As if Keke Palmer isn’t busy enough, she’s trying to add more personal travel to her schedule. Being an entrepreneur is at the core of Palmer’s personal brand, and fans online have dubbed her Keke “Keep a Job” Palmer because of her dogged determination to stay booked and busy in the ever-changing entertainment industry. It’s a title she’s rightfully earned: Since 2004, Palmer has worked as an Emmy-winning actor famous for roles in films such as Nope, Hustlers, and Akeelah and the Bee; a podcast host of the show Baby, This Is Keke Palmer; a red-carpet interviewer; and even the owner of production company Big Boss Productions. Today she’s perhaps even better known for charming the public with her perfectly timed comedic answers on press junkets, where she’s gone viral for phrases like “Sorry to this man.”
Though she’s trotted around the globe, Palmer has admitted her dedication to her work has often made it challenging to relish time spent in new places. Now she’s working to take more personal trips and travel the world more thoughtfully—and she’s hoping to encourage other young entrepreneurs to do the same.
The actor just announced her partnership with American Express; she’s serving as an ambassador for the credit card titan’s Business Platinum Card. As an Amex Ambassador, she’s telling her audience about the travel benefits—such as premium airport lounge access, early hotel check-ins, and upgraded flights—that come with the right credit card. Palmer hopes to inspire a new generation of business owners to maximize their travels by working smarter, not harder.
Palmer spoke to Afar about how her many projects have inspired her travel habits.
This interview was edited for clarity and space.
You’re known for being a businesswoman on the go, but when you finally get a break, what kinds of experiences are you looking for?
I love wellness and anything that allows me to immerse myself in a more experiential side of the culture of the place I’m in. I live for activities that allow me to have new experiences, whether that be in water or hiking. I like to have a scheduled plan for wherever I go, to know that I’m getting the most out of that experience.
Are there any destinations that caught you by surprise or made you fall in love?
I was on this TV show that was first filmed in Berlin. So I was in Berlin for, like, five months. It was just so incredible . . . I saw an amazing, different side of the world.
That following year, I ended up doing Budapest. At first I was kind of like, Dang—I really realized how much I love Berlin and missed it, because Budapest was so different. Then, after I left Budapest, I really was like, Dang, I would like to go back and bring friends of mine to see how beautiful it is there.
For a weekend while we were filming in Budapest, we went to Croatia. Since it’s Eastern Europe, I would think it to be kind of cold and a little bit overcast and not have that island feel. But in Croatia, the water is so clear . . . it’s so beautiful. It’s also where they filmed a lot of Game of Thrones. It wasn’t what I expected.
Are there any places you’ve visited that you love returning to?
I do mostly business traveling, so a lot of times, I don’t get to get a real sense of the place where I am. But I really, really loved Rio de Janeiro. I also really loved Buenos Aires. I’d love to go back to those two places again with more of my extended family.
Speaking of family, do you have any travel tips for making a road trip fun?
I still love going on road trips! I just got a trailer, actually, but the trailer has been spending more time on my jobs and my sets than it has been on the road. I’m hoping to change that soon.
I think the thing that makes road trips the most fun are the people that you bring. You gotta have good people. You have to have a good playlist. Also, always take the more scenic route, build stops [into your itinerary], and plan ahead.
Hook up your American Express Business Platinum Card—do that early. That way, you can check in at your hotel [between stops] early, and you can get your late checkouts, unless you need to hurry up and get back on the road.
How do you use your business credit cards to make your personal travel happen?
Well, thanks to my Business Platinum card, we’re all going into the global lounge, okay? Because that’s definitely a benefit I use up! And when you travel so much, you’re going to run into delays, so you need that global lounge access that American Express offers, because it allows you to have a premium travel experience and also take a load off of things. It’s even a place to take a meeting. You can get into one of those cubicles and have a private moment to get your work done. So that’s definitely huge.
But then it’s also great for last-minute bookings. You can do that with amextravel.com. Get five times the reward points on your flights. Free perks at hotels, like early check-in, late checkout. I definitely lean into—I’m that friend that’s gonna pull that card out and say, “Come on, let’s put it on the business,” when it’s appropriate.
How did you come to work with American Express?
Well, it felt cool, because the partnership is actually very on brand for my personal life and story. I’m always calling myself “Big Boss.” A lot of that came from a lot of the help that I’ve had with American Express over the years, before they became a partner. It’s just another way this company is giving back to me and helping me build my business to tell my story for my own brand.
It started early out with just the Keke Palmer Company and me learning how to keep my personal and my business expenses separate. I did a lot of that in my early years, starting as young as 12 or 13 with my American Express card. Now, at this point in my career, I’m continuing to scale up my business from just the Keke Palmer Company into more of a holding situation where I have other companies like KeyTV Network and Big Boss Productions and so many other things.
And now, with this platform, I have the opportunity to talk a little bit more about economics and bring that conversation in a more casual, grounded way and make sure that [financial literacy] becomes a part of our DNA as young people. Because it’s not gonna go anywhere, and you don’t need to be afraid of a credit card. You just need to know how to use it.
