When Jan was a newspaper editor years ago, she got invited on a trip to Turks & Caicos (Via a letter. Remember those?), and that trip launched her travel writing career. Fast forward many passport stamps, plane rides and hotel rooms later and she is now thrilled to be editor-in-chief of The Travel 100.
She has several years of editorial and social media experience at magazines and newspapers and was formerly managing editor at Travelgirl magazine. Her corporate work includes the writing and editing of columns, eNewsletters, magazines, blogs and books for a variety of clients.
Her travel writing also appears in Fodor’s Travel, Orbitz, national magazines, her Girl on the Go site and on “Belinda Skelton’s Atlanta Living” website for the nationally syndicated radio show, where Jan makes guest appearances as a travel expert. She is a native of Atlanta, a graduate of Westminster and the University of Virginia. Jan is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers and the Greater Atlanta Automotive Media Association.
Chris Schroder
Founder and publisher of The 100 Companies and The Atlanta 100, Chris previously founded PR firm SPR Atlanta in 2002, before selling it in November 2017. Prior to that, he worked at six Southeastern daily newspapers, serving as creative director, promotions director, reporter and editor – winning awards for his reporting and print advertisement design. He established his own chain of Atlanta neighborhood newspapers in 1994, selling them to real estate developer Tom Cousins in 2002.
A fifth-generation Atlantan, Chris is a graduate of Westminster and the University of Virginia and the creator of Moments on SaportaReport.com where he was a founding member. He serves on various community boards and advisory committees when he’s not riding his bike, attending music festivals, traveling the country meeting potential PR firm members or visiting with children, his granddaughter, family and friends.
Chris Butsch
Chris Butsch is an author, speaker, meditation instructor and “Millennial Happiness Expert.” In 2015, Chris left a career in IT project management to study happiness full time. He has written three books: The Millennial’s Guide to Making Happiness Volumes I & II and ASAP Happiness: 25 Ways to Build a Happier Life (in the Next 5 Minutes). He also writes the Cars columns for The Atlanta 100 and Georgia Followers.
A native of Atlanta, Chris graduated from Westminster in 2009 and Vanderbilt in 2012 with a degree he designed in Engineering Management and Entrepreneurship. In college, he hosted a heavy metal radio show under the now-ironic moniker DJ RAGE.
Lisa Mowry
Lisa’s career has spanned 30 years in the publishing world, both in-house and freelance for publications such as Atlanta Magazine, Better Homes & Gardens, Traditional Home, Country Home, Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, plus thousands of by-lined pieces for the Atlanta Journal/Constitution, Garden & Gun, Styleblueprint, Woman’s Day, Metropolitan Home, Luxe magazine, and more.
Because of many years writing and styling for interior design articles, travel destinations with an architectural slant are a natural fit. She also loves the arts and cuisine (fine dining and food trucks equally), but because she’s married to a biology professor who studies wildlife, Lisa has a strong affinity for the outdoors and nature.
Wildest trip:
With afore-mentioned scientist husband, spending a month in a tent in remote Kenya as he researched the red colobus monkey for Emory University at a primate reserve. They cooked their own food, got stuck in a jeep in the middle of lion-poacher territory, almost stepped on a boa constrictor, and saw baboons, vervet monkeys, and mangabes daily.
Most recent glam trip:
A week in Provence, France, staying at a villa owned by an antiques dealer.
Best “practically free” trip:
Taking advantage of Volvo’s Overseas Delivery Program to pick up a Volvo SUV in Gothenberg, Sweden. “For the same cost–actually less–of buying a new Volvo through a dealer, getting it direct from Sweden means you’re flown over (business class), put up at a hotel and given a 5-Star meal or two, then you have use of your new car to take on the road anywhere in Europe,” she says.
Shane Swor
Memorable Travel Moment: Watching a theatrical performance of a Mayan ritual in Cozumel, Mexico.
Bucket list: Visit Domaine de la Romanee Conti
New to traveling, Shane is on a quest to experience culture across the world through food and beverage. Over the past 10 years, he has studied tea, coffee, wine and spirits through various channels, and currently works with over 300 meat and seafood suppliers across the world. He is also on the leadership team with the Millennials Chamber of Commerce as the VP of Events.
When he is not working, Shane enjoys hosting small- to medium-scale parties, crafting new cocktails and exploring new wines.
Lisa Truesdale
Memorable Travel Moment: Watching the Little Blue Penguins—the world’s smallest penguins—come ashore and scurry up to their burrows at dusk after a day of fishing, at Pilots Beach on the Otago Peninsula, New Zealand.
Bucket List: It’s still a pretty long list, despite my recent travels: Iceland, Denmark, Bermuda, Venice, The Terracotta Army, Puerto Rico, and making it to all 50 states (six to go!).
Lisa moved to Colorado from Chicago when she was just 12 years old. She has been a full-time freelance writer and editor for more than 20 years and recently began concentrating on travel and tourism. She also writes about food and drink, wellness, and health and fitness for dozens of local, regional, national and international publications. As recent empty-nesters, Lisa and her husband, Jack, like to travel as often as possible, often returning to their favorite destination, Hawaii. In her spare time, Lisa loves to cook and was “this close” to competing on an episode of “Chopped.”
Mary Charlebois
Mary Charlebois is a freelance journalist, photographer, videographer and editor. Her home base is on the wild, remote, and fragile Mendocino Coast.
Her travels include domestic and international destinations, with a recent focus on California and British Columbia. August 2019 includes a 30-day exploration of Malta.
Mary crafts stories about cities, micro-towns, farms and ranches. She covers libations at gold-medal wineries, distilleries, posh lounges and dive-bars. Art and culture from driftwood beach sculptures to fine art museums are favorite story topics.
A lifelong traveler, Mary’s Nomadic mother often handed her the map and asked her to choose the destination and route. Her mom nicknamed her Mary Go.
Leandra Beabout
Memorable Travel Moments: Sleeping in a cave hotel in the Cappadocia region of Turkey
Eating dinner in complete blackness at Tenebris, the Balkans’ first ‘Dining in the Dark’ restaurant
Drive the entirety of Route 66
Stay in a sustainable safari camp in Namibia’s Damaraland
Leandra Beabout is an Indiana-based travel journalist and content writer who contributes to publications such as The Travel 100, Fodor’s Travel, and The Everygirl. Since her childhood as an American expat, she has enjoyed a serious case of wanderlust. A part-time digital nomad, Leandra enjoys slow travel, taking ample time to explore a destination’s food, wine, trails, and language. She’s also an avid road-tripper, with a firm belief that the open road is the best way to explore new places both near and far.
