Pivot With Purpose Season 4 Episode 5 Full Transcript

[00:00:00] Announcer: Pivot With Purpose, a podcast that highlights the unique stories of professionals that pivoted their careers to align with their work lives and personal lives more purposefully and with more joy.

[00:00:23] Announcer: Pivot what purpose is hosted by Megan Hall, a globally accredited career and business coach and creator of the Megan Hall Method. 

[00:00:32] Meghan Houle: Welcome back to the Pivot with Purpose podcast. I'm your host, Megan Ho, and in this episode we talk to Jen Tenser, founder of the solo. A solo travel planning company. 

[00:00:45] Announcer: Thank you for listening to Pivot With Purpose, with Host Megan, who you can find out more information about each guest, including full transcripts at Pivot with purpose podcast.com.

[00:00:58] Announcer: And if you'd like to share your own pivot with purpose, click on the share button and add your story to the conversation. Finally, be sure. And share your comments wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. Your support amplifies our voice. And now this week's episode, 

[00:01:18] Meghan Houle: after 10 plus years in a career investment banking in Manhattan, Jen was burnt out and ready for a career reset.

[00:01:26] Meghan Houle: She started the soloist to fuel her passions for inspiring others to travel beyond their comfort zones and live a life with. In our current business, Jen, planned solo trips that help her clients feel safe, exploring the world alone, and also host group trips for travelers to explore fabulous locations together.

[00:01:48] Meghan Houle: I promise. After this podcast episode, you will be ready for some solo travel. Jen Tensor, welcome to the Pivot With Purpose Podcast. Thank you so much for being here with me today. How are. 

[00:02:00] Jen Tenzer: Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here. I'm doing great. Good. Yes. 

[00:02:05] Meghan Houle: Well, I'm excited to dive into those juicy career pivots you have and talk all things travel.

[00:02:11] Meghan Houle: My favorite topic as I feel you are someone who truly epitomizes kicking that nine to five corporate America world, which I'm so excited to dive into all that in the successes that you've had there, building your own business now. And really before we dive into your pivots, I would love to catch. On what's going on in your world now?

[00:02:30] Meghan Houle: What are you up to? We got a new year, new calendar planning. Any exciting trips for 2023? Tell us what you're up 

[00:02:36] Jen Tenzer: to Currently, I am currently. Busy , as I think everyone is post New Year, but very busy with this new business, which we'll get into. Busy planning people's trips. I am also planning a group retreat to Costa Rica for May, which is very exciting and.

[00:02:58] Jen Tenzer: Yeah, just keeping busy with travels and planning other people's travels. I love it. 

[00:03:03] Meghan Houle: Yeah. Well, and especially too as we kick off this new season of life in this first quarter, I feel like February's a lot of breaks coming up. March, spring breaks, we kind of get through the first half of the year and of course, even after the holidays, were itching to get back, but traveling not for family and parties, but for different things.

[00:03:21] Meghan Houle: So that is so awesome. Love to hear that you're busy as we dive into. Jen before creating this incredible business. Tell us, initially growing up, what were some of your young Jen career aspirations? 

[00:03:38] Jen Tenzer: Young Jen was just very consumed with making my parents proud of me, and so that meant. Growing up wanting to be a doctor or a lawyer or what I turned out to be a banker, something demanding, something that made a lot of money, something that seemed prestigious, and again, just something that I felt they would be proud of.

[00:04:03] Jen Tenzer: So that was kind of the path that I took and studied finance in college and started my career in investment banking in Manhattan. 

[00:04:12] Meghan Houle: Yeah. Wow. So are you. New York, how did you pivot and land that first job? What brought you to this city? If you're not from like, tell us a little bit about that 

[00:04:21] Jen Tenzer: story. I'm not, I'm from the suburbs of Chicago.

[00:04:25] Jen Tenzer: Nice. But my parents were both from New York originally, and so I had a bunch of family out here and grew up coming out to New York quite a bit and was always really attracted to the city life. I don't know, I guess I just, even at a young age was kind of. Urban person. And so I remember very vividly, even in second grade coming to New York and thinking to myself, wow, like I'd really love to live here one day.

[00:04:52] Jen Tenzer: Mm-hmm. and I went to college in the Midwest. I got a job back in Chicago, in finance right after college, and very quickly through that job. got an opportunity to transfer out to their New York office and just kind of jumped at it for those reasons. So I've been out here since college, which is, Ooh, close to 13 years I guess, or so now.

[00:05:18] Jen Tenzer: Yeah. Awesome. 

[00:05:20] Meghan Houle: Navigating through the city and even Chicago, I mean even in the suburbs, did you go into the city a lot in Chicago where you was always drawn to that? 

[00:05:28] Jen Tenzer: Even more. You grew up. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Any chance to go out to dinner in the city or go see a play? Anything like that? I was just really lit up by, yeah, all the energy.

[00:05:40] Meghan Houle: I love it. One of my pivots, I'm from New York, but we call it upstate New York, and then upstate New York actually means a couple of different things depending on how upstate you are. So I'm Albany, Saratoga, upstate, not Syracuse Upstate. Yeah. I went to school in New Hampshire and then. Moving to Massachusetts and actually live full-time in the wonderful vacation world of Cape Cod, where I spent summers growing up with my mom and definitely outgrew the cape very quickly.

[00:06:08] Meghan Houle: Just like you, big, big energy person kind of from this like small New York town, which is now very developed, of course, like everything in the world now. But I would find myself driving to the city, to Boston, all the. And I think it's so exciting when you just have this urge, especially young, to be fearless and travel and go into the city and kind of do some things that scare you, that then you kind of put in your mind, I guess, manifest whatever it is.

[00:06:35] Meghan Houle: And there you land. So good for you. Yeah. Following 

[00:06:39] Jen Tenzer: that childhood dream . Yes. Follow the dream. 

[00:06:41] Meghan Houle: So when did you know it was time to make a move from finance? Talk to us a little bit about what you were doing and then sort of that burning desire in your soul where you just knew like, okay, 

[00:06:52] Jen Tenzer: I gotta do something else.

[00:06:53] Jen Tenzer: So like I said, I was in finance for a pretty long time. I wasn't one of those people. It's very common in finance, especially investment banking, which is like kind of a grueling. Career. Lots of hours, lots of aggressive personalities that I worked with. Mm-hmm. Hmm. , it's common to transition out of that after about two to three years, it's less common to do 11 years, rise up the ranks and do really well in it and then leave.

[00:07:23] Jen Tenzer: So I would say the way that it kind of manifested for me was little by little over the years. I would say the last few years I was. I just kind of started getting this little intuitive voice saying, you know, are you sure this is really what you wanna be doing for the rest of your life? Mm-hmm. , you know, do you really wanna be spending all of your days like this incredibly stressed out, working these crazy hours?

[00:07:52] Jen Tenzer: And I would look at my bosses and honestly, their lives didn't look dramatically different than a lot of the junior peoples. Yeah. In the sense. , maybe they weren't sitting at their desk until 2:00 AM They were still kind of like handcuffed to this life and their phone and being on call all the time. And I just started to feel less and less aligned with that.

[00:08:19] Jen Tenzer: And it kind of came to a head the last year that I was in that career. I. A big promotion. I was now considered like senior in terms of the role that I had. And you know, now my job was to look to that last kind of final promotion as the goal and like really just start grinding towards that. And I just felt like I just did not want.

[00:08:50] Jen Tenzer: Yeah. And so if I didn't want that, why am I about to just start killing myself again for this next promotion? Yeah, only to potentially leave soon after. And 

[00:09:02] Meghan Houle: seeing then how the inner workings of what it meant to be an executive for you, balance life, quality of life, wasn't really gonna change much. And good for you for having that internal awareness to say.

[00:09:17] Meghan Houle: This path is no longer serving me as I know so many people struggle in sort of finding that career clarity. It's what I work on and coach a lot. And obviously doing full-time recruitment in terms of finding new people jobs. But why travel? Where did this travel bug come in and then what was that pivot like for you?

[00:09:34] Meghan Houle: When did you just commit and say, okay, I'm doing this. So was travel also an aspiration younger? And then like how did it all come to fruition for. 

[00:09:45] Jen Tenzer: You know, obviously I think most people love travel. So travel was always something that I really enjoyed, and I think during this career in my adult post-college life, it was this retreat to peace and sanity and interconnectedness for me.

[00:10:02] Jen Tenzer: So any chance that I got to take off time from. All I wanted to do was travel to far flung destinations have adventures, and specifically within the travel space. I really fell in love with solo traveling, you know, and that was kind of by necessity at first, I didn't have a partner. I maybe got some time off from work that wasn't conducive to when friends or family had time off, but I knew that.

[00:10:32] Jen Tenzer: Really needed the break. And so I would just go. I would just travel and I had these unbelievable experiences alone. I was so empowered by this ability to just travel to the other side of the world independently, go through mishaps on my own, come out of the other side. A lot of confidence came from that, and I came home just feeling on top of the.

[00:11:00] Jen Tenzer: And so when I started to want to quit my job, I kept coming back to this idea of travel. This is when I feel the happiest. This is when I feel the most free, the most myself. And so ultimately I decided to quit my job, not to go and do something else, but just to take a break and detox. Mm-hmm. and. I mean, 

[00:11:25] Meghan Houle: amen.

[00:11:27] Meghan Houle: you and travel is so, so, so good for the soul. I totally am aligned with you there. I feel like changing our scenery and experiencing new things and then on taking that the next level, doing it alone, giving you so much credit to just get out there and say, this is no longer serving me. This is what lights me up.

[00:11:46] Meghan Houle: This is what brings me joy. So beyond your nine to five, was there anything you really needed to let go of to go ahead and. Go off on your own and create the soloist. What were your steps to bring this business together? 

[00:12:00] Jen Tenzer: There was so much I had to let go of, and it was all mental. Like I said, just. These pressures that I really self-imposed, that I need to have a certain job.

[00:12:12] Jen Tenzer: I need to be making a certain amount of money it needs to look a certain way. All of that BS really I needed to let go of in order to pursue something that I was truly passionate about and find the confidence within myself. I could still be successful in a very different way than I ever knew. I didn't really know or have models of entrepreneurs growing up, so I think that was a big hurdle for me to get over.

[00:12:43] Jen Tenzer: And even when I launched this business, it took me like seven months before I had my first client. And I think a lot of the reason for why it took so long. that I needed to truly get to a place where I believed that I could generate money on my own, that I was worthy of making a dollar just based on my skills.

[00:13:07] Jen Tenzer: And you know, it's okay if it looks a little bit different than everything I had ever known. So did you work with a 

[00:13:14] Meghan Houle: coach? How did you set up, I mean, financially savvy, I'm sure with like creating business plans and you know, from your incredible background there. What did you need to set up and beyond the mindset things, which you are not alone in that, and thank you for bringing that up.

[00:13:30] Meghan Houle: I think it's like the number one thing that holds us back, and fear and doubt and that uncertainty and those limiting beliefs of like, no one's gonna wanna work with me, no one's gonna wanna do this. You know, your people are out there. You just have to start. How did you set yourself up for success in building this business?

[00:13:45] Meghan Houle: Where did 

[00:13:46] Jen Tenzer: you. I started by, I took some courses, you know, I really, yeah, I didn't have any expertise. I had traveled a ton. Yeah. But that was really for fun and it wasn't from a professional perspective. So I knew that I needed somebody to kind of coach me through the can of worms that may be involved in planning travel for somebody.

[00:14:13] Jen Tenzer: The liabilities, the risks, how to monetize it. And so I started by taking a course on how to be a travel agent. I also took courses on marketing because while I was very much in the business world, it was much more from a finance perspective, I didn't feel that I had a very strong foundation in marketing, and so I also took a number of courses on.

[00:14:40] Jen Tenzer: Email marketing, social media, building out a website, seo, which is search engine optimization. Basically making sure that my business can get found by Google. They're just trying to build out those skillsets. , I love 

[00:14:54] Meghan Houle: this. Always be learning and you don't know what you don't know , so you know. Good for you.

[00:15:00] Meghan Houle: Exactly, yes. For saying, okay, I wanna do this. What do I need to build around me or know around me? To be able to put myself out there in the right way. To be able to be found and to be able to tell people what I'm doing and why it matters, and find those clients a little magical. Doesn't like drop down and say, here's everything you need.

[00:15:20] Meghan Houle: I think we have to go out and marketing and personal branding is huge and, and all of it for a solopreneur, for someone who has their own business, like, why you, you know, what's that story? Which I know for you is pretty cool and excited to dig into the soloist more. But before we go to our quick teaser question.

[00:15:37] Meghan Houle: What would you tell someone looking to get out of a nine to five that's no longer serving them? What would you say to them right now for anyone listening in being like, I wanna be like Jan ? 

[00:15:48] Jen Tenzer: Well, I would say that your options are so expansive and you probably are in your own little bubble in terms of the colleagues, the friends, the family.

[00:16:02] Jen Tenzer: You know, are surrounding you. It probably looks very different than what my bubble was, but it was very hard for me to kind of break through that and see all of the other opportunities that could be available or that I could create, and I would really just recommend either finding mentors outside of your immediate space.

[00:16:25] Jen Tenzer: Trying to expose yourself to people that are like very different from you in order to just break free from some of those self-limiting beliefs that are probably innate and surrounding you that you may not even be aware of. Oh, I love 

[00:16:42] Meghan Houle: that. And I think it's just finding the strength and numbers of talking to people.

[00:16:48] Meghan Houle: You trust to just start to say out loud like, I wanna do this and maybe not. Absolutely. Like sure. There's always gonna be like, you're crazy . Yeah. I've certainly had those moments leaving few big corporate jobs where they're like, yeah, crazy. But it's like, you know what, you gotta cut through the noise.

[00:17:06] Meghan Houle: Have conversations with some people that are doing what you wanna be doing right now and pick their brainstorm. Kind of the, the whole networking thing, which we talk about so much in this podcast, but I actually. On TV the other day. I don't know if you're familiar with Adam Grant, but I know he always is so incredible and gives like such great advice.

[00:17:25] Meghan Houle: I always see his posts on INS stem, like, yep, resharing, resharing just about work and cultures and beliefs and mindsets and all the things. And you know, he was mentioning that if you happen to be in a predicament where you're just like, oh, I need to make a big decision, or I need to make a move, instead of asking for advice from somebody else, he was saying go to.

[00:17:47] Meghan Houle: That you know, that maybe it's having the same challenges as you and give them advice because you know what? Sometimes the advice that we give others is what we need to hear ourselves. And I thought 

[00:17:56] Jen Tenzer: that was so definitely . 

[00:17:58] Meghan Houle: I love that. So there we just dropped a bunch of nuggets on everyone , and now we're going to a quick break.

[00:18:04] Meghan Houle: So thank you for sharing all of that, Jen, very inspiring from the spirit of this podcast. I always love to ask a little yes or no question, so I'm gonna put you on the spot. So yes. Or. If you're ready. Did you find it scary to travel alone when you first started off? No. And with that, we will pick this up when we get 

[00:18:26] Announcer: back.

[00:18:41] Meghan Houle: All right, Jen, so tell us how did you get into the right mindset for solo travel? How did you break through that fear? 

[00:18:49] Jen Tenzer: So I think that I am. A needle in the haystack. I'm 1%. Most people are definitely afraid to solo travel, and that is exactly why I created my business. The reason I wasn't was because I was just so naive and delusional.

[00:19:10] Jen Tenzer: Honestly, I was very distracted at the time with work, and I didn't have a lot of time and energy to invest in being afraid of taking this first big. , which was a big trip. I went to Patagonia on my first solo trip, which again, like I wouldn't necessarily recommend for someone's first solo trip, but I think that I was so distracted I needed the break.

[00:19:38] Jen Tenzer: I just planned it and I said, oh, you know, I'll make this work. And it really wasn't until I boarded the flight and the plane went wheels up that that's when I finally got my freak. and everything kind of hit me at once and I was like, what am I doing? Why do I think this is okay? I don't speak any Spanish, like I'm delusional.

[00:20:02] Jen Tenzer: And I think sometimes, I think it was similar to when I started this business, to be honest. Like sometimes a little bit of naivete is good in the sense. Mm-hmm. , you just run into the fire anyways and you learn as you go. 

[00:20:18] Meghan Houle: Well, so tell us. What have you been learning about traveling on your own? What are some of the benefits?

[00:20:23] Meghan Houle: Why should someone listening and consider traveling 

[00:20:26] Jen Tenzer: alone? I think that particularly as women, we spend most of our time focused on others, and it's very selfless and beautiful. But yeah, it means that we're pretty terrible at giving back to ourself, giving ourself this space and time to really. Think about our goals, self-care, things like that.

[00:20:53] Jen Tenzer: And I think solo travel is an amazing way to just completely break free from your environment and all of the people that you surround yourself with dedicate time to just focus on yourself and your own core wants and needs. And that's just so rare. It's kind of like if you go to a massage or a spa and it lasts two hours and you feel.

[00:21:18] Jen Tenzer: So lovely afterwards because you've just chosen to give this time back to yourself, except it's extended out into days or weeks at a time. Yeah. And so I like to think of solo travel as the ultimate self-care. 

[00:21:32] Meghan Houle: I agree. And I think especially with the pandemic , for anyone that had roommates or mates or families were locked up in a house for like a year.

[00:21:43] Meghan Houle: I, I forget love doing stuff on my own. So I'm like right there with you. I was kind of that loner kid that would just play on my own, ride my bike on my own, go to the beach on my own. But I mean, it definitely takes, um, you to say, I deserve this and to be comfortable being with yourself and really enjoying it.

[00:22:01] Meghan Houle: And I love that you mention it as a form of self care. It is like quieting the noise, focusing on you for a while. We definitely deserve it after all we've been through these past couple years. So how can people looking to travel solo work with you? Tell us about your business. What types of services do you offer?

[00:22:18] Meghan Houle: How can somebody work with you? Let's dive into all the juicy details. 

[00:22:22] Jen Tenzer: Let's, let's, let's do it. Yes. Yes. So, I realized very early on when I came back from that first solo trip and had this epic experience that I was not normal in not being afraid to travel solo because all of my friends were like, you're insane.

[00:22:41] Jen Tenzer: I can't believe you did this. How did you feel safe? What did you do? And I think from that point on, I realized, wow, I really wanna inspire other people, particularly women, but really every. to feel comfortable pushing their comfort zones a little bit and trying solo travel as well. And so the service that I offer does just that.

[00:23:05] Jen Tenzer: So it's an end-to-end concierge travel planning service where I start with helping you decide where you wanna go and why. And we focus on destinations that are conducive to. Solo travelers so they're safe. They have tons of activities and ways that you can meet other people. They're easy places to get around on your own, things like that.

[00:23:30] Jen Tenzer: Then I craft an entire itinerary for you, and it's totally customized to you and your interests and what you're really hoping to get out of this trip based on where you're at in your own life. And so we kind. Collaborate on the trip planning process so that you feel very much included because I think most people do enjoy planning a trip.

[00:23:53] Jen Tenzer: Yeah. But they don't enjoy the piece that kind of goes over the threshold where it's also a ton of work. Yes. And a lot of logistics and administrative details, and everyone wants to pick the fun hotel, but they don't wanna plan out. All of the other details. So that's what I help with. Like where are we eating?

[00:24:11] Jen Tenzer: Yeah. Like how am I going to get from point A to point B? What's the cheapest or best way to do that? Yeah, that's what I help with. So I'll provide options for various hotels and activities, but all in a framework that makes it very easy for you to help plan. Then I move forward and book everything on your behalf.

[00:24:31] Jen Tenzer: So again, you don't have to worry about getting all the confirmations and all of that. . And then last but not least, when you are actually on your trip, I make myself available. So if you wanna call me, wanna text me, things happen during travel, right? Flights are delayed. Or you know, because you're traveling alone, maybe you feel uncomfortable in a particular situation and you just want somebody to reach out to.

[00:24:57] Jen Tenzer: I can be that, that person. So 

[00:24:59] Meghan Houle: one stop shop really for all logistics. Hallelujah, , taking all that off of someone's plate and then to be able to work with somebody who has also probably been to a lot of the places making good recommendations. It's such a wonderful place to start for someone considering this is like, Contact Jen, talk through it.

[00:25:20] Meghan Houle: How do you pick up consultations like clients? Do you do a lot of like networking events? Jen, like how do you get sound ? So 

[00:25:30] Jen Tenzer: I feel like I should do more networking events and my We'll stop you with that. We'll bring 

[00:25:35] Meghan Houle: together you and me. I feel 

[00:25:36] Jen Tenzer: it's coming. I would love that. So like I said, at the start of my business, really before I had any clients, I put a lot of effort into learning.

[00:25:47] Jen Tenzer: Marketing and how to be. . And so I'm typically found either via Instagram. Mm-hmm. Or actually more so via Google, which I think is pretty rare. But Google search for solo trip planner and things like that, and different destinations and clients find me that way as well. 

[00:26:07] Meghan Houle: And there you are. And now they have this podcast and all the amazing links.

[00:26:11] Meghan Houle: So excited about that. I know you have so, so much passion and we talk about self-care. What else excites you the most about traveling alone or to like hype somebody up about clicking onto your website and booking that consultation with Jen? Like what should they be getting excited about in terms of alone travel?

[00:26:27] Meghan Houle: Beyond some of the things you 

[00:26:28] Jen Tenzer: mentioned? Just the fact that you can do whatever you want. You can go wherever you want. You can spend as much or as little as you want, like nobody else know. You can be as active or as inactive as you want if you're the type of person. Some people wanna travel to a destination and run around all day, back to back activities, other people don't.

[00:26:53] Jen Tenzer: You know, I went to Costa Rica once and. I just remember it was a beautiful sunny day and I was near the beach and for one reason or another I just woke up in kind of like a funky mood. I didn't really wanna go out and be social, go to the beach, and I stayed in my hotel room and just binged a Netflix series all day, which.

[00:27:16] Jen Tenzer: if anybody else was there and they would be like, no, Jen, you need to go out and like seize the day. How often are you in Costa Rica? Yada, yada. But the reality was right. That was what I truly needed in that moment, and it was an amazing day and no one knew. Yeah. Until now I'm sharing it publicly. But I think there's a lot of freedom in traveling that way.

[00:27:38] Meghan Houle: Yes. Agreed. For someone who's been on multiple family vacations of like 13 plus people, with small children. , a k a, family vacations. Jen? Yes. If you're not up by a certain time, if you're not doing all the things like you're aloof or something, and I'm like, okay, it's my vacation. So like, stop. Let's stop 

[00:27:58] Jen Tenzer: judging and J, everybody else.

[00:28:01] Jen Tenzer: So what everybody else wants to do, like, you know, you don't need to compromise. You don't need to go to that museum that you have no interest in going to. Or for example, maybe. You're in a relationship or with your family and you have some passions or hobbies that are really just independent to you.

[00:28:19] Jen Tenzer: Maybe you love yoga, you love scuba diving, you love whatever. , you can create an entire vacation based around that in a way that nobody else may maybe would wanna do that, you know? Right. So it's really just free time for yourself. Y Yep. Selling 

[00:28:36] Meghan Houle: me ready to go. Book my trick. Well, where's your favorite place that you've traveled to and why?

[00:28:40] Meghan Houle: Where's been your top Musco musty? 

[00:28:44] Jen Tenzer: You know, that first solo trip to Patagonia still has such a soft spot in my heart. Mm-hmm. , I think one, because it was my first solo trip and two just. It's an incredible place. So if anybody doesn't know, it's this region at the tip of South America that spans across Chile and Argentina, and it's just stunning.

[00:29:04] Jen Tenzer: It's glaciers, it's mountains, it's hiking. It's a really great place to reconnect with yourself and with nature, and I had the most incredible time there. I also really loved time that I spent in Bali. I went to Antarctica, which was an incredible trip, unlike anything else. I think all of the trips that I've done are, you know, have pros and cons for different reasons.

[00:29:28] Jen Tenzer: I really, yeah, try and take something special out of everywhere. 

[00:29:32] Meghan Houle: I love it. So when you sit down with people, do you go through their preferences of like, do you like the beach? Do you like cold, or do you try to say you have to see this so that you know what are, what are some of those like process of eliminations about where they should be going based on how you work with I?

[00:29:47] Meghan Houle: Yeah. . 

[00:29:48] Jen Tenzer: I have an intake forum that I have people fill out when they come to my website and book a consultation with me. And honestly, what I'm really trying to get out of it is like psychoanalyze them a little bit in terms of what they really hope for from this trip. Yes, of course. Do they like sun? Do they like hiking?

[00:30:07] Jen Tenzer: Do they like luxury resorts? Do they want all inclusive? Again, it's very much catered and curated to. each person wants. It is not any sort of cookie cutter package that I'm just feeding to them. Love 

[00:30:21] Meghan Houle: it. And I think sometimes people don't know what they don't know. So the fact that you've been all these places, like someone, you might say, Antarctica, oh, that's freezing.

[00:30:26] Meghan Houle: But you're like, no, you have to see this and I'm sure you can get people, you know, really excited. But I love it. It's so tailored as it should be. What have you learned the most about 

[00:30:36] Jen Tenzer: yourself? Traveling solo? That I am capable of. . I mean, the stuff that I have been through, like not speaking the language, not knowing how to get from point A to point B, flights being canceled.

[00:30:52] Jen Tenzer: Mm-hmm. miscommunications the things that I've just endured and, you know, gotten through, have just shown me, have given me a lot of confidence and shown me that. I really can overcome any challenge that's put in front of me, and I've taken that back into my daily life, whether it's starting this business or really anything else.

[00:31:13] Meghan Houle: And I would say too, think about the times, and I'm sure you have like crazy stories, but just I think airlines are just getting even trickier these days for sure. But yeah, when you put your feet to the flame and you're like, we're doing this. I'm not in my own country, I'm not in my own backyard. I'm trying to eat logistics and just figure it out.

[00:31:32] Meghan Houle: And you can't like freak out. You can't like go or 

[00:31:36] Jen Tenzer: you can, but then ultimately you can. You can, you can, but then at some point it. I need to deal with it. So you deal 

[00:31:43] Meghan Houle: with it. It's such good reminders. We can do anything. We can do anything we can put our minds to, and you can travel alone and it's gonna work out and you learn a lot about yourself, so I love it.

[00:31:53] Meghan Houle: How has this career pivot changed 

[00:31:54] Jen Tenzer: your life? Immensely. I mean, I think that overcoming some of those limiting beliefs around what success looks, Shattering that notion has kind of opened me up in so many different ways, whether it's relationships with other people and similarly, like what sort of person did I think I was gonna end up with versus now just being much more open to however that naturally unfold.

[00:32:24] Jen Tenzer: It's just kind of shaped all different facets of my life. It's given me back a lot of freedom and ownership for my time. , which I'm immensely grateful for. Yeah, and I think that being passionate about your career is unfortunately a luxury, but it's one that I'm just so immensely happy that I made that pivot and that I now get to spend my time every day doing something.

[00:32:56] Jen Tenzer: I genuinely love looking up hotels and different destinations is super fun for me. And as much as I loved and was challenged by my last career, I wouldn't say that I wanted to spend my weekends looking up the latest interest rates. Um, so it is really nice to be in a place where I'm spending my weekends potentially working, but potentially doing something that I just love doing anyways.

[00:33:23] Jen Tenzer: Oh, 

[00:33:23] Meghan Houle: and you can feel that passion. Time is currency, my friends. That is for sure. So we gotta just make the most of it and to be doing things that really light your soul on fire, that like the cliche says, it doesn't feel like work is super powerful. And I bet you meet a lot of cool people through your travels.

[00:33:40] Meghan Houle: Do you meet a lot of other solo people traveling in your excursions? You've been on for many years? And how long have you been doing this? Talk about your friends and the timeline. . 

[00:33:49] Jen Tenzer: Yeah, definitely. I think one of the biggest misconceptions about solo travel is that you're gonna take this trip alone, quote unquote, and you're gonna spend all of your time alone.

[00:34:00] Jen Tenzer: But the reality is, if you're doing it right, you should be meeting so many people. And I plan trips for people to ensure that they're socializing, avoiding time, just sitting alone in their hotel room. I find that I meet way more people solo traveling. I think that one, I just morph into this even more extroverted person who's like craving any conversation.

[00:34:27] Jen Tenzer: And so I'll just go up to anyone and start a conversation with them, which is awesome. And I also think that because I'm not with other people, , I come across as less guarded. And so a lot of people will just come up to me and start a conversation, and obviously, you know, you need to be potentially a little bit cautious of that and kind of tap into your intuition.

[00:34:51] Jen Tenzer: Does this person's energy and vibe seem healthy and good for me, or do they seem sketchy and toxic? But the reality is most of the people who you will interact with are fantastic, and it's so fun to meet people from all over the earth, from all walks of life, and especially when you really click with some of those people.

[00:35:12] Jen Tenzer: I've had friends now for years who I've met on solo trips and traveled with. on future trips, you know? 

[00:35:20] Meghan Houle: Yeah. You kind of form your own little groups and communities like-minded, doing all the things that you all enjoy and love. But like you said, it's just being open and open to conversations and Yeah, sure.

[00:35:31] Meghan Houle: Having your guard up, but you know, going out there with a good mindset of, yes, I wanna meet people and not, or just like, ew, if you wanna be standoffish, I guess be standoffish, , but never know where a conversation can lead. So I love meeting new people myself, just like you. What are you most looking forward to as we head into this year?

[00:35:49] Meghan Houle: I know you said you have retreats. Any other really fun and exciting adventures 

[00:35:54] Jen Tenzer: coming your way? Yes, I am very excited about my retreat in Costa Rica. It will be the first chance for other solo travelers or friends or mother, daughters, really anyone to kind of come together on this fantastic group trip that I'm planning.

[00:36:09] Jen Tenzer: I'm also looking forward to continuing to grow. My business, taking it to that next level, getting busier, potentially building out a little bit of a team. Yeah, and then I'm also just looking forward to my own travels. I'm thinking of traveling in March, potentially to Vietnam and starting to strategize what 2023 travel will look like for me, for myself.

[00:36:33] Jen Tenzer: Yeah. So I'm excited about that too. 

[00:36:36] Meghan Houle: Well, and linking all of your ways to find you. I know you post some really great things on social media. People can fall along on your trip. So how can our listeners find you engage with you? What are some of the best ways to see what 

[00:36:48] Jen Tenzer: you're up to? Yes. The two easiest ways are, one, I'm fairly active on Instagram, so my handle is the soloist dot.

[00:36:58] Jen Tenzer: You can head to my website again, it's www.thesoloist.travel, and that is a great way to check out my services, book a virtual consultation so that we can meet and see if it's a good fit to work together and go from there. 

[00:37:15] Meghan Houle: Yay. Well, yes, and again, we'll link all of that in. Also your retreat, are you still taking people for signups or does that go live or is it just 

[00:37:24] Jen Tenzer: open?

[00:37:24] Jen Tenzer: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I am launching it on this Friday, actually. Oh, cool. But I've already had a few people sign up, like early looks, . Yeah. So I think it will fill up fast, but definitely if you're interested, reach out. We can either slot you into that retreat or I'm hoping to have more in the future as. 

[00:37:43] Meghan Houle: Super exciting.

[00:37:44] Meghan Houle: Well, before I let you go, I'd love to ask this sort of fun question now towards the end and my new season of the podcast. But I feel like getting to know each other too, on a fun level is, is also a great way to build relations and connections. But any fun facts about you, like quirks, hidden talents, vices, that you do or maybe don't share often that are a part of you, like with something fun to know about.

[00:38:08] Jen Tenzer: Ooh. The first thing that comes to mind is something that I unfortunately don't do anymore, and so maybe I'm manifesting it by saying this, but when I was younger, I was a competitive figure skater, and so all of my time and energy was devoted to that. I would take off time from school for practices, for different tournaments, all of that.

[00:38:29] Jen Tenzer: Yeah, so that feels like a chapter of my life. Was huge and now is completely closed. So maybe I will manifest from some more skating in 

[00:38:39] Meghan Houle: 2023. Mm-hmm. ? Yes. And work that into a trip somehow, right? ? Yeah, like 

[00:38:45] Jen Tenzer: men on ice . Or at least go somewhere where I can skate. I love that idea. Maybe I need to go back to Switzerland.

[00:38:52] Meghan Houle: Okay. Boom. I'll come with you. Well, thank you Jen so much for all your incredible. Into this solo travel world and why we shouldn't consider booking solo trips. And you know, again, as I said, I'm sure coming off of almost three years, the date of being in the pandemic lockdown, I mean, people are just more than ever looking to maximize every day of their lives.

[00:39:14] Meghan Houle: I know I love travel myself, and again, how enriching it is to go to new places and experience a change of scenery, energy, whatever you may be seeking beyond your backyard, it does truly add to your life. So life is short. Everyone get online. Reach out to Jen. Book your trip. And maybe we need like a pivot with purpose retreat for our listeners.

[00:39:35] Meghan Houle: So 

[00:39:35] Jen Tenzer: yes, 

[00:39:36] Meghan Houle: skating, I would love purpose . We'll brainstorm, we'll pull online. So where should we go everybody? Thank you so much, Jen and I look forward to following all your adventures. Wishing you a very successful travel year ahead and maybe see you 

[00:39:49] Jen Tenzer: at the airport. Fantastic. Thank you so much for having me.

[00:39:53] Jen Tenzer: This was so fun. Thank 

[00:39:54] Meghan Houle: you. Thank you for tuning into another episode of PIB With Purpose. If you'd love this episode, please be sure to share it with your network. Leave us a review in a five star rating if you are enjoying these pivot conversations and wanna keep the personal development going as an executive recruiter and master career in Clarity Coach, join my community and be the first to have access to all of my content to set you up for success in whatever stage you are in career-wise, and get some inspir.

[00:40:25] Meghan Houle: Be the first to know about local and virtual events I'll be hosting as well. So maybe you can join me in person soon. Head over to www.meganhall.com/community or click the link in the show notes to get on the list. 

[00:40:40] Announcer: Pivot with purpose with host Megan, who is a fashion console production, and part of the FC Podcast Network.

[00:40:48] Announcer: It is produced and directed by Phil aka a Corin and a special thank you to Spencer Powell for our theme music. Learn more at pivot with purpose podcast.com and be sure to follow us. At Pivot with Purposes podcast.