Last Friday, March 20th, was a momentous day.
In a rare celestial overlap, it marked the start of three major global events:
In Iran, parts of Central and West Asia, and the Caucasus, 300 million people celebrated Nowruz, an ancient Persian holiday with roots in Zoroastrian traditions.
Billions of Muslims have joined across the world to mark the end of Ramadan in Eid Al Fitr celebrations.
Equinox has kicked in at 10:46 am EST, vanquishing darkness once more in the northern Hemisphere for the next little while.
In my corner of the globe, on the shores of a deep-blue lake, morning birdsong has now become nearly as loud as the sound of traffic.
Spring, it seems, is inevitable.
And with it, some stubborn hope for new beginnings is starting to peek through the dark, like spring daffodils emerging from the blackened, thawing soil.
Fueled by a yearning for a kinder present and a more just future on a healthy planet where people can gather safely, breathe freely, and live a full human life, these bright, fragile flowers remind us that all things, including wars, eventually come to an end, that new things can bloom in their place.
A better world is possible.
In the words of one of my favorite authors, Arundhati Roy, she is "...not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”
xx Yulia
🏠 Inside Going Places
A preview of our season
ICYMI: our season trailer is out now. In it, we take a peek at the conversations we're having this Spring; they're all about changing narratives.
Take a listen here.
Yulia Denisyuk
Coming up this week
➡️ This Wednesday, you'll hear from Lale Arikoglu, a longtime editor at Condé Nast Traveler and the host of the Women Who Travel podcast (that just won an iHeart Media award).
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🚀 Paid Members Corner
This week's creator opportunities
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Member news
In this new section, we share exciting updates from our paid member community.
Today, we're celebrating Sororal, a travel company with feminist roots that has just earned the rigorous B Corp certification.
Sororal's co-founder, Megan Ryder-Burbidge, is a Going Places member, and she appeared on our show last season to discuss how Sororal combines brand advocacy for women with its work in the travel space.
Congrats Megan and Sororal!
🌍 In The World
Marketing through a crisis
Lex Roman of the Revenue Rulebreaker has interviewed me for a piece about marketing during a crisis.
It's a dilemma many small operators face.
Unlike corporations, we're often expected to show up in business honestly, with our full values. During a crisis like the current illegal war on Iran by the U.S. and Israeli governments, this expectation comes with a question: do we continue business as usual or take a pause?
Corporations have cushions to weather the storms; small operators don't. If we stop talking about our products, our services, and our work, even for a little while, our livelihood also stops.
To understand how others are addressing (or not) this crisis in their businesses, Lex has spoken to 10 entrepreneurs like me with ties to Minneapolis, Portland, Venezuela, Lebanon, and Jordan. You can read the piece here.
I particularly loved how Lex described our mission:
"For journalist Yulia Denisyuk of Going Places, navigating the complexity of the world is the foundation of her business. She launched her brand with the mission to decolonize travel, center Indigenous voices, and recognize the interdependency of all who inhabit the Earth. [...]
Yulia doesn't believe there is such a thing as business as usual, and at the same time, she's feeling the financial repercussions of running a business that's willing to engage in deep political conversations. The cost is real but, for business owners like Yulia, there's no other way to operate than to deal directly with what's happening in the world."
Precisely.
Radostina Boseva is our Founding Member
Radostina Boseva is a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based in San Francisco.
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