Truth Behind Travel Podcast

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

• Dolores Semeraro • Season 4 • Episode 70

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Dolores Semeraro interviews Lola Akinmade Åkerström, 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. 

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Welcome to Truth Behind Travel Podcast a platform for tourism, travel and hospitality professionals and enthusiasts to share, learn and unlearn what we need to create better tourism, protect the environment and become better humans. 

I am your host Dolores Semeraro and every week I bring on the podcast the voices of those out there making a difference, to learn the hard truths behind the world of travel and tourism, what works and what we can collectively do better. 

Welcome to Season 4 - a series of conversation fully dedicated to Women in Travel the trailblazers the visionaries who have been and continue to be the force for good we need to hear more from. 


Dolores Semeraro is a sought-after international tourism keynote speaker and sustainable tourism marketing professional.

Dolores actively works in the tourism and travel conference space as a keynote speaker and moderator, gracing the stages of international tourism summits and trade shows.

As a professional keynote speaker, Dolores’ speaking topics encompass sustainable digital marketing for the tourism industry, how to establish digital mastery, and learn how to identify today’s traveler’s needs.

During the pandemic, Dolores launched her podcast show named ‘Truth Behind Travel Podcast’ where she regularly interviews tourism and travel industry leaders and representatives on how to rebuild the future of travel.

In the recent years, Dolores has continued to work and live on beautiful islands such as Mauritius, where she started her tourism and hospitality marketing consultancy working closely with the Mauritian luxury hospitality sector as corporate trainer.

According to her international clients, Dolores is a gifted trainer and intuitive workshop facilitator.

She is now based in Europe where she actively works as keynote speaker and corporate trainer in the tourism industry.

www.doloressemeraro.com

dolores@doloressemeraro.com

Instagram @dolores_semeraro

LinkedIn @dolores.sem

Dolores Semeraro:

welcome to Truth Behind travel podcast, a platform for tourism, travel and hospitality professionals and enthusiasts to share, learn and unlearn what we need to create better tourism, protect the environment and become better humans. I'm your host, Dolores Semeraro, and every week, I bring on a podcast the voices of those out there making a difference to learn the hard truth behind the world of travel and tourism, what works and what we can collectively do better. Welcome to Season Four, a series of conversations fully dedicated to women in travel, the trailblazers, the visionaries who have been and continue to be the force for good. We need to hear more from joining us on the show. I am thrilled to welcome truth behind travel podcast sponsor women travel leaders. Women travel leaders is a community that supports high performing, purpose driven travel business leaders to grow their business in less time by fostering a community of heart led leaders who prioritize authenticity and impact above all else. Are you ready to start thriving in your travel business and your life through connecting with a powerful community that truly has your back. Well, head over to the show notes and on the link mention Dolores in the referee name to first access when applications open and receive 25% off your first year of membership on today's episode, I am welcoming a woman in travel who is an authority in visual storytelling. She is an international best selling author, keynote speaker and award winning photographer. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, BBC, CNN, The Guardian Travel and Leisure and more. She was named one of 2023 most influential women in travel by travel polls. And in 2024 her work was recognized by Conde Nast Traveler in women who travel power list. Let's welcome Lola akin made akerstrom. Welcome back to the show, and welcome to season four. Today, I'm joined on the podcast, not just by a travel professional, a woman in travel, someone that hopefully today will inspire you and share with you a lot more than just her experience in travel and in the tourism industry, but someone that has inspired me, personally since the moment I landed on her TEDx, welcome, Lola, I'm so happy to have you on the podcast. Thank you

Lola:

Thank you so much. So excited to be here.

Dolores Semeraro:

Well, I don't know where to start to describe your adventures and basically the journey that you've been on and you're still on, because I believe you are evolving and moving forward always improving. So I'll let you share with the podcast listeners a little bit of what your journey looked like so far, and how did you get to where you are today.

Lola:

Like most journeys into this industry, it's usually not linear. My background was actually quite technical. I used to be a programmer and System Architect when I lived in the US, and I worked with maps, like a lot of digital maps, so think of like Google Maps and things like that. And that was my life for over 12 years, until I dove into travel writing and travel photography. And that came about because I volunteered for an adventure race many, many years ago in Fiji. And it was while at volunteering for that race that I realized, Oh, my goodness, I'm writing stories that people on the other side of the world are reading, and they are in my shoes, experiencing the place, seeing the place through my eyes, through my words and photography. And so that's kind of how I started getting into travel writing and travel photography.

Dolores Semeraro:

And you never looked back.

Lola:

No, no.

Dolores Semeraro:

So if you look forward, what do you see?

Lola:

What do I see? as I look forward is I don't just always label myself as I'm a writer photographer. This, because I'm always evolving. So I call myself a storyteller, and the platform is irrelevant, right? So if I want to tell a story and writing a travel piece makes the best sense for that story, then I write that if photography or visual storytelling is the best route, then I do that. And so the future, I will always be a storyteller. In the future, I will always look for the best platform, using the best tools to tell.

Dolores Semeraro:

when you look at platforms nowadays, I mean, I I can't help but even when I've worked in marketing and in the tourism industry for many years, and I remember the days of the days before social media in the tourism and travel industry, where marketing had a whole different approach to promotion, storytelling. There was no such a thing as storytelling at then. And how does a visual storyteller survives today? when you have to sort of compromise between the integrity and the angle of your work and what social media demands of you.

Lola:

social media doesn't really demand. It's you choose to play, right? So nobody can demand how you want to show up in life. It's how you use those tools to show up. And so when I think of social media, I compare it to swimming in an ocean, right? Versus soften on the ocean. So the ocean are the trends. The ocean is social media. It's violent, it's great, it's beautiful, it's many things, but if you are swimming in it and under toe can tell can pull you, because it's very strong. The currents are strong, right? But if you're suffering, you are using social media while still being in charge of how you want to show up or use the waves, right? So that's kind of the analogy I use. And so how you can balance it is, when I'm using social media to share my work, am I interested in that story? Because I am interested in the story, or because I'm doing it for others? Because, if you're not interested in what you are actually doing, if you do not know what your purpose is, if you're doing it just for clicks and likes, then the ABS and the flows will come the where there are times where Instagram changes an algorithm, and then you start to freak out because you're not getting the views you wanted, right? So I always say worry about the story and the voice and the purpose and why you're doing what you're doing first, so that even if an algorithm changes, it doesn't demoralize you, because you're going to keep sharing those kind of stories anyway. And when I look at my own career, I've been in the travel industry for over 20 years, I don't worry about relevance. I worry about evolution. What is the next natural evolution as a storyteller, because your audience changes as you evolve, as you grow, as you experience new things as you, as you transform your audience. Your voice changes. It matures. And so that's what I always say, is to have some kind of longevity in the travel industry, as a storyteller, you have to worry more about the natural evolution of your voice, versus just staying relevant.

Dolores Semeraro:

how do you stay in contact with what your audience wants? So

Lola:

the audience changes, and that's one of the things, is kind of with life, where, as you move through different stages in life, the friendships and the relationships change as well. It's the same with the audience. So it you have to always start from, is this a story that truly moves my soul. Yes, then I want to tell it, and then the people that resonate with it will come and because you're already sharing transparently and honestly, they will feel comfortable sharing transparently and honestly with you, and that is how you can continue to tweak things you know or say. Are these kind of stories you want to listen to, or is this information I'm sharing valuable to you as well? If not, then tell me, and then this is how I can also tailor it to you. Now, this is different when if you're in business, right? So I'm talking about as a storyteller, because I'm also a business woman. I do business, and the customers kind of tell you what they want, right? But I also look at it this way. And somebody said it, think about the fashion industry, especially couture fashion industry. If the customers dictated what they wanted to wear, then they wouldn't be a couture fashion industry, right? So it's you create. Now imagine if I always shop at Target, then I'm the one saying, Louis Vuitton, you have to design it this way. For me, it doesn't make sense. So as a storyteller, you create what you want to create, and then the audience will come to it.

Dolores Semeraro:

What happens when the client wants something or a specific product from you as a storyteller, as a travel writer, visual maker, yes, and you feel a discrepancy. You feel that it just doesn't align with what, with what speaks to your soul. What do you do?

Lola:

The travel industry, as an old industry, is an industry of privilege. So let's be honest, right? It's not for many people. Some of them just travel once a year. So it is a novelty and luxury for many people, but it for us. We've made it our lives. And so if I have a client within the travel industry, two things first, before you even ever say yes to the opportunity, why are they coming to you? Is there something of value they've seen in you that they want to get? And also, what are they trying to do? Are they trying to get that something of value for free, for next to nothing? Or are they going to pay you? Or what now? Are they hiring you? Or is it a collaborative process to different things, all right, and it always starts with transparent. Transparency from the very start, if I am I have signed a contract with a client, and then halfway down the road, they want to direct my voice, they want to change it. That's where the problem is, and that's where we're going to have to discuss and have this open dialog about, why did you get me on board in the first place? I do a lot of other things beyond travel writing, and I do a lot of other things beyond just being a travel influencer, because being a travel influencer, then I can choose who I want to work with, so I don't feel like that's what pays the bill all the time. Because if I feel like I just want to be a travel influencer so that that pays the bill, then I'm working with whoever comes to the door, whether it's a fast food brand or a beauty brand or a travel brand, then my brand becomes diluted because I'm just working with everyone that just brings money to the table. So my advice is it's best for you to do if you don't, if you call it the less sexy jobs that could be, the job on the site that pays the bill, but then make sure that the job that aligns with the brand, the personal brand you want to show to the world, is more selective

Dolores Semeraro:

let's take a little detour. What are the travel stories that you know get the most of the attention nowadays? Is it community? Is it nature? Is it food? Like what I know it needs to speak to your soul, and it's to come from a place of, you know, alignment and passion. But in the end, I mean, it's such a vast industry, you can pick any topic, but what are the topic? What are the stories that you feel people are really responding to nowadays?

Lola:

I mean, I think people's stories will always be popular, you know, and whether it's living like locals, connecting with locals, learning about indigenous, indigenous lifestyles and gastronomy, but also nature, because that's one of the last few luxuries left right, being able to disconnect, be out in nature, quiet, silence, time in a world that's so fast, so fleeting, I call it cotton candy. That's what social media is. It's just so ephemeral that finding time to be outdoors is also becoming more and more popular, you know, as in terms of just what people are looking for in travel. So also accessibility. And when I say accessibility, I mean in terms of when influencers go out there and post the pictures so that other people say that this is not out of reach. For me too, I can actually achieve this, right? And that is what has happened in the last, I don't know, 1015, years, is people who feel like destinations are out of reach, or experiences are out of reach. Now have ways to to live those dreams as well. It has made it more accessible, yes, in that way, has it made it also less special? Because of that, I guess, less special for who? Right? Because travel is is such a funny industry, because when people are some of the first few pioneers in some places, they want to shut it out for others. So it always remains special. So I think of Antarctica for many that have already gone and have come back now, they want it like, well, now we shouldn't, you know, don't go because of climate change, and I'm a big, you know, advocate for sustainability and protecting the climate and all of that. But it's also very it also speaks of privilege in many ways, that people that have experienced something don't want others to experience it, and can also hide it beneath the discourse of over tourism, granted, over tourism is a huge problem, and that was why. I don't know if you know this, but during the pandemic, I started a startup which is currently sitting on ice right now. But that startup was called Local pus, and because we couldn't travel. So what I was trying to do was create this virtual experiences so that the artisans and the travel guides and those that were the most affected by us not traveling could still make some money and we could still engage them virtually. Now that was an opportunity for the travel industry to say, You know what, there are some aspects of our industry that can't be moved online or off, you know, where we don't always have to be there physically. But once the pandemic was over, everything that the industry promised itself just kind of went out the window because people wanted to travel again. And that's a shame, and that was a shame. So, yeah, it's a very nuanced, complicated discussion, but it's one that's always, always reeks of privilege

Dolores Semeraro:

one of my main concern, you know, like in terms of sort of balancing up the conversation between, where is it? When is it enough? And where do we really don't need to go and create tourism opportunity because the system, the ecosystems, are so fragile, or where we really don't need to go and put our nose and showcase a culture that perhaps can be damaged, can be influenced by, you know, the Western world.

Lola:

it always starts with listening, listening to who are the most affected by it, and and why? Because there are many travel companies that benefit from other tourism. They do. It's unfortunate. But if the locals are saying, Stop reduce it, what's in the best interest of those companies, why will they don't want to do it right? And I think that's what's frustrating about the industries. We already know what to do. We just keep talking about it, because talking about it keeps people in jobs and keeps making money.

Dolores Semeraro:

I feel that your profile, over the years, has become a profile, not just as a as a an authority in the travel storytelling sphere and the visuals, and also professional media business women. I mean, you've been in some of the most extreme places in the world came back from it with a powerful story that you know has defined you and has given you a voice. And that voice is, I believe it's still quite rare in the general scenario of women in travel, not everyone has that voice. So when I was preparing for our chat today, couldn't help having this question in my mind, thinking, leading women in the travel industry are women that know what they want. They have a position of power, whether they are in a bigger organization, whether they are entrepreneurs, they have a voice, a leading voice. So when women in travel don't get a seat at the table, of you know, sharing their voices, create your own table or fight for that seat?

Lola:

It depends on what's being said in the room, right? So if my my own narrative, and I'll, I'll keep using myself as an example. So Black, African woman, if my own narrative is being crafted in that room, if stereotypes are being crafted on my behalf in that room, then I'm going to fight to get a seat at that table to change that narrative. Right? If that room isn't, doesn't have kind of my voice in there, then I can create a table, or, you know, create other communities, create other rooms where we can also challenge what's mediocre, right? Fighting for others. So, fighting for people's whose narratives are being crafted on their on other people's behalf, right? So it could be across all intersections, you know, from religion, values, you know, gender, everything, fighting to be at that table, if that room is crafting a narrative on your behalf. Now, if they are not and they are just ordering power, then you can actually create your own room, your own table to show like the difference between excellence and mediocrity. And then you have to choose what battle you want to fight, whether it's one of creating from scratch, or whether it's actually just kicking down the door, or there's also a third one, where it's maybe a key of understanding, because sometimes it could be that we make assumptions, and then, just with a few moments, experiences, interactions, we actually open each other's minds.

Dolores Semeraro:

Name one example of a situation where you fought for that seat.

Lola:

where I fought for that seat? I would say, even just being a travel photographer, right in the in the in the industry, because when you think of professional travel photographers, the ones that tend to be loaded and and propped up. Our white men, you know, and I always say this, that they are white men that look like they just climbed Everest and came down and then modeled for GQ like there is that that keeps getting propped up. And so I had to fight to get a seat at that table, to open up that table to work with National Geographic, you know, as a travel photographer. And there was a time before the agency, before, kind of because they had an agency that represented photographers that was was shut down, but I was also one of those photographers they represented. I'm a contributing photographer at Latvia traveler in the UK, but I had to fight to get into that room by showing up, by being visible, by questioning, by asking, why not? By making sure that my portfolio was strong. So that was I had to fight, because then that was what was opening up spaces for the others to say. You know what? This is, what a travel photographer can also look like a professional travel photographer. So that was one way I had to really fight to get that seated at the table.

Dolores Semeraro:

And when you look back and you reflect on that experience, how does that impact the the work that you are doing and that you will be doing in the future?

Lola:

when I fought to kind of get into those spaces, I didn't fight to just tell black stories, because that is what organizations and publications and clients do, is you're a black photographer, so you're going to be covering just black stories. No, I want to be able to be writing about Greenland shooting and photographing the Faroe Islands, doing everything as a travel photographer who happens to be a black woman, and so that was the fight I took, and that was the fight and the My, what my career has kind of been defined as, is, you don't just invite me on in February to come and talk about Black History Month. No, on the contrary, you invite me to talk about my expertise that has nothing to do with my identity, and so that is what I also bring into the future. That's what I fight for with the work I do is letting people be seen for who they already are and their expertise and what they bring to a room that's not always just defined by what they can control. So it's almost like we're talking about stereotypes. How do you keep the quality of your work above that stereotype? The quality of my work has nothing to do with the stereotype. It really doesn't. The stereotype is somebody else's definition of what I should be doing. I live my life on my own terms. And I think one of the things I said, and I think it was in my TEDx talk, is when you start living your life outside of other people's expectations and boxes and definitions and limitations for you, then you inadvertently become impossible to ignore, because they are like, Who the heck is that person blowing our minds and our expectations? Because they're just living their own truth, doing their own thing. So when I fought to get into those rooms, is by just showing up, being myself and doing my work, and then questioning, why not? Why is this not enough? When it's more than that, you know, and so being able to question and being and doing this audaciously has helped

Dolores Semeraro:

you've traveled extensively. You've been in many places, featuring in your travel stories, whether it was your pitch or it was a client commission, you've been to the most extreme places, and actually some of them had an impact on the journey that you've had, like the one the trip to Fiji that you showcased in in the TEDx. But I'm curious, what is the travel experience that you remember so vividly that really changed like that really left a mark in defining what you do and you know what you've become today.

Lola:

There's so many incredible moments that kind of meet me at every different stage. You know, I always say that the people that you're meant to meet at a certain stage in your life, are sent to you, or the experiences to teach you, to push you along, or your purpose. I would say that Fiji experience was the most pivotal, because it moved me from my. My technical life in tech, and it to this route. So that, I say, was one of the most pivotal. Another pivotal one was I had, I had spent a lot of time in, you know, Swedish Lapland, where during the winter, when huskies sled been all of that I took a picture of one of the huskies turning back looking at me just direct eye contact. And that photo was a double page spread in National Geographic Traveler. And That photo was seen by a producer with National Geographic Channel, which led to me being in like a one minute vignette, one minute ad in collaboration with South Africa tourism promoting KwaZulu Natal as a National Geographic photographer, that was another pivotal moment, because it was then taking me from to the next stage of my career as a travel photographer, right? And so there are just those kind of moments along the way, even my career as a novelist, because I write fiction as well, which is tied to place. And so there's just so many incredible moments like that. Maybe spending time in Greenland, traveling in the footsteps of Tete, Misha pomasi, who was the first African to live in Greenland in the 60s. That made an impact as well, spending time in Mongolia, Uzbekistan, you know, meeting an old man who when I he asked me what my name was, I said, my name was Lola, or is Lola, and it's like, well, but tell me what your real name is, your full name. And I said, What? What do you mean my full name? It's my name is like, but you are African, right? And I said, Yes, it's like, I know your names are longer and they have meaning. So I told him my full name, onara, Lola, oluwa, right? Which means God moves in mysterious ways. So there's just been so many incredible moments during my travels that shape me, guide me, change me, redirect me, but all along the same path, which is cultural connection, right? And making us understand each other better.

Dolores Semeraro:

So it's time for a memoir.

Lola:

Yes, I think I've got a memoir in there somewhere.

Dolores Semeraro:

Where do you find the time to do all this?

Lola:

It's the same way where people always say, if you really want to do something, you will find time for it. So if you really wanted to go to the gym, you will find time to go to the gym.

Dolores Semeraro:

I actually, I was reflecting on the fact that you've traveled extensively all around the world. You're based in Sweden, and you are of African origin, and so one could, one would wonder, why is it that you're covering everything but Africa? Although I'm very tempted to ask you that question, if you want to answer, I would love it, but I do have to say that it comes from a person of Italian origin that has worked all around the world, but in Italy. So I understand you completely. But what? What makes you choose your subject, like your topics and your locations? So, so, so away from the place you know that where you originally from?

Lola:

I have actually written a lot about Africa, and I still do. I think it's a misconception. I think people just see the current stories I do because I am based in Sweden, and I have two kids, and I have to be close to them. I can't be away for long stretches of time. So the places I go right now at this stage of my life, maybe max one week, because I can't be away from my kids that long. I choose not to be away from them because I'm also balancing life. So yeah, I do write a lot about Africa as well, but also I write a lot about the Africa diaspora in the Nordics. So I've written now three novels about the African experience in the diaspora. I am working on different projects, like my afro suite project, which is a visual story, storytelling project, who gets to tell the story of a place, right? And it goes back to that stereotype of you're from Africa. Why are you, know, just writing about Nigeria and Ghana and Togo? Well, I wrote about Togo, but I wrote about to Togo Lee's explorer in Greenland. So that is, those are the stories I tell. I'm more intentional about the kinds of stories I want to share in spaces where we are not often seen. That is how I legitimate. I don't want to. They validate, because our voices are already valid. But that's how I put our voices on the mainstream level, is I can be Nigerian writing with authority about Sweden, and that's okay.

Dolores Semeraro:

Wow. So many angles in this conversation. We just had so much value. So many inspirational little like other stories that could lead to a whole new other podcast episode, which I hope so well. You're welcome to come back anytime on truth behind travel. Lola, you are an incredible guest, an incredible speaker. You've brought so much value, it will be impossible to edit this podcast because it's just full of goodness. Thank you so much for being on the show. If you were to leave our listeners with a word of wisdom or a recommendation?

Lola:

a wish to keep sticking with your voice, your voice is all you have, and the world will always try to dilute you. It will always try to make you who you are not. And one of my absolute favorite quotes is by EE Cummins, who was an American poet that says to be yourself, to be nobody but yourself in a world that's doing its day, it's best day and night to make you someone else is to fight the others battle you have to fight, you know, or any human has to fight. So never stop fighting. So that is one thing I will say, and remember, just remember that you have a lot more power than you think. And be cognizant of who you are, giving away your power and your voice too.

Dolores Semeraro:

Thank you so much, Lola, this has been a great, great chat with you and all the best for the work ahead.

Lola:

Thank you so much for having me. Thank you.

Dolores Semeraro:

Wow. Lola's voice in travel is strong and clear, and I think we can all take a few notes out of the punchy lessons she shared with us today on the podcast, don't let anyone own your narrative and your voice fight for that seat if it defines your narrative. And above all, always question, why not? Thank you for being with me and Lola today on truth behind travel podcast, season four, sponsored by Women travel leaders, don't forget to check out the show notes, to get in touch with Lola or to learn more about women travel leaders and how you can become a member of this thriving, purpose led community of women in travel. Before you go, take a moment to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss the next episode or connect with me on social media. You'll find this podcast social pages on Facebook and Instagram at truth behind travel podcast, and if you have enjoyed this episode, share it with your friends and community together, we can amplify these voices and let them be heard until next time. Farewell, my friends you.