JUDY DLUGACZ

President & Founder

How do you sum up the life and achievements of human rights pioneer and successful entrepreneur Judy Dlugacz? In one simple sentence: she is an extraordinary woman who was born to bring awareness to LGBTQ+ causes and create opportunities that enable lesbians throughout the world to live in freedom. Over the past 40 years, Judy has helped achieve groundbreaking victories for the LGBTQ+ community.

While living in Washington D.C. in 1973, her singer/songwriter friend Cris Williamson suggested that Judy and 9 friends start a record company featuring female artists. Together they took a leap of faith and founded Olivia Records, which grew to become one of the industry’s leading independent labels. Olivia produced 40 albums and sold more than one million records by artists such as Cris Williamson, Meg Christian, Teresa Trull and Linda Tillery. Taking her talents outside of the recording studio, Judy oversaw the production of hundreds of concerts and events across the United States, including four sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall. 

Judy’s vision and evolution continued when, in 1990, she combined two of her passions – music and travel – by producing a “concert on a cruise.” She invited women to enjoy the performances of Olivia Records artists and scheduled activities on a completely chartered ship. The response was so overwhelming that she co- founded a company offering vacations exclusively created for women, Olivia Travel, which has today become the premier travel company for the lesbian community. To date, Olivia has taken over 300,000 women on more than 350 cruise, resort, riverboat, and adventure vacations all over the world once again creating visibility, connection and community for lesbians and LGBTQ+ women throughout the world.

Judy has received countless awards for her contributions to her community including Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, the Advocate’s Top LGBT Innovators, one of Curve Magazine’s most Powerful Women, Grand Marshall for San Francisco Gay Pride and Ambassador for The Stonewall Initiative to name a few. In 2010, Olivia helped fund the LGBT Haiti Relief Fund of the Red Cross and had an ongoing partnership with the Nepal Youth Foundation raising over $400,000 to help young women escape indentured servitude. 

Outside the offices of Olivia Travel, Judy is a nationally respected LGBTQ+ rights leader and a major force in Democratic Party politics. She served on the LGBT Leadership Council for President Barack Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s campaigns. In 2012, she co- hosted six groundbreaking lesbian roundtable discussions with Michelle Obama.  

Judy splits her time between Olivia’s headquarters in San Francisco and her home in Washington D.C. 

Her next big project? Judy is writing a book that showcases the last 5 decades of lesbian culture through the lens of her life experiences.

RACHEL WAHBA

Cofounder

In the four and a half decades since Rachel Wahba cofounded Olivia, she has remained an enthusiastic ambassador for the company. She helped to shape Olivia’s direction when it was a groundbreaking women’s record label. Later, as the company began transitioning to travel, she continued to promote Olivia and its transformational impact on women. Now that Olivia is established as the world’s premier provider of cruise, resort, and adventure vacations for LGBTQ+ women, Rachel promotes the company internationally as she develops relationships with potential new travel partners and explores worldwide destinations for future trips. A special source of pride is her work with the Nepal Youth Organization, for which Olivia’s partnering raised money to educate, house, and train girls and women who were freed from the Kamlari system of indentured servitude, enabling them to achieve and maintain independence.

Rachel loves how Olivia invites LGBTQ+ women to build timeless friendships, and she never tires of witnessing how the Olivia experience promotes a stronger sense of self in guests (including herself) after traveling with the company. Olivia’s positive impact, extending to ship and resort staff members and to the individuals in each destination that the company visits, is a great source of pride for Rachel.  

In addition to her involvement with Olivia, Rachel is a licensed psychotherapist in San Francisco and Marin. She is also a writer deeply engaged in topics ranging from her Middle Eastern/North African Jewish heritage to psychotherapy. As an Iraqi-Egyptian Jew who grew up stateless in Japan, she is passionate about the history of Mizrahim, Jews from Arab lands. Rachel has a blog on The Times of Israel and has also been published in several groundbreaking anthologies on being a queer Arabic-Jewish lesbian, in psychoanalytic journals on psychotherapy, and online in Huffpost and Epocalips.

Rachel is a staunch supporter of several nonprofits promoting education and advocacy, including JIMENA (Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa), for which she is a speaker and serves on the advisory board. In the fall of 2019, Rachel was honored with the LGBTQ Trailblazer Award by A Wider Bridge, a queer nonprofit organization dedicated to creating greater connection and communication between the LGBTQ communities in the US and Israel, fostering understanding and equality for all.

Rachel earned her bachelor of arts degree in psychology and women’s studies and her master’s degree in clinical social work from San Francisco State University. She enjoys spending her free time hanging out with friends, writing, reading, traveling, and walking her labradoodles.  

TISHA FLORATOS

Vice President, Travel & Business Operations

As Vice President of Travel and Business Operations for Olivia, Tisha Floratos serves as one of the faces and voices of the world’s premier cruise, resort, adventure, and luxury vacation company for LGBTQ⁺ women. Responsible for all large cruise and resort vacations, including contract negotiations, building unique itineraries, finding new exciting resorts, and managing the entire cruise and resort experience with Team Olivia, she also oversees the day-to-day business operations for Olivia; this includes managing the travel, marketing, sales, customer care, operations, and IT teams.

Tisha is responsible for cruises with as many as 2,100 passengers and resorts with 1,500 guests. Thousands of travelers have met Tisha aboard Olivia’s chartered vessels, where she holds the role of Cruise Director, and on the company’s land trips, where she serves as Resort Director. In addition to welcoming both first-time and longtime members of the Olivia family, Tisha works behind the scenes to create lifechanging vacation experiences where lesbians and other LGBTQ⁺ women feel empowered, inspired, and comfortable being out and free.

Since joining Olivia in 2002, she has been instrumental in the company’s growth. She directs marketing efforts and helps to shape the onboard experience. Thanks to her involvement, guests can expect one-of-a-kind travel experiences and attentive service at every step of planning and vacationing.

Tisha is committed to getting the word out about Olivia, and you can find her representing the company at events and pride celebrations across the country. She’s also dedicated to the company’s Sisters at Sea and Sisters at Play efforts—an onboard and at-resort program that celebrates diversity and women of color. In addition, she is instrumental in orchestrating efforts for the company’s Olivia Gives program, which creates opportunities for Olivia guests to make a difference in the communities we visit through school supply donations and life essentials.

In 2012, Tisha was named to Go Magazine’s “100 Women We Love” list. The magazine cited her contribution to “the indelible memories made by thousands of lesbians.” She has also been interviewed in the Miami Herald, Curve, Bay Times, and other prominent publications.

Tisha is a supporter of organizations such as NCLR (National Center for Lesbian Rights) and HRC (Human Rights Campaign). Prior to joining Olivia, she worked in public relations and sharpened her media skills as a producer for the TV show Extra. Tisha earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism, with an emphasis on broadcast journalism, from California State University, Fullerton. When she’s not traveling, you can find her relaxing at home with her wife, Tina—aka DJ Rockaway, and their daughter, Sofia, visiting with family and friends, crafting, or jetsetting to Disneyland.

JILL CRUSE

Vice President of Guest Experience

Jill has been with Olivia for 30 years. She has led over 350 Olivia trips all over the world in the capacity of Cruise/Resort Director and has travelled to every continent. Before Olivia, Jill was a Girl Scout camp director and program administrator, a high school and college softball and basketball coach, and a PE teacher—so working with groups comes easily to her.

Jill’s hobby and passion is photography. She has won several major awards for her photographs, including first place from a national contest for InterContinental Hotels and National Geographic and honorable mentions from Travel Weekly Magazine and National Geographic. She received an editor’s pick award from the National Geographic photography website, and one of the many exciting travel experiences that she has captured in photos—of a sea lion hugging her in Baja!—was published on the National Geographic website. In 2016, the Canadian Geographic Society published one of Jill’s photos in their book Canadian Wildlife.

Between 2012 and 2018, Jill worked with Oprah Winfrey on social media projects for the OWN television network about living your best life. Jill also participated in several OWN television programs, including Life Class with Oprah, Dr. Brene Brown, and Iyanla Vanzant, and was a featured speaker on a Super Soul Sunday episode with Oprah and with don Miguel Ruiz, the author of the Four Agreements.

In 2018, Jill’s photography was featured on “Explorer of the Month” for the Amazon on National Geographic/Lindblad’s website and Instagram feed, and she was featured by Marc Cappelletti as a “Modern Explorer.”

Jill enjoys sharing her knowledge, experience, photography pointers, and general enthusiasm. She appreciates the places we visit—and the ways in which positive energy seems to affect the experience. Of the adventure trips, she says, “I love the energy that Olivians bring to these expeditions. I really believe that our energy is so positive and strong that animals sense it. As a result, it never fails that we see more wildlife than the other non-Olivia trips. How lucky I am to get to be here and do this for a living?! I feel like a camp director with adult campers, all here to have a good time. I am so grateful!”

AUTUMN NAZARIAN

Vice President of Marketing

Autumn is one of our newest Olivia hires, joining us as VP of Marketing in March 2023.

Autumn brings 20+ years of accomplishments and marketing experience to Olivia. She’s spent the past couple of years as a marketing consultant, and prior to that she worked at Mindshare, a media company where she managed strategic marketing initiatives for companies like Dove, General Mills, Nature Made Vitamins, International Hotels Group, Booking, and Facebook to name a few. She led marketing campaigns with national partners that included presence at events such as the Super Bowl, Comic-Con,The Grammy’s, SXSW, TED talks and more. She was also the executive sponsor of the DE&I team, head of the LGBTQ Employee Resource Group, and executive sponsor for the WPP FastForward Women’s leadership group in Los Angeles. Autumn has her BA in Literature, Creative Writing and Mass Media from the University of Redlands.

With one memorable Olivia trip on the books (Cancun 2016), Autumn has come to Olivia excited to join a company that is in line with her lifestyle, values, and interests, and feels passionate about communicating the powerful community experiences of Olivia Travel.

Autumn lives in Long Beach, CA with her wife Gail and their three dogs, Woody, Salty Dog, and Archer.

FERNANDO SANTOS

Vice President of Finance

Fernando lives in San Francisco with his husband Michael, two children, and mini Aussie named Max.

ADAM DICKINSON

Systems Administrator

A lifelong technology enthusiast, Adam lives to keep the technical lights on. When not focused on that, Adam spends time with his wife, two dogs, and two cats.

ALEXA CHAUSSÉ

Travel Consultant

Alexa was born in France and raised in California therefore she has an overzealous love of wine, cheese, and nature. She’s worked 30+ trips in her 9-year career with Olivia Travel, and she takes pride in her position as a travel consultant both on trips and full time in our San Francisco office. In her spare time, you can find Alexa in her Happy Place, frolicking in the Russian River Valley and enjoying the small-town community with endless “fun in the sun” river activities surrounded by Sonoma Valley vineyards. Alexa has been coined the “Lost Lovechild of Elton John and Cher,” a compliment she’ll cherish forever!

TERRI LYNN DELK

Entertainment & Production Manager

Terri Lynn has worked for Olivia full-time since 2016 and has worked with the Olivia Production Team since 2009. Terri Lynn has 30+ years’ experience working in theater arts as a performer, technician, and producer. Originally from Chesapeake, Virginia, Terri Lynn has lived in Oakland, California since 2001. When she is not traveling, you can find her playing as much competitive pinball as possible. She’s a Pinball Wizard!!

BOBBI JO PADILLA-GOFF

Senior Graphic Designer

A published Graphic Designer/Fine Artist living in the vibrant city of San Francisco, CA, Bobbi uses all forms of art to find beauty in the unexpected. She strives to run with “happy accidents” and find ways to make what might seem “slightly quirky” work in her designs. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design, two Associate’s Degrees in Art and Fine Art, a Therapeutic Massage Certification, and is determined to keep learning and growing! When she is not creating, Bobbi can be found spending quality time with her wife and daughter, obsessing over every animal she encounters, and getting lost in a good book.

CUZY SOLIS

Director of Operations & Customer Care

Cuzy is one of those very rare San Francisco natives. Of Chinese and Mexican heritage, Cuzy loves exploring different cultures and meeting new people through travel. This is her 15th year with Olivia, and she is looking forward to many more adventures to come.

CARA CALLAHAN

Travel Operations Manager

Cara, a proud Midwesterner and export of the Hoosier State, was first exposed to the endless benefits of travel from a young age when her parents moved her family across the Atlantic to England and Germany. During their few years living abroad, her parents took every opportunity to travel and educate their two daughters about Europe’s history, culture, and its many gastronomical indulgences.

As a result, Cara caught the travel bug early—in high school and college, she studied abroad in France, South Africa, the UAE, and China. Following her graduation from DePauw University, she began work as an international travel guide for a luxury active travel company. For four years, she shared her love of adventure with hundreds of travelers via hikes and bike rides all around the world, leading trips in Croatia, Montenegro, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Yosemite National Park and beyond. It was, however, the region closest to her childhood home, Kentucky, that stole her heart.

While she eventually hopes to find herself among the bourbon-swillers and rolling hills of the Bluegrass State once again, she currently calls Oakland, California home. When she isn’t guzzling coffee at her desk, you can find Cara on two-wheeled adventures in the Oakland hills, runs around Lake Merritt, or annihilating her opponents at bar trivia.

DAPHNE KHODAYARI BROWN

Guest Services Manager

Made in Iran and born in San Francisco, California, Daphne grew up in Oakland and has lived throughout the East Bay. She enjoys using her natural charm and sense of humor to make people smile. She has been in Customer Care at Olivia for the past five years and enjoys providing support to our guests. In her spare time, she enjoys travel, dancing, and live music (especially reggae and jazz), and she loves all dogs, with a soft spot for her family dog, Bruno.

HANNAH MOENCH

Guest Services Coordinator

Hailing from sunny New Mexico, Hannah has had a long and winding career in the travel and hospitality world. An avid traveler, she loves being a part of our Guest Services team so she can assist others in fulfilling their travel dreams. When not helping our Olivia guests, Hannah can be found throwing pottery, cooking up a storm, or snuggling with her two kittens, Pico, and Mino.

JERI UMBLE

Senior Director, Customer Care

In February of 1994, Jeri went on Olivia's Valentine's Yucatan cruise and found it truly life changing. In 1997, after 15 years in the banking and legal worlds, she had the opportunity to join the Olivia team as the warehouse manager—and she leapt at it. Because Jeri was already a huge fan of Olivia music, being surrounded by the history of Olivia Records made that a dream job.

It wasn't long before Jill brought Jeri over to the travel side as her assistant, so she learned from one of the best about how to care for our guests. Now in her 23rd year at Olivia, Jeri strives to ensure our guests have the same experience she had all those years ago. She takes great pride every time she says, “This is Jeri at Olivia, how can I help you?”

KARI BACKMAN

Operations Coordinator

Kari is a loud and proud Bay Area native, who is currently enjoying the living the beach life in Santa Cruz. She recently got her degree in Literature from Western Washington University in Bellingham. An avid reader, she enjoys LGBT sci-fi novels, and thinks there is nothing better than getting lost in a book by the beach. On the weekends, you can find her at the karaoke bar, rocking out to 90s jams like Alanis Morrissette and the Pearl Jam. With over a decade of stellar customer service under her belt, she is excited to start her career with Olivia and make a positive impact on the lives of people in her community!

KELLY MCMAHON

Travel Consultant

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Kelly is the proud survivor of a childhood with three older brothers. Embarking on her ninth year with Olivia, she serves as a travel consultant in our San Francisco office as well as onboard. She is ready, willing, and able to talk travel with you! You can often find Kelly exploring the outdoors, reading British mystery novels, or planning her next trip to Greece. A late adopter of the smart phone, she will often “like” and “share” anything relevant to cats, hot dogs, or archaeology. She LOVES getting to know the women adventurers of Olivia!

LINDA KEMP

Director of Strategic Sales & Marketing

The story begins in Oklahoma, where on a clear day, one can follow the setting sun and see LA. The Red Dirt of the Land, Sooner Football, Chicken Fried Steak and 3.2 beer became growing life staples. Linda was a casualty of the Oklahoma City Public Schools and unbelievably earn degrees from Central Oklahoma University, Johns Hopkins and Loyola College with advance study at Georgetown University. She later served as adjunct professor at Trinity College, Counseling Graduate Program.

Linda came to Washington DC for fame and fortune (neither really worked out), but in the process served as the U.S. Postal Services Manager of Organization & Talent Development, Manager of Retail Marketing, and retiring as Manager of Brand Advertising. She was instrumental in securing licensure for para-professional counselors and was a subject matter expert speaker on Brand Marketing. She served on the Boards of the National Career Development Association, Mautner Project and advisor to CAMP Rehoboth’s Women’s Fest. This experience led to writing and publishing several journal articles and a book on Competency-Based Human Resource Management, which today, the royalties bring in yearly a little over 89 cents.

Before Linda began her career with Olivia, she was a passenger on our cruises beginning in 2000, and her love of Olivia morphed into a full-time position for over 20 years. We are lucky to have Linda, and her sense of humor!

MAGGIE BEAUMIER

Director of Marketing

NICOLL QUINN TERADA

Director of Travel

Nicoll grew up in the Seattle area with parents who ignited her deep-rooted interest in exploring the cultures and uniqueness of the natural world. At university, she immersed herself in cultures across the globe, including those of Ecuador, Mexico, and Brazil. After graduating from the University of Washington's Jackson School of International Studies, Nicoll worked in various niche travel and event planning roles, which took her from the South Pacific to eastern Russia, Latin America, Europe, and many places in between.

She joined the Olivia team in 2003, and since then has sculpted over 80 itineraries on seven continents, with a focus of bringing out the best of each venue to help guests connect to it—and each other. Attention to detail and our guests’ experience is her priority.

In her spare time, she loves to go on hikes with her wife, LT, and their dog, Cierra. As a Pacific Northwest native who grew up with a love for the great outdoors, Nicoll has discovered that traveling in powerful, beautiful landscapes makes a connection deep in her soul. Finding connection through travel is life-affirming, and Nicoll is enthusiastic to share her passion and love for exploration with Olivia guests on land and at sea. She believes that travel first leaves you speechless and then makes you a storyteller, and adventures have no end if you explore with your heart wide open.

REBECCA WAHBA

Administrative & Travel Sustainability Coordinator

Rebecca is a recent graduate of the Sustainable Tourism Masters program at Arizona State University and is eager to be working at Olivia exploring the world. Her passion for travel was ignited as a child while witnessing grandmothers, Rachel and Judy, at work creating the Olivia experience.

SARAH SCHWIMMER

Program Manager

Originally from Chicago, Sarah has lived in 7 states and 3 countries and explored more than 30 nations across 6 continents. Between her travels, she attended the University of Michigan, where she studied Environmental Sustainability and co-founded the University’s first student farm. After graduating she began working as a naturalist and wilderness guide with a specialization in the polar regions. She has successfully led over 100 expeditions throughout remote regions of the Arctic and Antarctic.

She is inspired and energized by the chance to share unforgettable experiences with Olivians around the world. She loves the way travel empowers and connects people from all walks of life.

In her free time, she enjoys reading, crafting, hiking, paddling, scuba diving, and volunteering for beach cleanups and the Pride Foundation.

TINA SILANO

Digital Content Creator

Tina Silano, aka DJ Rockaway, has been rockin’ the dance floors on Olivia vacations around the world for over a decade. Tina serves as Olivia’s Digital Content Creator. You will also often see her managing Olivia events and encouraging women to join the Olivia Nation. When she’s not DJing or working events, you will find her behind the lens of a camera capturing memories or spending time with her wife and daughter.