Women in Travel: How to Find your Voice and Connect

Dolores Semeraro — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 16:27:03 +0000

Truth Behind Travel Podcast

Women in Travel: How to Find your Voice in Travel, Evolve and Connect with others - in conversation with Lola Akinmade Åkerström

Summary

Dolores Semeraro interviews Lola Akinmade Åkerström as a true voice of the women in travel, international bestselling author, keynote speaker, and award-winning travel photographer for National Geographic, BBC, CNN, The Guardian, Travel + Leisure and more.

Lola Akinmade Åkerström was named one of 2023’s Most Influential Women in Travel by Travel Pulse and has been recognized with multiple prestigious awards for her work including Condé Nast Traveler’s 2024 Women Who Travel Power List.

Representing the leading voices of women in travel, Lola Akinmade Åkerström, renowned travel storyteller and photographer, shares her journey from a tech background to travel writing and photography, emphasizing the importance of authenticity and evolution in storytelling.

She discusses balancing social media trends with personal integrity, the challenges of overtourism, and the need for diversity in travel media.

Lola highlights her efforts to create opportunities for underrepresented voices, including her work with National Geographic and her startup venture. She passionately encourages aspiring storytellers to stay true to their voices and fight for representation.

The highlights

The balance between social media trends and maintaining the integrity of work, navigating strong currents while staying true to one’s purpose.
To Focus on the story and voice rather than chasing algorithms and social media metrics and the importance of being authentic and transparent with the audience.
Addressing the challenge of aligning client expectations with personal brand and setting boundaries with clients.
Fighting for Representation and Creating Opportunities and for that seat at the table in the travel photography industry.
Pivotal travel experiences, including Lola’s time in Fiji and Swedish Lapland and the importance of cultural connections and the impact of these experiences on her career.

About Lola Akinmade Åkerström

International bestselling author, keynote speaker, and award-winning travel photographer Lola Akinmade Åkerström has photographed and dispatched from 80+ countries for various publications.

Her work has appeared in National Geographic, BBC, CNN, The Guardian, Travel + Leisure, Slate, Travel Channel, Adventure.com Magazine, AFAR, Lonely Planet, and many more. She has collaborated with high profile commercial brands from Mercedes-Benz and Dove to Intrepid Travel and National Geographic Channel.

She is a Hasselblad Heroine and has been recognized with multiple prestigious awards and nominations for her work including Condé Nast Traveler’s 2024 Women Who Travel Power List. She was named one of 2023’s Most Influential Women in Travel by Travel Pulse.

She was honored with a 2021 Newsweek Future of Travel Award for Storytelling and MIPAD 100 (Most Influential People of African Descent) Award within media and culture in 2018.