The Impact of Social Enterprise in Tourism with Jayni Gudka

Soul of Travel: Women's Wisdom and Mindful Travel

In this episode of Soul of Travel, Season 5: Women's Wisdom + Mindful Travel, presented by @journeywoman_original, Christine hosts a soulful conversation with Jayni Gudka, Founder and CEO of Sama Sama International and Unseen Tours.

Jayni is a social entrepreneur with the vision of making the tourism industry more inclusive of marginalized communities and their stories. She founded Sama Sama International in 2023 following a research project where she designed a toolkit for co-creating walking tours with marginalized communities in the most ethical and responsible way. Unseen Tours is a multi-award-winning social enterprise that provides opportunities for people affected by homelessness to curate and lead walking tours of London.

Jayni holds a Master’s degree in Responsible Tourism Management, where her research focused on how marginalized communities can be more authentically represented in walking tours of their own communities, and an earlier Master’s degree in Asian Politics, where she focused on land rights and tourism in Myanmar. She has previously worked on attitudinal change projects with NGOs and developed community-based tourism initiatives in Southeast Asia and West Africa.

Christine and Jayni discuss:

· Balancing passion and purpose with our own capacity to manage our workload
· How Nnseen Tours is helping to break the cycle of homelessness
· Taking your power back by determining how and when you share your story
· Amplifying the stories of marginalized people
· Jayni’s new social enterprise, Sama Sama International

Join Christine now for this soulful conversation with Jayni Gudka.

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To read our episode blog post, access a complete transcript, see full show notes, and find resources and links mentioned in this episode, head to the Soul of Travel Website.

Visit Unseen Tours to learn more about Jayni’s team and their work in the UK and beyond. Connect with Jayni on your favorite social media network! Jayni’s Facebook / Linkedin. Unseen Tours: Instagram / Facebook / LinkedIn / Twitter (X).

Donate to the Unseen Tours Winter Fundraiser on Crowdfunder.

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Credits. Christine Winebrenner Irick (Host, creator, editor). Jayni Gudka (Guest). Original music by Clark Adams. Editing, production, and content writing by Carly Oduardo.

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