Meet Susana Zazueta | Discoverlist, Inc. Co-Founder & CEO

We had the good fortune of connecting with Susana Zazueta and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Susana, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
As and avid traveler, 25 countries thus far, I kept encountering a problem that all travelers faced, so I decided to develop a solution. After I would come back from a trip, my friends would ask me to send them my recommendations for those trips I had taken. It would take me quite a bit of time to either remember the names of everywhere I visited and or search for those spots online. During one of those trips I decided to start my own business, Discoverlist Inc., a travel app that allows you to take photos of those places and make recommendations during your trip. Once you are done with your trip, you’ve created a recommendation list, a.k.a. a Discoverlist, that you can easily text or email to your friends.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Developing the Discoverlist business has been a beautiful journey but it definitely has not been easy! As a Latinx female founder, I’ve encountered many difficulties and have had to overcome many challenges. As a woman AND a minority in this country, you continuously have to prove yourself and put 120% in everything you do day and night. I know a lot of my fellow colored women understand this. It’s a non-stop journey of proving yourself.

There have been many times when I’m exhausted and feel like I cannot continue. Honestly, I have never considered quitting, because I really believe in my business, but I have had many sleepless nights and stressful times when I’ve had to figure out how to move forward. With the exception of a friend’s investment gift, this business has been self-funded. That means that I’ve had to work a 9-5 job to fund my start-up. But it has been a sacrifice worth taking. But you ask, how have you overcome the challenges? First and foremost with the help from God. Honestly, sometimes I don’t know where I get the energy to do everything that needs to be done to maintain my business and excel in my 9-5. And there have been times that I feel that there is no other way to move forward, but that is when I get the email or the call that opens a door or gifts us with an opportunity to move forward. Honestly, I don’t know how these things happen, it really is all God.

There are several things that sets my business apart from others. First, Discoverlist is for all travelers but we are focused on catering to the millennial traveler. Because of this, we have developed the travel app to be a combination of social media and travel- the two things a millennial traveler loves! Because of this the travel app users have told us that we are more user-friendly than other travel apps and we are also the only one that knows how to incorporate the social media component that young travelers are accustomed to. What I am most proud of is what we will be releasing in the next few months. We have partnered with over 24 (and counting!) tourism boards that currently have their travel recommendations on the app. Not only are we partnering with them for recommendations but we will also be launching a sustainability component so that travelers can leave a positive footprint in any country they visit. This again is another element that young travelers are looking for and it’s also something that I am very passionate about. If only each traveler would do something for the environment or the community they are visiting during their travels, then we’d be able to work towards having a beautiful planet that all future generations of travelers can enjoy.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Ahhh.. you are asking me for my favorite spots in Los Angeles? So you are basically asking me for my Los Angeles recommendation list (a.k.a. Discoverlist)? Well let me open the Discoverlist app and I’ll let you know. If I had a friend visiting Los Angeles and she was here for a week, the first place I would take her is to Hermosa Beach. Hermosa is my favorite beach in Los Angeles because of the fun you can have at the restaurants an bars right on the beach. The beach itself is also one of the cleanest and most beautiful beaches to visit. Then I would take her to West Hollywood for brunch at Gracias Madre, a Vegan Mexican restaurant that serves some exquisite Mexican food that is also Vegan. The dishes are so exquisite and tastes just like it’s meaty counterparts, that you forget it’s actually vegan! Then we’d visit the Hollywood Bowl to listen to some tunes and enjoy the great weather and the view of the stars. I love sushi and some of my favorite sushi spots are Sugarfish by Sushi Nozawa or Xevichez, which is sushi with Mexican elements incorporated in the dishes. Some of my favorite rolls are the Dodgers Roll, The Mariachi loco or the Patron Roll. They all incorporate certain Mexican ingredients to attract the Latinx consumer and really anyone that loves Mexican food and Sushi.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Many people and organizations have helped pave the way for Discoverlist to ‘take flight’, pun intended. 🙂 Everyone from my amazing parents, my brother, my friends and my business school, Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, have been instrumental in the growth of Discoverlist. It really does take a village. Most recently, as a business ambassador for Vistaprint, we’ve been able to create awareness for the Discoverlist brand with Vistaprint’s product, the support of Vista has been another instrumental piece to our growth. I am super grateful with everyone that has been supportive to me and my business.

Website: discoverlist.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/discoverlist/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/discoverlist/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/IWantToTravel_P

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Discoverlist/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO71zQfSEwvNE_r-eYOwJSg

Other: Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1295030 Download on App Store (only available on iOS): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/discoverlist/id1329521882?ls=1

Image Credits
Photo Credit For Feature photo: Locomotive Emotion, Photographer Matt Deere