Why I Created a Business to Help People with Limited Mobility Travel the World

October is Global Diversity Awareness Month, a time to celebrate the many ways people contribute to the world with their unique experiences and abilities. One often overlooked aspect of diversity is physical diversity, which includes accessibility and mobility. We spoke with Jen Roth, founder of Wise Blue Yonder, who is expanding what travel can look like for people with limited mobility.

“Traveling the world is a dream we all share. It’s that promise of adventure, cultural enrichment, and unforgettable experiences,” says Jen Roth, an EO Minneapolis member and serial entrepreneur who has built and sold several companies. “However, for people with limited mobility — or any physical issues, really — the dream of traveling comes with an all-too-real nightmare of challenges and fears.”

Jen understands that fear and the worry first-hand. She was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at age 9. The chronic condition has had a serious impact on her life, and altered her mobility.

“I have rheumatoid arthritis in every joint in my body and have had eight joint replacements and dozens of surgeries,” she explains. “But I love to travel, and my life and career have taken me on a lot of great trips.”

During her travels, Jen realized that it's difficult to navigate the world as it is built today if you are a person with mobility challenges.

Jen is an entrepreneur at heart and loves a challenge. So, in 2022, inspired by her EO Forum, she founded Wise Blue Yonder (WBY), a company dedicated to helping people with disabilities travel more effortlessly and without the constant worry of what could go wrong.

Making Travel Truly Inclusive

After many, many years of fighting her disability, Jen now considers it more like a superpower.

“I have it for a reason, and this is why: I’m combining my life experience with a chronic condition, my love for travel, and my success in corporate America to bring something to life that will help the world,” she stated. “I have a passion to help others travel in a way that removes the obstacles, the worry, and the uncertainties.”

Jen feels called to build a business that benefits people similar to her who face mobility challenges.

“It's my opportunity to help people who maybe didn't think it was possible to plan that trip they always dreamed of taking,” she says. “Wise Blue Yonder offers people with limited mobility a tried-and-true resource to plan that trip they've always wanted to take.”

"Wise Blue Yonder offers people with limited mobility a tried-and-true resource to plan that trip they've always wanted to take. It’s our mission to provide fully curated travel experiences designed for people of all abilities." — Jen Roth, Founder

Wise Blue Yonder is a dynamic resource for how to plan travel if you have limited mobility. Its free, downloadable weekly content includes tips, tricks, and questions to ask when planning a trip. The company offers fully vetted itineraries, links, and resources. WBY can even help plan and book your perfect trip with its travel solutions for senior travelers and travelers with limited mobility.

“It’s our mission to provide fully curated travel experiences designed for people of all abilities,” Jen said. 

We asked Jen about her experience building this groundbreaking new company:

What challenging travel experiences impacted your decision to create Wise Blue Yonder?

I was thrilled to visit Pompeii on a European cruise, especially after researching and learning they had an accessible route for visitors with limited mobility. But when our tour bus dropped us at a different entrance, I was told there wasn’t enough time to go to the accessible one. I spent the next hour and a half struggling over uneven ruins I had dreamed of seeing my whole life, with my eyes fixed on the ground to keep from falling. What I hoped would be a lifelong dream come true turned into frustration and embarrassment as I fell behind my group, feeling like I’d not only missed my bucket-list moment but also disrupted their visit. 

But I had a different experience in Marrakech, Morocco, at the annual EO Women summit in 2023. It was transformational being surrounded by so many brilliant, supportive entrepreneurs. Morocco was NOT Jen-friendly, but the people sure were. Marrakech ranks among the least mobility-friendly places I have traveled. It simply is not equipped with an infrastructure for those traveling with limited mobility. That said, there was always a helping hand to guide me when the need arose.

We visited a rural village one day. It was 110 degrees and the village had rough terrain with lots of hills and stairs. I had difficulty navigating it. I asked a villager, “How do people with mobility issues get around your village?” His response? “The people. We help our people. It’s just the way it is.”

How beautiful is that mindset? That is what the people of Morocco are made of! 

What is the most rewarding feedback you’ve received from a client?

“It’s incredibly fulfilling when clients share that they finally feel excited and safe about taking a trip because they know it is designed for them. Taking away the worry that a traveler will get stuck or hurt on a trip feels great. For many people with mobility issues, the risk of travel outweighs the reward, so they just don’t go. When a client tells me they feel confident enough to take that trip they always dreamed about, it hits at the heart of why Wise Blue Yonder exists.”

How did your experience in EO impact your decision to create Wise Blue Yonder?

“Without my EO Forum, I would never have taken the leap. I had wanted to start Wise Blue Yonder for a long time. My Forum ultimately encouraged me to sell a business I wasn't happy in and start this one, which was clearly in my heart and soul. Once I did, WBY was named a semi-finalist for a large entrepreneurial competition, MN Cup, in Minnesota. All of the tools I learned in EO about running a business — from cash flow to projections, to how investors think and evaluate — helped me position WBY in a way that earned us that coveted semi-finalist spot.

Which entrepreneurial traits have been key in building your company?

Probably the entrepreneurial traits I’ve used the most are grit and ingenuity. Every person’s ability can vary greatly, and people have so many travel interests and dreams. Devising a travel solution that scales has proven to be very challenging, but it's a work in progress.

I also practice tenacity pretty much every day in navigating the daily obstacles I face because of my physical limitations. Continuing to build a viable solution in a market where there are no defined leaders to learn from takes tenacity. Fundraising takes tenacity. Knowing what I will and won’t do to stay true to my vision takes tenacity. So much tenacity!

In what ways do you hope Wise Blue Yonder will change how the travel industry thinks about accessibility?

My ultimate vision is to be the “go-to” resource that travelers of all abilities turn to when they travel. Today, WBY offers curated, small-group trips and personal travel experiences for people of all abilities. Whether a traveler has a disability, a short-term injury, or they just want high-touch, white glove service, we can book vacations as a travel agent for individuals, families, and groups. 

My “Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal” is this to offer an open platform that keeps people informed with accurate, reliable information about travel venues — hotels, restaurants, entertainment, transportation — everything. Ideally, the best organizations will become certified with a Wise Blue Yonder five-feather rating scale. 

How do you measure success — is it about numbers, or something more human?

It’s not numbers; it’s something far more human: I will consider WBY successful when I have paved the way for people with all abilities to travel the way they want to. I want my legacy to be that I changed the world just a little bit with a solution that opens up travel to everyone — equally.

What is your message to someone who’s afraid to travel because of a disability?

If you can dare to dream it, dare to do it! The world is getting better; and people are getting better. You deserve the same experiences others enjoy, so if there is a trip you’ve dreamed about taking, start with an itinerary. Then keep planning until it becomes an experience you think you can do. I promise you that you will run into obstacles. But I also promise you that you will overcome them — and you will be glad you did it!

One favorite quote that resonates strongly with Jen is, “You don’t have to know where you’re going to be headed in the right direction.”

Jen is clearly heading in the right direction, with her passion for travel fueling her journey to help people with limited mobility reframe their views on travel.

“That’s truly the legacy I want to leave,” she said. “I want to build the difference I want to make in the world.”

Jen Roth, an EO Minnesota member, serves as president of the chapter and is the founder and CEO of Blue Sparq Marketing, a fractional marketing agency that provides full-service marketing to companies for the price of a single hire.

Interested in becoming an EO member like Jen? Learn more here.

Written by Anne-Wallis Droter, EO Staff Writer