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Journey from Investment Banking to Travel Writing: Sucheta Rawal's Inspiring Personal Story

• Angela Tuell • Season 5 • Episode 5

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Join us in this episode as we talk with Sucheta Rawal, an award-winning South Asian travel writer who has journeyed through over 120 countries! Her compelling story begins in the world of investment banking, where she realized her passion for travel could lead to a fulfilling career in writing. She shares her surprising transition, emphasizing the balance of working hard to carve out a niche in the travel journalism world while still savoring the joy of exploration.

In our engaging conversation, we dive deep into Sucheta’s experiences with notable publications like Time Magazine and National Geographic, exploring how she captures the stories of diverse cultures and sustainable tourism. She offers pivotal advice for aspiring writers and PR professionals on the nuances of the pitching process and the importance of personalizing your approach.

Beyond writing, Sucheta opens up about her nonprofit initiative, Go Eat Give, which champions sustainable practices in travel while giving back to local communities. She shares heartwarming stories that demonstrate the positive impact of mindful tourism and volunteer efforts often overlooked in conventional travel narratives.

As she discusses her children's book series and recent TEDx talks, you’ll discover how Sucheta is not just providing riveting tales of her travels but also paving the way for future generations to embrace cultural diversity.

Connect with Sucheta on Instagram: @SuchetaRawal and her website: https://suchetarawal.com; 

Sign up for her substack.

Learn more about Beato Goes To children books: https://beatogoesto.com

Check out her nonprofit, Go Eat Give: https://goeatgive.com 

Thank you for listening!  Please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to the Media in Minutes podcast here or anywhere you get your podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/media-in-minutes/id1555710662  

Angela Tuell:

Welcome to Media in Minutes. This is your host, Angela Tuell. This podcast features in-depth interviews with those who report on the world around us. They share everything from their favorite stories to what happened behind the lens and give us a glimpse into their world From our studio here at Communications Redefined. This is Media in Minutes. On today's episode, we're talking with award-winning South Asian travel writer, columnist, author and speaker.

Angela Tuell:

Sucheta has contributed to over two dozen publications, including CNN, time Magazine, nat Geo, travel and Leisure, condé Nast, voters and HuffPost. She is a three-time TEDx speaker and author of five children's books that educate kids about the diversity of the world. She has personally traveled to over 120 countries across seven continents and speaks about her experiences from her firsthand perspective. Sucheta also founded the nonprofit Go Eat Give to raise awareness of different cultures through travel, food and community service. Hello Sucheta, how are you today? I'm doing great. Angela. How are you? I'm doing well also. Thanks for joining us. I'm looking forward to our conversation, especially after meeting you in person in New York a few weeks ago. Yeah, me too, and I'd love if you could share your story of how you became a travel writer. I thought that was fascinating.

Sucheta Rawal:

Oh, thank you. So I used to work in investment banking, which is so different from what I just know it's like left brain, right brain and I just felt like my passion was travel. I would use all my bonuses to take big trips four times a year and came to be known as the travel desk at work. So colleagues would call me and ask me where are you going, can you help us plan our trip? And then I started a blog which is Go Eat Give. The blog still exists today, 15 years later. Wow, yeah.

Sucheta Rawal:

And then I started contributing for some local publications. Just on the weekends was meant to be a hobby. I had my full-time job. But as that blog took off, as I started getting more magazines and publications to ask me to contribute, I felt like there was something there where I could really follow my passion and not just be sitting at my desk dreaming about where I'm going to go next. So that was my short journey. It took me about five years to transition from going full-time corporate person to doing consulting, then contracting and then coming to a point where, yes, I can just solely focus on food and travel writing.

Angela Tuell:

Wow, that's fantastic, and I'm assuming you haven't looked back.

Sucheta Rawal:

Not at all. It's a single moment of that.

Angela Tuell:

That's great. What outlets are you currently writing for and what are some of your favorite types of stories to write?

Sucheta Rawal:

Yeah, so I currently have two columns here in Atlanta. One is for Georgia Trend magazine and one is for Cover Magazine, which are both print magazines circulated mostly in the Southeast United States. But I also contribute to Time Magazine, national Geographic, travel and Leisure, fodor's, huffpost, marriott, bonvoy, aaa and a few others. I just had two stories come out for the first time in Good Grit magazine. Oh great, amazing. I love that magazine. It's also, yes, so because it really speaks to what I like to write about, which is tends to be more on sustainable tourism, human interest stories and first perspectives. So I feel like travel has become so mainstream that and there are so many influencers and travel right, so it's just my own voice and being able to tell the story from my perspective is really important to me.

Angela Tuell:

Yes, what are some of your recent stories that stick out in your mind or that you're the most proud of?

Sucheta Rawal:

Yeah, so I just did the story I was talking to you about in Good Grit. It was about a new coffee shop here in Atlanta that is the first of its kind where it's luxurious but it's also fully ADA accessible. And this lady who started it she was also similar, you know, a corporate executive kind of finding her own path and then all of a sudden she had a health issue and became disabled. So, you know, instead of feeling like sorry about herself, she was able to rise up out of it and create something that other people with disabilities can also come out and enjoy a beautiful place to eat but then also provide employment opportunities for them. So I ended up doing two stories about her in two different publications, which was really inspiring to me, yeah.

Angela Tuell:

What a great story. What else was it in what other one? Georgia?

Sucheta Rawal:

Trend Magazine Okay, and in Good.

Angela Tuell:

Grit. Okay, great, I know. I also know that you are wonderful about giving advice to PR professionals, and much of our audience is PR professionals. Could you share some of your best tips with us?

Sucheta Rawal:

Yeah, I mean there are so many. I try to focus on a different theme each week on my sub stack, which is also catered to PR professionals, because I feel like everybody is coming from a different experience. You know, and it's nice to know what each writer is looking for and how you pitch to me may not be the same as pitching to another writer, but at least to make it more streamlined. So I provide tips for how to pitch. You know, don't send it on social media, send an email. Make sure you know exactly what I write about. Look at my past 10 or 20 stories. You know my website has it. It's a quick google search to see if I've already covered that story before and then you know also to tailor it to what is the big picture here, why is it important to tell the story right now and why is it that you feel that I'm the best person to tell the story? So those three tips, like in a pitch, really catches my attention.

Sucheta Rawal:

Having it personalized, not just sending generic press releases. I tend to just delete them. It's very rarely I would read a press release or follow up after that if it's not tailored to me. And then the second thing would be also around press trips. You know a lot of people are just kind of fishing around, would you be interested in this place? But not providing any details about what the trip is going to look like.

Sucheta Rawal:

What are the themes or activities or properties that are going to be included. So it's more about. Here are the dates and the place. So that would also not interest a lot of writers who are very busy writing stories, because that keeps away from your time, away from your desk.

Angela Tuell:

Yeah, exactly. So what are you looking for in a hosted trip?

Sucheta Rawal:

In a hosted trip. I generally only accept individual trips right now, unless it is a place or an event that there's no other way. You have to go in a group. That is fine. But when I do get a press invite, I expect to have some information, a rough itinerary of what it would look like, what the theme of the trip is, what kind of properties would be included and then also what is covered.

Sucheta Rawal:

You know, if it's airfare covered, hotels, hotels I sometimes bring an assistant when I go on individual trips to help me take pictures and social media. Or even if we're driving long distance, you know it helps to have a second person with you. So if their expenses are covered, what kind of meals and activities and all those things, it's better to know that upfront rather than going back and forth. And also, I like, if it's a group trip, I like to extend my trip for another day or two and do some personal exploration. You know the story may be centered around the trip that they offered, but then sometimes I find interesting stories on my own or I may want to dive deeper into an aspect that I found during the group trip.

Angela Tuell:

Yeah, I know something we've talked about a lot is guaranteed coverage, which is not something that freelancers can do. What are your thoughts on that and how? You know it's hard as a publicist, obviously, when clients want to see that because they're putting a major investment in the cost of hosting, and you know that sort of thing. What are your thoughts on that? Absolutely.

Sucheta Rawal:

I definitely understand where the publicists are coming from and I feel like as a publicist, your job is also to be like a mediator kind of between your client and the journalist and the best thing would be to understand both of them and their needs and what they can produce. So with the journalist part, I say do your research, find out what outlets they're right for, how often do they write, what kind of stories do they produce and what? What's the track record? And it's more about if you trust them, they to get you know. You have to be open and honest with your client about that and make them understand that why they should invest in a certain journalist or have a diverse kind of journalist. You know, maybe somebody who's from different publications or different ethnicities or maybe able to tell the story in different ways. So I think the most important thing is to having that trust, with the client trusting you and you trusting the journalist.

Angela Tuell:

Yes, that's great advice. I also wanted to ask you mentioned your sub stack. Can you tell us a little bit more and how you can sign up for it?

Sucheta Rawal:

Yeah, so it's suchetaravelsubstackcom and it's entirely focused on PR folks and people in working in the travel media. I'm very honest and blunt about the Substack. Basically, I write things that are my pet peeves or some bad pitches I received that week, but I also make sure to give a shout out to people who are amazing and are creating these magical experiences for myself to have a more seamless journey while I'm experiencing a destination or I'm working on a story. You know we are also kind of mediating between the editors, publishers and the publicists. So it's I love to work with people who really take the time to read my sub stack and the last one, I think in January, after I met you at IMM, I also did a one sub stack about. Here are the topics to write about. Here's how to pitch me, so it's like you know you have everything right in front of you. It's just play by the book.

Angela Tuell:

Yes, that was very comprehensive. I definitely appreciated all of the information there, and you know it's it's. It's easy and tough as a publicist, because you give us all the information and exactly what you need to do your job and for us to help you. But every journalist is so different, you know. There's some that I think we've talked about this some that want to be followed up Please send me a follow-up email, even two, you know and others that are like do not follow up with me. I will never read your emails, so you know that makes it a challenge, but at least all of the information is there to help us do our jobs, and that's what's great about the sub stacks too.

Sucheta Rawal:

Yeah, and you know, when I was talking to Campbell Levy a couple of months ago when we were went to Bermuda together, you know what he said was I have relationships with 10 people, just 10 journalists, and I know I trust them, I understand what they're working on, I follow them all the time and so you don't have to be everything to everybody. If you just pick your 10, you follow the 10 sub stacks and, you know, have very good relationship. Whatever client you have, whatever story you have, you can trust that these 10 people are going to really want to work with you yeah, that's great advice.

Angela Tuell:

What do you wish people knew about travel writers that they likely do not?

Sucheta Rawal:

well, I think a lot of people think that we make a lot of money and we're just having a great time, right living the dream right, exactly, eating and drinking and traveling all the time, which is amazing.

Sucheta Rawal:

I have no complaints, but there is a lot of hard work that goes behind it. Our days are very long. It's not just sitting by the pool. If we are sitting for a minute, it's to quickly do a social media post or take down notes or send a goodbye to your family. So it's really no free time during the press trips.

Sucheta Rawal:

And I think the stress of it, especially for me, it comes after I come back on from a trip. You know when I want to create those pitches and send it out to multiple publications and get rejections or don't hear back from the editors, and then you know it's a wait and watch thing, while I also have to be responsive to the publicist hey, when are you going to publish the story? Where is it going to come out? So there's a bit of guilt factor. You know I definitely want to get it out but I'm not receiving anything.

Sucheta Rawal:

So I don't think they understand, like, how much of hard work that goes in after a trip to actually get the story out. And then, even if you do get it out, you're not paid a lot. You know, a median payment for a post is 50 cents a word for online and a dollar a word for a print story, and a lot of print stories have been cut short. So 500 to 1000 words, that's the maximum you would get for story. So you know, people don't understand. Understand like, after all this work you put in, you make a lot less money. Yes, the lifestyle is great, but then there's also a lot of hard work that goes into it.

Angela Tuell:

Yes, there's all that time that's not paid. You know the traveling, then the pitching all of it is not paid until you get paid for the article which where you said I'm sure if you add it up per hour how much you make sometimes it's very, very low.

Sucheta Rawal:

Yeah, exactly. And then you know, on top of it, if some people hosting a press trip may come in and say that oh, we're not going to be able to cover your flight, or we don't cover alcohol or meals on some of the meals, or we have a per diem, or I have to take Uber to the airport. That's really eating up into like one story I'm going to write.

Angela Tuell:

Right, yeah, that's very true. How often do you travel?

Sucheta Rawal:

I do try to do one to two trips a month. Last year was exceptional I had to do 27 to two trips a month. Last year was exceptional I had to do 27 trips.

Angela Tuell:

Wow Were these week-long trips mostly.

Sucheta Rawal:

Some of them were, yeah, four or five days, but some of them were a couple of weeks. It just depends, but some of them I also. I'm doing a lot of public speaking, so there were conferences and public speaking related trips, so I tried I'm trying to do this year a little bit less, so it may be like 15 to 20.

Angela Tuell:

Okay, being more selective, right? Yes, exactly. So I won't ask you where your favorite places are, but do you have any travels that have surprised you, Any places that have surprised you the most, in a good or bad way, I guess I should say?

Sucheta Rawal:

Yeah, I was really pleasantly surprised with Uganda and that was my trip in September last year where it was sort of an individual trip. There was only one other journalist for a portion of the time. But the lodges we had were just spectacular and they had a really good human interest story about who started it An immigrant refugee who was forced out of Uganda, went to London and came back and bought this land and he's helping the community conserve the wildlife. So great stories there and just the people were super nice but also excited about making something bigger. So I met a lot of young entrepreneurs who are just working hard to lift the community and the country and I just love the scenery, I loved the wildlife, everything about it, and that was never in my radar or I didn't know much about it. About Uganda, because everything you hear is like you know, poverty, war, tone, right, and being there I was like this is one of the places I would happily live or retire in.

Angela Tuell:

Wow, that's good to know. Add that to the bucket list, right? And you mentioned earlier public speaking. So, aside from writing, you're also a public speaker and have given three TED Talks. Can you tell us a little bit more about that work? Sure, yeah, I feel like from.

Sucheta Rawal:

I've done so much writing, but I would like to voice my stories on bigger stages and with larger audiences. So these are all stories I have written and experiences I've had from traveling to over 120 countries, and there's only so much. You know, I feel like I can write, but there's so much I can tell and so I started doing. I've been speaking for a long time anyway, but I really made it a serious business, like last couple of years.

Sucheta Rawal:

One day I sat down and said I'm going to apply to do a TED Talk and behold, in three months you know these are all pitches, right, ted Talks are also like writing a pitch. And three months later I heard back from three of them, wow. And they said well, all your TED Talks are going to be this year. So that was very interesting to plan for it. I didn't have a coach, I just kind of did it myself. But these are all stories of travel, like traveling in silence, how travel impacts cultural intelligence, especially for kids, and how you need to follow your own passion and not wait for that time where you will have more time or more money or your kids are going to grow up, but it's following your passion, whatever that might be.

Angela Tuell:

Yeah, life is so short. Right, we can realize that the sooner the better.

Sucheta Rawal:

Exactly.

Angela Tuell:

What other public speaking are you doing?

Sucheta Rawal:

I just did a talk. I just did a talk at, I did a keynote at the United States naturalization ceremony at the federal court in Atlanta about how my journey, about what I made out of it being here and why what I have loved as being an American citizen and some things about what they can take away from as new citizens, especially being involved in the community. Yeah, and then I was speaking at a school, an elementary school, where I was talking about my children's books, which is Bianca Goes To, about a traveling cat and he goes to different countries to learn about other cultures and how kids are living there. So I was reading to every class, from K through elementary, and they absolutely loved it. They love learning about the world and are inspired to try new things and make friends from other cultures. So, yeah, it's, sometimes it's adult, sometimes it's.

Angela Tuell:

I love that and I was just going to ask you about the children's books. What was your inspiration behind that? Obviously travel, but what came up with the? How did you come up with the idea?

Sucheta Rawal:

Yeah, it's a funny story because I was working on an article which was around Thanksgiving, christmas time, on gifts that teach kids about other cultures, and I was doing a gift guide for another publication. And as I was researching that and looking for books, children's books that teach them about travel, I would only find an occasional book about, say, south American culture, or an Israeli Jewish kid or a Native American kid, but there really wasn't a whole lot out there. So as I was sitting in my couch with my laptop and my cat researching this, I was like, well, maybe we should just start our own children's book series to tell kids about the world.

Sucheta Rawal:

Yes, and I had recently had a very powerful experience while staying in Greenland on a sheep farm with this family with had a seven year old girl, ina, and she was completely isolated from the world. You know, imagine being seven you have no cell phone, no TV, no Internet. Being seven, you have no cell phone, no tv, no internet, um, and you're no school, no friends, no neighbors. The nearest neighbor was 40 minutes by boat, oh, so you're just surrounded by glaciers and sheep. Yet this girl spoke five languages, had very intelligent conversations with adults and she practically acted as my tour guide while I was there.

Sucheta Rawal:

So, I decided to write the story based on her as the character and telling Greenland you know as her country and taking Beato the cat on a tour around the country. And so that was the first book and then since then I've done five. I'm working on my sixth one now. But in each book they're real characters, they're actual kids I've met and places I've been to, a lot of photographs that I have taken that have been converted into illustrations to make it more fun and more detail-oriented. So it's almost like a comic book and a story book, picture book all in one.

Angela Tuell:

Oh, that's great. We will make sure to link to everything we're talking about too, so the listeners can learn more. You mentioned that you became a citizen about 20 years ago. Could you tell us a little bit more about your story coming to the US?

Sucheta Rawal:

Yeah, I migrated to the US with my family after high school and I really wanted to study abroad, so, and my mom had been traveling in the United States so she decided to settle in Atlanta. She lived all around the country and decided Atlanta. So I came here, went to Georgia State University. My first major was hospitality and then some people told me like you're going to just be working front desk, why are you even bothering, wasting your time doing this? So I changed it to business management and then I took my first finance class. I was like I like, really like this. You know I like burgers and I like making money and you know, in South Asian culture we have to pick our majors in high school, so it's generally doctor, engineer or, worst case, investment banker.

Angela Tuell:

Worst case. I love that.

Sucheta Rawal:

So that's what I opted for. I got my master's in finance and I started working in investment banking and I was like, okay, okay, this is my path. I'm going to be a trader and a portfolio manager one day and have a stable job and, you know, good income and that that's exactly what every Indian parent dreams of. Yeah, till I came to them and said, well, I'm just going to be traveling, traveling and for for a short time they were like, oh, okay, how long for? And uh, I was like, no, this is my job now. So they keep saying like, okay, that sounds good, but then you have to settle down. Eventually. I think they have given up on that settling down, they see the big picture now.

Angela Tuell:

Good, good. What country were you born in? India.

Sucheta Rawal:

I was born in India.

Angela Tuell:

Okay, Okay, great. So before we go, we must talk about your nonprofit Go Eat Give. Could you tell us more about why you founded it and the work you do?

Sucheta Rawal:

Absolutely so.

Sucheta Rawal:

Go Eat Give started as a blog back in 2011, when I was just sharing information about my own travels.

Sucheta Rawal:

But as people were seeing the way I travel, which tends to be a little more sustainable and also giving back to the community I was doing a lot of volunteer vacations at the time my followers would reach out to me and say could you take donations for us to these destinations, or could you help us plan another volunteer trip? Or here's what we are interested in giving back to, whether it's women's health or farming or children then could you connect us to the charities in those places. So that's how Go Eat Give became from a blog to a non-profit and with the idea being we can all travel more sustainably and meaningfully. Initially, we used to organize a lot of group trips where people could just join in and we would build the whole mentality of go eat give. You're not just traveling, you're eating food, you're learning about it, which is what I love to do and then you're also giving back to the community, whether it's volunteering, taking donations or just making sure that a hundred percent of what you pay for your trip is invested back in the community.

Angela Tuell:

Yes.

Sucheta Rawal:

So now, since the pandemic, we are doing more individual trips and they tend to be a little bit more on the sustainable luxury side, so it's not just camping. These are for people who want a great experience. They can afford to stay at the Four Seasons, but they would rather have a more really nice boutique hotel owned by a local entrepreneur. They would like to have that face time with people there and enjoy the best cuisine that is also locally inspired, take cooking classes and have their private guide to take them around, and also be able to do something for the community if they choose to.

Angela Tuell:

Yeah, that's great. That's great. I also have to ask what your goals are for the future. Professionally, you are involved in so many different areas.

Sucheta Rawal:

That's a very good question, because I just came from a wellness retreat this weekend and I was thinking about it like, well, what would be my goal? What is it? I haven't accomplished that. I still would like to. Yeah, and you know there's I'm very grateful for. You know, before the age of 45, I've accomplished pretty much everything I ever wanted to, and more. But I really would like to do more speaking, be really from writing to speaking, kind of making that a bigger transition. I'm going to continue to write. Beate Goes to Children's books, because there's so many different countries and kids are enjoying the books right now. I think it's very inspirational for them. And then maybe I would like to do some more adult fiction books based on my travels, maybe a memoir or maybe just short stories. Again, to inspire people is entertainment and inspiration kind of have to go hand in hand.

Angela Tuell:

That's fantastic. We will keep watching and reading and listening. How can our listeners connect with you best?

Sucheta Rawal:

Yeah, best is Substack, such as the novelsubstackcom. If you are in the PR professional, that's the best way to understand what I'm doing. I try to send it once a week so, even if there's not a major update on my call for pitches, but you will still see what I'm working on, what I'm thinking, where my mind is in terms of what kind of story ideas I may be looking for. So I think, instead of you know, you were saying, angela, like you're following so many people and then you're looking at a social, you're looking at their Substack, the emails, articles. Yes, I'm trying to make it all in one shop place where, if you just read my Substack and you don't do anything else, then you still know like here's what I'm working on and I'm able to tailor your pitch based on that.

Angela Tuell:

Yes, and thank you for joining us. I am so glad. That's all for this episode of Media in Minutes, a podcast by Communications Redefined. Please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to our show. We'd love to hear what you think you can find more at communicationsredefinedcom slash podcast. I'm your host, Angela Tuell. Talk to you next time.