Episode 259 - Sheridan Samano, Reefs to Rockies and Her Wild Life Expeditions

Jul 8

Sheridan Samano, founder of Reefs to Rockies & Her Wild Life Expeditions, joins Christine for this week’s soulful conversation as a guest in our Trailblazer Series, produced in collaboration with Strictly Jane Austen Tours.

Words of Wisdom

Quote
– SHERIDAN SAMANO

Sheridan Samano is a wildlife enthusiast, guide, and co-founder of Reefs to Rockies. Her passion for animals began as a child, flipping through National Geographic magazines, and has only grown since then. Sheridan holds a bachelor’s degree in wildlife and fisheries science and a master’s in biology. Her guiding journey began when she launched a study abroad program focused on sea turtle conservation in Costa Rica. In the field, Sheridan’s ability to spot a break in the pattern and quickly adapt leads to plenty of “wows” from the guests in her groups. When she’s not traveling, you’ll find her along a trail in Colorado with her family, searching for something feathered or furred, or enjoying a local craft beer after a day in the field. Her favorite animal? The cheetah.

When Sheridan started her company 20 years ago, everything was custom travel; as a biology professor at the University of Colorado at Aurora, working on a project in turtle conservation, her company evolved into a nature-based tourism company that caters to nature nerds with wildlife experiences in small, intimate groups. Working with collaborative partners in the Denver Metro and abroad, Sheridan and her team curate experiences to make a positive impact both on the lives of travelers and on the communities and wildlife they visit, focusing on female guides.

Sheridan’s love of wildlife started with science. “It’s always been wildlife-centric…I remember, either in fourth or fifth grade…I wrote about being a zookeeper. And the reason I wanted to be a zookeeper was because I thought it was the only way I would get to be around all these wild animals.”

Always flipping through her grandfather’s National Geographic, his wife gently let her know that she could be a veterinarian. Sheridan was delighted, and followed that path for a time, even dreaming of having a cat clinic. After visiting real-world clinics, however, Sheridan decided to explore other options in the sciences and natural world at Texas A&M. She shares a series of inspiring anecdotes about her animal encounters and experiences, and is grateful to be able to foray her passion and understanding into her current work.

Conservation Travel Rooted in Community and Wildlife Wellbeing

She shares about an early sea turtle partnership that solidified her approach to conservation and tourism. "The only way they could fund the research is by having tourists there," she explains. "As soon as tourists stop going there, that becomes a problem." When there are travvlers filling the boats, this revenue funds the project, the project protects the turtles, and the turtles — alive, nesting, and photographed — draw the tourists. Remove any one element and the system unravels.

That early lesson shaped everything Reefs to Rockies and Sheridan’s team has built since. Sheridan treats sustainability as paramount, rooted in ecology, including the effects on community and wildlife as well as the experience of travelers.

Sheridan’s response to over-tourism is both practical and creative; when the most famous sandhill crane viewing sites in Nebraska filled up after COVID, for example, Reefs to Rockies pivoted west to smaller communities along the same migration corridor, allowing guests the experience of being the only group watching 10,000 cranes at dusk. "The luxury for my clients," Sheridan says, "is not having to share the experience with anybody else."

Christine and Sheridan connect to what travelers are actually seeking when they chase iconic destinations: a feeling they imagine the place will produce. Machu Picchu, Stonehenge, the Galapagos — when the feeling is no longer available at the famous version, the job of mindful and sustainable tourism professionals is to find where it still lives. That, she says, is the most creative part of what she does, and the part that matters most for communities who need tourism but have never been told they had something worth visiting.

“Do You Have Women Guides?”

The origin story of Her Wildlife Expeditions is simple: Sheridan wanted to bring a female guide on a trip to Costa Rica, and was told there weren't any.

She did find a woman guide who was already working in-country, already skilled, and simply not visible to the operators who defaulted to their existing lineups. Sheridan connected her with partners, advocated for her inclusion, and kept asking the question everywhere she went: “Do you have female guides?”

"We're talking about large bird-watching companies where less than 10% of their guides are women," she says. "That's not a balance." In a space where women make up the majority of recreational birders and wildlife enthusiasts, the guide workforce is overwhelmingly male.

At a trade event in Peru, Sheridan spent two days in supplier meetings asking the same question. Some said yes. Several prominent eco-lodges said no — no women guides, none at all. One conversation broke through: a gentleman running a conservation project in the Manu region who, when pressed, suddenly realized that the person who had founded the operation, who knew the area best, who was the most qualified guide available, was his mother. "It's like he'd never thought of it," Sheridan reflects. The expertise was there; it simply had not been named.

What has become clear to her is that visibility is the first problem, and persevering through it is the solution. When she hired Carly, now one of her guides, it was on enthusiasm, field experience, and a cold call that demonstrated exactly the kind of initiative and self-knowledge that formal hiring processes often filter out. "We know we can do this," Sheridan says of women in the field. "We just need to be given the venue."

Expanding Roles for Women Guides in Nature and Conservation Travel

Increasing the opportunities for women guides requires individual leaders asking different questions and making different choices, consistently, until the norm changes. When planning a trip — whether as a consumer, an operator, or a tour curator — ask explicitly for a female guide. Ask explicitly for a female guide — as a requirement, not a preference — one that prompts the supplier to look harder, think differently, and sometimes discover talent that has been sitting right there, unnamed. "It's not sexist," Sheridan is clear. "It's making a more pointed effort." The women are there. The industry simply has not built the habit of finding them.

For women who want to enter wildlife guiding or conservation travel, her message is equally direct: put yourself out there, find your community, and resist the instinct to wait until you feel fully qualified before stepping forward. She has hired guides from social media posts, scooped up contacts before they disappeared from her feed, and taken deliberate bets on enthusiasm and expertise that the credentialing systems around guiding would have passed over. There is more opportunity in wildlife and nature travel than any one guide or company can fill, and collaboration among women in the space is far more powerful than competition.

For operators and industry leaders, Sheridan shares, choose partners who have women on their guide teams. And when a partner says they have no female guides, make that the beginning of a conversation rather than the end of one. Christine connects this to the work she witnessed at the Women in Travel Collective in Sri Lanka, where guide training programs are not just building skills — they are navigating the cultural and community dynamics that follow when women step into earning power they have never held before. The systemic change is real, and it begins with individual leaders deciding to use their position to hold a door open.

Sheridan's own north star is simple: she wants to go on more trips where she is not the guide, and still have a woman at the front of the group. And we can collectively build the industry that will make it happen.

Join the Soul of Travel Community

Soul of Travel Episode 259 At a Glance

In this conversation, Christine and Sheridan discuss:

· The connection between tourism and conservation and how our understanding of that connection evolves

· How following a passion for creating more opportunities for women, nature, and birding guides has the potential to shift systems that perpetuate gender disparities

· How tourism leaders can show up, set examples, be mentors, and open doors for more women to participate in tourism and conservation

Join Christine and Sheridan Samano now for this soulful conversation.

LOVE these soulful conversations? We rely on listener support to produce our podcast! Make a difference by making a donation on PayPal.

Related UN Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainable Development Goal #5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Resources & Links Mentioned in the Episode

Visit https://reefstorockies.com/ to learn more about experiencing wild places in a way that feels meaningful, seamless, and deeply connected to the natural world.

Visit https://herwildlifeexpeditions.com/ to explore immersive, expert-led adventures – designed by women.

Connect with Sheridan Samano: Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook / Instagram / Facebook

Special thanks to Strictly Jane Austen Tours for your partnership in the production of our Trailblazer Series!

About the Soul Of Travel Podcast

Soul of Travel honors the passion and dedication of people making a positive impact in the tourism industry. In each episode, you’ll hear the stories of women who are industry professionals, seasoned travelers, and community leaders. Our expert guests represent social impact organizations, adventure-based community organizations, travel photography and videography, and entrepreneurs who know that travel is an opportunity for personal awareness and a vehicle for global change.

Join us to become a more educated and intentional traveler as you learn about new destinations, sustainable and regenerative travel, and community-based tourism. Industry professionals and those curious about a career in travel will also find value and purpose in our conversations.

We are thought leaders, action-takers, and heart-centered change-makers who inspire and create community. Join host Christine Winebrenner Irick for these soulful conversations with our global community of travelers exploring the heart, the mind, and the globe.

Subscribe & Review on Apple Podcasts

Are you a Soul of Travel subscriber? Click here to subscribe to Apple Podcasts, so you don’t miss the latest episodes!

Listener reviews help expand our reach and help us rise up the ranks! Rate and review your favorite episodes on Apple Podcasts or your preferred podcast app.

Credits. Christine Winebrenner Irick (Host, creator, editor). GUEST NAME (Guest). Original music by Clark Adams. Editing, production, and content writing by Carly Oduardo.