Hey there,
So, on Wednesday, I ventured into new territory with my first-ever live video interview with about her fascinating Let's Venture newsletter.
There's something poetic about discussing global travel adventures while simultaneously stepping outside my own comfort zone.
If you've ever postponed hitting "record" because the thought made your stomach flip, I'm right there with you.
Jodi and I had an insightful conversation about her 22-year Wall Street career and her pivot to creating meaningful travel experiences in places like Rwanda, Tanzania, and Cambodia.
But you know what makes her Substack truly special?
100% of her paid Substack subscriptions go directly to U-Go to fund girls' education in developing countries.
For the reading-over-watching crowd (I see you and respect your choice), I've included the complete transcript below so you can get all the details about what she’s up to. And for those of you not on Substack you don’t have to leave your inbox to enjoy our conversation.
Over the next few months, you'll see 1-2 of these interviews in your inbox. If you'd rather catch them live (and perhaps witness my occasional camera awkwardness in real-time), you can download the Substack app using the button at the bottom of this email.
Happy reading,
How a Milwaukee girl with a math degree ended up leading trips to Rwanda
Jen: I'm going to let you do a lot of the talking because I love what you're doing and I love your story. That's why I was so excited to help you set up your Substack. Let's start with who you are and your backstory - your origin story about building your financial base and leaving your job on Wall Street to do what you're doing now.
Jodi: First of all, Jen, you're a great guide. I recommend you to anybody who wants help getting their Substack set up.
I'm originally from the Midwest, and I call myself an American mutt because I have these good Midwestern values. I went to school there, moved to New York City, then to San Francisco. That's when you and I first met, maybe five or eight years ago. I currently live in the Southwest, like you, in Santa Fe.
I grew up in a suburb of Milwaukee, raised by a single mom with one brother. She went to college when she was in her mid-30s. She was married, but my dad didn't like the idea of his wife having a career and her own money. But she did it anyway, and the marriage ended. The whole experience taught me a ton about money - I needed to know, understand, earn, and have it myself. That set a trajectory for my career.
I was a good student with diverse interests ranging from writing and creativity (my dad was an artist) to money and business. I studied math in school, then graduated and got a great job offer from JP Morgan on Wall Street in New York. I said yes because how bad could it be? Move to New York, make some money for a couple of years, then figure out what happens next.
I ended up staying in the investment field for a 22-year career, much of it at JP Morgan in New York before moving to San Francisco. I loved financial services, the smart people I worked with, and helping others understand money. Along the way, I learned about leadership, communication, and working with teams. I worked with coaches a lot.
I was also saving my money, thinking back to my mom's story - money is power in case you need to use it one day. To say no to the new boss who is gaslighting you and creating a horrible environment. Having money in the bank meant I could see that as a signal from the universe that it was time for me to do more.
Jen: So you had a financial base after 22 years on Wall Street, and you decided you'd had enough.
Jodi: It was the easiest decision because I couldn't keep coming home crying every night to my husband and trying to figure out how to get through tomorrow. So, for my mental health, it was the easiest decision ever, but I could do it because I had financial resources. I sat down with an Excel spreadsheet and went through what I had because sometimes when you're working, you don't look at it closely. Once I realized, "I'm fine, we can do this," the decision was pretty easy. But I had no idea what I was going to do next.
How Let's Venture was born
Jen: So, how did you get to Let's Venture? When I met you, you were already leading these trips, and I was totally inspired because I was going through that transition myself. I had quit my job and was just back after traveling around Asia, and you were leading these incredible trips all over the developing world.
Jodi: The first thing I did after quitting was go to a girls' school in Kenya for a month. I was coaching there - it was an opportunity I was offered while I was working, and I always said, "Someday." Suddenly, I was a free agent.
I went with no plan for what would happen next. A few things emerged: my love for investing in girls' education and figuring out how to reconnect with that part of my story that I had hidden for so long. When you're in the investment world, you don't want to talk about how hard it was with your mom in Wisconsin when you're trying to make it on Wall Street.
I also thought about how to be more impactful with my money and started investigating that on the ground with networks in the United States. The trips were part of that - I would travel focused on girls' education and connecting with the new people I was meeting.
In 2015, I went to Rwanda and put together a trip for myself around an investment I'd made in a fintech company. They were doing a big marketing launch party. There was also a girls' education organization I was getting to know, working with exceptional future leaders in Rwanda. Then, I planned to trek and see gorillas.
Two individual friends said, "Jodi, that sounds so fun. Can I come?" So the three of us went - they knew me, but none of us knew Rwanda. We had this incredible experience. That was my aha moment: maybe if you build it, people will come. I built it for myself, and two people wanted to join.
From there, my network spread to people who this story resonated with. It's not for everybody - it's for the curious-minded, the learners. We're comfortable, we eat and drink well, and it's safe, but it's not about sitting in a luxury hotel. It's about connecting and doing.
Beyond the tourist track: what actually happens on a Let's Venture trip?
Jen: Give people context about what a trip is like, who your partners are, and what areas you go to.
Jodi: There are a couple of core bases to each trip. Education is always central because I see it as the basis of a growing society, particularly for girls. We always spend time understanding the education landscape and meeting with students, which is special because we go to super young countries. You want to learn from the 18 and 20-year-olds, not the 60-year-olds. That's really powerful when you're a 50 or 60-year-old traveler.
There's always an investment/entrepreneurship component. We think of investing in terms of stock markets in the United States, but there's a whole range of investing that might look different in various countries, often with a focus on impact.
We dive into culture and art. For example, emerging fashion and sports scenes exist in places like Rwanda. Most tourists just go to see gorillas, but we spend a lot of time in the cities. People tend to visit places like Cambodia just for Angkor Wat or use Phnom Penh as a stopover. But cities are the dynamic places where so many interesting developments happen.
I want people to travel differently and not skip the cities. I make it easy because visiting on your own might be daunting. I'm just making introductions.
I love what happens next - hearing the stories of people joining my trips and how they change their lives. The impact might be immediate or take one to three years to emerge.
Jodi's upcoming travels and impact
Jen: I know you're taking a trip next week to Vietnam and first Portugal.
Jodi: Portugal is a co-led trip with Walking Mentorship. I hiked the Camino a year and a half ago with this group, and I really hit it off with their leader because he uses travel as a tool to lead you to the best version of yourself, which is what I do with my ventures. We have similar philosophies but different implementations.
We're co-leading a trip to Costa Vicentina in the southern, western part of Portugal, walking along the beach with eight people. It will be a walking mentorship experience.
Then, I go to Vietnam with one of my girls' education partners named U-Go. It's a newer organization founded about two years ago by John Wood, who founded Room to Read 25 years ago. U-Go focuses on what's needed next in girls' education - funding local university scholarships.
Did you know the average cost of attending university in Vietnam is about $800 a year? That's so different from our Western perspective, and it shows how meaningful and impactful that investment can be.
I'm going for U-Go’s global partners meeting with scholars from Cambodia, India, Vietnam, and Tanzania. My favorite part is connecting with their stories. I'm not leading anyone on that trip - I’ll support my partner and connect with the U-Go team and these girls.
Jen: It must give you such a different perspective on life and what we value.
Jodi: One, it slows you down. And two, it's very connected. We had the U-Go Partners meeting last year in Bali and held an impactful women-only session with scholars and women like me from corporate backgrounds.
I remember listening to some of these girls talk about how stressed they were getting a B on a test. You might think, "It's just a B, get over it," but I felt it differently because of my own story. I knew that education was my only way out, and unless I was a super achiever in high school, I wouldn't get the scholarship to go to university. So hearing this 17-year-old, I was 17 again. That connection is something I'll always remember.
The four-year promise: turning school success into university degrees.
Jodi: Sega School in Tanzania (the nonprofit is Nurturing Minds) is an amazing school of about 280 girls who would likely be married off at age 14 if they hadn't found their way there. These girls score high on exams and qualify for university, but Nurturing Mind's mission is to fund secondary schools, not universities.
This is where I get excited as a connector. I thought: I need to talk to John Wood of U-Go. They hadn't expanded to Africa yet, but this would be the perfect partner. Long story short, I made the connection, and they're partners today.
Now these girls have secure funding - it's a four-year commitment, not wondering every year if they'll get funding again. Individuals, not government agencies, fund it. These girls are confident that unless something major changes, they will go to university. That's a weight off their shoulders.
When your newsletter pays someone's tuition
Jen: One of the things I was excited about was us coming up with this paid strategy where all of your paid subscriptions go to one of your partners, currently U-Go.
Jodi: Credit to you, Jen. You gave me the idea. That's why we need to chat and share ideas - you never know where your next great idea will come from. I was struggling with the paid subscription model, but as soon as you suggested that approach, I knew it was perfect.
U-Go is top of mind right now because I'm going to Vietnam soon for the partner’s meeting. That's who I've chosen for 2025, and later, I'll figure out what I'm doing for 2026 and beyond.
I want people to feel like being part of the Let's Venture community is an investment in yourself - hearing other stories helps you think differently about your own. I want a platform to write and do things like Substack Live where I can bring these incredible people to my audience. Maybe you're busy or don't have the funds to travel outside the United States, but I want to introduce you to these young women, entrepreneurs, and artists I meet.
Jen: I'm so glad this is going to be a place where you'll do more writing. I love your LinkedIn posts, and I think finding a place where you can spark those conversations is going to be a natural fit for you.
Jodi: So far, with Substack, I feel I can be myself. I think that's the feeling it gives to us. I always say I want to make LinkedIn more fun - it's kind of stodgy and boring. Using photos and writing as you speak is really important.
I love that there's this creative outlet for me, going back to the girl who didn't study journalism but always loved creative writing. I enjoy challenging myself by trying new things, like videos, which make me uncomfortable. But we need to do it and learn. I’m excited about experimenting with my creativity and collaborating with others.
What’s coming in 2025: women-run vodka companies
Jodi: My next trip after this spring is in the fall - Rwanda, the place where it all started back in 2015. It's like a 10-year anniversary. We'll be students again for one week.
I'm an investor in a vodka company in Rwanda that just launched in December. It's made from potatoes grown locally in the Virunga mountains and is run by women. Historically, women produced alcohol at home, but once it became an industry, men took over. This is a small way of putting women back at the helm of a company in this industry.
We'll explore community-building initiatives, amazing artists, and sports. We do that for a week, and then most people stay on to see the gorillas.
I'll be sharing more about Rwanda on my Substack, and I want to bring some of my partners onto a Substack Live to share their stories so people can get introduced before they go and spend time with them.
Jen: That would be amazing if you did Substack Lives from Rwanda!
Jodi: I'd like to try Substack Lives from Portugal or Vietnam to test it out. I can do them from Rwanda, but my partners can also join remotely - it’s all an experiment.
Jen: It's all possible. Let's grow this thing together. Thank you so much for doing this first Live with me!
And that wraps up my first-ever Substack Live! As Jodi and I continue our parallel journeys—she explores new countries while I explore new content formats—I hope you'll join us for the adventure.
What part of Jodi's story lit you up? Her career pivot, the girls' education focus, or something else? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
📱 Watch Substack Lives on your phone! 📱
Download the Substack app to catch these conversations in real time. You'll get a notification when I go live, so you can tune in, watch us chat for about 30 minutes, and even drop questions in the comments.
Missed the live show? No problem—I’ll send them out with a transcript like this the following Monday. It's like having a casual coffee chat with writers and creators you admire right in your pocket.
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