Rachel Hill is known for traveling the world and teaching other folks how to do it, too. Since she left her corporate career at age 27, the Atlanta native’s website, Rachel Travels, had been blowing up — helping people all over travel to places they’d never been. She’d even packed up and moved to Johannesburg, South Africa to live there as an expat.
But recently, she decided it wasn’t enough.
“I started studying the market and I realized a lot of people are talking about how to travel inexpensively and have these amazing experiences, which is great, but you’re supposed to evolve,” Rachel says. “I just wanted to make sure that everything that I knew about building a business, and building influence, and monetizing that influence, and working with brands — that people also have access to that knowledge as well.”
Courtesy of Rachel Travels
Rachel has expanded her business to include teaching and consulting. She added a book, “So You Want To Be An Influencer?: The Ultimate Guide To Becoming An Influencer of Color,” to her list of travel guides and resources.
And this year, she’s moving back into the corporate space. But this time, as a speaker, consultant, and trainer. Adding to her services that are targeted to consumers, her expansion includes a greater focus on B2B (business-to-business) opportunities.
“More corporate speaking engagements, corporate training, and still from the aspect of influencer marketing and putting diversity and influencer marketing into your marketing mix and your marketing matrix,” Rachel says. “So that’s my focus for 2019. … I’m definitely shifting more into making a greater impact from a corporate perspective.”
As her business grows, Rachel’s desire to learn more does also, which can be a challenge without a major company financially backing her professional development. So, Rachel turned to technology to help — finding online opportunities that were affordable but could still help her stay on track with industry trends.
“When you’re working in a corporate environment, you have access to conferences and trainings and a lot more networking events,” Rachel says. “But as an entrepreneur, especially traveling the world, I don’t have as much access or even the capital … I am an expert in what I do, but I always seek new and more knowledge and especially the world we live in where technology is a part of our everyday lives.”
Courtesy of Rachel Travels
Rachel also found her tribe: her group of friends who were also entrepreneurs and who could help her stay motivated in business. That, Rachel says, was key.
“My closest friends work, which is great. Many days I’m like, I wish I could just go back to work,” Rachel says. “But they don’t necessarily understand all the ins and outs of being an entrepreneur, and of traveling and trying to maintain so many different complexities in your life, or running a business or several businesses.”
And when it comes to making money, Rachel’s advice is to just be consistent.
“I’ve found that being consistent has helped me make consistent money,” Rachel says. “And I think a lot of times, people confuse consistency with working hard, and a lot of that just has to do with … putting the right systems into place so you are constantly having your products and services in front of different people to continue making your coin.”
This interview is part of a Black History Month series highlighting black business owners. You can find more here.
Top image: Rachel Hill in Arctic, Finland. (Courtesy of Rachel Travels)