Travel With Ruzwana Bashir, Peek.com, They Make It Happen

Everything happens for a reason.

You’ve certainly heard that before.

Hopefully during good times because during bad times what do we mostly hear?

It’s not your fault.

It could have happened to anyone.

You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

If they were real friends they would have supported you better.

Enough.

Please.

The, everything happens for a reason theory, usually is spouted by people who have everything that want. Or most of what they want. It was due to their hard work, creativity, sacrifice and unwillingness to say no.

To some degree we feel that is mostly true.

In this life, we do have to make it happen. We have to stay out of dreamland.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (1939) is a short story by James Thurber.

grapplingstars.com femcompetitor.com writer, Samuel Goldwyn Productions photo credit

The most famous of Mr. Thurber's stories, it first appeared in The New Yorker on March 18, 1939, and was first collected in his book My World and Welcome to It (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1942).

The story is considered one of Thurber's "acknowledged masterpieces"

It was so profound it was turned into a number of movies. We select this one.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a 2013 American adventure comedy-drama film directed, co-produced by and starring Ben Stiller and written by Steve Conrad.

This is the second film adaptation of James Thurber's 1939 short story.

The film premiered at the New York Film Festival on October 5, 2013.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was theatrically released by 20th Century Fox, Samuel Goldwyn Films and New Line Cinema on December 25, 2013 in North America to generally mixed reception, but was a moderate box office success. The film was chosen by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2013.

Here is the storyline.

Walter Mitty is a negative assets manager at Life magazine who daydreams of adventures and has a crush on a coworker named Cheryl.

Therein is the problem. Instead of making it happen, he keeps dreaming and dreaming.

Dreams will only get us so far.

For those of us that live a life of quiet desperation or borderline disaster complete with failure and constant stress, we hope like heck everything happens for a reason is not remotely true.

Otherwise how could we explain the pain of our life?

Without blaming one’s self.

In reality, virtually everything happens due to our decision making and follow up actions.

Oops.

Developing a better decision making structure and following through with determined action is a way to make things happen.

The dreaming part is fine. Every eventually game and world changing accomplishment started with a dream. Unlike the early version of Mr. Mitty, we just don’t want to stay there.

As the master reviews at rogerebert.com summarize, “Along the way he makes the Very Important Discovery that, while his fantasies might in some ways exercise his imagination, they are in a certain sense holding him back. In other words, don't dream it, be it.”

We agree. So, that being the case, let’s take a peek at a super woman and her company that has gone beyond the dream phase and sprang into profitable action.

grapplingstars.com femcompetitor.com writer, photo Christopher Michael Flickr Wikimedia photo credit

Ruzwana Bashir is a British entrepreneur and founder and CEO of Peek.com, a travel company based here in in San Francisco.

Ms. Bashir worked in private equity at the Blackstone Group and in investment banking at Goldman Sachs in London. She then worked at Gilt Groupe, and was part of the founding team at Art.sy in New York.

In 2012, our make it happen star founded Peek, a marketplace for travelers and locals to book activities in holiday destinations.

She has been selected for Vanity Fair's Next Establishment, Forbes 30 Under 30 list on Technology and Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People.

The business insider inc.com expresses, “With the ability to easily find boats and cruises, workshops, sightseeing tours and water sports, Bashir's Peek can leave anyone with a case of wanderlust.”

Very impressive.

What does this dream maker and trailblazer have to say about her company? At her vibrant site peek.com she openly shares, “We know that an unforgettable trip is built on the special experiences you share with friends and family. Yet these activities are often difficult to find and even more challenging to book.

We’re changing this. We carefully curate our offering of high-quality activities, display them beautifully, and make them easily bookable online via computer, tablet or mobile phone. We’re dedicated to making travel planning enjoyable, so you can focus on what matters – creating memories that will last a lifetime.”

She has found the perfect balance between fantasies, dreams and making things happen. Bringing her customers dreams of a lifetime.

What contributes to her company’s success? She continues, “Peek only works with the highest quality vendors. Our team of travel experts handpicks the best activities to provide a personalized selection of experiences that match the varied travel styles of our customers.

Peek brings together all of the information you need in one place. Use our Travel Guides if you’re visiting for the first time for an overview of the top things to see. Explore our categories to find unique experiences you will love. Then save yourself hours of phone calls with our seamless online booking and payments platform.”

Their “Perfect Days” feature complete itineraries, insider tips and hidden gems from tastemakers.

Ruzwana’s success is gaining global attention and admiration.

To help generate revenue, Peek.com accepts transactional fees from tour operators for customers they book through Peek.com or on their own sites using Peek Pro.

That success is also helping her to raise major capital.

As reported at techcrunch.com, “Peek, a U.S. startup aiming to digitize the travel activities industry, has pulled a $23 million Series B round of financing and uncorked a partnership with Google that will help increase its visibility. Peek raised $10 million two years ago.”

Raising money is never easy to do yet Ruzwana makes it look so easy.

Well, things do actually happen for a reason. Especially when you have laid a powerful educational and employment foundation that helps you generate good decisions.

After that?