Why Our Travel Circle?
Our Travel Circle launched during the Pandemic, as a way for founder Susan Black to connect communities with local experts. As an avid traveler, she wanted to help people stay connected and share new experiences, by virtually traveling with their circle of friends, and for licensed tour guides to continue doing what they love.
Susan realized that there needed to be a way to embrace the culture of other countries by talking to locals; to still travel when it is difficult to get away; and to keep exploring with like-minded travel enthusiasts.
So that’s why she created community-based “Our Travel Circle” - a live-streamed series of guided tours. One that allows local guides to share the places they know best, to bring communities closer together through exploration and engagement.
About Susan Black, Founder
Susan is a high-energy entrepreneur, with a distinguished career successfully launching businesses and reinvigorating established brands within the travel industry.
Throughout her career, she's led transformative business development, marketing and customer-focused strategies for start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, generating $10M to $10B in revenues.
Susan has held recent "C"-suite positions at CIE Tours International (the largest tour operator to Ireland and Britain), American Express Vacations, CheapCaribbean.com and Liberty Travel. Tapping into her network, she is able to quickly identify “top tier” local tour guides.
Our Team
Cecilia Dahl, Head of Operations
Scott Blakeman, Head of Host Training
Scott Blakeman, Head of Host Training
Cecilia is a 25 yr. travel industry veteran with a background spanning product development, operations, and business development. A seasoned executive and successful entrepreneur, Cecilia brings her operational and management skills to Our Travel Circle to provide a structure for growth and successful delivery of our global experiences.
Scott Blakeman, Head of Host Training
Scott Blakeman, Head of Host Training
Scott Blakeman, Head of Host Training
Scott Blakeman leads our "Engagement Team," as Head of Host Training. His decades-long career as a standup, commentator, and instructor makes him the perfect fit for Our Travel Circle: he knows how to add the sparkle to any conversation, and he's a pro at bringing it out in others.
Scott was the warmup comedian for the Late Show with David Letterman, and Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher.
Adam Marot, Tour Guide Recruitment and Training Specialist
Adam Marot, Tour Guide Recruitment and Training Specialist
Adam Marot, Tour Guide Recruitment and Training Specialist
Adam was born and raised in Budapest, Hungary and acts as Our Travel Circle's guide recruitment and training specialist. Adam is an established tour guide and says that his slogan is “entertaining while educating”.
Adam leads our guide selection and training efforts. He conducts weekly Zoom classes for all guides, sharing 125+ best practices for conducting successful livestreamed virtual tours.
Katherine Hartnett, Client Success Manager
Adam Marot, Tour Guide Recruitment and Training Specialist
Adam Marot, Tour Guide Recruitment and Training Specialist
Katherine is responsible for working with our partners and their communities, to delight all.
Katherine engages with our online community and responds to comments and requests. She also works with our guides, and assists during live tours.
Where will Your travel circle Go This Week?
