Get Ready to Roam with Regina Folken and Katie Lang

Regina and Katie are two friends with a mutual love for travel and the co-founders of the curated online magazine, Ready & Roam.

Ready & Roam is not your average travel resource. Created by two friends with a mutual love for travel and desire to have authentic conversations around first-hand experiences, this online platform is changing the way vacations are planned. We had the opportunity to speak with Ready & Roam’s co-founders, Regina Folken and Katie Lang, about what it’s like to start a business with a friend, their deep love for experiencing new place, and where they anticipate the future of travel to go next.

Hi Katie! Hi Regina! Okay, so tell us about yourself and your work at Ready & Roam

After years of being asked for travel advice, sharing itineraries with friends and keeping detailed lists of our experiences, we decided to create a platform for that kind of travel conversation to take place. So many of us delight in planning, fall deep into research and take pride in telling adventure stories. We thought building a collaborative community of travelers only made sense. Our mission is to collect travel recommendations in a way that is useful, highlighting only the best of someone’s experience. It’s important to us that the information comes from like-minded people and that the suggestions are authentic and the specifics are accurate. Our guides are not intended to be comprehensive or overwhelming, nor do they feel generic. All of the destination specific content on the website is presented as an inspirational outline for you to start making your own vacation plans. We are not travel agents, but a community of well traveled individuals. We are also very well networked to connect anyone who wants to go beyond the guide.

It’s so cool that you’ve known each other for so long. Did you always know you wanted to build something together? And how would you say building a business has evolved your own friendship?

Being business partners puts us in daily contact, so our friendship has reached a new level of intimacy, something that can only come from constant and frequent interaction. Our children and husbands have grown comfortable as well, calling on each other as they would immediate family.

How do you encourage one another and how do you help evolve each other’s ideas? What strengths do you think help with starting/growing Ready & Roam or starting a business in general?

We compliment each other brilliantly when it comes to planning, writing and marketing ourselves. Katie is strategic, thoughtful, and deliberate about our business decisions. She stays focused on our goals, watches the analytics and is very entrepreneurial minded. Regina is a storyteller, who takes an optimistic and creative approach to every idea. She is extremely detailed and puts a lot of thought into the visuals. We are both passionate about exploring the world responsibly, immersing ourselves in the local culture and finding hidden gems. The way we travel is exactly the same, right down to what we would order off a menu. We speak as one voice and trust each other implicitly. We are both very loyal consumers, dedicated to our relationships, and fiercely committed to what we are trying to build.

Did either of you know that you wanted to start a business yourself? Or for Katie, did you know you wanted to start another business?

Regina - As a former television producer my strengths lie in storytelling, editorial, and connecting the right resources. When I started a family and the digital world evolved, I knew I needed to repurpose some of my talents. Katie recognized my abilities, shared my passion for travel and as an experienced business leader, was able to foster and direct us into a new venture.

Katie- Yes, starting another business has always been my intention. When I approached Regina my main concern was making sure the timing was right for both of our families, knowing full well that starting a business can be all consuming.

Before starting Ready & Roam, you were on your own career paths and lifestyles. What ultimately motivated you to start something for yourself?

I think as our children get even older, it's important for them to see us build something for ourselves. We want to set an example for them, investing in something we believe in that provides value. Show them we can use our talents in a different way to evolve personally and grow professionally.

Were you both extensive travelers before Ready & Roam? What would you say is the most rewarding part about exploring new cities and how does that fuel Ready & Roam’s mission?

For sure traveling is in our blood, that was the catalyst for starting the business. Katie has a ton of experience nationwide and has mastered the art of the long weekend. Regina’s upbringing instilled a very early love of travel, so she has always sought opportunities to learn and work abroad.

Traveling offers both of us a great deal of perspective. Each new place we visit, no matter how remote or exotic, offers something unique and unfamiliar. Experiencing a new culture, food, landscape, or lifestyle, helps us to reprioritize, and also shapes the way we raise our kids. Discovering and identifying the different ways people exist in this world just perpetuates a desire to do and see more.

What’s the biggest challenge with starting your own business?

Wearing so many hats, but also knowing when you are out of your depth. As with any new business there is a learning curve. We try to be patient, divide responsibilities evenly, and learn as much as possible before calling in the experts.

Some founders/entrepreneurs find it difficult to balance being online and being offline, how have you struck that balance?

As an online travel magazine the only struggle we have “offline” is in the way that we document our travels. Katie and I, as well as our contributors, want to be present in the experience, particularly when we are on vacation with our families. In many ways that puts our content in a different category than travel brands that document exclusively for promotion purposes, or strictly for the sake of social media. In that sense we’ve struck a natural balance. Instead we approach our travel guides from a place that can be more reflective and authentic.

What’s a common misconception people have about starting your own business? What would you want to clarify?

That you need to be comfortable with investing not only time but a good deal of money into your business. We started Ready & Roam with the intention to bootstrap, build the company from the ground up with our own savings, and pay ourselves back with our sales. If you start small, grow slowly, stick to a niche, and prioritize where you spend your dollars, then you can build something organically that doesn’t leave you feeling behind in managing your own expectations.

Favorite Croissant space and why?

We are looking forward to trying Flock because it’s literally right in our neighborhood in South Minneapolis. Plus it’s surrounded by so many fantastic restaurants, so we know we’ll eat well over lunch.

How are you feeling with the recent pandemic? How do you think this will affect exploration and travel for the future?

As one of the hardest hit industries, our response to the situation is very important. We are honoring our disappointment, as we cancel plans, but we are also feeding our wanderlust as we reminisce on past trips and thoughtfully dream about where we’re headed next. The pause in travel is only temporary and when it resumes we want to be ready to continue to provide information that is valuable and inspirational for our readers.

Any goals, you’re looking forward to this year?

We are going to begin offering exclusive content to our community, this includes itineraries for sale and an expansion of our beyond the guide services. Please join our growing community at www.readyandroam.com