Sucheta Rawal is a former investment banker turned food and travel expert with a mission to raise

awareness of the world through meaningful travel and cultural understanding. Drawing from her own experience of traveling to 100+ countries across 7 continents, Sucheta speaks to entrepreneurs on how to break

social norms, follow their passion, be change makers, and travel sustainably. Her passion for travel shines through in her ventures. She founded Go Eat Give, a nonprofit that promotes cross-cultural understanding through travel, food, and volunteerism. She has also authored 'Beato Goes To,' a series of children’s illustrated books on travel that

inspire young readers to learn about different countries and cultures.

Social media links

https://www.facebook.com/sucheta.rawal

https://www.instagram.com/suchetarawal/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/suchetarawal/

https://twitter.com/suchetarawal

Link to website

https://suchetarawal.com/

🌟 3 Key Takeaways from Sucheta Rawal's Career Conversations on The Traveling Introvert Podcast:

1️⃣ Meaningful Networking: Instead of solely seeking connections based on shared interests, focus on adding value to others and helping them succeed in their roles or career paths.

2️⃣ Meaningful Travel: When visiting a destination, don't just stick to typical tourist experiences. Instead, immerse yourself in the local culture, customs, and traditions. Make personal connections and support the local community.

3️⃣ Leadership & Public Speaking: Taking on leadership roles and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone can lead to personal growth and improved public speaking skills. Getting stage time at conferences and engaging in sessions helps others remember your expertise and opens the door for further conversations.

Hello, and welcome to another episode of the traveling introvert

career conversations. I am very excited

to talk to this guest. They have

done amazing things and I'm very excited.

So go. I would like to introduce you to

and please say hello. Hi

everybody. Hi, Janice. All right,

so oh, see, I've

lost my train of thought. I'm that excited. First question as always, is do

you consider yourself to be an introvert? I

go both ways. I actually grew up as an introvert for

most of my life and at this point in stage

where I'm in my forty s, I feel like I can do both.

So that makes me ask, what does introversion mean to you?

So to me it means where I draw my energy

from being around people or being on my

own. Think about like when you go to a meeting, a

networking session and do you come back feeling like oh,

I'm so beat now, I do not have energy to talk to people?

Or do you get very excited and you just come back with full

of ideas and you just want to talk more and more? And I

feel like depending on the crowd, I can go both ways. I'm very comfortable

being on my own, but I also draw energy being around people.

And you mentioned that you think that you started off earlier in your life being

an introvert and moved into being more of an ambivert. Now,

what made you think that things have changed? Or has anything happened in your

life that makes you think that you've changed? Absolutely.

So when I was growing up in India, I was a

very quiet kid. I was one of those people who my

friends thought there was something wrong with you because I hardly

ever spoke. And at home, yes, with my

family I was pretty talkative, but the moment I went

outside I was just a good listener. But I never felt

like I always needed to be heard. But when I

came to the United States and I went to college,

I started feeling that if you are not heard, if

you don't speak up, then you are construed a certain way

that you're not smart enough or you don't have enough to contribute.

But even the I think the turning point in my

life was travel. I am a

travel writer, but starting off in college, I was just going to

school for business. One of the

organizations that was for students was

doing travel for as part of their student body to go

on conferences. And my friend came to me and said,

if you want free travel, you should join this

leadership honor society. And I said, Well, I do want

free travel, so what do I need to get there? And she said, well,

your GPA is high enough so you'll qualify, but if

you join the board as a student body leader,

you're assured that you will get to travel for free.

So I went next day and I signed up for the

presidential election to be the president of the

student body organization. And

I did not know that that if I did get elected,

which I did, my first job would be to speak in front

of 500 people. And I think that was the

turning point of my life when I was put in a

position where I had to speak in front of people. And

that's not going to say that I had to become an extrovert at that point,

but I really had to break out of my shell and get

comfortable being in front of people and being around them

and speaking to them, addressing board meetings

and conferences.

Okay. And so you said that it didn't mean

that you became an extrovert. You just had to address people.

Do you feel that that is harder for introverts

to address a crowd of 500 people? I do

feel that introvert have a little bit of an easier

handle on that just because they're more

comfortable speaking in front of people, addressing bigger

crowds. But as I said, being an introvert

and not being comfortable talking in front of people

and not feeling like I needed to, constantly being

heard, that was a bold move for me.

You said that you became president and you got free travel

is the assumption after that. Yeah. So I got to go

on our regional and national

conferences as the president, and I also

picked who all went with me. And when I went to

these conferences, I had to meet people from all parts

of the world who had also come as student leaders.

And that was where I really felt like my

introvert was coming out, because we would interact

in workshops, we would have dinners together, we would share

ideas, we would even janice and learn

about each other's culture. And it was a turning point in my

life because I always felt like I want

to learn about other people through travel, but at that moment, I

had the opportunity to do it.

And so with that travel and all the people you

met, was there anyone specific that sort of

maybe changed your life or changed the trajectory of your life?

There were several people along the way, starting with my

advisor in grad school who

really pushed me to take on those leadership roles.

But even from there, going into my first job

where I was working in consulting, and they sent

me for leadership training, for public speaking training,

and then all the clients I made, I

worked with through those different

positions I've held. I feel like those are the people who

impacted me the most because they have seen me grow in

different career paths but being the same

person and having a different outlook of life. And

they've seen me drawing my energy from being an

introvert to now being a super introvert at times

where I'm the one who's connecting people and speaking

in front of crowds and having these very

unique experiences. And so you mentioned

attending all these conferences as a leader. Did

you have any tips or things that you did to

help deal with going to conferences all the time?

Some of the tips at that point, it was very

different than now because I was a student at that time,

but I still go to a lot of conferences now as a

speaker and as a leader. So I would say I would

speak more on where I'm in my life right now.

Some of the tips for attending and networking

with conferences. I always try to get stage time,

whether it is doing a workshop, a panel

or just speaking up in some of the other sessions

where I introduce myself and if I have a question or

comment to add, I would make

sure that people know my name, who I work for, what do

I do, and then ask my question. And I feel that

makes it easier for people to come and speak to

me afterwards and it opens up new

conversations as well. And you

mentioned that you go into leadership positions and you'll be sent on leadership

training. I know. Public speaking you mentioned

was one thing that was covered with leadership training. Was there anything else that you

felt that was covered in leadership training that was

useful? Yes, a lot of it

was useful. And the public speaking actually was a completely different training

program that I went for aside from the leadership

training. And a lot of it was around how to present

yourself to your clients, how to

network, and never take a no for an

answer. When you reach out to people and

people don't know who you're not familiar with and maybe

you're just sending them a message on LinkedIn and how you

can add value to their lives, rather than just say, oh,

I want to connect. We are in the same group

or we are in the same city or the same company, rather

than just opening with that, maybe saying, here,

I can help you be more successful in

your role or your career path and what is it that you're

offering to them rather than just making that

friendly connection? Okay, so

as follow on from that, is this something that you do regularly

that has improved your career? Absolutely.

This is something I do on a daily basis

for all aspects of my job, from speaking, traveling,

to writing, everything that I do.

What is it? It is connecting with

people and offering value to them. Okay,

and is there anything else that you would recommend that people do sort of

weekly or monthly as a ritual to improve their career or business?

I think the importance of networking

is often misconstrued because networking is

not just always going into a room full of people and

having a drink, but it is also keeping in touch

on a regular basis, whether you pick up the phone and call them or

send them an email. But I feel like that constant

communication with people I've come to know

over my lifetime, whether they are in the same

industry or not. But that value of

holding on to that network and telling them

what you're doing at this point in your career and how they

can help you or how you can help them or just having a

friendly chat and know, well, I just had a wonderful

trip to New Mexico, and if you are ever

thinking about going, you going there. Let me give you some

advice on how you can have a more meaningful experience

when you travel there. And so that

leads me to a question for you with your travel, what constitutes

a meaningful experience? Great question.

So I've traveled to over 100 countries and

I feel like a lot of people tend to repeat the same

experience over and over again when they go to a destination.

They are staying in a hotel, eating at a restaurant they may

have read about in a tour, in a magazine

and then they bring the same photographs as all of their friends

do of the destination. To me that

becomes repetitive and does not add any value

to you as a traveler. A

meaningful travel on the other hand, would be something that

enriches your life as well as the life of

the others at the destination you visit. And that

could be having a learning lesson that you may

have not known about that culture or the place or the

food that you come back and have a personal connection

with someone you met there or something you

learned about their customs, their religions

and then the choices you make as a destination.

So I'm a big proponent

of sustainable travel and I feel that every

opportunity you have as a traveler you are able to make

those decisions on which hotel that you will

stay with, which restaurant you would dine with, who you're going to take a

tour with and making sure that those dollars that you

spend are invested in the local community.

And so how would you go about doing that research?

Well, that's a great question because a lot of

the online platforms, if you book on

a tour or a packaged tour,

does not really allow you to do that. So I

connect with local tour operators who are often

women led and women owned small businesses

in those countries and they have a deeper connection to

the community. I tell them that this is what

I'm interested in, whether it's art or food or

nature and have them make a tailor made

itinerary for me. And while I'm

there, I have these people guide me

through my tours. So it's not just about send me off

to check out all these attractions, but have someone with

me to talk to me about your culture

and those are the people that I connect with and ask them

questions, and I ask them to connect me further.

To what restaurants do you go to with your

family on the weekend? Or if you're going on a

vacation to a different part of your country, where

would you go? And just asking those questions to

people and making those personal connections,

I think that is the best way to do it. And

so can you let us know where you currently are, sort of in your

career, your current job and industry, and the

can you let me know about some misconceptions people have about

your job and industry? Yes. So I'm

a full time food and travel writer, and I

work as a freelancer for a few

publications, including Time Magazine,

CNN, Travel and Leisure Photos. And I have

two columns I write I also write a series of children's books

about travel, and I speak about travel. So

the most common misconception I get from people

who look at my social media posts is that I am

eating and drinking all the time

and just on vacation, taking these

glamorous shots, and I don't work.

So eating and drinking is a big part of my job,

where I have to taste sometimes

hundreds of dishes a week, and I

have to talk to the chefs, learn about the food,

the ingredients, where they're sourced from. So there's

a lot of backstory that happens behind

each dish that I taste. And people are just looking

at, oh, having a great time, you're out for dinner again,

or you're off to another destination. But

it is work. It is a fun work, and I would not

do anything else. But there are

very long hours, and my whole

itinerary each day is defined by

the destinations or my sponsors.

And every waking hour I have is

filled with activities, meetings,

interviews, photograph

sessions, social media posts. And

so I really never have time to sit by the pool and have a drink,

which most people would imagine to at least

do once during their vacation. So I think that's a

very different viewpoint of what the life of a travel

writer could be and funny.

Janice I have invited some of my friends to come with me

occasionally on my trips, and I said, well, you can observe

me in action. And after the first day,

they say, I quit. I cannot

eat another ten course meal. I am jet

lagged. I just want to go to my room and go to

sleep, and I don't want to be a part of this anymore.

Can't keep up with the pace. Exactly.

And so you mentioned that on your Instagram and your social media. That's what

it looks like. Do you ever do something that goes behind the

scenes, gives more in depth information on what an

average I don't know if there is an average day that's probably misconception

a day might look like to give people more depth about

what your industry does and what you do as a

creator? Yes. I've actually done

several YouTube videos on my own channel

where I talked about how people could get into this

business and what to expect if they wanted to become a

food and travel writer. I've talked about what the

typical day life is and what are some of the

pitfalls. Why is it not for everybody? Because

you definitely need to have a lot of stamina and

be persistent with your work. It is not just

about traveling and eating, but you have to

sell those stories. You got to write them on paper and then

you got to pitch yourself. Why are you the right person to be

telling these stories? And then you have to make the

connections with editors and constantly

be updating your portfolio

with what you're doing. So it is not just

a one day when you go to work

eight to five and then you're done. Your work basically

goes 24 hours a day. And so

now you are where you are. Can you tell me the last three jobs

you did before you got to where you are

today? I've been a food and travel writer

full time for about twelve years. Before

that I used to work in Human Capital

Consulting for Gallup

Organization, and before that I was

in investment banking for a Dutch company.

So completely different jobs, different paths.

But I feel like every job I've

had has prepared me to be where I

am today. Adding some skills

in different ways, like I told you, with leadership, with speaking,

with networking, but helping me build

to who I am as a travel writer.

Awesome. Thank you for letting us know about that path. And

final question for you that I ask everybody,

is a hot dog a sandwich?

I'm sorry, what's your question? Is a hot dog a

sandwich? That's a funny question.

I guess it is because a piece of meat

between two pieces of bread is what they define sandwich

as when it first came out. So it probably

is, but it's not something

actually it's not my favorite food. And

I'm sure you get asked this all the time. So what is your favorite food

as you brought it up? I

gravitate more towards Asian because that is my

heritage. So anything spicy,

like Indian, Thai, Malaysian is what my

favorite is. Not that I can eat it every day, but if

you want to treat me to a great meal, that's what I would

expect people to make for me. Okay, you've been told

people, if you want to invite around for dinner, that's what

the menu should look like. Thank you so much. Can you

tell the wonderful listeners where they can find

you? Yeah. So I am on all social

media platforms as my full name, which is

sucheta ravel, and I also have a

blog which is called Go Eat Give. And

my series of books are called Beato goes

to awesome. Thank you so much for joining us

today. It was a real pleasure. Thank you very much. This is

Janice@thecareintrovert.com helping you build your brand and get