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The first Black-owned hostel brand is celebrating its anniversary with its largest offering ever

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DEIDRE MATHIS, travel


Wanderstay, America’s first Black-owned hostel brand, is celebrating the one-year anniversary of its boutique hotel. Founder Deidre Mathis is celebrating by announcing her biggest offering in order that recent customers can check out the space.

Curious travelers will reach Houston stay in one among Wanderstay’s themed rooms, inspiring with music, sports and even safari. Tucked away within the cultural district of the East End, Mathis intentionally designed this space to bring fun and excitement back to luxury adult accommodation.

Guests can enjoy this Black-owned oasis for over 50% off the regular rate, supplying you with a 2-night stay for just $149 plus tax. Although the possibility to get this deal ends on April 15, buyers have one yr to benefit from this never-to-be-repeated offer and participate within the Wanderstay. More information, including the discount code, may be found on Wanderstay’s social media accounts.

To highlight this recent offer, BLACK ENTERPRISES spoke with Mathis in a fast Q&A session about pursuing her wildest dreams, securing funding, and the hostel community.

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How to get from the hostel to the hotel? It looks as if a very different ball game.

We opened the hostel in 2018. I made history because the first black woman to run and own a hostel within the US, but I already knew then that I desired to expand my hotel brand. As I got older, other travelers did it too and also you realize that hostels are mainly great while you’re younger. When I used to be older, I wanted something more upscale that would not break the bank. So I created a hotel that met what my friends and I were now searching for.

Explain your purpose and mission at Wanderstay. Many people hear the word “hostel” and have some negative associations in mind. How do you combat and dismantle the narrative? What could make a hostel feel prefer it’s five-star?

When we first opened, people asked, “Why a hostel and why Houston?” I replied, “Why not?” Honestly, there was no hostel option. I take a look at the statistics; There are plenty of tourists and events in Houston, but there are not any options for this kind of accommodation. When it involves breaking the stereotype, I didn’t need to do much because our target market, hostelers, were searching for us. But I still love introducing it to Black and brown individuals who would otherwise never give it some thought.

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How has this experience before the COVID-19 pandemic shaped your enterprise journey?

We opened at a really special moment. Before the pandemic broke out, we had only been in business for a yr and a half. We just needed to turn around hard and we did it in a short time. We are positioned two miles from the medical center so we could accommodate nurses and family visitors. We all the time tell people who when the going gets tough, take into consideration how you may change to save lots of your enterprise. We maintain our brand standards of cleanliness and community, and folks proceed to make use of us.

Can you explain your view on raising equity funding for this enterprise, especially when this avenue for Black women entrepreneurs is in danger??

So I fully funded each of my projects with U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, which is a unicorn, right? First of all, as within the case of the hostel, many start-ups use SBA loans, including people who open businesses in specific, area of interest industries. I used to be in the suitable place at the suitable time. When I moved to Houston, I began networking and met as many individuals as I could.

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In 2016, I entered as many pitching competitions as I could. I did about 18 – and won all of them. People then began to take notice. So after I began searching for money for my business, I had local banks willing to support me. When I had my second location, I picked up the phone and said, “Hey, I’m ready to grow,” and the banks said, “OK, let’s do it.” So I tell people, if you happen to want an SBA loan, be energetic in your city and tell people what you do.

What experiences have you ever delivered to your guests? How do you would like to influence and shape the best way Black people travel?

I really like how most days I sit at my desk and talk over with my guests. They are so pleased with me and completely satisfied after they discover we’re Black owned. When you provide good customer support, skin color doesn’t matter, but guests know that you just appear like them they usually’re much more excited to share your story. We have also implemented many security measures to make sure this safety.

We are a hotel, but what we actually offer is a spot for the community.

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What was the most important obstacle you overcame to realize this dream? Has it ever felt unattainable? What do you’ve gotten to say to other Black women who’ve lofty dreams?

Sometimes I believe: wow, not only did I even have this dream, but I made it come true. Not once, but twice… but I need people to realize it wasn’t easy. In 2014 I made a decision to open it and toiled for 4 and a half years. I didn’t earn or receive any rewards. But I made business plans, checked my funds and made contacts. Four years of achieving this goal gave me every part I needed when it got here time to finally open.

You bring the world to you with Wanderstay. What do you wish them to go away with?

We have so many things in common on this world, but I believe all of us feel alone and disconnected. When people can look me in the attention and talk over with me, they get something out of it. You do not get this in traditional hotels. I need people to go away Wanderstay feeling like they’ve just left a family or friend behind and might’t wait to see them again.

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This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com

Travel

This black yoga studio is the perfect travel escape in Grenada

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Hidden on the hills of the Grenada island, in the community of St. George’s, sits yoga Spice Harmony, a black yoga studio that seems to escape from the world. Founded by Dr. Kecia Brooks-Smith-LoweHer husband Ferron C. Lowe ESQ.and their daughter, Malaika Brooks-Smith-LoweSpice Harmony Yoga is positioned on the third floor of the Brooks-Lowe-Smith family home. With a fruit and vegetable garden in the yard and medical practice, Dr. Brooks-Smith-Lowe on the second floor, in this house, purpose, passion and repair.

Visitors recognize Harmony Spice as a comfortable space with purple with yoga mats, bands and pillows. It has all the vital elements of a typical studio with unpretentious sense and stands out from one other space on the island as the only non-hotel yoga studio in Grenada.

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The story of Spice Harmony actually began in Montclair, New Jersey, in the 90s, when Dr. Brooks-Smith-Lowee made a medical residence-a stressful and demanding phase becoming a physician. Her husband, Ferron, from Grenada, went to local walks and discovered yoga as a strategy to de -stress, after which brought his family, including Malaika. Soon, the whole family was trained and licensed, in 2011, all three members of the Brooks-Smith-Low family officially launched Spice Harmony yoga on a gorgeous island.

Malaika Brooks-Lowe-Smith co-founder Spice Harmony Yoga along with her parents in Grenada. He stands in front of their great wall to clarify the advantages of yoga for mental and physical health. (Photo: Natasha S. Alfford/Thegrio)
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Malaika says that although people often see yoga as a hobby or fitness trend, Harmony Spice serves a deeper goal in the community by changing the possibilities.

“People often feel that yoga is not for them,” he explains. “For any reason: they are too old. They are not flexible. It’s a man. They have a medical problem. And yoga therapy taught me that you can meet someone anywhere. “

The studio offers private classes, with non -standard experience for couples in honey months or holidays, in addition to classes for kids, seniors, future pregnant moms and others.

“Great Yoga Wall” Spice Harmony is also a special feature that leaves guests suspended in the air, with ropes attached to wall hooks, which make them feel weightless. It helps with flexibility and customary problems.

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Malaika, who is also a trained doula and mother for a six -year -old boy, notes that a lot of her clients also use yoga for medical and therapeutic reasons.

“Some of my parents, my patients had impacts, paralysis, all kinds of things. And there are so many aspects of this practice that go beyond physical. Breath, mindfulness that we still need, especially when our body is not, you know what it was once or passed through something traumatic. So for me the opportunity to have this space and offer something so high quality, which our people deserve. “

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To support this effort, he is working on raising funds for a brand new project called The Wild Seed Sanctuary-Trzy and a half Akra of a social enterprise designed to create a comprehensive, intergenerational yoga space, social events and healing.

Wild seeds will gather all guests and residents in Grenada with the “Pay-What-You-Can” model, creating black coworking and yoga space, which means that you can create organic connections.

The youngest Brooks-Smith-Lowee received numerous support and enthusiasm for the project and hopes that he’ll replace it by the end of the 12 months.

The presence of Spice Harmony in Grenada is in the landscape of many black firms, and it is one among the Brooke-Smith-Lowe malaika, from which it attracts strength.

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“Many people move to Grenada. And this is great, especially since there are more – they are not only white people who move here and call themselves expatt. We also have younger black and brown people who are trying to get out of the USA and Great Britain … I think it is still important that we have companies that we also really run in Grenada, that we also use it. “

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(Tagstotransate) grenada

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Travel

What’s with all the random accidents of the aircraft?

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The plane directed from Minneapolis to the Toronto the wrong way up on the airport’s catwalk in the Canadian city.

The film material that appeared on the web shows that the plane slipped in a catastrophe on snowy asphalt before it lights up and completely falls over. The disaster means the fourth large plane crash in North America since the starting of the yr.

The world stopped when a military helicopter collided with a passenger aircraft on January 29, before they each plunged into the Potomac River, leaving the survivors and ultimately claiming that a complete of 67 lives. Just just a few days later, a pneumatic jet ambulance wearing a minor patient hit a district in Philadelphia, demanding life on the plane. Then, just a few days before the failure to Toronto, a plane was lost with 10 on board before he was crashed on Alaska without survivors.

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The latest disaster associated with a plane in Toronto only increased the growing fear and concerns about flying safety in today’s airspace. In Washington, news about President Donald Trump’s plans regarding the federal aviation administration in uncertain times in his administration for presidency staff was increasingly nervous. Last week, the Trump administration began to shoot almost 400 test employees when the agency was already short for about 800 employees.

“These are positions that are necessary to support public security,” said the spokeswoman of the Union Reuters.

It is difficult to point whether the planes are breaking more, and if that’s the case, why. Naming this until the time is not going to be completely secure until the yr shouldn’t be further. According to data collected by National Transport Security CouncilTechnically, we had no more accidents related to the aircraft than at the moment last yr. With the exception of the American Eagle disaster in the Potomac River, smaller aircraft and personal jet are more at risk of accidents. What happened in Toronto, accident, landing or start in the runway is taken into account the most typical phenomenon.

However, the aircraft fully turned over, like a automobile, apparently it’s “very rare”, in keeping with John Cox, the general director of the Consulting Company for Safety Safety in St. St. Petersburg in Florida.

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Cox said NBC 5 Chicago“We saw several start cases in which the aircraft ended inverted, but it’s quite rare.”

Truth and value the anxiety that the January disaster in Pogomak meant the most threatening place in the American airspace from attacks of September 11. But it also stays true that the likelihood of death in a plane crash It continues to be too rare to even count.

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(Tagstotransate) lifestyle

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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It starts to look like another record in a Christmas journey

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Drivers and passengers of the airlines without Reindeer and sleds Better do it: it starts to look like different Record for Christmas travel in the USA

The AAA Car Club predicts that over 119 million people will travel no less than 50 miles from the home between Saturday and the New Year, which is able to reach the previous season in the 2019 season. Two weekends on either side of Christmas look a few of the most crowded times on the road and airports.

Trading group Airlines for America He also predicts a record journey, saying that it expected that the airlines wear 54 million passengers over 19 days, which began on Thursday and ends on Monday, January 6. This number is a rise of 6% compared to last yr.

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Closing the federal government It can start, as soon as Saturday will probably be too close to the vacations to immediately affect flights and operations at airports, but this may change if the closure closes.

What might be essentially the most busy travel days?

Airlines expect that they are going to have essentially the most busy days on Friday and Sunday, and December 26, December 27 and December 29. Air traffic is anticipated to be light on each Christmas and New Year. The slowest day of air travel in the USA this yr – with a wide margin – was Thanksgiving Day.

. Transport safety administration He expects to review 40 million passengers throughout the holidays and until January 2.

According to AAA, about 90% of Americans traveling away from home throughout the holidays might be in cars.

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“The journey of airlines is really high now, but most people go to their destinations and it’s true for every holiday,” said AAA Aixa Diaz spokeswoman.

Gasoline prices are similar to last yr. The average nationwide Thursday was USD 3.05 per gallon, compared to USD 3.08 a yr ago, according to AAA. Charging an electrical vehicle Mediums just under 35 cents per kilowatt hour, but vary depending on the state.

The INRIX transport data company claims that travel times on national highways may be up to 30% longer than usual throughout the holidays, and Sunday expects the toughest traffic. According to Boston, New York, Seattle and Washington, DC, they’re metropolitan areas prepared for the best delays.

Weather and other wild cards

Because the period of Christmas travel lasts for weeks, airports and airlines normally have smaller peaks than during a hurry around the vacation of thanksgiving, however the hustle and bustle of 1 feverish day followed by another nursery. And all hiccups – A Winter storm Or computer failure – Maybe snowballs in huge interference.

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Yes Southwest Airlines 2 million travelers got stuck in December 2022 and Delta aircraft suffered a smaller but significant crash after World technological failure in July attributable to Faulty software update from Crowdstrike Cyber ​​security.

Many flights throughout the holidays are sold out, which makes the appeal much more destructive than in slower periods. This applies to particularly smaller airlines, which have fewer flights and fewer options for re -booking passengers. Only the biggest airlines, including American, Delta and United, have “inter -line contracts” that allow them to put customers on the flights of another carrier.

It might be the primary Christmas season because the principle of the transport department, which requires the airlines to be given to customers Automatic refund for a canceled or significantly delayed flight. Most of the air travelers were already qualified for returns, but they often had to ask them.

Passengers can still ask you to reserve again, which is commonly a higher option than a refund in peak travel periods. This is because finding a flight in the last airline could be very expensive.

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“When they book you again, they will pay for the difference of tariff. If my flight to visit my grandmother, which I booked six months ago for $ 200, and I turn around and book a flight four hours for 400 USD, I have to pay this difference, “said Sally French, an authority on traveling in consumers- Affairs Nerdwallet company .

People traveling from budget airlines with fewer flights and no partnerships with other carriers can meet with a difficult alternative In the case of a canceled flight.

“He will put you on the next output Spirit or Frontier Flight, but from now on it may be some time. Sometimes waiting for three days for the next flight, it will not work for you “and pays more for re -booking Large airline French said, it could actually be profitable.

Some airlines use the supply in a recent principle of the Transport Department, which defined a significant delay as three hours for a domestic flight and 6 hours for a global flight. According to Brett Snyder, who runs the Cranky Flyer website, airlines that previously issued phrases for shorter delays – for instance Delta, United and Jetblue – are currently using the federal government standard.

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Delayed flights increase the chance of losing bags. Passengers who separate from their bags should report them to the airline and ask what’s going to cover the airline. Links to customer support plans of the fundamental American airlines are at the underside this page.

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Would the federal government close to flights and airports?

The government may close if the Congress doesn’t adopt the Funding Act with Date at midnight on Friday. Most TSA employees at airports, air traffic controllers and customs agents are considered obligatory and can have to work without remuneration in the event of closing.

The more incompetent employees could cause disease, the longer the closure lasts, which may lead to longer security lines and other delays. It seemed that it was a few weeks to close the federal government It began in December 2019.

“While our staff have prepared to handle high volumes of travelers and ensure a safe travel, the extended closure may mean longer waiting times at airports,” said TSA Carter Langston spokesman in a statement.

Aaa advises travelers to “continue their Christmas plans, even if they close,” said Diaz spokesman. “Operations at airports will continue normally, but maybe they will work a little slower than usual, so travelers should be aware of it.”

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Planning in advance at 2025

The air tariffs increased by 4.7% According to US government data, in November, compared to the yr of the yr. But at the start of 2025 that is a good time to start planning next yr’s journeys, including for spring and summer holidays.

“Because traveling is so popular, you won’t find anything that is very rock, but January and February are great times for the set for March, April and May”, Laura Motta, editor of the publisher of Travel Guide Lonely Planet, he said. “If you want to go to Paris in spring, you must think about it in January.”

(Tagstranslate) @AP

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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