Today we’d like to introduce you to Christine Winebrenner Irick.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Christine. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I have always been interested in learning more about other cultures and exploring nature and excited to travel the world to broaden my understanding. As an adult, I have been able to reflect on my life so far and think about my passions and see that I have also always been drawn to both creating communities of women and empowering women.
I began my career in travel quite early when I completed a travel program in San Francisco. While studying, I learned I wasn’t going to be the person booking trips and researching dream destinations for others, I was going to out there taking in as many experiences as possible. I kept hearing people give talks about barely escaping a herd of hippos, sleeping on the floor of a thatched hut in a rainforest or eating traditional foods, like insects or guinea pig…and unlike many people around me, I wasn’t overwhelmed, or scared or separating myself from that type of adventure, I was drawn like a moth to a flame.
I have moved down a very winding path that has taken me from working for a Visitors Center near Yellowstone Park to an airline in a small regional airport where we did everything (from checking in passengers to loading luggage, driving baggage trucks and belt loaders and loading and unloading 1000’s of pounds of luggage every day), and a small in near Glacier Park, an expedition cruise company and several tourism associations.
I eventually followed this path to George Washington University, where I earned my Master of Tourism Administration (M.T.A.) with focuses in Sustainable Destination Management and Event Planning. All along this path I was developing my own identity in this industry; I was gathering knowledge about eco-tourism, educational tourism, voluntourism, responsible tourism and connected this to my need to connect authentically with people around the world. These became the values that would drive my business as I began to conceptualize what would become my women’s travel company, Lotus Sojourns.
Has it been a smooth road?
This journey has definitely not been smooth. For much of this journey I honestly didn’t even know I was on the same road. I didn’t set out to start a transformational travel company for women. My early college-level education was in journalism and creative writing, later I moved to interior design and photography and finally landed in sociology…all the while moving from one career to the next, that all ended up having ties to global community and tourism.
Looking back, I see I really fought this calling…when I applied for graduate school in tourism I was also applying to the local police academy because it felt like more of a “sure thing.” When I think about that now, I see how out of alignment that was from who I am and would become, but it is so interesting to compare the path we think we are setting out upon and where we end up.
I may not be the same for everyone, but for women who feel like they need clarity, I challenge them to really look at what they’ve done and what they love and it may suddenly become more obvious. I hired a woman who calls herself a purpose coach, and within a 30 minute call she connected all of these dots that seem so obvious to me now, but my dreams were so suppressed I couldn’t see them. When she said, “how does the idea of a travel company for women focusing on culture and connection feel to you,” I said, “well, duh…like the most obvious thing in the world…like it makes so much sense it cannot possibly be that easy.” I felt no resistance or struggle, which was honestly, a very uncomfortable and unknown feeling.
Once I had this clear picture there was no stopping me. I had unknowingly been grooming myself for this my whole life. However, one of my biggest struggles has been overcoming my own limiting beliefs and doubts that I am not really the person for this job. I also knew, as a mom of three young girls, I would be stepping into other unknown areas as I began to navigate, not only becoming a working mom but a mother who was going to be choosing to spend weeks every year in distant countries. This was another struggle, but once I realized this was more of a battle with a conventional notion of motherhood and not my own resistance it became much easier to navigate. I know without any doubt that the mothering I provide my daughters, as I set out in the world to create equality for women around the world and to created a connected community of women who stand for one another, is the most impactful mothering I will ever give them.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Lotus Sojourns – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
At Lotus Sojourns, I guide women on journeys blending adventure travel with personal transformation. As I was traveling the world, I found the most impactful experiences happened when I was blessed to share very authentic and sometimes vulnerable connections with fellow travelers or people sharing their culture with me. My view of people and place has been shifted so many times, and I have fallen in love with people and humanity over and over again. This is the type of experience I set out to offer the women who travel with me.
I want to give women a place to be themselves, to explore what that might even mean to them, and a safe space for this to happen in a like-minded and like-hearted group. When women gather together in these ways the connection and magic that unfolds is unlike anything we typically encounter in our daily lives. Travel is inherently transformative and when you add intentionality, community and authentic connection, it becomes something really special.
I strongly believe there is a fierce need for a space for women to connect with one another, with themselves and with nature, to be with one another in a way that isn’t allowed in our modern lives. Every woman I connect with is seeking this, even women who seem to be immersed in communities of women still desire more time together and want connection and belonging. When I see travelers connecting with women around the world and spreading this feeling of belonging you can sense everything changing: I know this impact will be long lasting and is vitally important.
Often it feels as if the media, by and large, is only focused on the obstacles faced by women, but we feel it’s important to also look for the opportunities. In your view, are there opportunities that you see that women are particularly well positioned for?
This is an important time for women and I am so grateful to be one of so many leaders who are rising up to say “now is our time.” I am thankful to all of the support I have received that I might not have been given if I had come to this point in my personal journey ten years ago. I believe there are so many opportunities for women, personally and professionally, here and around the world.
There seems to be a collective awakening and it is both fierce and powerful, and gentle and nurturing I am so excited to see what will continue to unfold as we all start turning towards each other and break from our more masculine energy that we’ve been living in and start to embrace who we are, who we REALLY are!
I encourage women to not be afraid to live fully, to take that leap and follow a dream and know that our most impactful lives our lived with we are coming at work and life from a place of passion and love.
Pricing:
- Guatemala Mother & Daughter Sojourn – July 21-26, 2020…$2800 (Mother)/$2200 (Child)
- Guatemala Sojourn: Transformation Connection with Feminine Mayan Spirit – November 8-15, 2020…$4100
- VoyageDenver Discount…$250 per person when booked by April 3, 2020…Code VOYAGE250
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lotussojourns.com
- Phone: 406-240-8214
- Email: connect@lotussojourns.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lotussojourns/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lotussojourns/
Image Credit:
@kellyeileen.co (headshot)
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