Member Spotlight: Cassie Kifer

Each month at San Francisco Travel Massive, we profile a community member in our latest newsletter. This month, we meet freelance writer, marketer, and blogger for Ever In Transit about how she stumbled into the online travel industry profession. Cassie now leads the new Silicon Valley community.

How did you begin to work in the travel industry?

Right after graduating from college in upstate New York, I joined a friend on a road trip through California and the Southwest. I was brand new to travel, and this was a big trip — my first time west of Indiana! One night near the end of our adventure, we were staying at a hostel in Los Angeles. I started talking to a guy in the kitchen who turned out to be the manager. I joked, “This place is so fun–how does one get to work in a hostel?” He responded, “Do you want a job? I’m hiring.” Three weeks later, I packed up my things back east and moved to Los Angeles. Though I left the hostel about a year later, I’ve lived in California and traveled frequently ever since. That was almost 13 years ago! I’ve always been an avid photographer and web enthusiast, but my interest in making this work my career came about when I started my travel blog back in January 2012.

What does your current role entail?

I’m a freelance writer and share photos and stories on my own travel blog, Ever In Transit. I also work as a social media marketing consultant helping small businesses, startups, and travel companies connect with customers and build a community.

Right now, I’m doing a lot to help travel brands learn Pinterest marketing. Pinterest is a proven tool for sharing your expertise and driving traffic back to your website, especially in industries with lots of visual content—like travel and food. I’ve had a ton of success with this platform personally, but know a lot of companies aren’t getting the reach they could if they were pinning strategically. It is very easy to waste time on Pinterest if you don’t know what you are doing!

What benefits have come from attending Travel Massive meet-ups?

I’ve attended Travel Massive meetups here in the Bay Area, and in Los Angeles and Toronto, when traveling. I’ve made a lot of new travel-loving friends and connected with people doing various inspiring things in the travel industry.

I met one of my current marketing clients at the Oakland meet-up a few months ago!

What changes do you hope to see in the travel industry?

I’m excited to see a growing interest in sustainable and responsible travel. Travelers are demanding that companies limit the impact their presence has and support initiatives to improve the local communities going forward. There seems to be a growing push to eradicate unethical animal tourism right now, which is great, but I hope this fervor leads travelers, bloggers, and brands to think about other important issues like climate change, economic opportunity, social justice, migration, and human rights.

I’m also glad to see some travel brands and destinations paying attention to the role of bloggers in inspiring trips. People connect with people, and bloggers put a human face on travel destinations.

If you could go anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would you go?

India is at the absolute top of my bucket list, but I keep putting off travel there because I want to take time to explore the country well. I really love Latin America, and I’m always eager to plan my next trip there. And California, of course! Try as I might, there’s always so much more to see and do right here, close to home.

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Stephanie Uniacke is the co-chapter leader of San Francisco Travel Massive. When she is not organizing meet ups in her city she blogs over at Just Cherished, proving you can still have travel adventures with a 9-5 lifestyle. Connect with her on Twitter and Facebook.