Meet Gabriella Saenz of The Connect Travel

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabriella Saenz.

Hi Gabriella, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve had my sights set on becoming an attorney. While I ultimately achieved that goal (yay!), I found a passion for business—specifically, entrepreneurship—much later on in life during my time as a graduate student at Rockhurst University in Kansas City.

After a few years of practicing corporate law, I started to think that maybe it was time to give entrepreneurship a go. A travel planning company felt like a natural choice. I had a penchant for travel, a knack for research, and a group of family and friends for which I had already planned a number of trips. It was time to make it official.

We—my co-founders, Jasmine and Jose, and I—officially started The Connect Travel in April of 2019. Our team is proud of our Kansas City roots, but none more than Jose, who is KCMO born and raised. We are also proud to be a 100% Brown and Black-owned business.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Before we could even celebrate our first business anniversary, The Connect Travel faced an unprecedented challenge—the COVID-19 pandemic. Needless to say, the pandemic brought all travel to an absolute halt. We helped travelers cancel trips, we issued refunds, and we counted our losses.

If there’s a silver lining, it would be that the pandemic allowed us the opportunity to take a step back and move our business in a direction that’s more aligned with our values. We essentially shifted from a travel concierge service to a travel company serving community-minded travelers. Now, we’re on a mission to help travelers spend locally. We couldn’t be happier with our decision to pivot.

We’ve been impressed with The Connect Travel, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Connect Travel is a travel company. We’re passionate about helping people do good and travel well. We do this through our travel blog, our newsletter, and our social media platforms. Our content focuses on spending locally and supporting diverse owned businesses in cities around the world. We also provide practical tips for planning your next adventure. As travel starts to pick back up, we hope to be able to help you reimagine the way you travel.

What are your plans for the future?
We’re excited to share that our team is currently working towards the launch of our membership program. Our membership is designed to provide travelers with the tools and resources they need to plan their next trip from start to finish. Members will have access to planning roadmaps, travel planners, and our community focused city guides—TRAVEL FOR THE CITY. TRAVEL FOR THE CITY is designed to help travelers get to know the city they’re visiting and find local, diverse businesses to support while they’re there.

Our membership is set to launch in November. We hope you’ll check it out!

Contact Info:

• Email: info@itstheconnect.com
• Website: www.theconnecttravel.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconnecttravel/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconnecttravel
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoo_DLz7GHaeXvdPZ84_6jg