walks into the convenience store and has to smile and has to be way overly friendly. So for the last, I’ve traveled a lot before I started doing it full-time, but for the last four years I’ve been traveling full-time. It took me a long time. was like, man, everybody’s…
like grumpy in this place, you know, it goes somewhere like everybody’s like, that was my experience in Southeast Asia. And now I’m in Georgia and it’s like, everybody’s grumpy. And then I realized, you know, it’s kind of like, who’s the common denominator here. It’s not that they’re grumpy. It’s that I just don’t fit in. They think I’m weird. You know, if I would just tone it down a little bit.
they’re maybe not going to smile, but at least they won’t think I’m weird. And then we can just both be on the same page. So sometimes it’s easier to kind of move into their way of doing things than it is to try and pull them towards you all the time. But even in Georgia, like you said, I think there’s a lot of places where initially they just, they’re not going to be super like, maybe they’re friendly, but they’re not going to be super like give you a big hug and smile at you and say, Oh, welcome. So happy to have you here. But
with lot of cultures, I think when you get to know them a little bit, when you become part of their circle, then it’s great. I’m staying in Airbnb here in Georgia. I’ve been in Georgia six weeks and I was thinking everybody was grumpy because I’m weird. But I’m staying at this place and they keep bringing me food, food and cha-cha and wine and grapes and they just keep.
given me stuff like I’ve got a whole refrigerator full of food that I don’t know how I’m going to eat here in the next few days. We have to check out. You know, they’re just super, super, super sweet. So anyway, there’s that right. The question I do want to ask you before we go. This is a creative question. What’s the thing about Korea that maybe disappointed you?
Sarah O. Vidal (01:03:04.043)
You didn’t warn me that it was going to be hard.
Jason Elkins (01:03:04.23)
Or I said it was going to be harder.
Sarah O. Vidal (01:03:10.968)
trying to think now, cause I…
Jason Elkins (01:03:11.684)
You could always say, could hear, I’ll give you a way out. You can always say, well, I was really disappointed when I had to leave.
Sarah O. Vidal (01:03:21.23)
Dad is a great one because I was disappointed by having to leave but I know I’m thinking of an actual answer here and it’s hard to say because there was just so much good and I think it’s when you go into a place and you’re open-minded, it’s hard for you to be disappointed I’d say. It’s really hard because it’s when you go in with unrealistic expectations that you
Jason Elkins (01:03:22.726)
you
Sarah O. Vidal (01:03:49.768)
start to feel like, this doesn’t meet the image of this place that I created for myself. But I was pretty realistic when I went in. I knew the things that were considered the positives and the things that were considered not so positive in the country. And so I went in and having that realistic image of what the country may be like. And so I didn’t really feel
Jason Elkins (01:04:05.572)
Mm-hmm.
Sarah O. Vidal (01:04:16.748)
disappointed in anything because I managed my expectation.
Jason Elkins (01:04:22.328)
I bet you manage your expectations about South Korea better than what you dealt with when you went to Ohio in December the first time.
Sarah O. Vidal (01:04:34.798)
Definitely. Going to Ohio the first time as a 16 year old, was not… Yeah, I was… I had nothing. Like, there was nothing for me to go off of. So I was not expecting that and I was pretty… I wouldn’t say disappointed, just shocked, more so.
Jason Elkins (01:04:40.996)
You had no idea what to expect.
Jason Elkins (01:04:54.798)
Right, right, right. Absolutely. So we’ve discussed a bunch of things. I know that we could just probably keep going forever and ever. And there’s probably a lot of things we missed, but I’m curious, Sarah, what did I forget to ask you? What do you wish I’d asked you? Or what do you want to share with the world either about you, your business, philosophy, life in general, before we wrap up?
Sarah O. Vidal (01:05:20.846)
So there’s this one quote, I know people say quotes and it’s just something that I personally take to heart when it comes to branding and communication. And it’s that the world doesn’t reward the people with the best ideas. It rewards the people who are best at communicating ideas. And I believe it was Steven Peralta said it, but it is a philosophy that I
Jason Elkins (01:05:40.26)
Sarah O. Vidal (01:05:49.922)
hold dear to my heart because I believe that when it comes to branding, when it comes to putting your story out there, it’s not about if you have great ideas, right? You can have the best beautiful tours, experiences, lodges, restaurants, but if nobody knows about it, guess what? You’re going to be the best kept secret in the world. So learn in, yeah.
Jason Elkins (01:06:16.134)
And it’s not a good plan. It’s one thing to say we’re off the beaten path or we’re a hidden gem. It’s another thing to just be out of business.
Sarah O. Vidal (01:06:28.138)
Exactly, and we definitely don’t want the latter. It’s about understanding, okay, how can we make sure that whatever we’re putting out there is something people can find, but not just find, but also understand and connect and resonate with so that we can draw them into our experiences. And so that’s the final thought I’d leave out there. just working with responsible tourism brands, we’re always looking for ways to create a space for people to
shared our ideas, continue to contribute to communities, whether they’re a foreign-owned business that comes into a community, local community, or they’re a locally-owned business. It’s like, how can we continue to contribute and support those places that we go to, not just take from them, not just consume from them, but also give back in a way that is acceptable and wanted by the community?
And the reason I mentioned that is because we do have a networking event that’s coming up and it’s called Latitude. And it’s basically a space for responsible travel brands to come together and share their ideas and just see how we can work together to move this industry forward because it’s an initiative that’s newly coming up. Yes, it’s been there, but when I say newly coming up, becoming more relevant, becoming more known.
And so we’re creating that space for people to come to share ideas and to really have their own, build their own community. So for any of your listeners that are within that space and want to join us, we’re having an October 15 and 16, and we’re going to be having, it’s just an online virtual networking session where you also get to practice your communication. So, so yeah, that’s, that’s the last thing I’d leave you with.
Jason Elkins (01:08:16.102)
Very, very cool.
I will add that part of how I connected with you actually, you’re very active in LinkedIn with several different people. You’ve got a great community that you’ve been working to put together. Just very impressed by what I saw. Somebody might be listening. She mentioned October 15, 16, I think. We’re in 2025, we’re having this conversation. I’m not sure when you’re listening. There’s a good chance that it’s already, that one’s passed.
But that’s why I’m mentioning LinkedIn. We’re going to have a link to Sarah’s website right in the show notes. Definitely encourage you to click on that. But also connect with, I would definitely encourage you to connect with her in LinkedIn, especially if you’re in this business space and you want to take advantage of those types of opportunities as well.
Sarah, thank you so much. really appreciate you coming on the show and the conversation. I didn’t know where it was going to go. I never know where it’s going to go. I’m happy with where it went. It was a lot of fun and I think we get to come back and discuss some more stuff at some point soon. So thank you so much for joining me.
Sarah O. Vidal (01:09:23.17)
Thank you, Jason. It was my pleasure.
Jason Elkins (01:09:25.574)
Chat with you soon. Bye bye.
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