Featured image: Evelyn Hannon and her daughters, Erica Ehm and Leslie Ehm

The Legacy of Evelyn Hannon lives on

by Erica and Leslie Ehm

Dear JourneyWomen:

The past few months have been difficult for our family. In April, our mother, Evelyn Hannon, founder of JourneyWoman, passed away after a three-year warrior-strong battle with cancer. She was a fighter – and as her daughters, we can honestly tell you we have never witnessed such bravery, dignity and courage.

Our mother was an incredible person. But she was also a private person, and her main desire in her last few months was to spend time with her family. Those of you who have been part of the JourneyWoman community know that her grandchildren brought her so much joy – Josh, Jessie, Lotus and Bex – along with her sons-in-law Terry and Russ.

But this is not the end of JourneyWoman. We believe her life’s passion, and her legacy must continue.

When our mother started JourneyWoman in 1994, she unknowingly became the world’s first female travel blogger. She inspired a sisterhood of women, a grassroots movement, to inspire women to travel safely and well, and to connect women travellers around the world.

Our family is thrilled to share that JourneyWoman will carry on. We would like to introduce you to Carolyn Ray. Carolyn has been a friend of our family for several years. When we began discussing the future of JourneyWoman, it became obvious to us that she was the perfect person to step into our mother’s red shoes and bring JourneyWoman into the future as the new CEO and Publisher.

Not only is Carolyn an avid traveller, but she and our mother also share many of the same values. These are beliefs that we cherish: kindness, generosity, empathy, curiosity, courage and perhaps most importantly, a strong desire to empower women. Like my mother, Carolyn faced challenging moments in her life, both personally and professionally. Travel strengthened her perspective, and her resolve to be a mentor, friend and advocate for women. She has deep expertise in branding, and we know that she will protect the equity and integrity of JourneyWoman, while expanding the influence of women as the key decision-makers in travel and designing new forums, content and services that will help all women find the courage and confidence to travel safely and well. Above all else, her most important role is as a mother to an amazing young woman, Alyxandra, who has been her travel partner since she was weeks old.

As we envision a world without my mother, knowing that Carolyn will be leading JourneyWoman brings our family much joy. We cannot imagine anyone better suited to sustain our mother’s legacy. We know that our incredible JourneyWoman community will absolutely adore Carolyn just as we do.

We would like to invite all of you to share your thoughts with us on the JourneyWoman Facebook page we’ve created for our mother. Every sentiment you share helps us deal with our irreplaceable loss. You can also learn more about Carolyn’s vision for the next era of JourneyWoman and the evolution of our sisterhood of women travellers here (link to website page).

With gratitude,
Erica and Leslie Ehm

Read “The Journey of JourneyWoman Continues“, a letter to subscribers by JourneyWoman editor Carolyn Ray

Extending Evelyn Hannon’s Legacy