Southern California native Roshida Dowe, realized that being tied to the titles that corporate America likes to place on us, was no longer serving her.
Around the age of 38, Dowe found herself unemployed after her company went out of business. Rather than seeking a new position at a new company, she decided that she wanted to travel the world.
The decision didn’t come without hesitation. As a woman in her late 30s, she felt that she had missed the train on being able to freely pack up her life, and galavant the world for an indefinite period of time.
“I was 38 at the time, but I felt that only younger, white people did things like that,” Dowe told Travel Noire. “As I continued my research, new fears would emerge. I felt like I shouldn’t be doing this because I wasn’t working.”
Despite the fears, Dowe set out on her journey.
“So often we attach value to work in America. I decided to take a career break from a country that tells me I have to work hard to be respected. Despite working in corporate America for years, I enjoy my non-working life most.”
After taking her trip, she realized there were other Black women out there just like her. While they weren’t immediately visible on social media, Dowe decided to start building a network of the women she came across as well as those who were interested in taking similar journeys.
Fast forward, and she met and teamed up with Stephanie Perry. The two women continued to build this network of Black women interested in exhaling from the demands of American work life, via a private Facebook group.
“Stephanie came up with the idea for us to host a summit,” Dowe said. “We initially planned to do it in person, but now we have shifted to hosting one virtually.”
The ExodUS Summit will take place September 21-27. It is said to be the sabbatical summit for Black women. Dowe and Perry have locked in over 50 Black women who will give various talks, chats and panels on their experiences of traveling and/or living abroad.
“This is a labor of love, we aren’t doing this for any monetary gain. This is our passion, and we’ve spent years working with other Black women to bring this together.”
The week-long summit is free to all who register. You will also be able to replay all talks for free until September 30.
You can register for the summit here. If you are unable to join the summit, you can request to become apart of the Facebook network for Black women here.
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