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Over the past few months, as the word about co-mads has spread, the vision of co-mads has expanded in an organic way. I’ve been pitching co-mads as a domestic group travel company that focuses on local culture and community impact, but my story and my preaching of the “travel & do good” lifestyle has caused people from all different backgrounds to reach out to me in hopes that I’d work with them on different projects.

Businesses and organizations are resonating with the mission and asking us to plan trips for their employees and/or members; nonprofits are asking us to plan their events/fundraisers, and so many other opportunities have risen that I wouldn’t have thought possible a few months ago. We will, of course, keep the summer 2019 trips and recreational trips will still be a large part of co-mads going forward, but hey, if we can work with businesses/organizations in the Capital Region and beyond to help them become more socially responsible, that’s what we’re going to do.  

Despite following these new paths, everything we do will be in line with our mission statement…to provide individuals the opportunity to embark on culturally immersive adventures, while collaborating with leaders, nonprofit organizations, and social enterprises that are changing the world.

As the owner of a developing business, it can be difficult to go with the flow and veer off the path that you visualized when you took your first steps toward entrepreneurship, but it is so vital that you keep an open mind and grab opportunity as it presents itself. As the momentum of possibility has been building over the past few weeks, co-mads will continue to move with the tide and grow with open eyes and open ears.

Click the link below to check out me, Gabby Fisher, CEO of co-mads, featured on the Seize the Way podcast from the United Way of the Capital Region, hosted by my dear friend and President/CEO, Peter Gannon.

Link to podcast here

Back in the fall, I had the privilege of meeting Maureen Sager, Executive Director of the Upstate Alliance for the Creative Economy, or ACE. In short, from their website, “ACE originated from long-term discussions with a broad spectrum of stakeholders representing Capital Region arts organizations, private corporations, philanthropists, economic development, chambers of commerce, non-profit organizations, financial organizations, media, and educational institutions.”  

Within 10 minutes of me telling Maureen about co-mads and her telling told me about her ideas and efforts to build a “Cultural Tourism Committee” here in the Capital Region (CR), she asked if I’d like to be involved in the initiative. This committee would be a subcommittee of a larger effort to rebrand the region… to put the CR on the map as a great place to visit, live, work, and play. You have NYC, the Berkshires, Buffalo…and then there’s this vacant hole in upstate that no one really talks about. THE CAPITAL OF NEW YORK FOR PETE’S SAKE! In reality, we have so much to offer, so much potential. I’ll tell you a few reasons why.

The Daily Gazette recently wrote an article on Maureen and the creative economy, which can be found here. Get this… “Creative industries put 47,000 individuals to work and generate $1.4 billion in earnings each year in the Capital Region, according to ACE. Over 16,000 of those individuals freelance – that’s a higher percentage of freelancers in the creative industries here in the Capital Region than in New York City or Boston, according to ACE.”

Those are alarming statistics, but statistics don’t tell the whole story. I love this region. I’ve traveled around the world and I choose to live here. The communities within the CR unite when tragedy hits, the arts/culture/food allow for a different experience every day of the week, you can get to most important major cities in three hours or less, you can be in the city one minute and on the lake or a mountain 30 minutes later…I could go on, but another reason this is such a great place to be a young professional/entrepreneur is the willingness of people to help lift you up. Throughout the development process of co-mads, I’ve been lucky enough to connect with people who are far more successful than I. They want to lift me up with them, they want to lend guidance in my exploration of entrepreneurship, and they have provided me opportunities I would’ve never had on my own. I’m convinced that in many bigger cities, these people would be too busy to meet for coffee, or would have a competitive mindset that would disallow them from sharing resources with me…that’s been the experience of some of my friends living in these cities.

I’ve joined ACE’s Cultural Tourism Committee for all of these reasons. I’d imagine that the other business owners and organization leaders who sit on the committee have similar reasons. I want to put the CR on the map, because it deserves to be on the map. I want to share my story as to how this place has helped me reach my goals and I want to magnify the stories of others. I want to bring people into this region and show them our arts, culture, and more. I want local people to feel the pride for the CR the way I feel it.

This Cultural Tourism initiative will be kicked off in a major event on April 30^th in Troy (more information to come). I will continue to write about this project and its impact.

What. A. Journey. This journey of entrepreneurship has taken me to places I never thought I would see. Every day, I learn more about myself – I encounter a new strength, a weakness. Every day I meet someone inspiring, I struggle, I thrive, I get nervous, I get excited about the potential of the future and every day, I grow. Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster. I love it. I’m taking big risks each day to build a business with a mission I believe in. I think this past week was the first time it struck me that this is my life now, especially after being featured in a Startup Grind Fireside Chat event interviewed by Patrice Perkins about my journey and the development of co-mads.

Startup Grind is a global startup community, an initiative by Google, designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs. I was shocked when Patrice asked me to be the focus of one of her events. Quite frankly, I was like…why me? My business is still in development, we haven’t taken any trips yet, we haven’t made a penny…why would anyone want to listen to what I have to say about business or being an entrepreneur? I felt this way all the way up to the moment when I sat in that chair to be interviewed in front of the audience and video camera (the interview will be posted on Startup Grind’s global YouTube channel). It wasn’t until after our hour-long discussion, when I was able to connect with members of the audience that I realized the impact my story has on people, and the draw they feel to the people/community-first mission of co-mads. They talked about how my passion made an impact on them and that they could feel my energy as they listened. Every person I spoke to that night said they wanted to take one of our trips and resonated with the “travel & do good” lifestyle. I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe it. I never thought that I would have the opportunity to be part of an event like this, especially in this stage of my business, but Patrice allowed me this platform because of my story and my devotion to genuinely wanting to make the world a better place through travel and community impact. I feel incredibly honored and grateful to all of those who have taken a leap of faith because they believed in me.

Moral of the story…focus on your story. People fall in love with your story when you’re authentic and when they can clearly see and feel the passion you have for what you’re doing. People believe in you when you believe in your own vision. Focus on finding what makes you feel alive; follow that while developing your vision; and share your vision with anyone who will listen. Opportunity will follow.

As part of our trinity of modern travel model, co-mads promotes conscious consumerism by building itineraries that support small and locally owned businesses. This aims to promote the health of the communities we immerse ourselves in throughout our travels. There are three main ways co-mads stimulates the local economy wherever we go…

1. We bring in unique customers: If you’re a small restaurant, bar, retail space owner, etc., we’re bringing in 10-12 new customers to spend their money in your establishment. That’s great for business.
2. Visibility: Not only are these consumers are spending money in your venue, but are also taking photos/videos of your product/space, posting them on their social media accounts, and tagging your location. Some of their followers will likely click your page, follow, and bookmark you so they can visit you on a trip they may take in the future. I do this frequently…when I see my friends out and posting food pics or hyping up a new spot they found, I’ll save it so it can be added to my itinerary for a future adventure. This allows the establishments we visit to build ties with a community that extends nationally, and even internationally in some cases. We post about it on our co-mads platforms and website, too!
3. We find local hotspots: We stay away from top tourist destinations and we aren’t using the popular travel sites to plan our itineraries for us. We work with locals to find the most authentic recommendations for the food we eat, for the activities we partake in, and for the places we see and spend time in, etc. We are helping support the small mom and pop spots that need economic support and have limited resources for visibility in their own communities and beyond and we’re bringing attention to the hidden gems of each city.

So when you take a co-mads trip, you’re not only participating in an opportunity for self-growth and discovery, but you’re also developing opportunities for the local enterprises and helping them to sustain strong communities and entrepreneurial opportunities for everybody who has a dream.

Hey guys, sorry for the delay on the blog…Allie and I have been in Southern California ironing out some details of our San Diego trip. I have an exciting development to share!

Part of the community impact piece of co-mads is finding a grassroots organization in each of our destinations that is working on issues specific to the region they are located. For example, San Diego has the fourth largest population of homeless people in the states. Therefore, we researched organizations doing hands-on work and making a real difference in the streets of San Diego. I set up a call with Landon, Programs & Operations Manager, of Think Dignity. After our first call, I knew this was the perfect collaboration for co-mads. Despite Landon being from Albany, NY (my hometown), his passion, knowledge, and compassion for the work he was doing with Think Dignity was contagious. I got off the call feeling energized and ready to find 10 other eager people willing to support their mission.

Think Dignity’s mission is to inspire, empower, and organize the San Diego community to advance basic dignity for those living on the streets, through hands-on advocacy and activism. From their Fresh Start Shower program, to the Legal Referral and Advocacy Clinic, the work they are doing is through a human-first approach and they provide services that would otherwise be unavailable. Allie and I got to see this first hand in our visit to San Diego. We spent an hour at the Fresh Start Showers, in which they bring a mobile two-shower mobile trailer to provide access to a safe shower facility for individuals living in various communities throughout San Diego (I encourage you to visit the site to read more about all of their programs here.). We met a man who was working on setting up/cleaning the showers. He had been involved with Think Dignity for about eight years. He had been living on the streets for as long as he could remember, until he got his own apartment two weeks ago. He described how this organization had opened up doors for him and how it had paved the way to him being independent. His positivity and appreciation for Think Dignity radiated and it was contagious.

Over the next few months, co-mads will be working with Landon and their other team members to develop an agenda of what our three volunteer days will look like to ensure a productive and meaningful experience for everyone involved. Allie and I learned a great deal during the hour and a half we spent with these people and we left feeling inspired…imagine what a life changing adventure this will be for everybody after three days. Counting down the days until our first trip in June!