Thanks for Running Away with me!
VIDEO BY BIBIANA NUNES;PHOTOS by Alana Yolande, Sasha Baengueva, Jen Loong, Kalisa Marie
As one chapter closes, another begins. I look forward to new adventures with you! Letter from August 2020.
In October 2014, I moved out of my Brooklyn apartment and hopped on a plane to Jamaica to start a hospitality company. In the 5 years that followed, I had the honor of partnering with locally-owned business there - as well as in Cuba, Bali, Morocco, and here in the US - and hosting hundreds of thoughtful, open, and adventurous guests, as we all shared in our love of food, culture, and building global community.
Together we swam in rivers, at beaches, and under waterfalls. Rode horses through tobacco fields, camels in the dessert, and in vintage cars with the top down. Ate tagines, sambals, roadside fruit, and so much flan. We walked through music festivals, royal palaces, botanical gardens, revolutionary museums, and dance clubs in underground caves in the middle of the night. We’ve cooked, cleaned, and driven to the airport more times than I can count and planned, improvised, and problem solved like nobody’s business.
I put my heart into every aspect of this work and I will be forever grateful for the challenge of creating experiences that aligned with my beliefs and were executed with excellence. I appreciate the lessons learned and the opportunity to build with each of you, whether we worked or played together. It’s been an incredible ride.
October 2019, I made the decision to move on from this company. It’s hard to separate yourself from something you’ve inadvertently aligned your identify with, something you’ve sacrificed a lot for, and shaped your life around. It’s been a long road to dissolve those ties but I know that there’s more in store for me. That this is just the beginning of another chapter in my life and that my faith will guide me as it always does.
Thanks to those who have been riding with and for me - since the beginning, during this transition period, and those who have joined more recently. I look forward to continuing to build with you in new and exciting ways in the future.
With love,
Kalisa
August 2020
