February 23, 2022 • 32 mins
Elicia Howard of Howard's Highway talks about her app and how it helps people of color travel safely.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey guys, this is Carla Campos for The Entrepreneur Mom's podcast.
We are here today with Alisha Howard from Howard's Highway. Hi, Alisha,
how are you today?
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Hi?
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I'm well, We're excited to have you here. So I
met Alicia, believe it or not, she called into iHeart
and she was telling us about her new app and
how she wanted to connect with people hosting podcasts so
that she can share what she's doing with her awesome
technology helping people. And you know, that's what I'm all about.
I'm not sure if everybody knows or not. I'm a
(00:30):
Latina person and Calatina person. You know, when it comes
to our families, it's not just one color. We're like
a diverse color. So during Christmas time, I was dropping
off my nephew to my sister. We live in Florida,
so Florida's a little crazy when it comes to race
it and you can't tell if my dad is Indian,
you can't tell, if he's Puerto Rican. You can't tell
(00:51):
if he's a black person. Like people can't tell because
he my son likes to call him a nice caramel color.
That's my dad, right, So we decided to stop at
a restaurant before we met with my sister, with my
nephew and everybody, and we were getting crazy stares and
we're like, what's going on? You know, what's happening here?
And you would think that this doesn't happen in this
day and age, but it does definitely. You know, this
(01:13):
whole thing that happened to me and my family came
to mind and I thought about the importance of what
you were doing. So can you tell the audience a
little bit more about what Howard's Highway is about and
why you came up with this idea.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yeah, totally.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
It's something that wasn't planned and I'm very passionate about.
So Howard's Highway is a app, a mobile app for travelers,
specifically black indigenous people of color. So, like you were saying, Carla,
like your dad is of color. Like people don't know who,
like what race he is, where he's from, but they
(01:50):
see the pigment in the skin, so automatically he classifies
as someone of color. And usually me being a black girl,
we can all kind of be we all.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Share the same experiences.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Unfortunately, the darker your skin, the likely the more likely
you are to be looked at, treated differently, mistreated, and
sometimes unfortunately harmed. I came about Howard's Highway last year.
I was moving back home to Brooklyn from La and
(02:23):
I'm a very outdoorsy person. I'm a venturess and I
love breaking stereotypes and boundaries of what people expect me
as a black girl from Brooklyn to be. Like, I
surf in New York City, which is like unheard of.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I'm I'm a shame because I'm from New York. I
do not serve.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Yeah, I mean a lot of people from New York
City do not serve. So like Carla, don't even like
so bad about that. People are like, what where do
you serve? I'm like out in Queens Long Beach, bar Rockaway,
I'm out there in that water.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
But yeah, I ride horses.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
I ride English style, which again not an expectation or
a typical thing you would expect a brown girl from
Brooklyn to be doing. And so I camp. I've gone.
I love camping. I've gone camping since I was eight
years old with my family. So we go out to
the Catskills, we pitched tents, we get the fire going,
(03:25):
like real outdoorsy.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
So me driving across.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
The country from LA to me was just like, oh,
that's not a problem.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
I can do this. I've lived across the pond.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
I lived in England for a few years and I
went to get I did my masters out in England. Wow,
an hour outside of Scotland, so you know, it had
rolling hills, sheep when you walk outside, and cow As
I would go on my morning runs, they would be
like running away and like that's how small town it was.
(04:00):
And people would be like, well, what are you doing here.
You're like from New York City. You're in a small
white town in northern England. So like that's my personality.
So me driving again, like across the country, I was
just like this is I'm from this country, Like I
should be fine, and like that's how I natively think naturally,
(04:20):
but I'm also well aware of all of the barriers
there are for me as a female and as a
black female in this climate, in this day and age,
especially after twenty twenty, it was scary. It's scary, and
even before twenty twenty, this was always a scary thing
to do. But again, my personality, I'm just like I'm
(04:41):
a human being. I should be able to do everything
everyone else on this planet is able to do. So
I was just like, I want to drive. I want
to pack my car up and have that all American
experience of driving across the country. And my friends and
family were terrified. They were just like this girl's absolute
just lost her mind. Like my brother like literally is
(05:05):
having a heart attack, couldn't even speak when I told him.
I even had to lie to my mom and tell
her like, yeah, my friend has still coming with me,
like I'm not driving alone. But everyone knew I was,
and they were just like, do not do it. So
I was like, I'll just I'll drive halfway. Like I
came to like compromise. I was like, I'll drive to
Colorado and I'll ship my car back the rest of
the way. And initially, when I had been planning to
(05:28):
do the drive, I thought there was a modern day
Green Book, which for those who aren't familiar with the
Green Book, it was a travel guide that originated in
the nineteen thirties by a post office worker named Victor
Hugo Green.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
And it was of course it was done during.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
The Jim Crow era, and it was needed, and it
was in a positive light. It was more so like,
here's some safe places for you to and it didn't
have that. It never mentioned anything about race or being hurt,
and it just had more of a optimistic, positive light
(06:10):
to it. And that's what I want to bring, is
I want to be able to open the country because
it's such a beautiful country to those of us who
are of color or are queer and would be mistreated
in middle of America unfortunately by someone who's small minded
and don't come across many people of color.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I know when we were talking on the first phone
call when you called and you said it wasn't just
about race, it was also keeping people safe for different reasons.
So what are those reasons.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Yeah, it's driving anywhere regardless of your race too, is
kind of dangerous. I have a lot of friends who
aren't of color, are white males, and they're like, yeah,
I like drive a gun in my car and I'm like,
oh my gosh, like the scared and they're like you
should get one too, and I'm like.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
No, no, no, no, it looks different.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
It worked very different exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
No, no, no, exactly. I'm like, you can do that.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
I don't know if I could do that, but yeah,
it's there. There's a lot of factors that come into
just traveling alone, putting yourself at risk for getting robbed,
people just go missing. I was hearing a story from
a friend of mine either Day, who travels a lot
and has done the whole band life thing, drove across
(07:33):
the country for nine months, and they would tell me
a story about there was a car in the middle
of a road and this was like in the desert,
so there's no one around, there's no cell service, and
to me, like, I love that, Like I love being
in the desert, and I love when you're completely disconnected
from the world because it's so peaceful. I've I literally
had like like world changing like views now from just
(07:56):
doing the drive and just really reconnecting with myself and
having that solitude was a beautiful thing. But it can
also be a scary and dangerous dark thing. But anyway,
so my friend was telling me about the story. Larry,
he was driving. It was the middle of the night,
and it was just this car with all four of
the doors open, in the middle of the road, in
(08:17):
the desert, in the middle of night, lights on, no
one around, no one to be around to be found.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
And he was telling me like this.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Is what people do in the desert to set other
people up, and so like a worried person, a concerned
person would stop figure out if someone who was hurt,
if it was an accident, do they need to help someone?
Speaker 2 (08:38):
And they set them up and rob them or in
worst cases, kill them.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
And it was a very important side of traveling from
someone who doesn't have the same necessarily concerns from gender
and race. So, yeah, there's a lot out there, but
there's a beautiful side and there's an ugly.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Side, and that if anything.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
You know, Yeah, how does your app work? How do
you know what the safe places are? Have you looked
into the places? Like? How do you determine what's safe
or not on your app?
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Great question?
Speaker 3 (09:13):
So how the app works is sort of like it
has the same interface as like an airban B so
it's very sleek, modern, minimal, very easy to navigate. So
you'd go on and input the final destination that you'd
like to go. So, say you're from my experience would
be I'm driving from Brooklyn trying to go to LA
(09:36):
So it'll auto populate like the suggested routes and you
can pick which route you'd like to go for example,
if you want to go to the northern nor the
seven route, and then it'll populate all of the suggested
stops from like restaurants, gas stations, all the necessities that
you'd need on a on a road trip, and it
(09:57):
a number plots it so you can can.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Overview you your.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Drive and it numbers them from like stop one, stop two,
stop three, and the distance between each stop. So it
would sort of be like if you were putting this
information and you're putting the address into like a Google Maps.
The thing with Google Maps, it just tells you the
roads to go, but this will tell you where to
stop along the way on that route. Me talking about
(10:24):
the app on podcasts like yours is to help get
the word out for people to also suggest other businesses
that they've had their own experiences in.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
I am planning to do.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
The road trip over but to complete the entire road
trip this upcoming spring, so that I can personally go
on the journey and have my own experience and kind
of review it and give the golden check to it.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Would be since you're the admin, the person that controls
the app, would just be like the recommended route, like
the best route exactly what businesses are currently on the app.
Do you have a list right now? I know you're
not at the office, you might not have that handy,
but if you do, you know, that'd be nice to
know just in case.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
I don't have a list in front of me. But
all sorts.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
We're actually recording this on the weekend. We tried to
do it during the week and we've been what did
you kind of experience it the retrograde? Yes, retrograde, but
just some good friendly companies you've experienced along the way,
maybe you haven't even connected with yet but are trying
to connect with.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Yeah, one that comes to mind is north Star and
this is a company that actually reached out to me
on Instagram because it was being spread around and they
were like, oh my gosh, I'd love to travel.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
This is amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
And it's female owned, not nassarily of color, but you know,
it's bipock.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Owned or supportive businesses.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
So if you're a business that's not necessarily of color,
but you are all for protecting and supporting those who
are at risk for racism, this is definitely open to every.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
So what does your family think about all of this?
What do they think about your app? So I know
you said they were nervous because you were traveling about yourself,
which I could understand because that's how my parents are.
Once they saw you, you went out of the way
to like not feel victimized and create an app that's
going to help others. What were their thoughts about that?
Speaker 3 (12:17):
They were They are all supportive and all for it.
There was a concern raised by like my uncle where
he was just like, well, what if people like target
you because of this?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
And that is a real concern.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
And this is a concern that I'm It's a risk
that I'm really unwilling to kind of go up against
to protect those who need an app like this.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
No, for sure, how do you check in case somebody
does want to be a bad person and say, hey,
we're safe location just to set people up. Do you
have something in place where you're like, let's check because
your word is not enough, we really want to make
sure people are safe.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Yeah, And that's that's something that I've thought about and
had conversations with my peers and family and friends, is
if something like that does come up and it's like,
does anyone know have you heard of this? For example,
if it's a business that's in the middle of let's say,
(13:20):
like southern Texas and there's nothing around there. I have
a bunch of friends who do travel and are from
Texas and have done a real lot of these road trips.
So what I do is like I vet do business
by through whoever I know is like closer to that
location or more experience in that state or area, and
(13:41):
kind of get like a gut check from them and
just do substantial research for example, like Airbnb. Right Airbnb,
I'll tell you my experience with my travel with Airbnb
and how this connects. So I remember I was when
I was traveling to Colorado. I was just like, Okay,
this is Denver's really white city. And I the way
(14:04):
I was betting it in my own like through my
own resources is I was looking at the reviews. If
I saw that there was at least one person of
color had a little bit of like anything in their pigment,
I was just like, Okay, maybe this is like a
safe place, like you know it was. I was able
(14:24):
to vet it and in that sort of way and like,
see did they have an okay experience?
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Sorry, my puppy just ran in the room.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Okay, I think mine was barking at the winter like
five minutes, but luckily she kept it down. So it
makes us fun.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
You know, reviews would tell tell a lot, a lot
more than what most people realize.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
No, and that's super interesting because maybe people don't think
about your reviews in that way. Sort of finding people
you identify with to see if their review connects with you.
That's like amazing because I don't think people even talk
about So do you guys have reviews on your app
by users?
Speaker 3 (15:03):
A similar interface, the same interface as airban b and yelp,
So you'd be able to go in, leave your comments,
leave your review I would based off of my own
suggested places.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
It'll have a Howard's Highway verification check.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
And are people able to post pictures or like videos
anything on the app too.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
It doesn't have that integration yet or that capability as
of yet, but hopefully as we build out further and get.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
More money to continue.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
To build out and make that app better, hopefully we'll
have that capability.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
What about on social media? Are you guys on Facebook
and Instagram?
Speaker 3 (15:46):
There is a capability to share your drive on social media?
Specifically with Facebook. I've found that it's it's nice to
kind of keep your friends and family like up to
date with whatever voyage or on, whether it's a road
trip or going to some sort of event. It's there's
a community also with the app where you can share
(16:11):
your itinerary or see where that person's traveling, and you'd
be able to like hide or make it public for
those who are following you on the app.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Oh wow. What motivates you just to kind of like
keep this passion alive with the app and the wanting
to make this your business.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
What drives me to keep going with the app is
ultimately I want to fulfill that road trip, Like I
want to finish and do the full experience of a
full cross country road trip. So I want to have
something to keep me safe on that road trip. And
(16:49):
of course if I want that for myself, I want
that for everyone. And it's a tough battle and it's
a big project that I'm working on and I've dedicated
so much of my time and like personal money into
this that it feels right and it feels like something
I need to do.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
So who are you looking to like partner with connect with?
Be it business partners, just people using the app? Who
is your ideal person to connect with.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
Yeah, like my my dream partnerships, they came very close
to happening, but they've kind of been at a standstill.
One it was with Jeep I drive a deep Rangler,
big fan Deep Life, and like I've got interest from
them as well as nat Geo and the what I
(17:35):
do the trip in the spring.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
I do plan to document meant by like having a.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Videographer with me, which is also like fun and exciting
to be able to document it for those who don't
necessarily want to go on a road trip but would
like to see what it's like to be on a
Cress country road trip. And I also would love to
partner with Airbnb because Airbnb has had like some history,
unfortunate history with people being discriminated against by the Airbnb hosts,
(18:06):
and it's a real concern to this day, even not
on a road trip, like even just going on a
trip and booking an Airbnb, it is always on the
back of my mind and my peers minds, like is
this host going to accept me? It's like, am I
going to be looked at funny going into this neighborhood?
Will people think that I'm like robbing this home? You know,
(18:28):
obviously those are things that you can't control. But what
can help mitigate those fears and that anxiety is to
know that this place is a safe place and it
has been open to other minorities and people of color.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yes, for sure, just to see are you open in
case other people wanted to come along with you on
that road trip like we do.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
Yes, I am all for having a group of people
come with me. I have a few of my girlfriends
who one has actually done a cross country road trip,
which she's a boss and has done it, and her
jeep wrangler, and I invited her to come with me
on the Strip and would love to open that up
(19:13):
for anyone else who would want to join.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
So you're kind of thinking of like a cool trip.
I'm not sure if you're just doing girls trip or
you're welcoming everyone. I'm not sure what your plans for
the trip are, but with like a jeep sort of theme,
that would be like your top sort of fun. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
I mean, I'm open to anyone who loves to travel,
who can bring something to traveling, who has some sort
of like you know, whether they're good at picking a
playlist or they can pitch a tent. Like, I also
don't want to only go to hotels.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
I would love to go to campgrounds.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
And one of the safe places that I found to
be a go to place on my road trip from
LA to Colorado was going to state parks because whenever
you're out of state park, it's generally more open and
a little you just they're a little bit friendlier when
it comes to state parks.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
So that's where I gravitated to.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
So I'm open to like pitching a tent in the
desert for one of the stop and reviewing the park
that we stop at.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
So anyone who has any sort of talent for.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Lack of a better word, when it comes to being outdoors.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Is there a hashtag people can use sort of to
connect with the movement, not necessarily just going out on
the trip for the whenever you're playing the trip, but
like just to connect with you and kind of like, Hey,
I'm traveling and I'm doing what you were talking about
on the podcast or you're talking about on the website,
creating this big movement, Like is there a hashtag for
people to join in with you?
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah, it's hashtag Cowards Highway.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Kind of a saying that one of my friends came
up with was traveling black, and that's can be also
in the hashtag not necessarily like you don't have to
be black, but you know, travel like traveling while of
color is you know, traveling while black to me, and sorry,
I'll kind of take this in a in a little loop,
a little quick story. One of my family friends had
(21:19):
an issue with using the word of acronym sorry of
BIPOC black Indigenous people of color because unfortunately, some individuals
don't identify themselves as of color, whether they're Korean, Filipino,
they some people just have don't identify that. So it's
kind of hard to really find a terminology that everyone
(21:43):
feels inclusive. So traveling while black to me is like
inclusive of all, even if you're not black, because you know,
I mean from my experience, if if an establishment, for example,
is white owned and they allow black people, I would assume,
and I don't want to make a fool of myself,
(22:04):
but I would assume if they allow black people that
they allow everyone. But you know, everyone's experiences are different
and I can't speak for them. But hashtag traveling while black,
hashtag Howard's Highway is the best way to kind of
like let us know you're out there and traveling.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
And can people send you their stories in case they're
experiencing something horrible on their travels where people are being
negative towards them for any reason, just being discribinative and
just not open minded, like you say, just not being
good to the human race.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
So that's what I would say, Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
I think it's important to always share a story, whether
it's positive or negative. Sharing a negative one will help
open a conversation as to, Okay, if this person had
a negative experience in this area, is the entire area
like that, or are there safe places within that area
where someone can who knows the area can say like, hey,
(23:00):
you can stop here instead and not go there, you know.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
And it's good because the roads are open to everyone.
So it's like, if you're still traveling and passing through
that area, you want to stop for food, you want
to stop to use the restroom, you want to stop.
You still have the right as a human person to
stop at these places, but it's best to know that
you're not gonna go there on your happy trip to
be treated badly or anything like.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
That, exactly exactly, and you know, it's not even about
in some cases not even about being treated badly. It's
like the stairs or just the energy where you just
don't feel welcomed. You know, you want to avoid that.
Like my recent camping trip up state with my family
and friends. Two of my girlfriends had drove up and
(23:44):
got there before us, and my brother had the campsite
information and they needed him to be there to allow
us into the campsite. So they had like stopped in
a nearby bar and they were terrified, like like people
were just staring, and I just felt so bad because
I wasn't there and it was their first time being there.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
And this was upstate at Kittatinny, and.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
It's somewhere I've been going since I was a child,
and it was unfortunate, But I honestly I know the area,
and I still wouldn't stop at a lot of the
locations on the main road because of that uncomfortable feeling.
Not necessarily treated badly, but it's just you get the
sense and you feel the bay.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
You feel that you can read the room.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Yeah, I know, And I mean sometimes people act polite,
but you could still see that they're you know, when
you're not welcome and when they're looking at you like
you don't belong in a place for whatever reason, you know,
and that to me is being treated badly, even though
they're not saying anything bad to you. But yeah, you know,
like just to make somebody feel like they don't belong
(24:49):
to me, it is being treated badly. That's just my take.
And sometimes people are just because they don't see it
since it's not happening to them. Ever. Yeah, although people
are looking at you all that, that's not a problem. Okay,
but you haven't seen the look, so you haven't you know,
heard like the little talks that are happening behind you. Know,
so it's like that to me is being treated badly
(25:10):
and nobody has to experience that. It's not a nice
feeling exactly. How did you want people to kind of
spread the word about your app? Maybe they can or
cannot donate?
Speaker 3 (25:19):
Yes, so everyone can follow us on Howard's Highway at
Howard twee on Instagram as well as Facebook. Howard Higway
dot com is where you can submit any suggested businesses
and get in contact with me for any questions or
references outside of a business. I were like looking for
(25:42):
any type of investors of any sort to you know,
get this app like to its best quality. So definitely
open to anyone who has those capabilities.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
And if you.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
Don't like any word of mouth sharing, the business is
that you have in mind, any locations is a definite
open opportunity for us, and that is what helps us
grow and keeps everyone safe. Like it's literally a community
based application.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Awesome, awesome, And again, what are the social media links
for the people listening so that they can continue to
stay connected and help others too that might be going
through this situation, even if it's not them, maybe their
loved ones.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
Yeah, it's at Howard's Highway on Instagram as well as
Facebook and Howard Highway dot com is where you can
get in contact with me.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
And again, Alicia, you said you had a trip plan
and you're not really sure if you're going to be
inviting everyone to come along, But in case people wanted
to come along and support the cause and get road
tripping because that's always a fun thing to do, what
would they have to do to get in touch with you?
Speaker 3 (26:52):
Yeah, hit me up on Instagram at Howard's Highway or
Howard Highway dot com and submit one of your questions
or inquiries or like, let me know what you're what
you're interested in.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
And you wanted also to connect with other people other podcasts,
hoped hope, other podcast hosts the hope. The hope is
there people hope, the hope for good. You know, that's
like my main cause all the time. But the hosts, Okay,
what kind of podcasts are you wanting to connect with?
Speaker 3 (27:24):
I would love to connect with Outdoor AFRO. They are
a community based sort of community is their community of
black travelers who camp and go outdoors. And I heard
about them through a podcast called I think it's called
not Man's Man Eater. Sorry I'm blinking on the name
(27:47):
of the podcast, but I always think it's man Eater,
but it's not man Eater. If you're familiar with the podcast,
you know you probably know what I'm referring to. But yeah,
these are outdoor podcast about traveling and experiences, and anyone
who has a podcast about travel definitely interested in partnering
(28:09):
and being a guest to talk about it.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
And I do want to mention that when I first
heard about your app and how it connected to my podcast,
is that I'm a mom, right and I was like
this is going to be a good thing because you know,
we have those teens out there who might be multi
racial or might look a certain race, and they could
probably experience a lot of this kind of you know,
(28:32):
I wouldn't I don't want to say hate, but it's
more like a discrimination, quiet discrimination anyway. But they don't
feel comfortable being on the road because they might not
feel safe. So I wanted Alicia to share this with
the moms so they know something like this exists, because
you know, moms are always nervous and scared and like,
oh my gosh, where's my child? Where's my even adult child.
(28:53):
That's even a worse feeling in my experience because of
these your little young ones. You're like, okay, I got your.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Kids, you know, yeah, I've never heard you.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Yeah I want to heard you, and I know where
you're going, where you're not going. But when they hit
that age and you're just like, oh my goodness, where
are you going? Where are you? Are you safe? You know,
that keeps you up all night and then that messes
up your work, that messes up everything in your life.
So yeah, I wanted to definitely connect with you just
because this was so important in my experience, and I
know many moms out there also, So are you working
(29:22):
with any mom based businesses currently?
Speaker 2 (29:25):
I'm not.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
And when you told me about your podcast, I was like, wow,
that's so smart and it's such a great connection because
you know, my mom was freaking out when I told
her that I was planning to do this road trip.
So I was like, wow, I love that, and I
love just the connection between those two. A lot of
(29:46):
teenagers when I graduate high school, like that summer, a
lot of them go on road trips.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
They're like, I want to get away, I want to
get out, I want to experience life.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
Like It's like I've heard a lot of people who
are unsure of like what the what their plans are
and what they want to do in life. They kind
of go on this like soul searching and it sounds
so cliche, but when you're on that road, you really
connect and you have a lot of time to think
to yourself. So I totally see why a lot of
people at a at a life changing or pivotal stage of.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Their life, they want to go on these road trips.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
And there are a lot of teenagers out there that
are like bye, Mom and Dad.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
Like I'm going to.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
Figure it out on this road trip, you know. So
definitely would love to connect with any other mom podcasts,
talk to any moms who, like, I don't know, their
kid might be wanting to move across the country and
like their parents don't know how to handle and cope
with that. So yeah, I'm definitely open to those conversations.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
So, Alicia, you're amazing. I am so happy that you
and your genius came up with this app and you
took adversity and you just kind of like changed it
and such the what do they call it, such the
flip flip the switch? Yeah, yeah, because I think most
more people need to do this. We come in as
creators and genius people and create things like Alicia has.
(31:11):
Then we can like again flip the switch and bring
light into this sort of negative things that happen in
life and make the world a better place for people.
So alesha, Wow, you know I'm over here. Clup. I
don't know if you can hear my clup, but yeah,
like what do they call it? When you like raise
your hands and like bow down to Alicia? That's awesome, Like, you.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Know, thank you, Carla, I really appreciate it. Like it
makes you feel good. You know, it's it's a hard
this is a hard thing to do, and so I
love the support. I'm so grateful to be on here
and have the opportunity of talking about Howard's Highway.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
It means the world, and I think sometimes people are
scared to talk about like the real things that happen
out in the world. Instead of talking about it and
creating solutions and helping people, they kind of hide away,
and you know, they don't share of the truth the
things that happen out there. So, you know, I think
that it's awesome, and this is why I share my
support to you. I think it's awesome what you're doing,
(32:07):
and more people should be like you and help the
world be a better place. Oh all right, well everyone
again Alicia Howard from Howards Highway and you can connect
with her, like she said on Instagram and Facebook at
Howard Highway and guys make the world a better place.
I'm Carla Campos for The Entrepreneur Mom's podcast Take Care Bye,
Hey guys, this is Carla Campos for The Entrepreneur Mom's podcast.
We are here today with Alisha Howard from Howard's Highway. Hi, Alisha,
how are you today?
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Hi?
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I'm well, We're excited to have you here. So I
met Alicia, believe it or not, she called into iHeart
and she was telling us about her new app and
how she wanted to connect with people hosting podcasts so
that she can share what she's doing with her awesome
technology helping people. And you know, that's what I'm all about.
I'm not sure if everybody knows or not. I'm a
(00:30):
Latina person and Calatina person. You know, when it comes
to our families, it's not just one color. We're like
a diverse color. So during Christmas time, I was dropping
off my nephew to my sister. We live in Florida,
so Florida's a little crazy when it comes to race
it and you can't tell if my dad is Indian,
you can't tell, if he's Puerto Rican. You can't tell
(00:51):
if he's a black person. Like people can't tell because
he my son likes to call him a nice caramel color.
That's my dad, right, So we decided to stop at
a restaurant before we met with my sister, with my
nephew and everybody, and we were getting crazy stares and
we're like, what's going on? You know, what's happening here?
And you would think that this doesn't happen in this
day and age, but it does definitely. You know, this
(01:13):
whole thing that happened to me and my family came
to mind and I thought about the importance of what
you were doing. So can you tell the audience a
little bit more about what Howard's Highway is about and
why you came up with this idea.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yeah, totally.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
It's something that wasn't planned and I'm very passionate about.
So Howard's Highway is a app, a mobile app for travelers,
specifically black indigenous people of color. So, like you were saying, Carla,
like your dad is of color. Like people don't know who,
like what race he is, where he's from, but they
(01:50):
see the pigment in the skin, so automatically he classifies
as someone of color. And usually me being a black girl,
we can all kind of be we all.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Share the same experiences.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Unfortunately, the darker your skin, the likely the more likely
you are to be looked at, treated differently, mistreated, and
sometimes unfortunately harmed. I came about Howard's Highway last year.
I was moving back home to Brooklyn from La and
(02:23):
I'm a very outdoorsy person. I'm a venturess and I
love breaking stereotypes and boundaries of what people expect me
as a black girl from Brooklyn to be. Like, I
surf in New York City, which is like unheard of.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I'm I'm a shame because I'm from New York. I
do not serve.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Yeah, I mean a lot of people from New York
City do not serve. So like Carla, don't even like
so bad about that. People are like, what where do
you serve? I'm like out in Queens Long Beach, bar Rockaway,
I'm out there in that water.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
But yeah, I ride horses.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
I ride English style, which again not an expectation or
a typical thing you would expect a brown girl from
Brooklyn to be doing. And so I camp. I've gone.
I love camping. I've gone camping since I was eight
years old with my family. So we go out to
the Catskills, we pitched tents, we get the fire going,
(03:25):
like real outdoorsy.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
So me driving across.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
The country from LA to me was just like, oh,
that's not a problem.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
I can do this. I've lived across the pond.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
I lived in England for a few years and I
went to get I did my masters out in England. Wow,
an hour outside of Scotland, so you know, it had
rolling hills, sheep when you walk outside, and cow As
I would go on my morning runs, they would be
like running away and like that's how small town it was.
(04:00):
And people would be like, well, what are you doing here.
You're like from New York City. You're in a small
white town in northern England. So like that's my personality.
So me driving again, like across the country, I was
just like this is I'm from this country, Like I
should be fine, and like that's how I natively think naturally,
(04:20):
but I'm also well aware of all of the barriers
there are for me as a female and as a
black female in this climate, in this day and age,
especially after twenty twenty, it was scary. It's scary, and
even before twenty twenty, this was always a scary thing
to do. But again, my personality, I'm just like I'm
(04:41):
a human being. I should be able to do everything
everyone else on this planet is able to do. So
I was just like, I want to drive. I want
to pack my car up and have that all American
experience of driving across the country. And my friends and
family were terrified. They were just like this girl's absolute
just lost her mind. Like my brother like literally is
(05:05):
having a heart attack, couldn't even speak when I told him.
I even had to lie to my mom and tell
her like, yeah, my friend has still coming with me,
like I'm not driving alone. But everyone knew I was,
and they were just like, do not do it. So
I was like, I'll just I'll drive halfway. Like I
came to like compromise. I was like, I'll drive to
Colorado and I'll ship my car back the rest of
the way. And initially, when I had been planning to
(05:28):
do the drive, I thought there was a modern day
Green Book, which for those who aren't familiar with the
Green Book, it was a travel guide that originated in
the nineteen thirties by a post office worker named Victor
Hugo Green.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
And it was of course it was done during.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
The Jim Crow era, and it was needed, and it
was in a positive light. It was more so like,
here's some safe places for you to and it didn't
have that. It never mentioned anything about race or being hurt,
and it just had more of a optimistic, positive light
(06:10):
to it. And that's what I want to bring, is
I want to be able to open the country because
it's such a beautiful country to those of us who
are of color or are queer and would be mistreated
in middle of America unfortunately by someone who's small minded
and don't come across many people of color.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I know when we were talking on the first phone
call when you called and you said it wasn't just
about race, it was also keeping people safe for different reasons.
So what are those reasons.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Yeah, it's driving anywhere regardless of your race too, is
kind of dangerous. I have a lot of friends who
aren't of color, are white males, and they're like, yeah,
I like drive a gun in my car and I'm like,
oh my gosh, like the scared and they're like you
should get one too, and I'm like.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
No, no, no, no, it looks different.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
It worked very different exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
No, no, no, exactly. I'm like, you can do that.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
I don't know if I could do that, but yeah,
it's there. There's a lot of factors that come into
just traveling alone, putting yourself at risk for getting robbed,
people just go missing. I was hearing a story from
a friend of mine either Day, who travels a lot
and has done the whole band life thing, drove across
(07:33):
the country for nine months, and they would tell me
a story about there was a car in the middle
of a road and this was like in the desert,
so there's no one around, there's no cell service, and
to me, like, I love that, Like I love being
in the desert, and I love when you're completely disconnected
from the world because it's so peaceful. I've I literally
had like like world changing like views now from just
(07:56):
doing the drive and just really reconnecting with myself and
having that solitude was a beautiful thing. But it can
also be a scary and dangerous dark thing. But anyway,
so my friend was telling me about the story. Larry,
he was driving. It was the middle of the night,
and it was just this car with all four of
the doors open, in the middle of the road, in
(08:17):
the desert, in the middle of night, lights on, no
one around, no one to be around to be found.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
And he was telling me like this.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Is what people do in the desert to set other
people up, and so like a worried person, a concerned
person would stop figure out if someone who was hurt,
if it was an accident, do they need to help someone?
Speaker 2 (08:38):
And they set them up and rob them or in
worst cases, kill them.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
And it was a very important side of traveling from
someone who doesn't have the same necessarily concerns from gender
and race. So, yeah, there's a lot out there, but
there's a beautiful side and there's an ugly.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Side, and that if anything.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
You know, Yeah, how does your app work? How do
you know what the safe places are? Have you looked
into the places? Like? How do you determine what's safe
or not on your app?
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Great question?
Speaker 3 (09:13):
So how the app works is sort of like it
has the same interface as like an airban B so
it's very sleek, modern, minimal, very easy to navigate. So
you'd go on and input the final destination that you'd
like to go. So, say you're from my experience would
be I'm driving from Brooklyn trying to go to LA
(09:36):
So it'll auto populate like the suggested routes and you
can pick which route you'd like to go for example,
if you want to go to the northern nor the
seven route, and then it'll populate all of the suggested
stops from like restaurants, gas stations, all the necessities that
you'd need on a on a road trip, and it
(09:57):
a number plots it so you can can.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Overview you your.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Drive and it numbers them from like stop one, stop two,
stop three, and the distance between each stop. So it
would sort of be like if you were putting this
information and you're putting the address into like a Google Maps.
The thing with Google Maps, it just tells you the
roads to go, but this will tell you where to
stop along the way on that route. Me talking about
(10:24):
the app on podcasts like yours is to help get
the word out for people to also suggest other businesses
that they've had their own experiences in.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
I am planning to do.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
The road trip over but to complete the entire road
trip this upcoming spring, so that I can personally go
on the journey and have my own experience and kind
of review it and give the golden check to it.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Would be since you're the admin, the person that controls
the app, would just be like the recommended route, like
the best route exactly what businesses are currently on the app.
Do you have a list right now? I know you're
not at the office, you might not have that handy,
but if you do, you know, that'd be nice to
know just in case.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
I don't have a list in front of me. But
all sorts.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
We're actually recording this on the weekend. We tried to
do it during the week and we've been what did
you kind of experience it the retrograde? Yes, retrograde, but
just some good friendly companies you've experienced along the way,
maybe you haven't even connected with yet but are trying
to connect with.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Yeah, one that comes to mind is north Star and
this is a company that actually reached out to me
on Instagram because it was being spread around and they
were like, oh my gosh, I'd love to travel.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
This is amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
And it's female owned, not nassarily of color, but you know,
it's bipock.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Owned or supportive businesses.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
So if you're a business that's not necessarily of color,
but you are all for protecting and supporting those who
are at risk for racism, this is definitely open to every.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
So what does your family think about all of this?
What do they think about your app? So I know
you said they were nervous because you were traveling about yourself,
which I could understand because that's how my parents are.
Once they saw you, you went out of the way
to like not feel victimized and create an app that's
going to help others. What were their thoughts about that?
Speaker 3 (12:17):
They were They are all supportive and all for it.
There was a concern raised by like my uncle where
he was just like, well, what if people like target
you because of this?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
And that is a real concern.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
And this is a concern that I'm It's a risk
that I'm really unwilling to kind of go up against
to protect those who need an app like this.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
No, for sure, how do you check in case somebody
does want to be a bad person and say, hey,
we're safe location just to set people up. Do you
have something in place where you're like, let's check because
your word is not enough, we really want to make
sure people are safe.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Yeah, And that's that's something that I've thought about and
had conversations with my peers and family and friends, is
if something like that does come up and it's like,
does anyone know have you heard of this? For example,
if it's a business that's in the middle of let's say,
(13:20):
like southern Texas and there's nothing around there. I have
a bunch of friends who do travel and are from
Texas and have done a real lot of these road trips.
So what I do is like I vet do business
by through whoever I know is like closer to that
location or more experience in that state or area, and
(13:41):
kind of get like a gut check from them and
just do substantial research for example, like Airbnb. Right Airbnb,
I'll tell you my experience with my travel with Airbnb
and how this connects. So I remember I was when
I was traveling to Colorado. I was just like, Okay,
this is Denver's really white city. And I the way
(14:04):
I was betting it in my own like through my
own resources is I was looking at the reviews. If
I saw that there was at least one person of
color had a little bit of like anything in their pigment,
I was just like, Okay, maybe this is like a
safe place, like you know it was. I was able
(14:24):
to vet it and in that sort of way and like,
see did they have an okay experience?
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Sorry, my puppy just ran in the room.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Okay, I think mine was barking at the winter like
five minutes, but luckily she kept it down. So it
makes us fun.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
You know, reviews would tell tell a lot, a lot
more than what most people realize.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
No, and that's super interesting because maybe people don't think
about your reviews in that way. Sort of finding people
you identify with to see if their review connects with you.
That's like amazing because I don't think people even talk
about So do you guys have reviews on your app
by users?
Speaker 3 (15:03):
A similar interface, the same interface as airban b and yelp,
So you'd be able to go in, leave your comments,
leave your review I would based off of my own
suggested places.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
It'll have a Howard's Highway verification check.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
And are people able to post pictures or like videos
anything on the app too.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
It doesn't have that integration yet or that capability as
of yet, but hopefully as we build out further and get.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
More money to continue.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
To build out and make that app better, hopefully we'll
have that capability.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
What about on social media? Are you guys on Facebook
and Instagram?
Speaker 3 (15:46):
There is a capability to share your drive on social media?
Specifically with Facebook. I've found that it's it's nice to
kind of keep your friends and family like up to
date with whatever voyage or on, whether it's a road
trip or going to some sort of event. It's there's
a community also with the app where you can share
(16:11):
your itinerary or see where that person's traveling, and you'd
be able to like hide or make it public for
those who are following you on the app.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Oh wow. What motivates you just to kind of like
keep this passion alive with the app and the wanting
to make this your business.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
What drives me to keep going with the app is
ultimately I want to fulfill that road trip, Like I
want to finish and do the full experience of a
full cross country road trip. So I want to have
something to keep me safe on that road trip. And
(16:49):
of course if I want that for myself, I want
that for everyone. And it's a tough battle and it's
a big project that I'm working on and I've dedicated
so much of my time and like personal money into
this that it feels right and it feels like something
I need to do.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
So who are you looking to like partner with connect with?
Be it business partners, just people using the app? Who
is your ideal person to connect with.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
Yeah, like my my dream partnerships, they came very close
to happening, but they've kind of been at a standstill.
One it was with Jeep I drive a deep Rangler,
big fan Deep Life, and like I've got interest from
them as well as nat Geo and the what I
(17:35):
do the trip in the spring.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
I do plan to document meant by like having a.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Videographer with me, which is also like fun and exciting
to be able to document it for those who don't
necessarily want to go on a road trip but would
like to see what it's like to be on a
Cress country road trip. And I also would love to
partner with Airbnb because Airbnb has had like some history,
unfortunate history with people being discriminated against by the Airbnb hosts,
(18:06):
and it's a real concern to this day, even not
on a road trip, like even just going on a
trip and booking an Airbnb, it is always on the
back of my mind and my peers minds, like is
this host going to accept me? It's like, am I
going to be looked at funny going into this neighborhood?
Will people think that I'm like robbing this home? You know,
(18:28):
obviously those are things that you can't control. But what
can help mitigate those fears and that anxiety is to
know that this place is a safe place and it
has been open to other minorities and people of color.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yes, for sure, just to see are you open in
case other people wanted to come along with you on
that road trip like we do.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
Yes, I am all for having a group of people
come with me. I have a few of my girlfriends
who one has actually done a cross country road trip,
which she's a boss and has done it, and her
jeep wrangler, and I invited her to come with me
on the Strip and would love to open that up
(19:13):
for anyone else who would want to join.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
So you're kind of thinking of like a cool trip.
I'm not sure if you're just doing girls trip or
you're welcoming everyone. I'm not sure what your plans for
the trip are, but with like a jeep sort of theme,
that would be like your top sort of fun. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
I mean, I'm open to anyone who loves to travel,
who can bring something to traveling, who has some sort
of like you know, whether they're good at picking a
playlist or they can pitch a tent. Like, I also
don't want to only go to hotels.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
I would love to go to campgrounds.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
And one of the safe places that I found to
be a go to place on my road trip from
LA to Colorado was going to state parks because whenever
you're out of state park, it's generally more open and
a little you just they're a little bit friendlier when
it comes to state parks.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
So that's where I gravitated to.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
So I'm open to like pitching a tent in the
desert for one of the stop and reviewing the park
that we stop at.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
So anyone who has any sort of talent for.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Lack of a better word, when it comes to being outdoors.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Is there a hashtag people can use sort of to
connect with the movement, not necessarily just going out on
the trip for the whenever you're playing the trip, but
like just to connect with you and kind of like, Hey,
I'm traveling and I'm doing what you were talking about
on the podcast or you're talking about on the website,
creating this big movement, Like is there a hashtag for
people to join in with you?
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah, it's hashtag Cowards Highway.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Kind of a saying that one of my friends came
up with was traveling black, and that's can be also
in the hashtag not necessarily like you don't have to
be black, but you know, travel like traveling while of
color is you know, traveling while black to me, and sorry,
I'll kind of take this in a in a little loop,
a little quick story. One of my family friends had
(21:19):
an issue with using the word of acronym sorry of
BIPOC black Indigenous people of color because unfortunately, some individuals
don't identify themselves as of color, whether they're Korean, Filipino,
they some people just have don't identify that. So it's
kind of hard to really find a terminology that everyone
(21:43):
feels inclusive. So traveling while black to me is like
inclusive of all, even if you're not black, because you know,
I mean from my experience, if if an establishment, for example,
is white owned and they allow black people, I would assume,
and I don't want to make a fool of myself,
(22:04):
but I would assume if they allow black people that
they allow everyone. But you know, everyone's experiences are different
and I can't speak for them. But hashtag traveling while black,
hashtag Howard's Highway is the best way to kind of
like let us know you're out there and traveling.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
And can people send you their stories in case they're
experiencing something horrible on their travels where people are being
negative towards them for any reason, just being discribinative and
just not open minded, like you say, just not being
good to the human race.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
So that's what I would say, Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
I think it's important to always share a story, whether
it's positive or negative. Sharing a negative one will help
open a conversation as to, Okay, if this person had
a negative experience in this area, is the entire area
like that, or are there safe places within that area
where someone can who knows the area can say like, hey,
(23:00):
you can stop here instead and not go there, you know.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
And it's good because the roads are open to everyone.
So it's like, if you're still traveling and passing through
that area, you want to stop for food, you want
to stop to use the restroom, you want to stop.
You still have the right as a human person to
stop at these places, but it's best to know that
you're not gonna go there on your happy trip to
be treated badly or anything like.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
That, exactly exactly, and you know, it's not even about
in some cases not even about being treated badly. It's
like the stairs or just the energy where you just
don't feel welcomed. You know, you want to avoid that.
Like my recent camping trip up state with my family
and friends. Two of my girlfriends had drove up and
(23:44):
got there before us, and my brother had the campsite
information and they needed him to be there to allow
us into the campsite. So they had like stopped in
a nearby bar and they were terrified, like like people
were just staring, and I just felt so bad because
I wasn't there and it was their first time being there.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
And this was upstate at Kittatinny, and.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
It's somewhere I've been going since I was a child,
and it was unfortunate, But I honestly I know the area,
and I still wouldn't stop at a lot of the
locations on the main road because of that uncomfortable feeling.
Not necessarily treated badly, but it's just you get the
sense and you feel the bay.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
You feel that you can read the room.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Yeah, I know, And I mean sometimes people act polite,
but you could still see that they're you know, when
you're not welcome and when they're looking at you like
you don't belong in a place for whatever reason, you know,
and that to me is being treated badly, even though
they're not saying anything bad to you. But yeah, you know,
like just to make somebody feel like they don't belong
(24:49):
to me, it is being treated badly. That's just my take.
And sometimes people are just because they don't see it
since it's not happening to them. Ever. Yeah, although people
are looking at you all that, that's not a problem. Okay,
but you haven't seen the look, so you haven't you know,
heard like the little talks that are happening behind you. Know,
so it's like that to me is being treated badly
(25:10):
and nobody has to experience that. It's not a nice
feeling exactly. How did you want people to kind of
spread the word about your app? Maybe they can or
cannot donate?
Speaker 3 (25:19):
Yes, so everyone can follow us on Howard's Highway at
Howard twee on Instagram as well as Facebook. Howard Higway
dot com is where you can submit any suggested businesses
and get in contact with me for any questions or
references outside of a business. I were like looking for
(25:42):
any type of investors of any sort to you know,
get this app like to its best quality. So definitely
open to anyone who has those capabilities.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
And if you.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
Don't like any word of mouth sharing, the business is
that you have in mind, any locations is a definite
open opportunity for us, and that is what helps us
grow and keeps everyone safe. Like it's literally a community
based application.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Awesome, awesome, And again, what are the social media links
for the people listening so that they can continue to
stay connected and help others too that might be going
through this situation, even if it's not them, maybe their
loved ones.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
Yeah, it's at Howard's Highway on Instagram as well as
Facebook and Howard Highway dot com is where you can
get in contact with me.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
And again, Alicia, you said you had a trip plan
and you're not really sure if you're going to be
inviting everyone to come along, But in case people wanted
to come along and support the cause and get road
tripping because that's always a fun thing to do, what
would they have to do to get in touch with you?
Speaker 3 (26:52):
Yeah, hit me up on Instagram at Howard's Highway or
Howard Highway dot com and submit one of your questions
or inquiries or like, let me know what you're what
you're interested in.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
And you wanted also to connect with other people other podcasts,
hoped hope, other podcast hosts the hope. The hope is
there people hope, the hope for good. You know, that's
like my main cause all the time. But the hosts, Okay,
what kind of podcasts are you wanting to connect with?
Speaker 3 (27:24):
I would love to connect with Outdoor AFRO. They are
a community based sort of community is their community of
black travelers who camp and go outdoors. And I heard
about them through a podcast called I think it's called
not Man's Man Eater. Sorry I'm blinking on the name
(27:47):
of the podcast, but I always think it's man Eater,
but it's not man Eater. If you're familiar with the podcast,
you know you probably know what I'm referring to. But yeah,
these are outdoor podcast about traveling and experiences, and anyone
who has a podcast about travel definitely interested in partnering
(28:09):
and being a guest to talk about it.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
And I do want to mention that when I first
heard about your app and how it connected to my podcast,
is that I'm a mom, right and I was like
this is going to be a good thing because you know,
we have those teens out there who might be multi
racial or might look a certain race, and they could
probably experience a lot of this kind of you know,
(28:32):
I wouldn't I don't want to say hate, but it's
more like a discrimination, quiet discrimination anyway. But they don't
feel comfortable being on the road because they might not
feel safe. So I wanted Alicia to share this with
the moms so they know something like this exists, because
you know, moms are always nervous and scared and like,
oh my gosh, where's my child? Where's my even adult child.
(28:53):
That's even a worse feeling in my experience because of
these your little young ones. You're like, okay, I got your.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Kids, you know, yeah, I've never heard you.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Yeah I want to heard you, and I know where
you're going, where you're not going. But when they hit
that age and you're just like, oh my goodness, where
are you going? Where are you? Are you safe? You know,
that keeps you up all night and then that messes
up your work, that messes up everything in your life.
So yeah, I wanted to definitely connect with you just
because this was so important in my experience, and I
know many moms out there also, So are you working
(29:22):
with any mom based businesses currently?
Speaker 2 (29:25):
I'm not.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
And when you told me about your podcast, I was like, wow,
that's so smart and it's such a great connection because
you know, my mom was freaking out when I told
her that I was planning to do this road trip.
So I was like, wow, I love that, and I
love just the connection between those two. A lot of
(29:46):
teenagers when I graduate high school, like that summer, a
lot of them go on road trips.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
They're like, I want to get away, I want to
get out, I want to experience life.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
Like It's like I've heard a lot of people who
are unsure of like what the what their plans are
and what they want to do in life. They kind
of go on this like soul searching and it sounds
so cliche, but when you're on that road, you really
connect and you have a lot of time to think
to yourself. So I totally see why a lot of
people at a at a life changing or pivotal stage of.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Their life, they want to go on these road trips.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
And there are a lot of teenagers out there that
are like bye, Mom and Dad.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
Like I'm going to.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
Figure it out on this road trip, you know. So
definitely would love to connect with any other mom podcasts,
talk to any moms who, like, I don't know, their
kid might be wanting to move across the country and
like their parents don't know how to handle and cope
with that. So yeah, I'm definitely open to those conversations.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
So, Alicia, you're amazing. I am so happy that you
and your genius came up with this app and you
took adversity and you just kind of like changed it
and such the what do they call it, such the
flip flip the switch? Yeah, yeah, because I think most
more people need to do this. We come in as
creators and genius people and create things like Alicia has.
(31:11):
Then we can like again flip the switch and bring
light into this sort of negative things that happen in
life and make the world a better place for people.
So alesha, Wow, you know I'm over here. Clup. I
don't know if you can hear my clup, but yeah,
like what do they call it? When you like raise
your hands and like bow down to Alicia? That's awesome, Like, you.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Know, thank you, Carla, I really appreciate it. Like it
makes you feel good. You know, it's it's a hard
this is a hard thing to do, and so I
love the support. I'm so grateful to be on here
and have the opportunity of talking about Howard's Highway.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
It means the world, and I think sometimes people are
scared to talk about like the real things that happen
out in the world. Instead of talking about it and
creating solutions and helping people, they kind of hide away,
and you know, they don't share of the truth the
things that happen out there. So, you know, I think
that it's awesome, and this is why I share my
support to you. I think it's awesome what you're doing,
(32:07):
and more people should be like you and help the
world be a better place. Oh all right, well everyone
again Alicia Howard from Howards Highway and you can connect
with her, like she said on Instagram and Facebook at
Howard Highway and guys make the world a better place.
I'm Carla Campos for The Entrepreneur Mom's podcast Take Care Bye,
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