The ROI of Travel 
Kelsey Low, The Growth Coach
 
Up until 2014, I was on a path of typical success. I went to college, got my bachelors, found a job, got promoted, made more money than I imagined, yet I was totally miserable. I was so stressed out that I had major health problems and became depressed. My vacation time got denied repeatedly and I felt trapped. It didn't help that I never turned off my work phone and didn't know how to say no and create healthy work boundaries.
I knew something had to change. I became on a mission to have balance in my life and a work a job I enjoy. I researched ways to travel, I started budgeting, and six months later, I quit my job and moved to Costa Rica to teach English. I coordinated with a company I found online and they helped arrange everything. I did a one-month intensive course to teach English as a Foreign Language (T.E.F.L.). I was so excited and terrified all at the same time.
               Moving to Costa Rica created so much confidence in the ease of travel that I decided to keep doing it. I was shocked at how common and easy it was. I was also shocked at how many young people my age from all over the world were doing it too. I ended up backpacking through all of Eastern Europe and continued to teach English at adult schools in Guatemala and Peru. I did many work exchanges to cover my meals and apartment so my costs stayed very low. I did anything I could to make travel possible.
Today, I am a business and success coach, mentor and creator of Visalia Talks & Wine. The experience of working in corporate sales and management fueled my desire to help other people with their business and people management skills. Looking back, I'm thankful for the intensive experience I got in those two years.
I make my own schedule and require travel in my life. My mother is my partner and together we are The Growth Coach of Central California. I travel every chance I get, even while being in the first year of business. People ask how I afford it and I tell them, "I require adventure every 3 months and I make it a non negotiable" and that's the absolute truth.
Here's the thing- every time I travel, I am investing in the creativity of my business. When I travel, I get ideas, insights and inspirations that fuel and excite me to get back to work. I'll put the flight on my credit card and treat it as an investment. I consider the return on investment instead of seeing a price tag with no return.
It is June 2018 and this year I have traveled to Spain, Italy, Guatemala and many other places in California. Sometimes, it's a day trip to the Sequoias to get a fresh perspective.
When I travel and experience new cultures, my mind awakens to new ideas. My business reaps the benefits. Let travel be something you invest in the way you invest in your education.
Travel doesn't have to be international. It's anything that takes you out of your comfort zone and lets you experience something new. Go to the mountains, take a trip to the coast, explore California or the US. If adventure is something you crave, you don't have to leave the country in order to do so (although it's a lot of fun!) Start where you're at, not where you want to be.

The next YPN Meet Up will be held
5:30 pm
Thursday, July 12, 2018
Come out to meet new people and enjoy a drink after work
__________________________________________________________

YPN Kickball Game

July 14th
10:00 am
Plaza Park

Join the Visalia YPN for a fun pick up game of kickball. 

Bring a friend and meet some new people.
YPN Business Spotlight ... Component Coffee Lab
Jonathan Anderson, owner, Component Coffee Lab
I grew up here in Visalia and have always had a heart for this town, especially the downtown area. My family moved to other cities during my high school years, but I've never been able to call those places "home" like I do Visalia. What I love about my business is that it gives me an opportunity to get in touch with my community. I love the connection I have with the staff and the way we treat our guests. My desire is to see service be less about a transaction and more about relationship.

We are a specialty coffee roaster and cafe. We pride ourselves in having a uniquely complex and flavorful espresso in town. With the tools that we use to extract coffee, we are able to reimagine what the traditional espresso shot is and offer our customer something of higher quality. We love our community and staff. Our goal is to engage with our customer and provide an environment that is welcoming, kind, and serving. 

 

We have a beautiful space, excellent music, and wonderfully balanced drink options.

We roast all of our coffee in house. Sourcing high-grade coffee beans from around the world, we are able to highlight particular farms and pay homage to the hard-working farmers that are dedicated to the craft. At the beginning of 2019, we plan to make a trip to an origin farm in an effort to support the fair trade of their coffee.

 

Visalia is such a great town in which to do business because everyone is so open to trying something new. We are blessed to have an accepting community that isn't afraid of adventure and spontaneity. This town is growing into something really special and all it takes is for people to get creative and spread their wings.


 Being a part of the YPN has helped us build a social/ professional network of friends who are committed to the betterment of their career and community. It's important for us to remain in the mix so people have a friendly face to go along with our business. I look forward to growing with this community and providing a meeting ground for all forms of relationship.
Non-Profit Spotlight ... Sound N Vision Foundation
The Sound N Vision Foundation is an official 501 c 3 non-profit organization that exists to curate music and art events throughout the Central Valley. The organization hosts about seventy concerts every year and also provides free music and art classes for our area's youth.

Our organization books, promotes and presents both 21+ and all ages concerts throughout the valley, with a particular focus on the Visalia-area. We also hold free ukulele, guitar, drum, dance and art classes for our area's youth.
We are always looking for volunteers and paid positions to promote and run our concert events, as well as musicians and artists to teach our classes. Presently we are looking for a young marketing director. This would be a paid position.
 
Contact: Aaron Gomes (559) 331-0045 or [email protected]


Young Professional Spotlight ... 
Krystal Parreira
Krystal is a Manager at M Green and Company, LLP. 
M. Green and Company LLP is a local accounting firm of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), with offices in Dinuba, Hanford, Lindsay, Tulare and two offices in Visalia. We provide the highest quality accounting, auditing, taxation and advisory services to a broad range of clients, from small businesses to large corporate groups, nonprofit organizations and governmental agencies. Our services include general accounting services (payroll services, bookkeeping, QuickBooks consulting), assurance services (financial statement preparation and audits) and tax services, which include planning, preparing and problem resolutions for individuals, businesses, estates and trusts.

Why is participation in the Visalia Young Professionals Network beneficial to you and your business?  The Visalia Young Professionals Network is beneficial to me because it has helped me get to know my peers in the Visalia area in a relaxed atmosphere. The YPN events have always been a good time and I am excited to help plan those future events. At those events, I am able to share what I do on a daily basis with other professionals, which is not always the typical tax service that is associated with being a CPA. I think YPN is also beneficial to the firm because I can network with peers who may eventually need some of the services that M Green provides.
 

The best part of Visalia is .....? The sense of community. I went to college in San Diego but had grown up in Tulare. Part of what drew me back to the Central Valley was how everyone is involved in the community. I truly enjoy attending all of the different year-round events Visalia has to offer.

 

The best piece of advice you have received regarding your work/business? 

"Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life" Though this is a quote that a person told me, not their own words of advice, I find it so relevant in my life and career. I think it is important to work hard in your job but also realize that a job is only one factor of your life. I think it's important to enjoy what you do that way work doesn't take anything away from your life, but also to do things outside of work that help enhance your life. For me, I like to use all of my vacation days that I earn in order to travel and live my life to the fullest.

 

What is your dream job? My dream job is to be a forensic accountant for the FBI. When in college and deciding majors, I wavered with law and accounting, but ultimately chose numbers over reading. However, I think a job with the FBI would be so neat to be able to put away white collar criminals, I would get the part of law that I loved by using the accounting to find them.

 

Name 3 items on your bucketlist.

  1. Travel to all 50 states before I turn 50. I am slightly past half way there in age but not in number of states, so I have some catching up to do.
  2. To go wine tasting in France and Italy. This is important for both my love of travel and love of wine.
  3. Swim with dolphins. I had attempted this with my sister as one of our excursions on an Australia/New Zealand cruise, but we were swimming in the ocean with dolphins in their natural habitat, so they didn't really come around that day, due to the weather.