The Modern Hotelier #174: Women in Travel Thrive: Day of Impact 2025
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David M.: We are excited to be partnering with the women in Travel Thrive here in Indianapolis. 
Steve Carran: Yeah, we sat down with some of the speakers and also some of the participants in this event. Great conversation and overall a great organization. We are looking forward to seeing the, seeing our conversations. Let us know what you think in the comments.
We are now joined by Mercedes Blanco, co-founder of Women in Travel Thrive. Thanks for sitting down with us. Mercedes. How are you doing today? 
Mercedes Blanco: Very good indeed. Especially now with the two of you. 
Steve Carran: Yeah, it would be fun. So Day of Impact has really become a signature event for Thrive. What makes this day so unique?
Mercedes Blanco: I think that the purpose, the purpose of it, um, we just want really and generally to gather people together from the industry and for the record, women and men alike. Okay. To build a sense of a community without judgment where we can really become united and build with purpose. 
David M.: So when you look back at the first day of impact during the pandemic. What was the really the spark that really just drove the movement to this point? 
Mercedes Blanco: I think that will, there was a ton of will from everyone, right? Obviously we started back in the pandemic in 2020 when we were all locked down. So we wanted to belong. We wanted to be part of something and we also the need of doing something together. So I think that the spark was just to, again, build something to belong. And to fight for something that we feel that is right. 
Steve Carran: That's great. So as you've built the Day of Impact, what has been your biggest challenge so far? 
Mercedes Blanco: Finding great partners and great speakers. So thank you so much for being with us today. Yeah. No, but seriously, um, everyone would say that they want to help and support, but then when there is volunteering work. Not everyone will participate, right? So I want to be very thankful to our partners, thanks to you, and thanks to our speakers that are always coming pro bono to do, um, what they know how to do best.
David M.: So for somebody discovering Thrive for the first time, what would you say to them? 
Mercedes Blanco: Okay, I am gonna just tell them. So come join us. I think that is, um, it's our call out. I, we, we really want them to. To be part of this community because it's obviously free of charge. This is a nonprofit. We all do this for, for a reason, just because we believe on the cause and, um, there is room for everyone.
It doesn't matter if you've been in the industry for one year or for 40, we have everyone really. We are very welcoming, very inclusive, and um, we are always looking for help. 
Steve Carran: I'll second that. You're very welcoming, so we appreciate it. So what has been your personal vision and mission for Women in Travel Thrive?
Mercedes Blanco: To have our own voice, to build our own identity, and to really stand out from any other industry association where we are not building co-op or community. My personal mission as Mercedes Blanco is to help. I always, I am willing to connect people, connect them, help them, support them, and I apply those, um, those values to, to thrive or thrive really aligned with my values. I dunno which one comes first, right? And I think that to me is very important. 
David M.: Well, I think we're proud The Modern Hotelier, Steve, myself, and the whole team. We're proud to be working with you guys and being associated with you. So we appreciate you. 
Mercedes Blanco: Well, thank you. You've always been a true partner. So really thank you for being with us today, and I hope that you enjoyed the event. 
Steve Carran: Thank you. Thank you for sitting down with us. 
Mercedes Blanco: Thank you. 
Steve Carran: We are now joined by Silvia Camarota, the co-founder of Women in Travel Thrive. Thank you for sitting down with us today. Silvia, how are you doing today?
Silvia Camarota: I am doing fantastic. My favorite day of the year, being here at HSMAI and HITEC and obviously celebrating with Women in Travel Thrive. 
David M.: So take us back to the beginning and what inspired you. To create women and travel thrive. 
Silvia Camarota: Yeah, so it was a little bit of a sad story, to be honest. Kind of a bummer. But it happened during pandemic and so it was August, 2020. And I think that all of us that have kind of lived through this. Remember exactly where we were and what we were facing and how many people around us, um, lost their job, their livelihoods, et cetera. And I remember sitting, um, in my job and I was very luck, I was still there. I was supported and I continued to be, I  worked with Expedia group on, on a day-to-day basis and thinking, you know what? We have really good community here. We have. We have a sense of belonging. We have women's groups, we have, um, various kind of igs, you know, within our organization, but we had no way of connecting to the outside world at that time.
And I think it was very painful for me because I saw so many people impacted. And I started connecting to various industry, um, colleagues, um, friends, and said, you know, Mercedes being one of them. And, and said to Mercedes and others like, we need to find a way to connect us. We need to support ourselves.
Women need to support women. We need to find a way to build a network even though we are not meeting in person. Um, and we need to do it now. So we found a way to do this, um, in a, in a very impactful way through women in travel thrive. 
Steve Carran: That's great. That's great. So what gap in the hospitality industry were you looking to fill with women in Travel Thrive?
Silvia Camarota: So sort of building on this, because you know, it was kind of a tough time at that point. We also didn't wanna start another association that had member fees. You know, last thing that people needed during that time is, you know, pay some type of membership when they probably didn't even know how they're gonna make it in that day to day.
So that was really impactful and we wanted to make sure the community's open to all, regardless of level, regardless of whether you're women or you wanna be an ally, you wanna be a supporter like you are. And I think we wanted to do that. And the second thing we wanted to do, and this was sort of my kind of personal passion, uh, focus, you know,  I've been part of a lot of nonprofits. I ran HSMI chapters, et cetera, and I know bigger organizations have a lot of really great things and benefits, et cetera, but it's a process. We wanted to sort of cut down a little bit of that red tape and find how can we really tangibly help support these women when they need it most?
And we created what we called empowerment resources. That are essentially very tangible ways so we can support women through their growth and development in the travel industry or back in the day through pandemic. When we saw women leave the industry at the rate of four times the men, it was a way for us to help them come back in, whether it's headshot, you know, new headshot or LinkedIn premium, which is so important, right? As a platform for women to be able to expose themselves to potential employers. So those are things we do and, and we continue to do now. 
David M.: So you touched on it, but we're almost five years in. Yes. From when you started when the pandemic happened and you decided to create this, what? Maybe go a little bit deeper in how this really sparked you to start this association.
Silvia Camarota: Yeah, well, I will say like, I think even if I go even deeper and maybe just reel myself to, to maybe that second quarter when we all lost the ability to meet with one another. I had a great mentor in, in Expedia group, um, and you may even know her, Melissa Mayer, she's a somewhat of a famous person herself, and she was our CMO and at that time she was our, um, chief of, um, DNI as well in the organization.
And I remember asking her, I'm like, Melissa, like we have to find a way to help others. We want to, I want to pay it forward somehow, some way. And I gave her this idea about connecting with other women like Mercedes, and I remember Claudia and Fonte, who's with Margaritaville, who's, who was one of the co-founders and, and many others.
We would have to go on and on about it. But I said to her that, and she's like, Sylvia, you should do it. You should absolutely do it. I'm like, okay, great. And now I was committed because I couldn't come to another one-on-one with her, like a month from now. And she is our executive. And you know, I would be like, Sylvia, did you do that thing that you said you would?
So there was a little bit of an accountability in the process? Yeah. But you know, joking aside, I think it was the time was right. Um, we had a lot of, um. I'm very passionate people. As I started going around and whether they were or um, associates or like-minded women in my organization or others, we sort of said, we can do something to support one another during these times.
Steve Carran: That's great. Absolutely. So looking back at the past five years, how much you've grown, how things have changed, what keeps you grounded in your original mission? 
Silvia Camarota: Yeah. I think it's the sense of purpose, to be very honest. It's, um, you know, it's like in many small ways. I'm privileged. I feel like I'm privileged because I can do this. I am supported by my sort of day-to-day organization that's allowing me to kind of give back in this way. Um, and there are small things personally that I feel like I can give back through paying it forward and through volunteering. Um, I look our organization, women in Travel, thrive, clearly we're not a pandemic anymore.
But the mission sort of remains and we think about it. How can we continue to close that gender equity gap that still exists in so many different parts? Even in our industry, unfortunately, Women in Travel Thrive, everyone is a volunteer.
David M.: What keeps them motivated and keeps them continue to contribute and, and support the organization?
Silvia Camarota: Yeah, it's very interesting, but we've seen a lot of volunteers sort of come and go we allowed our organization to be somewhat fluid. So you can come in, you can contribute, you can pay forward. But if, let's say life gets in the way and you have a new job, you know, you can step away for a little bit.
And over the course of five years, we had a lot of volunteers come and go. But I think for most of them it was sort of the same thing that I described to you around sense of purpose. But for some it could be honing their skills. We've had some, um, young leaders kind of come into our space and say, Hey, I'm here to create your social posts, or I can help you with this event and for some it's to create the connection and maybe create a ma next match between themselves and a new employer. So I think there's a lot of ways and a lot of reasons why one can jump into our community and help. 
Steve Carran: Great. Awesome. Well, that's great. Thank you so much for stopping by. 
Silvia Camarota: Thank you for your support.
Steve Carran: We are now joined by Cezary Pietrasik, author of Homo Idioticus. Thanks for sitting down with us. Cezary, how are you doing today? 
Cezary Pietrasik: Pleasure. Very well. Very well. Very good to be here. 
Steve Carran: Good, good, good. So Cezary, you began your career at McKinsey and then JP Morgan went on to build after JP Morgan. You went to build your own startup and ai, and now you've published your own book. What motivates you to make these bold transformations? 
Cezary Pietrasik: I think I'm a traveler by heart. It's just I want to explore, I want to learn life. Uh, in as many issues and dimensions as it has. So, so far I'm thinking that I lived like three different lives of, of my career, and now I'm living another one of an author. I hope I will live many more and I'm wishing this to a lot of people just travel through life gathering a lot of experiences. 
David M.: Yeah. And so take us through what's your mission, kind of the way you're approaching things and kind of what's your personal mission and, and the way you approach. Your everyday life.
Cezary Pietrasik: Well, look, um, after writing Hokus, I think that my mission should be fighting stupidity. 
David M.: You got the right team. 
Cezary Pietrasik: I think that, look, it's the fight. We will never win, 
David M.: right? 
Cezary Pietrasik: It's the fight that is though glorious. It's honorable, it's necessary. It's, it's, we'll be overpowered by our own stupidity, by stupidity of our, but we still shall fight and it's the beautiful fight. It’s what makes the world a better place. It's what makes us better, and it's also something that we share between us. So, uh, you know, we are, I believe we are all a little bit stupid, less or more, but all of us. So fighting your own and others people's stupidity is a good purpose in life.
Steve Carran: Well, I like it. I love that. So, as you said in your book, homo Idiotic, you use examples to highlight our own stupidity. Which bias do you think. Fits most systemic in the hospitality industry, and how can leaders really dismantle that? 
Cezary Pietrasik: I think that there's probably a few. I would say that availability bias is something that the industry is subjected to a lot, which is looking at the things that others are doing or you see or you know you're familiar with instead of looking broader further.
For inspiration, example. Unusual out of the box solutions. And another thing is another bias, I think the industry is subjected to a lot is the conformity bias, right? Is the hierarchical nature, nature of the industry and the fact that you want to conform, which is very natural, which is very human. We all through our prehistoric times, have learned to become part of society.
That's what made us stronger, but. Now when we are really sophisticated, I think it makes us sometimes too conformative to things that don't necessarily have to be the same. 
David M.: What's one of the key takeaways that you'd like people who are here today, or people who, who meet you, that they can implement immediately to just as you would say, think smarter.
Cezary Pietrasik: So definitely be aware of those biases. Be aware of many other biases that I, that I spoke about in the book and don't be afraid of coming up with the new solution. So if there is, probably one thing I would leave is this availability bias. The fact that something is done this way and you've seen it done this way, doesn't mean that it cannot be the done the other way.
Right, and I'm using a lot of the example of, you know, for women, um, you know, a lot of women think that they are not naturally predisposed to be in stem, you know, science, technology, engineering and maths. But you know what, this may be in your environments. Look at some other environments. You know, in other countries like Iran, 70% of graduates of STEM are women. So it really is about availability. Like it's my group and there's other groups which have different. Set of rules. 
Steve Carran: So you're obviously a big supporter of women owning their own business and starting their own companies. What advice do you have to women out there that may be thinking about starting their own business?
Cezary Pietrasik: I would say that learn the biases about the biases that we have, about the conformity bias, about the, the bias of love, of strength and authority. A lot of, sadly, sadly, we have this. We like the characters bigger than life characters. We follow the more the aggressive people and the powerful people as, as, as women.
I think female leaders, they should learn about all of this so that they can really calibrate the message and they should, they should learn how to take advantage of their own classical or natural abilities to make greater impact and make, uh, greater financial success. And my other co speaker will talk about specific methods of how to create more wealth and be more financially secure in the industry.
Steve Carran: Well said. Very welcome. Well, thank you for sitting down with us, Cezary. We really appreciate it and looking forward to your keynote speech today. 
Cezary Pietrasik: Thank you. 
Steve Carran: We are now joined by Syama Bunten, CEO of Big Delta Capital. Thanks for sitting down with us. Syama, how you doing today? 
Syama Bunten: I'm doing fantastic. Thanks for having me. Thank you. 
David M.: So first as the host of Getting Rich Together podcast, what has inspired you to focus on the financial empowerment of I think women in general? 
Syama Bunten: Absolutely. So right now as it stands, you know, women are only. Gosh, 28% of women are confident with their capital, and so I basically decided to create a platform and a podcast so that women could hear other financial stories of other women and find a place to see themselves in the world and go, huh, maybe I can try this investment strategy or.
Think about my life a little bit differently. So it's all storytelling, all first person experience sharing and guys, it's the top 100 investing podcast and it has no financial advice in there, right? It is all storytelling. So go figure. 
Steve Carran: I love it. Sitting down with a fellow podcaster. It's great. So I'm excited to hear this, your workshop, co confident and in control building wealth on your own terms, what mindset shift do you think is really important for women? Who wanna truly take control of their financial future. 
Syama Bunten: Yes. You know, at the core of it, women have been historically disenfranchised, right? We're normally, typically thought of when it comes to spending capital but not investing capital. And I want women to realize that when we think about our values and our money, we can actually start to spend our time and our money behind the people, businesses, and ideas that we believe in. And when we do that, guys, we change men's lives, we change family's lives, and we can change the world. 
David M.: Yeah. So, we, Steve, and I think it's important. So talk to us about kind of the, the approaching coming at the approach of this by gender versus just by in, you know, financial commitment or, or talking to anyone. Tell, talk us about the financial and gender side. Absolutely. 
Syama Bunten: Yeah. You know, the reason why we take a gendered approach to this is because of simply the way that women intuit.
Hear information, take action on information. It was, it would almost be as if, why do you choose to teach people with different cultural backgrounds in a different way? And so with women, I think a big part of it has been. Something scientific, which is epigenetically, right? We've been sort of carrying traumas and things about money in the world, but also women are historically the caregivers, right?
We're the ones who are putting everyone else first. But when you look at things like the Great Wealth Transfer, and women are going to inherit more than $30 trillion. In the next five years, if we do not empower women, speak their language and talk to them, then we really have a very scary moment where money might come out of the economy, out of fear.
And that is the thing we're trying to close the gap on. More money in the economy, more women putting money behind businesses they believe in, um, and then we can all get rich together. 
Steve Carran: Right. That makes sense. Sounds great. What was one of your most surprising lessons that you found in helping women build generational wealth?
Syama Bunten: That it's not about the money, which is kind of a really funny thing to say. Yes, it's not about the money. It's actually about money. Stories. So just like when you guys were little, you had a world around you. You saw your parents do things or caregivers around you, and subsequently, most of your life decisions around money and maybe who you married and maybe some other things were because of the people around you.
And so the most astonishing thing has actually been in closing this gap, hearing how many women are coming forth and reconciling their stories with how they choose to make decisions. Right. 
David M.: So for those who are balancing, you know, demanding hospitality careers with their personal commitments, family, what's a tip you would give them that would basically, you know, kinda show them like as, as we talk about the day of impact and to the beginning of wealth in their terms?
Syama Bunten: You know, I think especially with women in hospitality who are already naturally inclined to be caregivers, caretakers, anyone in hospitality is in the business of giving, right? Right. So you think about that as sort of by profession, and then if you have families you're giving again, right? You're just keep on giving.
Now the truth of it is if we really wanna change things, we have to give to ourselves and our future. First, we hear a lot about filling up our own cup. And so the one thing that I think is so important is that every woman feel a sense of agency to do something small. You know, I don't think everyone needs to go and invest in venture capital.
I don't think everyone's gonna become a real estate mogul, though some might. But it really takes doing something small and building up that muscle to say, you know what? I'm gonna take the step for my own financial security and therefore protect my family and my community in the process. 
David M.: And that's great, and we will make sure that people are able to find you, find your podcast. And we really appreciate your time. 
Syama Bunten: Thanks for having me.
David M.: Thank you. Thank you. 
Steve Carran: We're now joined by Rachel Kooyman at Women in Travel Thrive. Thanks for sitting down with us. Rachel, how you doing today? 
Rachel Kooyman: Of course, I'm great. I'm great. It's beautiful here in Indianapolis. 
Steve Carran: Absolutely. So, I'd love to hear a little bit more backstory how you got involved in Women in Travel Thrive.
Rachel Kooyman: Well, I've always been in hospitality since I was a youngin and during a certain time recently, I lost my job and I was looking for ways to improve myself. What people who could help me and I found Thrive I signed up to be a volunteer and I kept volunteering and I kept not being able to say no and found that more and more it was just a great place to work. So work for, and here we are. 
David M.: Love that. So what is your favorite part about being involved with Thrive? 
Rachel Kooyman: The people. The people and the support. The people I've met, the stories I've heard and the way I've been able to help others. 'cause that's. Part of what I do, I just help others and I can, that's what I can do here.
Steve Carran: That's great. That's great. Yeah. That's good. So we're here in Indianapolis with you at the Women in Travel Thrive Event. What's the next big event coming up for Thrive? 
Rachel Kooyman: We have a good one. So last year there was the first annual, um, retreat that included women in travel thrive, and we went to Cancun. 
David M.: Ooh.
Rachel Kooyman: It was so great. We had, you know, we had mentorship, we had, you know, team building. We even got lifestyle photos that I've been able to use all over the place. And this year we're going to Costa Rica in the, um, in beginning of October. So that is the next event and really should, well, if you want to come, you can.
Steve Carran: We wouldn't mind being the official podcast of Costa Rica. Sounds pretty good. Yeah, I'm, I'm good with that. I'll run it by the ladies. Something out. Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for sitting down with us, Rachel. We really appreciate it, and we look forward to seeing you in Costa Rica. 
Rachel Kooyman: Perfect. Thanks for having me.
Steve Carran: Thank you. Thank you. 
David M.: Thank you for joining us with the Women in Travel Thrive here in Indianapolis. We enjoyed our conversations. 
Steve Carran: If you're interested in learning more about Women in Travel Thrive, check out the link in the comments, and hopefully we'll see you at the next event. Thanks for tuning in.