Join us at Women Thrive Through Travel MasterFind Virtual Event 2026!
Join us at our 6th annual free Women Thrive Through Travel MasterFind Virtual Event in May where we will gather an amazing line up of inspiring women who share their stories and expertise in topics ranging from travel, wellness, business, responsible tourism, sales, group trips, marketing, travel coaching, diversity, cultural immersion, journalism, media, content creation, and more.
What began as a way to bring the spirit of joy back into how we talked about travel during the pandemic grew into The Travel Coach Network’s largest free virtual event of the year.
There will be tears, laughter, inspiration, empowerment, insight, connections made, and so much more.
There will also be great giveaways including hotel stays, books, TCN goodies, and a lifetime membership to HerHouse.
Save your seat for 2026 here!
Meet the Host!
Sahara Rose De Vore
Founder & CEO of The Travel Coach Network
Sahara Rose De Vore is the Founder and CEO of The Travel Coach Network, a global community of travel coaches. Sahara went from broke college student to traveling to 84 countries solo to trailblazing a new path in the travel industry. Her company adds the human-centric and emotional approach to how and why we travel. This led her to creating the world's first and only ICF accredited certification program for travel coaches which as of now has over 750 coaches from 40+ countries. Sahara is a published author, global speaker, TEDx speaker, Start-up Investor, and has been in over 300 media outlets for her travel and business expertise including Travel Weekly, Conde Nast Traveler, AFAR, TripAdvisor, CNBC, CNN Travel, and twice in Forbes. Sahara is on the Advisory Board for The Hotel Guide, was named one of 2023’s Most Influential Women in Travel by TravelPulse, and also appeared on Season 8 of Project Pitch It.
Sahara organized the first ever Women Thrive Through Travel MasterFind Virtual Event in 2021,a rough time in the tourism industry, to bring more positivity into how we were talking and thinking about the future of travel. WTTT brings together inspiring women in tourism, hospitality, wellness, journalism, media, social media, business, and more while striving to inspire and empower women around the world to thrive through travel in business, wellness, and lifestyle.
Connect with Sahara Rose @thetravelcoachnetwork
Meet our 2026 Speakers!
Mikayla Brunsun
Private Luxury Advisor and Founder of Merazh
Session:
The Luxury Shift: Why Identity Is No Longer Optional
In this conversation, Mikayla introduces the concept of the frequency behind a decision; the unseen posture from which leaders design, sell and serve. She shares what is unfolding globally in the luxury space and why identity awareness is becoming the standard beneath exceptional experiences.
Attendees will learn how to design from identity first: clarifying season, capacity and intention before execution; so their experiences feel precise, trusted and deeply aligned rather than overbuilt or forced.
Meet Mikayla:
Mikayla Brunson is a private luxury advisor and founder of Merazh. Through her Identity-First philosophy, she designs refined travel experiences for women stewarding ideas greater than themselves; creating environments worthy of the vision they carry.
Her voice also contributes to the broader conversation on the evolving posture of luxury in a diversifying global landscape.
Connect with Mikayla:
Instagram @Mikayla_Brunson
Rebecca Maffeis
Travel Industry Specialist, Innovation Strategist and Marketing Consultant
Session:
Strengthen your business through understanding trends, thinking holistically and adding unique value
It is important for every business to understand wider trends because they show where the market is growing. If you adapt your business to where the market is naturally going, business feels easier and you are working with the stream, rather than against it. You can also then work in collaboration with others, rather than in competition. In this talk, we will look at some of the big market trends and cultural shifts that present an opportunity for your business, how to understand them more deeply and how to uniquely add value, adapt your business and thrive.
Meet Rebecca:
Travel changed the trajectory of Rebecca's life, and she has now spent half her life living abroad. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, her first trip to Europe at 16 energized and inspired her, and opened her mind to a different way of living. She returned to study for a year in France, met her Italian husband and settled in London.
She started her career in travel as a Reservations Consultant at the UK office of a French travel group and worked her way up to UK Managing Director, earning qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, industry recognition and awards along the way. Motherhood brought the choice of a career break, leading to deeper insights about life, community and business.
Over the last 2.5 years, she has deeply studied industry trends and wider cultural shifts and has guided multiple businesses to innovate, and think holistically, to take advantage of opportunities in the market and thrive. She also leads industry discussions around transformative travel on LinkedIn, and hosts a virtual book club and discussion groups around the intersection of travel, life and business, connecting individuals from across the global travel industry and beyond.
Connect with Rebecca:
Silvia Pineda
Certified Travel Coach & Founder of The Reflective Way
Session:
Beyond Escape: Using Travel to Regulate, Not Run
Most women use travel as an escape from stress, but what if we've been doing it backwards? In this session, Silvia explores how the way we travel mirrors the way we live. If you're rushing through itineraries and packing every minute on a trip, you're likely doing the same in your daily life. Yet travel still creates moments where your most authentic self appears, and that's exactly why you keep wanting to escape.
Through the lens of nervous system regulation, Silvia will show you how to shift from escape-mode travel to regulation-mode travel, so you can access that calmer, more authentic version of yourself not just on vacation, but in your everyday reality. You'll leave with a new perspective on travel and practical tools to bring that clarity home.
Meet Silvia:
After 16 years in the travel industry, Silvia hit a wall. She knew the mechanics of travel inside out, but something fundamental was missing. It wasn't until she started asking herself why she traveled that everything shifted, and that question led her to travel coaching.
Now, as a Certified Travel Coach and Founder of The Reflective Way, Silvia works with women to explore their past and future travel experiences through the lens of nervous system regulation. Travel stops being about escape and becomes about learning to regulate, so that the clarity, peace, and version of yourself you find on a trip doesn't disappear when you come back to your daily life.
Connect with Silvia:
Rachel Verlik
Certified Travel Coach and CEO of Curious Traveler
Session:
Between Titles and Truth: Navigating What’s Next in Professional and Life Transitions
For many accomplished women, transition doesn’t arrive quietly. It shows up as a layoff, burnout, caregiving responsibility, a call to motherhood, or the persistent whisper: There has to be more.
In this intimate and energizing talk, Rachel Verlik, PCC, shares her own evolution—from a stable government career to entrepreneurship, and later to adopting her son as a solo mother. At each pivotal moment, she stepped away from routine and used intentional travel to gain distance, perspective, and the courage to choose differently. Based on her lived experience and education as an ICF-Certified Coach, Rachel will share an immediate actionable framework and tips for you to explore the call to greater alignment.
Meet Rachel:
Rachel Verlik is an ICF-Certified Executive Coach, Certified Travel Coach, and CEO of Curious Traveler and MP6 Consulting. With more than 30 years of business experience — including 13 years in Federal leadership — she helps women navigate professional and personal transitions with courage and clarity. Rachel is also a Certified Dare to Lead™ Facilitator, trained directly by Dr. Brené Brown.
After leaving her Federal career in 2016 to start her own firm and later becoming a solo mom through adoption in 2024, Rachel experienced firsthand how travel can unlock powerful insight and brave decision-making. Today, she guides women to use intentional travel as a catalyst for aligned leadership and authentic lives.
Meet Rachel:
Ana Karina Araque
Founder & CEO at Imagine Experiences
Session:
Why the Experiences We Choose Shape the People We Become
Travel is more than movement. It is transformation. In this reflective and empowering session, Ana Araque explores how the experiences we intentionally choose — the places we immerse ourselves in, the stories we step into, the food we savour, and the conversations we open ourselves to — quietly shape our identity, confidence, and emotional wellbeing.
A journey is never purely geographical. When we travel, it is not only our bodies that move — our minds expand, our emotions awaken, and our souls shift. The woman who returns is never exactly the same as the one who departed.
Drawing from over 30 years in travel and her own personal evolution, Ana invites us to see travel not as escape, but as self-authorship. What if the experiences we choose are shaping who we are becoming? And what if travelling with intention is one of the most powerful acts of personal growth we can make?
In her session, Ana explores how intentional travel can become an act of self-authorship — and why choosing meaningful experiences is one of the most powerful decisions we make for our growth, identity, and wellbeing.
This session is a conversation about curiosity, courage, and the emotional journey that unfolds every time we choose to step beyond the familiar.
Meet Ana:
Ana Araque is a travel industry leader, founder, and lifelong believer in the power of experiences to shape who we become.
With over 30 years in travel, Ana has explored the world not just as a professional, but as a curious woman searching for meaning, connection, and joy. In 2020, she founded Imagine Experiences after a personal realisation: she wasn’t looking to be educated by travel — she wanted to be moved by it. Entertained. Surprised. Changed.
Ana believes the food we taste, the cities we wander, the stories we step into, and the conversations we dare to have quietly redefine us. We are shaped not only by where we go, but by how deeply we allow ourselves to experience it.
Connect with Ana:
Dawn Pick Benson
Self-Discovery Travel Coach and Founder & Owner of GlobeStory Travel
Session:
Why You Should Travel Alone—Especially When Life Falls Apart
When your life cracks open, you don’t need a vacation or an escape. You need space. Space to think. To feel. To hear yourself again. In this session, Dawn Pick Benson explores why so many women are choosing to travel alone during divorce, grief, burnout or identity loss. Not because they’re fearless, but because staying the same feels impossible.
Blending research on identity shifts and post-traumatic growth with real stories from her work with women who travel during major life transitions, Dawn reframes solo travel as a powerful act of self-reconstruction. This isn’t about bucket lists. It’s about bravery, rebuilding self-trust, reclaiming agency, and creating space to meet the next version of yourself.
If you’re navigating change—or support women who are—this session is for you!
Meet Dawn:
Dawn Pick Benson is a Self-Discovery Travel Coach, writer, and Founder of the Brave Journey program, helping women in midlife rediscover themselves and thrive through transformational travel. Having visited more than 50 countries and lived and worked in the Balkans, Dawn blends global experience with deep cultural insight as a Certified Cultural Intelligence Facilitator. She leads boutique travel experiences, international retreats for women, and small-group coaching programs that empower women to envision, plan, and take courageous journeys of their own. Her work has been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Wander and TripAdvisor. She currently splits her time between the U.S. and Kosovo, where she is writing a memoir about the transformative power of solo travel in the second half of life.
Connect with Dawn:
Suzy Ross, Ph.D
Professor, Author, Consultant, & Social Scientist focused on Human Transformation
Session:
The Integration Gap: Why Post-Travel Blues Are a Sign of Transformation
Post-travel blues, reverse culture shock, identity disruption, and the urge to “go back” are not client dissatisfaction—they are predictable phases of transformation. In this session, Dr. Suzy Ross introduces the Integration Gap: the space between a powerful travel experience and lasting life change. Travel coaches will learn how to identify post-travel identity shifts, map integration phases, and convert disorientation into forward movement. When clients see their transformation clearly, retention increases, referrals rise, and coaching deepens. Integration is not an add-on—it is a revenue-generating competency.
Meet Suzy:
Dr. Suzy Ross is a social scientist focused on human transformation and one of the early scholars who helped introduce Transformative Travel into the global lexicon. She designs and teaches integration frameworks that help professionals guide clients through identity shifts following life-changing experiences. As Founder of Integr8™, she trains coaches, retreat leaders, and organizations in transformation mapping, integration design, and premium certification pathways. Her work equips travel coaches to move beyond experiences and facilitate measurable, lasting transformation—turning post-travel instability into structured growth and sustainable business models.
Connect with Suzy:
Dr. Beckie Ruddock
Ethical AI Consultant & Founder of The Ethical AI Project
Session:
Your AI North Star: Three Non-Negotiables for Responsible AI Use
AI is rapidly becoming part of the toolkit for many travel business owners. It can help with marketing, research, travel planning, and content creation. At the same time, many business owners are asking an important question: how do you use AI without losing the human insight and connection that makes travel coaching so valuable?
For many, the challenge is not whether to use AI, but how to decide where it should and should not play a role. What client information should never be entered into AI tools? When should AI-generated suggestions be treated as a starting point rather than a final answer? And how do you use AI to support your work without weakening the trust and personal connection your clients rely on?
In this talk, Dr Beckie Ruddock, introduces a simple way to stay in control of how AI is used in your business: identifying the principles that you will not compromise on. These principles become your north star for AI-related decisions, helping you to use AI in ways that strengthen their expertise, protect client trust, and preserve the human connection that sits at the heart of your business.
Meet Beckie:
Dr Beckie Ruddock is the founder of The Ethical AI Project, where she supports business leaders and founders to make thoughtful, responsible decisions about how AI is used in their work. Her approach focuses on helping organisations use AI in ways that support innovation while protecting trust with customers and teams.
Connect with Beckie:
Anette Oran
Business Mentor & Co-Founder & VP of Coaching Partnerships at Cohere.Live
Session:
The Freedom Funnel: Launch & Grow Your Travel Business with Systems That Scale
As a travel or wellness business owner, you’re here to help people expand their lives through travel, transformation, and new experiences. But, building a thriving online business often comes with challenges... inconsistent clients, too much time spent on marketing, or not having clear systems that support your growth.
In this session, you’ll discover how to create a Freedom Funnel, a simple, aligned system that helps the right clients find you, understand the value of your work, and move naturally into working with you.
Instead of relying on constant posting or complicated marketing strategies, you’ll learn how to build a scalable foundation for your business that supports Freedom, Impact, and Income. You’ll understand how to structure your online presence so your business can attract aligned clients and grow with ease, allowing you to focus on what you love most: helping people transform through travel.
Meet Anette:
As a Founder, Business Mentor & Certified Life Coach, Anette specializes in helping conscious business owners start and scale their online businesses with irresistible offer development, organic marketing, systems, and inner work. She's passionate about helping people make a living doing purpose-driven work they love. The exact frameworks she'll be teaching at the event have helped 1,000's of coaches and service providers launch and scale their business online.
Connect with Anette:
Stormi Banks
Founder of Pink Print Firm
Session:
How To Get Grant Ready in 2026
How founders at any stage can prepare to access trillions in debt free funding.
Meet Stormi:
Stormi Banks is a dynamic leader and visionary in the world of business development and grant acquisition. With a proven track record of helping small businesses and start-up companies secure over $23 million in grants, she has become a trusted advisor for entrepreneurs looking to scale and sustain their ventures. Stormi's strategic insights and hands-on support have empowered countless business owners, enabling them to access critical funding to fuel their growth.
Her dedication to creating opportunities for minority-owned businesses and fostering innovation in underserved communities has been the cornerstone of her success. In addition to her expertise in grant writing, Stormi also offers comprehensive business development services, providing guidance on structuring sustainable business models, and scaling operations. Through her leadership at Pink Print Firm, Stormi continues to transform the entrepreneurial landscape, helping to create lasting impact in the business world.
Connect with Stormi:
Instagram @Iamstormibanks and @pinkprintfirm
Stay tuned for more 2026 Speakers!
Are you ready to be inspired to have the trip or travel business of your dreams?
Don't forget to save your spot for this wonderful event!
Register here, it's free!
Thank you to our 2026 WTTT Sponsors
