Third Chapter Curious, Vol. 10, PT 1

INTERVIEW X 

“Field of Vision”

JENNIFER SZUNKO

Co-Owner, Discovery Cruises

NFT Strategist for Artists

President, New Way Properties, LLC.

[Recorded December 10, 2024 at Discovery Cruises, Traverse City, Michigan]

“Your path and purpose will become crystal clear when you begin to trust your vision.” - Bill Walsh

Not many places in the world offer any chance of balanced peace and adventure, blended with opportunity for change and innovation quite like Traverse City, and the Great Lakes region. Jennifer Szunko is an innovator and a connector of people, who perfectly embodies the type of culture we have here.

She is an active supporter and mentor in the tech start-up world and is embarking on a revolutionary new venture that utilizes technology as a means to support artists, helping them attain financial longevity and relevance. Jenn is also co-founder of Discovery Cruises, which connects people to the natural beauty of Lake Michigan and fosters community across our area. 

Speaking to her melted my winter blues and excited me for warmer tides and the promise of summer adventure.

INTERVIEWER:

“There is a network of people from all over the world that exists in Traverse City. How did somebody like you, with an amazing and established, multi-city career history arrive here? What keeps you here?”

JENNIFER:

“I grew up near here back in the day—went to high school in Gaylord, then to college at Northwood in Midland. I’m a Michigan girl through and through.

Two weeks after I graduated from Northwood, I packed up my little truck and drove cross-country to Vail, Colorado.

I didn't consider my parents thinking I was crazy for turning down my follow-up interviews and moved to Vail instead—it truly didn’t occur to me!

After I got to Colorado and talked to my dad he said, ‘I totally get why you're there, and whatever you choose to do, I know you’ll be great.’ After a while, the pull of being closer to my family again was strong, and I became a bit homesick.

When I was in my mid-20s I decided I wanted to be back in northern Michigan, the draw was of course family but also that Traverse City had a lot of people who were interested in the same things that I loved. People here are outdoorsy; they run, they’re on the water, they’re hiking and skiing—they’re active and appreciative of nature, and that’s very important for my happiness and overall quality of life.

I took a job with Grand Traverse Resort in the sales department, and my first territory was calling on associations of state government groups to encourage them to bring their meetings to Grand Traverse Resort.

It came quite naturally to me because I love the area, so it was easy to sell it.

I did that job for a while, then a position opened up that took me to Washington D.C.

At first, I flew there once a month for a week at a time, but remained living in Traverse City.

About 8 times a year I would have meetings with federal government groups and national associations, talking to them about coming to Traverse City to hold their regional and national meetings.

I really loved Washington D.C. and had a good friend who lived there. She said we should start our own wine-tasting association—centered around activities and events that coincide with wine. This was in the early 90s and wine tasting was very high level and wasn’t quite as accessible or recreational as it is today. We were competing with major taster’s guilds that were highbrow wine events.

We aimed to be the opposite: welcoming to anybody who wanted an introduction to wine.

Good things happen for a reason if you're open.”

INTERVIEWER:

“Absolutely, and it opens up that world to everyone and makes it fun, as it should be. I’ve certainly benefited from my wine tour and tasting experiences and have learned a lot while enjoying a light wine buzz—the best of both worlds! 

Also, Washington D.C. is near and dear to my heart. I consider it my hometown, but I grew up in the metro area in Great Falls, Virginia. Where in D.C. did you live?”

JENNIFER:

“At first I rented a place near Dupont Circle, but then I got a dog so I needed a bigger place, and moved to Silver Spring Maryland. A little farther out with more space, but just close enough to be able to get downtown and access all of the things I needed for work and life.”

INTERVIEWER:

“It reminds me of when I lived in LA, it's so sprawled out. But D.C. has the Metro, and easier access to the city, at least it was when I lived there. How long were you in the area?”

JENNIFER:

“Not very long, only about a year and a half. Things got more serious with my boyfriend, who lived in Maryland, so we went back and forth on the train every weekend.

I started working at a travel agency since I wasn’t making any real money in the wine-tasting business. However, I had a lot of fun and it was a great experience. Unfortunately, reality set in and I needed to have a paying job, so I started working at the travel agency full-time.

My now-husband, then-boyfriend and I loved Traverse City and just asked ourselves why we weren’t following our happiness—so as one does in that headspace, we moved!

I still had my travel agency connection and I took a job as a regional manager for Norwegian Cruise Lines.”

INTERVIEWER:

“Were you with the cruise line at the same time as the travel agency?”

JENNIFER:

“Yes, but the travel agency had a management team and staff that had everything covered and there wasn’t a real need for me.

Shortly after being back in Michigan and working with Norwegian Cruise Lines, I got married and we settled down in Traverse City with—it was meant to be!

After getting settled, I started attending different events and networking a bit. I went to a conference and came home and told my husband about this new thing called the internet coming out, ‘The World Wide Web.’

People will want to book their travel directly— I think I need to move on from the travel agency. After that, I went full-time with Norwegian Cruise Lines.”

INTERVIEWER:

“Did you work on the ships or were you on the logistics end?

JENNIFER:

“I worked with travel agents in Michigan and Indiana so I would liaise with them and inspire them to build groups and market themselves.

I did take a lot of cruises, though, and entertained travel agents on the ships introducing them to all that we offered.

That was a great experience and changed the trajectory of my career in many ways.”*

INTERVIEWER:

“It's liberating to have a job that enables you to travel and not be sedentary; a sense of adventure. In particular, living on the water has an indelible adventurousness. I have great respect for people who work in open water. It can be dangerous, and unpredictable, while you’re also tasked with people’s safety. Have you experienced any weather incidents or anything that’s gone awry during your time on the water?”

JENNIFER:

“Thankfully no! The sense of adventure, however, absolutely.

My husband and I would make little vacations out of my work trips. So if I had to be on board with travel agents for a few days he might fly in and we’d have some time together. We took advantage of the opportunities that's for sure. We could take a cruise through Europe for $35 a day, which I don’t think they offer anymore.”

INTERVIEWER:

“When you and your husband moved to Traverse City, how long were you with Norwegian Cruise Lines before you went on to your next endeavor?”

JENNIFER:

“At that time we were married and had two kids under two. I went back to work for a couple of months but found it was unsustainable to be on the road while trying to balance parenting, so I decided it was best for me to be at home.

That became my new job, and I loved and enjoyed that time of my life.

When our kids were in junior high, I worked for a short time at a regional magazine as the advertising sales director and one of the employees started a magazine for the book publishing industry. 

She called me one day and said, ‘Your kids are older and more independent now, I know you are looking to get back in the game, so I think you should think about coming to work with me at my magazine. I think the timing is perfect.’

The magazine was mostly read by librarians, booksellers, and publishing industry types and focused on independent or small publishing houses.

I worked there for about 10 years in the marketing and advertising sales departments, in addition to editing and managing the book review process.

By the time I left, my title was associate publisher, and I had worked or consulted in all areas of the magazine.

I've always been an entrepreneur in my own right, or if I worked for an entrepreneur, I treated their business like it was my business. I enjoy being a part of the startup community and I think that's one of the things that attracted me to my husband, Wally. He was an entrepreneur and owned his businesses and there is something to that.”

INTERVIEWER:

“I love that you said when you worked for somebody who was an entrepreneur, you hustled alongside them as if it were your own business.

That is the best way to learn.

You adopt a big-picture mindset that helps you mark your path and see an end goal rather than an endless list of tasks to accomplish.”

JENNIFER:

“Exactly, it gives you the ability to do a lot of different things, and it takes a certain kind of person to be able to handle all of that.

I'm the same, and I don't know any other way to be.

That personality type comes with challenges but it's never boring, and it makes you well-rounded.

It also fosters constant learning.

If you're an entrepreneur, you own a business, you have to learn every facet of the company if you want to be truly effective, which is different from successful. A lot of people can be successful CEOs—very few are effective. 

It’s the same if you work in a small business or a startup, you may not know anything about accounting but suddenly you have to step up and figure it out on the fly.”

INTERVIEWER:

“It's like a daily crash course that becomes empowering when you realize that you can figure things out based on your learning from someone who was a mentor of sorts.

When you don't know something, there's hopefully somebody else that does; surround yourself with people who can do things that you can't.

After the magazine, what was your next adventure?”

JENNIFER:

“I decided I wanted to renovate a house and flip it, so I bought a fixer-upper at auction. I was about 85% of the way through the renovation when I was on the roof working on some shingles, then slipped and fell. 

Cut to, me in the emergency room, an entrepreneur up on the roof figuring things out, though I probably shouldn't have been. When they were doing X-rays, they discovered that I had ovarian cancer. 

After my diagnosis, I did end up completing the house and putting it on the market, making a profit that replaced my income for the year. So even though it wasn’t the plan I had in mind, it was perfect in that sense to have that next year to just go through this journey with cancer and focus on my healing. That was almost 10 years ago now, and I’m fully in remission so everything is good; everything worked out.” 

END OF PART 1

INTERMISSION 

Recorded, Written, and Edited by C. Thompson for Third Chapter Curious, LLC, 2025