Meet Brenda Wabomnor | Travel Curator & Marketing Strategist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brenda Wabomnor and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brenda, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I’ve always had a passion for travel – my family is from Nigeria and majority of my family still lives there, so I’ve been traveling since I was a baby. Once I was old enough to start traveling on my own, I started branching out to visiting countries in Europe. The more I traveled, the greater my appreciation grew for how big the world is and how beautiful other cultures are. The idea of turning my love for travel into a business stemmed from the fact that I wanted more people of color to experience other cultures on a larger scale. I believe there is often a misconception that traveling across the ocean is too hard or too expensive, but I wanted to use my experiences to show young people that gaining a larger perspective of the world is much more attainable than they think. Once I met my current business partner in 2021 and realized he shared the same love and passion for travel as I did, “Where To Next” was born.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Outside of planning and hosting group trips and private trip itineraries for my travel business, I also work full time managing a strategy & communications team at a Fortune 100 financial services company. I am most proud of my ability to manage a demanding senior leadership role at my company, while also maintaining my travel business. It’s not easy to balance – in general I work 8am-5pm at my corporate job, and 6p-10p on my travel business. The days are LONG, but they are so rewarding. I love meeting with a new travel client who has no clue where to start with their vacation, and seeing how relaxed and safe they feel when they entrust me to plan their trip. Or when I’m hosting a group trip, and get to see the joy and light in my group’s eyes as they experience another culture for the first time. It’s a priceless experience, and no longer feels like I’m even working. One day I would like to pursue managing my travel business full-time, but until then I want the world to know it is absolutely possible to work a fulfilling career while simultaneously chasing your passion.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
This is a fun question because I’m not from Atlanta, so whenever a best friend does visit me, I have an itinerary of what they MUST do while here. Atlanta has excellent culinary options – I like to give them a little taste of everything. For brunch, I like to take them to Toast on Lenox because the ambiance and french toast are unmatched! For dinner, I love MCK – black owned, amazing service and ambiance, plus delicious food. And for drinks, Atlanta has some very cute vibes like JoJo’s Beloved Speakeasy in Colony Square. Lastly, to hang out, I would absolutely take them to Holiday Bar in West Midtown or just bar hopping around Midtown in general is always a great experience as well.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to shoutout my Mother, she raised me and my siblings to believe the sky is the limit. All four of us own our own businesses in addition to working full time careers. And all four of us love traveling, and prioritize visiting new countries every year. We were first generation immigrants and did not grow up with a lot of money, but my mother found a way to save up enough to start our world travels at such young ages. Her grit is what drives and motivates me today.

Website: www.wtntravels.com

Instagram: @beeword

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/brendawabomnor