Once in a blue moon, you meet a kindred spirit, someone you immediately know you’re going to like.
In today’s post, I’d like to give a shout out to two such people—one who I’ve known for ages; the other who I just met. Both women have done amazing work in the travel sector and deserve oodles of credit for their achievements!
I’ll start with Annick Robichaud Butland, owner of ABConnect Travel & Tourism Services, based in Hillsborough, N.B.
Annick and her company have been on my radar for months, so I arranged to grab a tea with her last week near her home in Riverview.
Within a few short minutes, I could tell this Dieppe-raised gal was the real deal, someone who had dedicated her life’s work to building partnerships and making a true impact on the travel industry in our region.
“I started ABConnect Travel & Tourism Services in 2019 after seeing a need among small- and medium-size businesses with various tourism needs,” says Annick. “The contract work varies from translation to product development, whatever specific needs the business has.”
She currently has a team of four who work with a range of partners in all sectors from governments to non-profits, as well as a wide range of small- and medium-size businesses from across the region. One of the key offerings of her firm is developing exciting itineraries to elevate those businesses to larger markets and tour operators.
“That’s the core of our operation,” says Annick. “But we’re also pleased to work with individuals and groups interested in having someone plan travel for them in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Ontario, and New York City.”
After working more than a decade for the Province of New Brunswick as Manager of Admissions and Groups at Hopewell Rocks, and later as Managing Director of Fundy’s Cape Enrage, Annick knew she had the experience to be a much-needed liaison between smaller businesses and tour agencies.
The mom of five and avid volunteer completed a degree in Organizational Management at Crandall University in 2011, taking night classes 20 hours a week while working full-time. (Her supportive husband, Tony, was a huge help!) The degree broadened her skill set and boosted her confidence to eventually create her own business.
Annick was proud but humble as she spoke about what she’s achieved. Her work ethic and enthusiasm for life are inspiring!
“I believe that giving every task 100 per cent is important for myself but also for those who put their trust in me and my work,” she says. “And I’m really passionate about travel. It opens our minds and our hearts while accumulating valuable life points along the way.”
For more information about Annick and her company, check out www.ABConnect.ca.
The other person I’m happy to highlight as a trailblazer in the travel sector is Sandra Phinney, a professional writer and photographer, who lives near Yarmouth, N.S.
She is Atlantic Canada’s travel writing and mentoring gem.
I first met Sandra at a travel writing workshop in Hampton, N.B. in 2012 and was blown away by her wealth of knowledge and desire to share her craft. I’d been writing travel features for more than a decade at that point but was super impressed with Sandra’s ability to build a freelance business that included travel writing. Her strategy for ‘piggy-backing’ stories—developing content for multiple pieces on one trip—was an eye-opener for me.
The fact Sandra wasn’t a former journalist or professional writer when she began her freelance career also had me in awe.
“I came into the writing life in my mid-fifties and didn’t have a clue,” she told me in a recent chat. “But I think that former careers in teaching, social work, and farming gave me some basic people skills. I’m also a Type-A personality, love a challenge, and have an insatiable curiosity. Initially, I spent 80 per cent of my time analyzing magazines and newspapers, finding markets. I then spent 10 per cent of my time pitching stories to editors and 10 per cent actually writing. I had about a 25 per cent batting average. Slowly, over the years, that’s completely reversed to the point that my batting average is around 75 per cent and I’m writing 80 per cent of the time. But it was a huge amount of work in the beginning, with very little pay!”
Sandra credits the late Nova Scotian Glen Hancock as her first mentor and key to her success. Hancock had worked as a journalist, editor, columnist, and teacher. He was also involved in the formation of the School of Journalism at the University of Kings College in Halifax.
“Glen was in his 70s when I met him and was living in Wolfville, a two-and-a-half-hour drive from my home,” says Sandra. “He graciously agreed to mentor me so, for over a year, I went to his home once a month for an afternoon, with two other wannabe freelance writers. What an enormous gift that was!”
Since she started her freelance career in 1999, adding travel writing to her portfolio in 2001, Sandra has penned four books, contributed to several travel guides, and had articles appear in more than 70 publications, from Saltscapes Magazine to Canadian Geographic and the Toronto Star. She has also won numerous writing and photography awards. (Check out her work at www.sandraphinney.com.)
To satisfy her craving to teach, Sandra continues to give workshops on various topics including narrative, writing memoir, and how to start a freelance business in travel writing.
As someone who learned so much at Sandra’s travel writing course a decade ago, and during visits since, I highly recommend her upcoming workshop on travel writing and photography April 23 at the By the River B&B in Fredericton. Registration is available by contacting Mary Ellen Hudson at maryellen.hudson@fredericton.ca or (506) 292-0842, or Neil Hodge at Neil.Hodge@gnb.ca or (506) 869-0714.
It might be the best $120 you’ve ever spent!
