🫣Can I be transparent, travel saved my life...

We’re friends right? I need to be vulnerable with you for a moment.

I was exhausted. Constant anxiety attacks, feeling unaligned, stuck in rooms and conversations that drained me. On paper, I had made it—one of the less than 1% of Black women tech founders to raise venture capital. But behind the scenes? My spirit was in a chokehold and I was miserable.

My identity was so wrapped up in being a "tech founder" that stepping away felt like betrayal. I mean, wasn’t this what everyone wanted? For me, though, it wasn’t just uncomfortable—it was soul crushing. The more I "succeeded," the more I realized I was fighting battles to stay in systems I fundamentally didn’t believe in—capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy. And let’s be real: tech is one of the clearest embodiments of all three.

It finally hit me: I was chasing external validation over my own internal satisfaction. The flashy lights, exclusive spaces, and fancy titles couldn’t make up for what I was missing—me.

So, I took a leap.

I had to ask myself the tough questions—ones aligned with my chakras—that demanded deep honesty:

• 🌱 Root: Will I be happy dedicating the next 10 years of my life to this?

  • That actually sounds more like a prison sentence. My intrinsic motivators are art and adventure, not robots and algorithms.

• 🔥 Sacral: When I look at the people at the top of this industry, do they inspire me?

  • Sorry Musk, Zuck, & Bezos, it’s James Baldwin, Octavia Butler, Hank Willis Thomas, Frida Kahlo, Solange, and Kara Walker who really have my heart.

• ☀️ Solar Plexus: Do I feel like my best self in rooms or on stages with other people in this industry?

  • I often found myself faking-it as I internally felt bored, performative, and upset by the extreme disconnect from the real world and real people’s problems.

• 💚 Heart: Do I feel loved, safe, and represented in this industry?

  • F*ck no. Read the stats. Nuff said.

• 🗣️ Throat: Do I feel like my voice is heard and desired in this industry?

  • You know, during my first Master’s degree (Teaching Social Science concentrated in Critical Race Theory), I wrote my capstone on the power of silence and silencing of race talk and was awarded by our Dean and asked to represent USC infront of the State and National accredidation committees. During my second Master’s degree at USC (Integrated Design, Tech & Business concentrated in Human Centered Design), my Dean tried to silence me for my critiques of her all white male professor staff and general lack of cultural compentency across the program, I was assigned an article that contained the n word (with the hard ER) in class, and a number of other red flags occurred for what I was about to enter in the industry. As a founder, I watched how social trauma after social trauma VCs stayed silent so not to disrupt their status quo, white men consistently received huge checks for the same solutions founders who looked like me were getting crumbs for, and in my niche HRTech, the President of SHRM, the nations largest HR leadership organization, removed equity from their principles and is currently on track to join the Trump Administration…so no, I’m going to say no, Bob.

• 🔮 Third Eye: What is my intuition and inner wisdom telling me, despite physical reality?

  • My greatest impact is made by my testimony and the life I lead, not my work. Shout out to all of the people I’ve met on my travels who didn’t give AF about my job title and were most interested in my life story and dreams.

• 👑 Crown: Is this the greatest possibility I envision for my life and my legacy?

  • I want to die with my memories not with my dreams. Building software at this stage of my life is not the dream that would make me proud on my death bed. That truth helped lead me to now fulfilling my life’s biggest calling: building the Infinityland Arts & Tech Center in Costa Rica. This isn’t just a space; it’s an inspiration destination designed to support creatives and innovators in making their magic in a nourishing, healthy environment. It’s a place where imagination thrives, well-being is prioritized, and infinite possibilities come to life—not stuck on the cloud . 🌱✨

I’ll be honest, it took over a year to fully disconnect my identity from tech and it was an emotional, scary, uncertain endeavor.

Thankfully, through travel, I was able to change my environment and change my perspective on possibilities for my life. Living as a digital nomad throughout my tech journey was possible because I already had a frame of reference for the peace travel brings me since I’d been solo traveling since I was 17, had studied abroad during college, and even had previously worked on a cruise ship. My relationship with travel made it easier to trade conference rooms and sleepless grind culture for Caribbean sunsets, jungle hikes, and reconnecting with my true purpose—art & adventure.

Now, I’m living in Costa Rica, designing a life I love and building Infinityland to give you and others the space and inspiration to create, dream, and grow. It’s not just about travel—it’s about transformation.

Are you stuck in an environment that’s suffocating your spirit? Maybe it’s time for a change. Travel saved my life. It reminded me of who I am, what I stand for, and what I can create. I’m here to help if you’re looking to achieve the same for yourself.

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Sending you sunshine and seashells!

Pura vida,

Kristina 🌺

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