US with Dr. Crystallee Crain: Critical Conversations On the Challenges and Opportunities of Our Times: Women, Travel, Leadership & Life with Beth Santos

Today we have a very special guest with us, Beth Santos - the founder and CEO of Wanderful. Beth and I met at the first-ever Wanderfest event in New Orleans in March of this year. She was so supportive and her team created an environment where I felt like I had found my tribe. 

For me, travel has been a major part of my identity, and that's why I resonate so much with Beth. Since I was a teenager I’ve had the joy of the world being my greatest teacher, a tool for my own healing, and a resource for personal and professional growth. 

Stay with us for the next hour as Beth and I talk about travel and leadership.

With a background in international development, thoughtful community building, and social enterprise, Beth Santos is out to change the landscape of travel for women worldwide. In 2009, while cruising her blue motorcycle through the streets of São Tomé and Príncipe, Beth created the first iteration of Wanderful as a travel blog aimed to explore the diverse and shared experiences of women traveling the world. Today, Wanderful has exploded to an international community and social network with the active participation of over 40,000 women and gender-diverse people of all ages and backgrounds. This is manifested through an active membership community, chapter events in over 50 global cities worldwide, and annual community events and trips.

In 2014, Beth created the WITS Travel Creator + Brand Summit, the leading event for women and gender diverse travel creators, entrepreneurs, and industry to use their voices to champion change in the travel industry, now hosted annually on two continents This event has earned international acclaim and attracted top talent in the travel industry and beyond, leading to the 2019 creation of the Bessie Awards — an award ceremony to honor women of impact in the travel space. In combatting social inequity and encouraging people to travel thoughtfully, Wanderful is the creator of the Moving Forward Anti-Racism Town Hall for the Travel Industry, recognized in Business Insider and Phocuswire, as well as the first Anti-Oppression Toolkit for Travel + Culture Creators.

In 2022, Wanderful launched Wanderfest, the first major outdoor travel festival by and for women, hailed by Fodor’s Travel as the new festival to add to your radar.

Wanderful has been recognized in top publications such as Skift, Lonely Planet, the Boston Globe, the South China Morning Post, Forbes, Business Insider and the Chicago Tribune.

Beth has been recognized in Business Insider as one of 17 changemakers transforming the hospitality industry, in Conde Nast Traveller as one of 12 inspiring people to follow for International Women’s Day,  in TimeOut as one of 10 people shaping the future of Boston, as well as a BostInno 50 on Fire, a Chicago Scholars 35 Under 35 Young Leader Making an Impact, a Zell Fellow (a prestigious fellowship for entrepreneurs pursuing their MBA), and an alumna of the Babson WIN Lab. She was recognized by the Obama Administration as one of the top 100 travel bloggers in the US. In 2022, she was named Godmother of the Azamara Onward.

She is a dynamic keynote speaker, an entrepreneurship and marketing consultant for the travel + tourism industry, and a supportive coach who thrives on helping people build lasting, impactful communities.