Meet Valerie Ma

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Valerie Ma. Valerie was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Samantha Patil.

Valerie, can you walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Living in NYC since I graduated university six years ago has taught me that the narrow definition of success that I grew up with as the first daughter of Asian immigrants is a view that can be massively expanded in a city where success looks different for everyone. This is my biggest thank you to New York.

I grew up in a small rural town where only 10% of the population were of minority groups. Looking back as an adult, I’ve reflected on the impact of this, and I realized how uncomfortable I was with self-expression because my survival tactic was to blend in. Self-expression comes in many forms, but the first form I noticed in myself when I moved to NYC was through fashion. I loved pushing my boundaries with fashion, both through colors and styles, and I found New Yorkers tend to appreciate those who self-express. I also realized I loved pushing my boundaries with travel- being in new places and meeting new people brought me new perspectives that I’ll always carry with me.

My self-expression challenge that I’m inching towards is that I want to feel more comfortable sharing my thoughts and creations. I’ve taken small steps, such as sharing travel journals on Well Traveled Club and sharing color-palette-based fashion and travel content (even this Voyage interview is a way I’m sharing my thoughts that I would have been uncomfortable with a few years ago), and I’ve learned that I’m happiest as what I describe as a curator of beautiful things to make an even more beautiful thing. As a sort of challenge to myself, when I travel I pick a color palette to base my fashion and content around for the trip; I’ve found and connected with small brands who have taught me how rewarding it is to be mindful with fashion, in terms of both quality and the pieces I’ve found, and that overconsumption is just an excuse to avoid creative challenge. Also for the past few months, I’ve been putting all my creative energy into the interior design of my new apartment. I’m designing it to inspire me everyday, and basing it off of a “landscape” I’ve imagined as my ideal world if the rules of nature did not apply: in short, a green wooden cottage overlooking a sheep meadow and swan lake sitting below a snowy mountain. The creative process involved has allowed me to connect with creatives who have been able to create something for my vision with their vision. When I’m finished with it, I hope my home will be me in apartment form.

I’m not sure where this will all lead me, but I hope it will be to more ways I can share my ideas and connect with others through these ideas.

Let’s talk about your work and career – what else should we know?
I’m currently a product owner in banking technology, and have been in this career path for the past 1.5 years after pivoting from a different role. What I love most about my current role and team are the lessons I’ve gained from it and that it’s a far more creative role than I initially expected. I’ve learned you don’t need to figure it all out yourself- people with different strengths and skillsets working together will always produce a better product than someone trying to do it all themselves. Even though all the different roles necessary to build a product sit on different teams, everyone’s ultimate goal is to deliver a great product for our users which we are able approach from a variety of perspectives and skillsets. Growing up with the pressures of being first generation, it doesn’t come naturally to me to prioritize my own interests and passions simply for the sake of my own enjoyment. In other words, I thought I was destined to hate my job and have no personal interests. I’m still starting out in my career, but I’ve grown a confidence in myself that I’ll be able to apply my professional experience to future opportunities in more industries that I’m passionate about.

So, as we mentioned to our audience earlier, you were introduced to us by Samantha Patil and Well Traveled and we really admire them and what they’ve built. For folks who might not be as familiar, can you tell them a bit about your experience with Well Traveled.
I discovered Well Traveled when travel started to pick up a bit from the pandemic but not yet to the normal volume, and the first thing I thought was that it seemed refreshing. Since then, I’ve felt that even more. After a few difficult years during which travel seemed like a thing of a past forever, Well Traveled is exactly what many of us need. I admire Sam for believing in herself, and entering what many would call a “saturated market”, even though it’s not really one. Yes there are many big name travel booking websites, but those have barely evolved over the years (and are mostly being run by men, even though women statistically make more travel decisions.. something I learned on Well Traveled’s Instagram that really stuck with me). And yes there are many travel agents offering personalized services, but Well Traveled is much more than a travel agency.

Well Traveled is the only product that for its consumers, is able to blend travel booking, planning, inspiration, content production and consumption, socials and community. If I want to read reviews and travel journals from travelers similar to me, I can easily find these on Well Traveled. If I want to share a travel experience that I believe will improve the travel experience of others, I can post it as a travel journal or review and it will actually reach travelers who are interested and can benefit. If I just want to browse through destinations to feel inspired, I can just open the app. And if I want to reach out to a member directly to talk about something they posted, they’re only a message away.

Free time is precious and the less time I spend sorting through the noise of travel planning (such as thousands of reviews written my travelers with drastically differing travel preferences to me), the better. Through experience, I trust the content (destinations, stays, member reviews, travel journals) on Well Traveled as well as the community to not waste my free time. Well Traveled has even been able to book me the perfect last-minute stay while I was already on my trip to Spain and my other plans fell apart.

On top of all of the travel-related benefits, I live in a destination that is traveled to for vacation (New York City). I benefit from all the perks of Well Traveled right in my home city, such as opening the Near Me feature to see what new spots other members are adding to the platform.

Another compliment to Sam is how accessible the Well Traveled team is. The platform has grown a lot since I first joined, yet the team has always maintained a culture of constant improvement to provide members with a better experience everyday. Any member could even message Sam directly on the Well Traveled app, and members are often involved in Well Traveled’s growth initiatives.

All in all, I continue to be a member because Well Traveled is a community where I can both absorb and share knowledge and content about something I love, as well as book amazing vacations.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valpal.ette/