Meet Ali Sullivan | Traveler, Writer, & Business Owner.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ali Sullivan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ali, is there something you can share with us that those outside of the industry might not be aware of?
My life is NOT a 24/7 vacation. Honestly, the last trip I took anywhere without having to work was in 2017. Being able to work for myself and travel full time is great and all, but it’s not always glamorous and ‘vacationy’ as people may think. The world is not designed for people like me, however, you don’t realize that being on the outside. I work on my business every single day, no matter where I am in the world. Traveling or not, I am still always working on something. I don’t get holidays off, I don’t get paid vacation days, I don’t get retirement benefits or health insurance. Yes, I have the freedom and the opportunity to make those things happen, but it’s not automatic like a normal corporate job; I have to make those things happen for myself, by myself. While my life does look fun and relaxing on the outside, on the inside it’s not always what it seems, and burnout is real.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Starting my own business from scratch definitely wasn’t easy, but its for sure been worth it. I don’t have a background in business whatsoever. My degrees are in Psychology and Sociology, so I had to learn and teach myself everything along the way. I watched countless hours of Youtube video’s, bought I don’t know how many course and trainings, and messed up more times that you can count. However, after years of hard work, it’s finally paying off. Traveling, however, I am very experienced with, and that alone has helped my business when it comes to trust and understanding. I made travel a big priority in my life a long time ago, and now because of that, I can get paid to do it.

I made my business name, Ali’s Happy Desk, very broad in the beginning. I wasn’t exactly sure where I was heading with it, but I knew it would be something digital and revolve around the travel niche. I also wanted to give myself (and others) a little reminder to always try my best to be happy and positive, no matter how hard things may get down the road. So, I started as a Virtual Assistant, and then travel writing kicked off faster than anything, so that’s the direction I went.

However, even today, I do a boatload of different things with my business, all of my clients are different. But I like what I do and I am good at it. I think what sets me apart from the rest is that I haven’t niched down too much. Yes, my work revolves around travel and tourism, but I am not soley only a writer or a VA, I am a Virtual Assistant for travel agents, travel writer/journalist, project manager for hostel marketing, content creator for hostels, Pinterest manager, and am slowly working on becoming an author (for myself). You don’t necessarily have to focus on one thing, focus on what you know you’re good at and what you like to do. Find a way to make money doing something you’re already doing, and the people will come.

I have a lot of different roles depending on the client I am working with. I want to work with others who are also working on their own dream, whether that be a business, a hostel, a book, traveling the world, whatever it may be, I want to be a part of their success and be able to share that happiness with them, plus, build my own at the same time.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
For a week in Denver, I would first check my friend and myself in at Ember Hostel. I use to work at Ember and it’s definitely the coolest place to stay in the city. Each morning, we would start our day at either Roostercat, Mutiny Cafe, or Moe’s Bagels for coffee and breakfast.

One day would definitely be filled with Thrift shopping and cafe hopping down Broadway, as this is THE place to be for good finds. We would day trip to Morrison, Boulder, and Golden for daily hikes and maybe catch a sunrise/sunset, too.

One day would be filled with exploring downtown and the Golden Triangle, including the Denver Art Museum and Meowolf, and hopefully catch a ballgame if we are in the right season. I would also take them on a tour of my favorite dispensaries in the city.

While I am not huge on going out at night, the nightlife can’t be missed in Denver! I would take my friend to The Church Nightclub, and a concert out at Red Rocks. I would also take them to spend an afternoon in Cheesman Park and the Botanical Gardens.

Finally, we would end our days with a long walk down the river, and have dinner with Stoney’s wings, or High Mile Thai Pad Thai.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to dedicate this shoutout to my family, including my Nan, Mom, and Stepdad. While they weren’t too thrilled about me starting my travel journey 8 years ago immediately after college, they always do their best to support me in all I do. I come from a small village in Ohio with 2,000 people. Being from Oak Hill, it’s unheard of to life the lifestyle that I am currently living in. My family has always supported me in everything that I do, no matter how bizarre it might look in their eyes. They are the ones who raised me to chase after my dreams and to never stop believing in myself. As long as they are living, I will always return to Ohio.

However, I also want to leave a special shoutout the the COVID pandemic. Even though I started traveling full-time 3 years prior to the pandemic, COVID is what jumpstarted my business. When COVID hit, I was working in France at the time teaching English. Due to the world shutting down, I lost my job, my housing, and any other contract I had in place for the rest of the year. I was forced to come back to the USA, move back in with my family, and had no job and no money upon returning. My life completely flipped upside down. I knew if I started my own business online, no one could ever take that away from me, not even a pandemic. So, that’s exactly what I did.

Website: https://www.alishappyadventure.com

Instagram: @alishappyadventure

Other: Business Website: https://www.alishappydesk.com

Travel Blog Website: https://www.alishappyadventure.com

Image Credits
Ali Sullivan.