Meet Dr. Nabila Ismail—a licensed pharmacist turned marketing maven and content creator, whose unique journey has inspired thousands. As the visionary founder behind Dose of Travel, Dr. Ismail has transformed a personal blog chronicling her pharmacy school adventures and summers as an au pair in Spain and Italy into a thriving brand and travel club. Today, her platform has grown into a dynamic community of over 270,000 members, uniting travel enthusiasts and dreamers alike. She shared with SEEMA her inspiring story and the evolution of her remarkable brand.
Can you share the moment or experience that made you pivot from pharmacy to creating Dose of Travel?
I graduated right before the pandemic and started my career as a pharmacist. And at the same time the world was changing, there were so many more opportunities for remote work. That was when my content started to take off, even though nobody was traveling at that point. I just really started freelancing and kind of understanding my community. And at that point, I quit my job and I traveled. I went to Bali by myself, and I took 20 people with me, and that’s when I got the idea of Dose of Travel.
How did Dose of Travel evolve from a personal blog to a full-fledged brand and travel club?
I first started when I was in school. I was talking about pharmacy and what it was like to go through the schedule, how to study, how to be very productive, how to balance a job with pharmacy school, how to get an internship. And then during the summer time I would be traveling abroad. Then it evolved into what it was like to be a pharmacist during the pandemic. And then I pivoted into a marketing role at a health tech company. So the content slowly changed, from pharmacists to working in health tech and how to build a career in marketing. When I quit my job, my content kind of followed my own life, which is why it’s been really easy to build. It’s me sharing what I’m going through. That’s when it started to become more about travel and less about pharmacy, because I was naturally doing less pharmacy.
What were some of the key challenges you faced during this transformation?
I think it was more of a personal and mental challenge with me figuring out what I wanted to do with my life, but my purpose was very much a classic clichéd Eat, Pray, Love moment. When I booked my flight to Bali, I didn’t know what I was doing. I had a breakdown, and I just took the next few months to do what felt right and take the time to get to know myself. And then eventually, the idea just came to me to start these group trips. I was battling a career identity – I’m not a pharmacist anymore, so what am I? I’m essentially unemployed, which was not anything I had ever planned for. What would income look like? So it was a lot of challenges within me, so it felt very isolating at that time. Then, building a company and being an entrepreneur is just really challenging. When I set off to do this, it was a true passion of mine. I couldn’t see it being a business because I enjoy this too much.
How do you ensure that Dose of Travel Club remains an inclusive and safe space for its members?
We really focus on making those clear guidelines in our marketing. We look for people who are very open minded, we’re respectful, and it does require an application process. And then we meet before we go on the trip to kind of set expectations. And in all things, if you make anyone uncomfortable or not welcoming then I can ask you to leave. So we do really have the strong ethos of being open minded and coming to a safe and comfortable space. So that’s how that works.
What are your future plans for Dose of Travel and Dose of Travel Club?
I think I want to continue just being able to share my candid, vulnerable experiences. To continue to build the community and reach more people. I would love to see it grow and scale and to have more people on these group trips. So we’re currently launching way more trips than we ever have before. We’re hiring we’re adding new destinations, and I hope that that’s the direction that we continue to go in.
So if you look to the past. What are some of the most memorable places that you’ve traveled to as a travel club?
This is such a hard question. Obviously, I think the first group trip I ever hosted is going to be a special place in my heart. We went to Bali, and this was when I was a very small content creator. I didn’t have any testimonials. I didn’t really have any authority or trust behind me, but knowing that I launched that trip and 20 people signed up without really knowing me, I still really just remember that feeling, and I use that to drive everything. But that one literally drove this entire business and reminded me that it’s so nice to have community and to have people who are in the same photo as you. So I guess if I had to pick one, we’d go with that one, but they’re all my favorite.
So what is your role? How do you prepare for these trips for people where they haven’t been to before?
I do play a couple of roles, but I am not the expert in the destination. I actually hire someone from the local area who is a guy who knows the history and is from the culture to be the one to share information about their country. I’m there to host, facilitate and bring safety and conversation. So that is my role. So I bring on someone who is very knowledgeable in that aspect, but I help plan. I come up with the itinerary. I obviously make sure that it is a good group that will get along well with each other.
What kind of process do you go through to select people to be included on these trips?
As of now, it’s a written application with a couple of questions, and then we do a zoom screening, once everyone’s signed up. And usually we get the vibes from there. We ask for a couple of information, like if you’ve traveled before, if you’ve done a group trip before, you understand and agree to these rules. But I’m thinking about shifting over to maybe a virtual interview, because we’re growing so fast, and we definitely don’t want to lose that touch in that community.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to start traveling but feels hesitant or unsure where to begin?
I would say going on a group trip is a great place to start, because you don’t have to worry about the planning. Oftentimes the planning and where to stay, the language barrier and how to get around, is usually a big fear. So joining a group trip, whether it’s a travel club or not, I think having other people is always a good place to start. And then if you’re looking to travel and you don’t want to go with the group, going to a place where it’s similar to your home country and very similar in language, to take your bearings and kind of see how you feel in a new destination, with just a slight change in variables and then slowly branching out to other destinations.
Looking back on your journey, what are you most proud of achieving with Dose of Travel?
There’s so much to be proud of, but I think for me, it was sticking to it and doing it for my own reasons for I loved it; and finding a way to integrate it into my life, being able to keep it going and never really putting pressure on it. I thoroughly enjoy what I do, and I’m so blessed to call it work
