Joy Huber of Milford, a self-described serial entrepreneur, is using her life experiences as the foundation of her new business, Travel With Joy TV.
As a cancer survivor who has seen the importance of not waiting around to have fun exploring the world, she wants to help empower women to travel on their own.
“The fun of pursuing your dreams is just putting your passion out there and saying, ‘Here’s who I am, here’s who I want to help and here’s what I want to do,’” she said. “It’s just interesting to see where it goes.”
Huber was diagnosed with stage four cancer in 2010 at 33 years old. She had just built a starter home and was new in her career, and the diagnosis was a shock that stopped her in her tracks. Early on in her three-year journey with chemotherapy, she found herself drawing strength from within and looking to her name, Joy, for inspiration.
“My spirit has always been very joyful and very positive. It’s nice that people tell me I really live up to my name,” she said. “I always think, ‘Well, it’s a good thing my parents didn’t name me disappointment!’”
During chemotherapy, she said she began using social media to help turn traumatic events into something as positive as possible. For example, when she had to shave her head during chemotherapy, she did fashion shows on Facebook wearing different wigs and had her followers vote on their favorite.
She said she found that attitude is a choice no matter what one is up against, and laughter is the best medicine. She practiced mind over matter and positive thinking and went on to write a book called Cancer with Joy and put out a podcast, Dose of Joy, to share her experiences and offer support to others.
“(Battling cancer) really triggered me because this life is very short,” she said. “You never know. It can change so fast, as I found out getting that completely devastating diagnosis very unexpectedly.”
She said her journey motivated her to always follow her passions, and she began pursuing all the business ideas that came her way post-diagnosis. She also started placing importance on traveling for fun instead of just for work because good health is temporary.
She never married or had kids and her family was often unable to come on trips with her, so she decided she would take the reins and travel on her own.
“It was like ‘Why are you waiting? You could get a diagnosis or a recurrence, and you would be really disappointed that you were waiting on others to get out there and live your life,’” she said. “If I found out my cancer came back or something catastrophic happened, I would now feel happiness and peace and contentment because I’ve been out there living now, and I’ve been traveling instead of waiting until I’m retired.”
Huber began sharing places she traveled to – including recent trips to the Wisconsin Dells, southern California and Iowa and a cruise from Memphis to New Orleans – on social media. She posted video content, which led her to the name “Travel with Joy TV.”
“Social media is fun, because who knows where it’s going to go, who knows who’s going to see it or what it will lead to,” she said.
On her travels, she was often met by women saying “You go, girl,” and “Good for you.” Many of them, both in-person and on social media, asked her how she was able to do it alone.
She said solo travel is important because women are often taking care of other people – whether it be their children, spouse, aging parents or friends – and sometimes forget to take time for themselves.
“You can’t dip from an empty bucket. If you’re completely depleted, how do you take care of your loved ones? It’s good to recharge, and what I find is that that’s just really rejuvenating,” she said. “(Solo travel) just gives you this great feeling of peace at the end of the day.”
Huber has been posting free tips, ideas and encouragement on Facebook, Tiktok and Instagram to help people on their solo travel journeys and made Travel with Joy a Limited Liability Corporation in 2023. Women who want to discuss their individual situation with Huber will be able to pay for coaching sessions starting in early 2024.
During coaching, she will answer women’s questions, give them support, help them plan, help them save money and find discounts and give them activity ideas. Huber, who used to do public speaking, said she has also thought about speaking to groups.
Huber said solo travel can even be fun for extroverts like herself, and she can give tips catered to people who want to start conversations with strangers while staying safe. She said she is still friends with some of the people she has met on trips to this day.
One of her main talking points will be about maintaining a healthy level of skepticism when it comes to making friends on trips. She said her late grandfather, a World War II veteran and Purple Heart recipient, helped teach her to be friendly while still being cautious.
Huber recently helped a woman who had safety concerns about traveling alone, and the two of them decided self defense classes would be the right option for her. The woman was hesitant to attend the class alone, so Huber went with her.
Huber said Traveling with Joy TV will be different from a travel agency because it will offer more personal encouragement and support. Travel agents often work on commission, while Huber said she will tailor an unbiased plan to her clients based on their personal experiences and desires.
“I see it being more about encouraging and empowering women to get off the sidelines and live fully without regret,” she said. “I want to kind of be a wingwoman for women and kind of be there in the background as they encounter obstacles to help them overcome and work through them.”
At the end of the month, Huber plans to attend a business summit in Omaha focused on showcasing minority and women-owned businesses. She said she is excited to spread the word about the joy of solo travel.
“I’m like, ‘This is your trip. This is your time. For once, you can focus on what you want to do. It’s maybe not what your kids or your spouse or your siblings or whatever. It’s just about you,’” she said. “If you want to eat ice cream for dinner, you can go get two scoops of ice cream and call it dinner.”
Huber, who also has a day job with OptumRX, said this venture will allow her to follow her passion while helping others.
‘I get these ideas, and I think ideas are much more fulfilling and rewarding when you have the courage to pursue your dreams,” she said. “It really lights me up when somebody can come to me with a problem, and I can give them tips or encouragement and solve it for them or help them come to the solution.”
