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Soul Wanderer : Mindful Travel for Women of Color
15. Purpose, Entrepreneurship, and Travel Wellness with Youmie Jean Francois | Flex-n-Fly
In this episode I welcome my first guest, Youmie Jean Francois.
Youmie Jean Francois is a transformational speaker, a brand strategist, a money trauma expert, a private pilot, an author, and the proud Founder/CEO of Flex-N-Fly, The Flex Bags, and The Flex-N-Fly Foundation.
Throughout her career, she's dedicated herself to enhancing the well-being of travelers and helping small business owners scale. She speaks 4 languages fluently and splits her time between New York and Colombia.
Flex-N-Fly, her award-winning travel and wellness company, has become a beacon of innovation. They bring wellness studios to airports. Providing stretching, yoga, and relaxation classes to airports, aiming to ease the stress that often accompanies modern travel. They've been featured in Forbes, Travel & Leisure, TripAdvisor, BlackEnterprise, Macy's, Belk, Flying Solo, and More. Youmie's best-selling poetry book, The Sacrifice: When Transition Looks Like Chaos, is available now.
Timestamps:
01:14 Youmie's intro
02:58 Recent trip to Mexico
04:49 Why and how Flex-n-Fly began
07:41 What was needed to start a travel business
10:21 Scaling and starting multiple businesses
11:19 Starting the Flex-n-Fly foundation
17:44 Who Youmie's non-profit serves
20:26 The Flex-n-Fly Foundation's goal for 2025
22:48 Representation of women as pilots and travelers
24:27 Why Youmie's non-profit exists
26:46 An important business lesson
28:07 Business finances
33:36 Having a team and growing Flex-n-Fly
39:12 Detachment in life and business
43:40 Living in alignment
48:25 Worthiness
50:48 Setting boundaries and being tested
51:56 Youmie's most transformative travel experience
54:54 Traveling as a Haitian woman
56:48 A beautiful message about being yourself
58:35 Friendship breakups
01:02:30 Communicating needs
01:03:50 Wrapping up and where to find and connect with Youmie
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Resources:
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• Learn more about Youmie here
• Join the Flex-n-Fly Travel Challenge
•Donate to the Flex-n-Fly Foundation
•Youmie on LinkedIn
•Tune into Youmie's LinkedIn Live in Your Power Series
•Subscribe to Flex-n-Fly
Soul Wanderer is a podcast for mindful women of color who want to travel deeper, not just farther. Each episode blends solo travel inspiration, destination storytelling, and honest conversations about what it means to move through the world with purpose and intention.
From Japan to Portugal, Mexico to beyond, Soul Wanderer centers what mindful, conscious travel looks like for women of color navigating the world on their own terms.
New episodes every two weeks. Come wander.
Visit Website: https://www.sequoiaarmstrong.com/
Connect with on Sequoia Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sequoia.armstrong/
Work with Sequoia: https://www.pueblayorkinc.com
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