Inspiring Women to Guide You
“Everything you want to be, you already are. You’re simply on the path to discovering it.”
— Alicia Keys
See the world through a new lens, guided by our speakers and workshop leaders
Debbie Phillips
Overcoming Fear, Finding Joy
Debbie Phillips is the inspiring founder of Women on Fire and a pioneer in the field of executive and life coaching. She is also an author, speaker and producer known for her work in transforming women’s lives. Her gift is her ability to see and nurture the strengths, gifts and talents of the women she works with.
Debbie also created and co-developed Vision Day®, a strategic planning day and program that has helped thousands of people live the lives they’ve dreamed of. She considers her greatest education to be the pain, joy and growth from the ups and downs of life, love and loss.
Lola Akinmade Åkerström
The Swedish Secret of Living Well
Lola Akinmade Åkerström is an award-winning visual storyteller, international bestselling author, and entrepreneur. She has dispatched from 70+ countries and her work has been featured in National Geographic, New York Times, The Guardian, BBC, CNN, Travel Channel, Travel + Leisure, Lonely Planet, Forbes, and many more.
As a storyteller, Lola was the 2018 Bill Muster Travel Photographer of the Year. Her book, Due North, received the Lowell Thomas Gold Award for Best Travel Book, and she is also the author of international bestselling “LAGOM: The Swedish Secret of Living Well” which is available in 18 foreign editions. Her latest novel, “In Every Mirror She’s Black“, will be published as a lead hardcover around the world in Autumn 2021.
As a mentor, she runs her own online academy, Geotraveler Media Academy, which is dedicated to visual storytelling and helping the next generation of travel storytellers put the heart back into the craft
Loung Ung
A Call to Action for All Women
A life-long activist, Loung Ung is public speaker, bestselling author of ‘First They Killed My Father, Lucky Child, and Lulu in the Sky, and a co-screenplay writer of a 2017 Netflix Original Movie, “First They Killed My Father” directed by Angelina Jolie. Loung started her activism work in 1993 when she became the Community Educator for a domestic shelter in Maine.
Since then, she has worked on various campaigns to end violence against women, to end the use of child soldiers, and to eradication landmines globally. In 1995, Loung made her first trip back to Cambodia—and has returned on over forty trips—devoting herself to helping her native land heal from the traumas of war.
For her work, the World Economic Forum selected Loung as one of the “100 Global Youth Leaders of Tomorrow.” Among the publications, television and radio shows she has been featured on are The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, People Magazine, CNN, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and The Today Show. In addition, she has been the subject of documentary films broadcast by Nightline, German ARTE, and Japanese NHK.
Loung has given hundreds of keynote addresses at numerous forums in the U.S. and internationally, including at, Stanford University, Dartmouth College, Philips Academy, Facing History and Ourselves, Women in the World Summit, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Mexico 1 Million Youth Summit.
Caren Osten
The Power of Mindfulness
Caren Osten is a certified positive psychology coach, certified mindfulness meditation teacher, public speaker and New York Times contributor. She works with individuals and groups, who seek to cultivate greater positivity, clarity and calm as they navigate life’s daily stresses, challenges and shifts.
Caren has led workshops at Kripalu, the JCC Manhattan, MNDFL meditation studios, and speaks publicly, sharing the benefits, practices and science of optimism, self-compassion, mindfulness and resilience. Also a contributor to Psychology Today, Mindful magazine and others, Caren writes about travel, health and well-being.
Carolyn Ray
Living the Life of Your Dreams
Carolyn Ray believes that anything is possible when you set your intention. A passionate traveller, in 2018, Carolyn gave up everything she owned to travel full-time after a transformative trip to Kenya with her daughter. The following year, she unexpectedly became the owner of JourneyWoman, the beloved women’s solo travel publication founded in 1994 to empower women as the primary decision-makers in travel. As a professional travel writer, Carolyn is a board member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and the Travel Media Association of Canada.
Trained as a CTI Co-active Coach, Carolyn actively mentors emerging leaders and supports female entrepreneurs as a SheEO Activator. She is ranked as one of Canada’s top 100 female entrepreneurs on the PROFIT/ Chatelaine W100 list.
Doni Belau
Finding Magic in the Unexpected
Doni Belau launched Girls’ Guide to Paris & Beyond in September of 2009, which began as a travel website and guide about everything Paris related. After six years as an on-line guide to Paris with over 20+ writers GG2P had over 1.5 million readers yearly. In 2011, GG2P began conducting its first women-only tours, first to France and now working with 20 partners, they have expanded to lead more than 40 trips women-only trips, retreats and adventures around the globe.
Ms. Belau was asked by Cider Mill Press to write the first book on the new Paris Craft Cocktail movement. Paris Cocktails was released on Sept. 15, 2015.
Before the travel business overtook her life, Doni was a fundraiser, an activist, and a political and not-for-profit consultant. She served on President Obama’s first national finance committee in 2007/2008, one of the first women invited after Penny Pritzker.
In 2006 Doni co-founded an organization that would help, assist and empower children and young adults who have HIV/AIDS in South Africa. Doni is also a member of JourneyWoman’s Advisory Council, providing expert counsel on women’s tours and destinations around the world.
Diana Eden
Travel like a Rockstar in Your 80's
After a career as a dancer and actress, Diana Eden spent 30 years in Hollywood, costume designing prime time television series, soap operas, pilots, movies for TV, and feature films, plus dozens of stage productions both in Los Angeles and New York.Eden received an Emmy nomination for A League of Their Own, plus two more Emmy nominations for NBC’s Passions.
“Stars in Their Underwear” is Diana’s memoir, covering her triple careers and her interaction with some of Broadway and Hollywood’s biggest stars. In 2008, she moved to Las Vegas where she teaches costume design at UNLV, mentors young women, creates costumes for Las Vegas entertainers, and continues her writing. Diana is also writes JourneyWoman’s Travel over 80 column, sharing her tips and advice from her own experiences.
Workshops and Panel Discussions
Krista Stanley
Finding Your Inner Compass
Dr. Stanley is a trance medium and intuitive guide. From a young age, Dr. Stanley was aware of an ethereal realm of reality that somehow penetrated our material world. Her curiosity prompted her to explore the phenomena through cultural and religious understanding, sacred practice, metaphysical philosophy and experiential research. In 2019 she received her Doctorate of Philosophy in Wisdom Studies having studied with luminaries including Raymond Moody, Stan Grof, Richard Tarnas, Calen Rayne, Tony Stockwell and Robert Moss.
Dr. Stanley practices a progressive approach to mediumship. She is a certified trance/evidential medium as well as an Active Dreamwork teacher and a NGH-certified Consulting Hypnotist specializing in past life regression. Dr. Stanley is a contributing author to Quantum Psyche II: Quantum Psychology edited by G. Galli Carminati and F. Carminati (2020). She also teaches mediumship technique and dreamwork.
Nora Livingstone
Reshaping Animal Tourism
Nora Livingstone specializes in corporate social responsibility and cross-cultural management, bringing in extensive international experience with local communities who run animal conservation programs. Coining the term: Consent Based Travel she understands the importance of ethics in all interactions.
Nora’s work has taken her to over 45 countries, including Oman, Sierra Leone, Guatemala, and Mongolia. Nora is a qualified Crisis Counselor and holds FEMA certifications in leadership and deployment during natural disasters. Nora runs her own award-winning B-Corp, Animal Experience International and believes locally lead community conservation and animal welfare programs will not only help animals, they will help humanity. She is also a member of JourneyWoman’s Advisory Council, providing expert advice on animal tourism and ethics.
Julie Cottineau
Strengthening Your Personal Brand
Julie Cottineau is the best- selling author of “Twist: How Fresh Perspectives Build Breakthrough Brands” and a global authority on branding. She is the founder and CEO of BrandTwist, a strategic brand consultancy, and creator of Brand School, an actionable branding class for entrepreneurs. Julie honed her branding chops at Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, Interbrand and Grey Global. She is passionate about helping businesses, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits TWIST their corporate and personal brands to stand out in crowded markets. Her own life has been filled with magical TWISTS including a fabulous French husband and two wonderful children. Oh, and she is the unofficial inventor of the Pet Rock. Ask her about it sometime.
Shawna Robins
Reigniting Your Energy
Shawna Robins is an international best-selling author of two books “Powerful Sleep – Rest Deeply, Repair Your Brain and Restore Your Life”, as well as “Irresistibly Healthy – Simple Strategies to Feel Vibrant, Alive, Healthy and Full of Energy Again”.
Shawna is a National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach, a graduate of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and CEO of Kaia Heath and Wellness. Her work has been featured in Authority Magazine, Thrive Global, and The Huffington Post. She is also a member of JourneyWoman’s Advisory Council, providing sleep and wellness advice to JourneyWoman readers around the globe.
Robyn Griggs Lawrence
Exploring Wabi-Sabi
Natural health and lifestyle expert Robyn Griggs Lawrence’s books have introduced mainstream America to cannabis cooking, wabi-sabi, and sustainable lifestyles. She wrote one of the first mainstream cannabis books, the bestselling Cannabis Kitchen Cookbook, and an early academic title, Pot in Pans: A History of Eating Cannabis, part of Rowman & Littlefield’s Studies in Food and Gastronomy series. She is editor-at-large for Sensi magazine and taught a popular cannabis cooking course for Green Flower Media.
Robyn introduced mainstream America to sustainable, healthy lifestyles as editor-in-chief of Natural Home magazine for 11 years and one of the first Westerners to write about the Japanese art of imperfection with The Wabi-Sabi House and Simply Imperfect: Revisiting the Wabi-Sabi House. She’s been featured in major media including the New York Times, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, Bon Appetit, Time, USA Today, Fast Company, The Guardian, CNN, and many others.
Tracey Breeden
Connecting Women’s Safety to Human Rights
Tracey Breeden is an activist & disruptor, and the former VP, Head of Safety and Social Advocacy at Match Group. Here she led the global Trust & Safety Product, Operations, Moderation & Care, Law Enforcement Investigations and Social Advocacy Strategy and Safety efforts across their 15+ brands including Tinder, Hinge, Plenty of Fish, OKCupid and international brands like Meetic, Pairs and HyperConnect.
Tracey brings an intersectional, equity & inclusion lens to safety operations, products, policies, and programs. A former police officer and investigator with subject matter expertise in sexual assault and domestic violence who was awarded the medal of valor during her law enforcement career.
Tracey was Uber’s first Head of Women’s Safety and created Uber’s Global Women’s Safety & Gender-Based Violence Programs Team—the first global team dedicated to the safety of women and other vulnerable populations at Uber. Tracey spearheaded several safety and social advocacy programs including Uber’s Global Driving Change commitment and program to help drive awareness, education and prevention of sexual assault and domestic violence to millions globally. It led to engagement with over 200 women’s safety groups and advocacy organizations and partnerships with 35 gender-based violence prevention organizations globally, resulting in several impactful internal and external global initiatives.
Tracey is known for creating Uber’s first human trafficking prevention iniative and Uber’s first bystander awareness initiatives utilizing a community collaboration model in partnership with law enforcement, government officials, advocates and businesses. She and her team also advised on some of Uber’s most notable safety products like Safety Center, Ride Check, Emergency Button, Share My Trip and Feedback features while also driving the creation of initiatives like the Uber/RAINN dedicated hotline and survivor resource program, driver safety education, training and standards for customer support teams and an industry first sexual misconduct classification system developed in partnership with the National Sexual Violence Resource Center and the Urban Institute—a system that has been adopted by other companies like Trip Advisor.
Tracey’s vision is to build an authentic, equitable, and respectful community of safety from all forms of harm. Tracey believes safety, equity and advocacy are interconnected and corporations have a role to play in helping create safer, more equitable communities while also being advocates for social and cultural change.
Ready to go? Reserve your spot today!
