How Travel & Hitting Refresh Led Jessica Ellerbrock to FInd Her Purpose and Passion | Ep 51

She Hit Refresh

Welcome to Season 4 of the She Hit Refresh podcast. A podcast for women age 30 and up who want to break free from routine and start a life of travel. Specifically women who want to move abroad or travel the world long-term. I sit down with women who have made their refresh dreams come true and discuss how and why they moved abroad or hit the road to travel.

In this episode I speak with Jessica Ellerbrock who is 45 years young and originally from Ohio. Jessica moved up the ranks in retail buying working for large corporations like The Men's Warehouse and Sears but when she was unexpectedly let go after a 10 year run she not only lost her job but also her identity. So she did what any refresher would do in times of uncertainty, she hit the road to travel! Travel has taken Jessica all over the world and has led her to find her purpose and passion. Listen in as Jessica tells us how her road of refreshes led her to London where she currently works as a Sales & Operations Manager for a social enterprise that employs women in creative arts.
What we discuss

• How losing a job in corporate America led to a loss of identity
• The healing process of Walking the Camino de Santiago
• Losing her mom at 27 to breast cancer and how (and when) she dealt with the loss
• How hitting brought awareness to her trauma and allowed her to seek help
• How a Kiva fellowship to Rwanda in microfinance set her on a whole different path
• Her subscription box Wanderkarma
• Doing a masters at age 41 and changing careers
• How she went to volunteer in Greece at a refugee camp and ended up getting a job in London
• How she found her passion from her refresh journey
• What helped keep her moving forward during the uncertainty
• and more!
  

About Jessica

Jessica always had wanderlust, but never had time. At 38 she lost her job in Corporate America and immediately took a refresh backpacking trip through Europe. She spent 2 months in Spain - 1 of those months was spent walking the Camino de Santiago. This journey showed her that she had a lot of work to do on healing from the death of her mother.

Since then, the journey continues from volunteering in microfinance in Rwanda, going back for her masters, and to now working with a social enterprise employing refugee women in creative products.

Her passion is her own small business - Wanderkarma, which is a subscription travel box supporting local artists in a new country each month.

Connect with Jessica on her website, at Wanderkarma, and follow her on Instagram.
Looking to move to Europe? Get your copy of I'm Outta Here! An American's Ultimate Visa Guide to Living in Europe. Join our She Hit Refresh Facebook Group, get more tips and advice on how to hit refresh on our blog and follow us on on Instagram and Twitter.

Check out our Forbes feature: How Americans Can Move To Europe (It’s Easier Than You Think)!