Today we’d like to introduce you to Khadija Tayabali.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My husband and I are both physicians from Kenya currently living in the USA and have always enjoyed traveling and exploring unique places in the USA and internationally. We aim to check off one bucket list destination each year (obviously limited by our schedules). This company started as a passion project during the COVID pandemic combining our love for travel, my interest in travel blogging, photography, and the realization that Kenya and Tanzania (known for tourism) has so many luxury vacation experiences that are not on the radar for Americans tourists to experience
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Any start-up is never easy, especially in the travel and tourism industry where you have to build a name and a reputation.Our struggles have included juggling full-time job as physicians, new parenthood roles (we welcomed a newborn baby boy 6 months ago) and managing the business responsibilities despite time difference. In addition we are actively working to build our social media presence, as well as garnering support of family and friends to buy into our cause so that we can earn their business and refer clients to us as well. Eventually we hope that the business will be self sufficient to grow based on referrals and client reviews
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We are family owned, based in Baltimore MD but have local partnerships (family and friends) both in Kenya and Tanzania. Our background allows us to provide our clients with a personalized experience and are a familiar face for our clients in an unfamiliar country
The unique aspect about our company is that we only offer luxury and semi luxury vacation deals(African safari, beach resort and mountain Trekking experience) in East Africa. Most importantly we vet out these properties and only work with properties we trust and ones that we have tried and tested ourselves so that we can guarantee top notch service
Through working with us, we can get our clients extra perks like upgrade to rooms when available (sea view, water hole views), offering personalized service from the time the client lands at their destination to departure back to home country as well as resort credit where applicable. In addition, some our projects like kilimanjaro tours are attached to a charitable organization and part of the proceeds collected would be donated to the organization
(this is a work in progress)
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Value of family during times of crisis-It saddened me to see my patients being separated and having to suffer by themselves in the hospital. However it is also the morale from family that was a huge driver for these patients to stay strong and fight to get better.
Family support is what allowed us to stay emotionally strong despite all the death and suffering we saw during the pandemic.
Hardwork and dedication and giving your 100% self to a cause you care about is what allows me to continue a busy career but also turn this hobby into a creative outlet and a business that I hope to grow
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tourwithpipi.com
- Instagram:tourwithpipi
- Twitter: tourwithpipi
