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Owning a Travel Agency feat. Stephanie Kilson-Thomas
118 Plays1 year ago
Today episode is about the life of Travel Agents. Travel Agents have truly made an evolution in what they deliver. Long gone are the days of booking you a flight and handing you a pamphlet. Now they provide “white glove” service that includes excursions, cuisine suggestions and everything in between.
Today’s guest is Stephanie Kilson-Thomas with KT Travel & More. Stephanie has built a thriving travel agency leveraging her skills in brand development, sales execution and customer service. She embeds her life philosophies of integrity, honesty and respect into her business which has given her a foundation to succeed as a female entrepreneur. And the cherry on the top is that she is a published writer.
Visit https://kttravelandmore.com/about/ to learn more!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanieisaacs/
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Transcript
Introduction to Joyful Travel
00:00:00
Speaker
I would have them draw like a happy face one of those yellow happy faces with you know big smiling but big smile on it because when you're when you're traveling you know the goal is you know either like relaxation or you're gonna have fun um it's not you know sad faces or or rain or clouds you know you're you're you're going for an experience something that's gonna you know
00:00:27
Speaker
either restore you or something fun. So I don't think that anybody looking to go on vacation is looking to be sad and not have fun. So I would say that I would have them on a happy basis because that's what we deliver. We deliver a good time.
Introducing the Podcast and Episode Focus
00:00:49
Speaker
What's up world? If you've ever wondered, what does my friend actually do at work?
00:00:56
Speaker
You'll love Take Your Homeboy to Work Day podcast. I am your host, V.A., and here's what you can expect by tuning in. Each episode, I'll invite a guest to share their career journey from a youth in school to their rise as a professional. We'll learn the nuts and bolts of jobs, and you'll learn how what they do shows up in our everyday lives. I'll have them open up about how they find fulfillment through their work.
00:01:23
Speaker
So for anyone interested in hearing the firsthand experience of a specific career, these conversations are your launching pad. Today, we'll hear about the life of travel agents. And I imagine at some point in all of our lives, we have tried to plan a group trip. And after researching locations, places to stay, and entertainment to see, to ad nauseam, you probably wished you never volunteered to leave.
00:01:52
Speaker
And I still haven't even mentioned collecting money and paying for deposits. Well, if you are looking for peace of mind from a passionate person that wants you to cherish those memories of the trip and not be exhausted from the execution, then travel agents are your savior. They truly have made an evolution in what they deliver. Long gone are the days of booking you a flight and handing you a pamphlet.
00:02:16
Speaker
Now they provide a white glove service that includes excursions, cuisine suggestions, and everything in between.
Meet Stephanie Kilson-Thomas
00:02:25
Speaker
Today's guest is Stephanie Kilson-Thomas with KT Travel and More at kttravelandmore.com. Stephanie has built a thriving travel agency leveraging her skills in brand development, sales execution, and customer service.
00:02:41
Speaker
She embeds her life philosophies of integrity, honesty, and respect into her business, which has given her a foundation to succeed as a female entrepreneur. And the cherry on the top, she is a published writer. It's only the second quarter for what she will accomplish. And I'm excited to learn from her. Welcome to the show, Stephanie. Thank you for that awesome introduction, Brandon. Thank you for having me. You're welcome and very well deserved.
00:03:11
Speaker
So I gave a high level overview of what I think travel agency is, but in your own terms, can you share a little bit more about what it's like being a travel agent? Well, I'll start by saying you did a really good job. If you could see me, I'm just beaming like, wow, that was really good. And really good.
00:03:36
Speaker
Um, but what I would say, you know, nowadays travel agents, you know, we're not just agents anymore, you know, we're more travel consultants, travel curators, you know, we, we build an experience for, you know, groups for individuals, for couples, um, that are looking to, as you mentioned,
00:03:59
Speaker
no longer have to deal with the collecting of fees or doing all the research. Nowadays, we put together these curated experiences, customized experience for those looking to travel who don't want to have to be bothered with doing all of the legwork behind it. They just want to pack up and show up and have a good time.
00:04:21
Speaker
Gotcha. Love the phrase travel curator. I'll be sure to make that the title for the actual posting. So what drew you to this type of work? Was there someone specific who introduced you or specific life experience? How did you get involved with this?
Becoming a Travel Agent
00:04:41
Speaker
Yes. So actually I was introduced to being a travel agent by a high school class made of mine who is a travel agent.
00:04:49
Speaker
Um, she reached out to me one day back in 2017 and she was like, Hey, I think you should be a travel agent. You know, I think you'd be real good at it. And I was like, no, I don't think so. I just, I really wasn't, you know, at first I wasn't too, uh, sold on the idea, but as I started, you know, thinking about it and she was like, well, you know, you travel a lot, you know, you could book your own trips and get paid for it.
00:05:16
Speaker
And me, I was in pharmaceutical sales for 10 years and always had something on the side. And I was like, well, you know what? Why not? I think it's something I can do on the side and started to develop a real passion for it. One side started putting myself out there and letting people know what I was doing, booking my first couple of trips.
00:05:40
Speaker
you know, it ended up, you know, being something that I looked at and I said, you know, I can do this full time, you know, give me about, you know, five to seven years and that'll be me full time and you're working for myself, you know, so that's, that's where I got my start in being a travel agent. And then, you know, I got into it full time a lot sooner than I anticipated after losing my job, you know, right at the start of COVID.
00:06:10
Speaker
Gotcha. Yeah, that was a big, that was a pivotal point for a lot of people in our lives with the pandemic. So I'm glad you were able to make that pivot to something productive and passionate that you had already been thinking about. So congratulations. Thank you. You brought up that high school friend who introduced you to it. Have you talked to her lately? And has she seen how you flourished as a travel agent lately?
00:06:36
Speaker
Yes. So actually I talk to her. I mean, like we don't like have conversations and things like that, but we talk quite often whenever I have someone that reaches out to me because I do specialize in destination weddings and international travel. So I don't book cruises and I don't do domestic travel. So she's a cruise guru. So whenever, you know, somebody reaches out to me about planning a cruise, I send them her way.
00:07:06
Speaker
Ah, gotcha. So there's even specialists within this field also there. Absolutely.
Specializing in Travel Niches
00:07:13
Speaker
Absolutely. You know, people, you can get yourself burned out, you know, trying to do everything.
00:07:19
Speaker
I mean, that's, you know, with anything in life, you know, you find something that you specialize in and really hone in on your skills and watch yourself flourish that way. Um, you know, that definitely makes life a lot easier, you know, just trying to do everything, you know, in travel, there's just so many different niches, you know, in, in the travel industry, you know, to try to do everything, you know, completely burn you out and make you not want to do it anymore. You lose the passion for it. So, um, you know,
00:07:47
Speaker
drilling down and finding a nation and working in that and flourishing helps to make travel agents successful in what they do. Gotcha. And how did you know, so I know you focus on a wedding destination, honeymoon, girls trips. How did you know you wanted those to be your niches? So when looking at being a travel agent and doing something full, doing it full time, any travel agent would tell you the
00:08:15
Speaker
best thing to do is focusing on groups. So group travel helps a lot with making a little bit more money because booking your trip here and there, it's good. I was just telling a client before we got on this call, I'm a potential client.
00:08:34
Speaker
You know, booking one trip here, one trip there, that's enough, you know, to pay a credit card bill, you know, and buy a cup of coffee. But when you specialize in group trips, you know, the more rooms you book, the more you make. So, focusing on like destination weddings.
00:08:51
Speaker
where you know you're probably going to book, you know, upwards to 20 plus rooms or bachelorette trips where, you know, it's like a group of like, you know, nowadays that bachelorette trips or bachelor trips are not, you know, our mom and dad's bachelors. So, you know, you're booking upwards of like four to five rooms, you know, so you're able to make more money, you know, in that way. So for those of us who do this full time,
00:09:20
Speaker
you know, you spend a lot more time booking group travel. For me personally, when it came to destination weddings, I'm a sucker for romance. I love love. My company's slogan is celebrate love through travel. So I was able to take, you know, something that I was passionate about and tie it in with travel. So focusing on, you know,
00:09:46
Speaker
those things around romance travel, couples trips, destination weddings, honeymoon anniversaries, bachelorette trips.
00:09:54
Speaker
Gotcha. Makes sense then. Makes sense. Well, thank you for sharing that a little bit about how you made that early decision and what type of travel agency and explain a little bit more about it.
Earnings and Marketing Strategies
00:10:05
Speaker
Thank you very much. One of the early questions, one of the first questions I love to ask is about money, just so people can be realistic about, you know, what they can earn if they start going down a certain path with a career.
00:10:21
Speaker
Um, so those first years, couple of years when you first got into being a travel agent, uh, and you don't have to show your certain experience. You can give a range if that's, if you feel more comfortable, but could you share how much could somebody expect to make?
00:10:38
Speaker
if they decide to go into it. I guess you can answer this in two ways since I know you said you started off doing this part-time. So I guess if you could share, you know, if somebody just wanted to commit 10 hours, gosh, I don't know, 10 hours a week or maybe 20 hours a month versus being full-time like yourself where you're dedicating 60 hours probably a week, how much can you make given those two differences, part-time and full-time?
00:11:02
Speaker
Okay, so I would say, you know, looking back at 2018, when I started, I launched my agency in March of 2018. So from March to December, I think I made $400. I didn't even like enough to do like a 1040. Right, right. You know, I was making that, you know, credit card payment money, you know, pay a bill here, you know, throw a little something here, you know,
00:11:28
Speaker
went to a nice dinner with my husband, you know, look, now making that nice little change. 2019. I was still part time 2019 working full time as a pharmaceutical sales rep. I would say like, that year, I remember I made probably about $5,000, $5,500, you know, in that full year. And so that's, of course, when I started learning like, okay,
00:11:55
Speaker
groups. You know, I did like my first birthday trip, which was like eight rooms. Um, no, eight, no, eight couples, you know, for 40th birthday. That's when I started realizing, Oh, you know, that's the working smarter, not harder, you know, trying to, you know, grab somebody here and there, you know, to do a trip. That's when I started realizing, okay, you can start making a little bit more money doing groups. Um, 2020.
00:12:21
Speaker
Of course, 2020, I didn't make a dollar. I felt like, you know, all my money was made before March of 2020. But I would say this, if you're doing it part time, you know, just depending on how hard you go with your business, I can say you can easily make a nice, you know, five to $20,000 a year, you know, being a travel agent.
00:12:53
Speaker
Of course, that's considering too how much you put into it as far as like your advertising, your marketing, you know, who are you marketing to? Who are your clients? What types of trips are you doing? Are you doing luxury trips? Are you doing weddings? Are you doing, you know, church groups? You know, admission trips, things like that. Just depending on the niche you're in and how many of those trips you're booking, you can make a nice, you know, 20K part time.
00:13:22
Speaker
Now full-time, of course, if this is all that you're doing, not only are you making money on commission, but travel agents, nowadays we charge for our services. So I would say, to the truth of goodness, you can make, I would say, let me get the calculator. Because I feel like this is my question. That much? That much.
00:13:51
Speaker
You know, just say like, let's say you can make about $33,000 a year just on planning fees alone. You know, that's all the work you do to, to curate and get them, you know, the trip that they want or, you know, the wedding that they're, that they're looking to have. So, and then just think about, you know, and I just did that calculation at a $1,500 planning fee for a destination wedding at 22 weddings.
00:14:20
Speaker
33,000 just on planning fees. And then, you know, you've got the commission from 22 weddings. You can definitely make six figures.
00:14:31
Speaker
Wow. That's very, that's very appealing. Wow. Wow. Okay. Um, so let's sum up your early years as, and I'm glad you brought up marketing because that actually, um, uh, we didn't talk about this before, but I would love to just learn how you developed your marking during those first years, or even as you started to focus on it full time.
00:14:53
Speaker
Um, you know, how did you, how did you develop your brand? How did you know that you want your brand to be about respecting people and integrity? Um, uh, I guess why'd you focus on those values? Um, and, uh, and then also what marketing did you do? Did you do internet marketing? Was it mostly word of mouth? Did you buy ads? Um, I guess, could you share a little bit more about how you developed a brand and then some of the actual things you may have put money into or time into to market the brand?
00:15:23
Speaker
Sure. So for me, personally, integrity, you know, trust and honesty, those are my core values. And I think that's something that's very important. So anything that's going to be a reflection of me has to, you know, my business is going to have to, you know, be one of integrity, you know,
00:15:45
Speaker
show value, you know, trust and honesty and everything I do because that's Stephanie and, you know, the KT and KT Traveling Morris, Kilson Thomas. So that's my name, you know? So that's me. And so on the business front and on the personal front, everything that my clients experience, you know, they don't know me from a lot of them don't know me.
00:16:06
Speaker
So I think it's very important that my business reflects who I am as a person, you know, so acting with integrity, you know, valuing, you know, people over profit, you know, things like that are the core values of myself. And that's what I want people to see and recognize and experience when they choose to work with me. And so those are the things that I put forth in my marketing and, you know, branding myself and my business.
00:16:35
Speaker
When it comes to the avenues that I use, you know, for marketing, honestly, social media has been my best friend. You know, Facebook, Instagram, I'm starting to get into TikTok. You know, like the videos and things of that nature. But like when I travel and I'm, you know, featuring a resort,
00:17:01
Speaker
or meeting with the wedding coordinator or wedding planner, wedding manager on property, you know, showcasing the property in different wedding locations. I'm able to put all that stuff on social media and that's how I gain a lot of my customers. So I say like majority of my clients come from Facebook and then Instagram. I partner, you know, as you mentioned, I'm a published writer.
00:17:28
Speaker
and write for, and I don't work for them, but I write for Black Bride magazine, which also helps gain more clients because I'm what they call the bridal suite members. So they repost some of my stuff on social media in their stories or on their, on their, their feed, their timeline. They'll post some, repost some of my stuff.
00:17:53
Speaker
you know, feature some of my wedding couples and, you know, see that, Hey, you know, travel agents are out here and making it happen. We're just as important as your wedding planner. Um, and then like, you know, Google, uh, and then one of the biggest things that's near and dear to my heart is word of mouth from previous clients. So those are the ways that I'm able to market and get my name out there and, you know, keep, you know, bringing in new clients. Awesome. Awesome. Very impressive. And thank you for sharing.
00:18:22
Speaker
So another thing I was thinking about that just popped into my
Building Industry Relationships
00:18:30
Speaker
head. We've talked about the travel agent relationship with the client, but I love to learn about what's your relationship like with the venue that you send your clients to? Is there a specific person you work with or how does that partnership come together?
00:18:47
Speaker
So when it comes to the weddings, I build a relationship with, when it comes to actual the resort, of course, the wedding manager or the wedding coordinator. As a travel agent, you wouldn't think that we would have relationships with those individuals at the resort. But because I specialize in destination weddings, that's very important for me because
00:19:12
Speaker
I like for them to put a face to the name so when I get to travel, I set up time to meet with the different wedding planners and coordinators at the resort so they can put a face to the name and I can do the same as well and build that relationship so that my clients have a good experience because I propose just depending on when I do a consultation and I'm talking to a couple about what their wants and needs are for their destination wedding, I'm thinking of resorts that would be a good fit for them.
00:19:42
Speaker
you know, based on where they want to get married, you know, what type of aesthetic they're looking for in the resort. You know, what type of field they want for their wedding, though I'm not a wedding planner. I know I can say, I can reach out to Sandra at Garza Blanca Cancun, she'll take good care of you. Or I can reach out to Maria at Majestic Elegance Posta Mejera, she's going to take good care of you. Those relationships are super important and it
00:20:08
Speaker
when it adds value to me as the travel agent who this couple is trusting to provide a really good resort, a good experience, knowing that I'm working with somebody and I trust and I have this good relationship with this resort and I know they're going to take good care of them, that makes couples feel comfortable and confident in the decisions that they're making for their weddings.
00:20:35
Speaker
When you look at things like honeymoons and bachelorette trips, a lot of it is social media or talking to other travel agents. I have a really good network of travel agents that I communicate with. Iron sharpens iron. You got to have good people that you can reach out to that can and can assist you because I can't do this all by myself if I don't know everything. But I have that community where I can say, hey,
00:21:03
Speaker
I've got a bachelorette group of 15 young women. This is what they're looking for, but I can't really put my finger on it. What do y'all suggest? Then I'm giving them a flood of different resort options that I can then present to them and confidently say, hey, I haven't been here before and I haven't sent anybody here before, but I had another travel agent that highly recommended this place for you. So having those resources helps.
00:21:32
Speaker
And then also to establishing those relationships, like with the wedding managers, coordinators, planners on property, definitely helps to make the experience, you know, a great experience for my clients. Gotcha. Gotcha. So, since you've been doing this, what has been your proudest achievement? My proudest achievement?
00:22:03
Speaker
I would, I would say really just, just, just doing it. So I'll say like 2020 was a really hard year. Um, you know, like losing my job and then, you know, COVID and, you know, staying in place and you can't do this and you can't do that. Um, you know,
00:22:22
Speaker
As I mentioned earlier, doing this full time was like a five to seven year goal of mine. I didn't expect to do this full time two years later. And in that time when I lost my job, I was looking, I can't tell you how many places I applied to, how many interviews I did, but
00:22:47
Speaker
something was telling me, this is your time to prepare, you know, your business for what's to come. You know, nobody ever thinks, you know, of starting or going full time into a travel agency, you know, during a global pandemic, ain't nobody traveling. Right. So I think, you know, what was my proudest moment was
00:23:15
Speaker
looking in the future and not being focusing on where I was in that moment and knowing that God's got me. He made you say yes to this opportunity in 2018 two whole years ago because he knew that this was going to be your time and he had to do what you needed to do to prepare you for it. So instead of
00:23:39
Speaker
sulking in 2020 and crying over not being hired by this company and that company. I used that time to build myself and build my business to where I am today. And it's still a growing process, still continuing to build. But if I have to say, if I had a proudest moment, that would definitely be it.
00:24:02
Speaker
Gotcha.
Evolution of Travel Agents
00:24:03
Speaker
Well, thank you for that message of preparing yourself and trusting your gut and then salute to you for actually putting the work in and not sulking and believing in yourself. Thank you.
00:24:18
Speaker
So, and you know, one of the reasons I wanted to bring you on the show is because you even mentioned earlier that travel agents aren't your parents, or no, you had said bachelorette, bachelorette and bachelorette parties aren't our parents' parties anymore. And I was thinking that, you know, there's still an antiquated thinking about what a travel agent is from TV shows in the 90s and the 80s versus what it is now in the 2020s.
00:24:48
Speaker
So could you share what is, what is the biggest difference or misnomer or what has changed the most between what people see on TV or what a travel agent did in the 90s versus what you all do now? Okay.
00:25:07
Speaker
From what I, you know, I can envision, you know, as, you know, when, when the, when my classmates, they share to me about being a travel agent, you know, it was simply just like almost like just taking orders and hey, this is what I want. Can you do this for me?
00:25:23
Speaker
Um, no, you can't. Okay. I'm going to go on to somebody else. Um, or, Hey, book this flight. You know, that was like a lot of what I got in the beginning. Like, Hey, can you put this fight for me? And as I got into the industry and it'll start really working, I'm like, no, I won't just book a flight for you because that's not all the travel agent is.
00:25:44
Speaker
So people just looked at travel agents as help me get here. I just need to get there and that's it. And travel agents do so much more than that. And I think that now we're helping to, we're working towards getting people to shift their focus, shift their minds or disrupt their thoughts on what a travel agent actually is. So we're not just booking flights
00:26:11
Speaker
You know, in booking hotels, you know, we're, as I said earlier, we're travel curators. You know, we're putting together custom proposals for you, you know, putting together custom options, you know, based on the things that you share with us during the consultation. You know, I don't think, you know, in the past, you know, travel agents might not have been doing consultations. It's just like, hey, you said you want this, then this is what I'm going to give you. You know, no questions asked. You know, now we're, you know, doing more of a consultative selling approach, you know,
00:26:41
Speaker
truly understanding what it is that the client is looking for and putting together an itinerary or custom proposal that's going to be based on the things that they truly want in need for their trip. So it's not just a book of flight anymore. It's put together an experience for me.
00:27:00
Speaker
makes sense. Thank you. Thank you so much. And that's exactly why I wanted you to come on to dispel or to just present the new benefits of what a travel agent can provide to people. So thank you. So now with the next question, I want you to think abstract, okay?
Delivering Happiness as a Travel Agent
00:27:20
Speaker
So imagine you have a painter standing next to you
00:27:25
Speaker
And they want to draw what you do. They want to commemorate what you do into a visual representation, a picture. What would you tell that artist to describe? Or how would you describe what being a travel agent is like? I would describe it as, that's a good question, Brandon.
00:27:55
Speaker
Here's, here's what I would, I would have them draw like a happy face. Okay. Yellow happy faces with, you know, big smiling, but big smile on it because
00:28:08
Speaker
When you're traveling, the goal is either relaxation or you're going to have fun. It's not sad faces or rain or clouds. You're going for an experience, something that's going to either restore you or something fun. So I don't think that
00:28:33
Speaker
I don't think that anybody looking to go on vacation is looking to be sad and not have fun. So I would say that I would have them draw a happy face because that's what we deliver. We deliver a good time. At least that's our goal, to deliver a good time, a great experience. Clients should have a smile from beginning to end. So if I had to have them depict what that would look like for me, it would be a smiley face.
00:29:04
Speaker
Yeah, I would say that because our goal is to make people happy. Yeah. Yeah. And that's what we do. That's exactly what we do. We make people happy. Yeah. I love that you use the word restore too. That brought a good...
00:29:22
Speaker
What's the right word I'm thinking of now? But I just love that. I love that action verbal story, like refilling your tank and that you are a key part. Like you're going to always be a part of people's memories because of what you're able to provide them. That's awesome. Absolutely. Absolutely. So I want to ride, ride, ride, ride.
00:29:45
Speaker
Because otherwise it can go all the way left and then they're roasting you the whole time on social media and that. Yeah. So now I want to switch things a bit because we've talked a lot about the good of what you do and a lot of positive experiences that you've had.
Importance of Customer Service
00:30:04
Speaker
But as with anything, there can be a bad or ugly side or some watch outs. So if somebody was thinking about jumping full time into being a travel agent, what is a watch out that you would give them? Or maybe a bad experience that you had early on that you would just prepare them for? Yeah, what's a watch out that you would give somebody?
00:30:32
Speaker
Well, I would say that a person wanting to be a travel agent and doing this full time is that you have to remember, um, and this, this probably was a slight tough one for me that you have to remember that you're in customer service, right? Like your goal, you're, you know, somebody's hiring you or, you know, your, your task to complete something, you know, in a timely manner for somebody and you know, you do have to,
00:31:02
Speaker
It is customer service in in in some in a lot of instances, yes, the customers always right, you know, and you have to just
00:31:11
Speaker
you know, smile through some of the, some of the tough parts of it, you know, take everything as a learning lesson. Um, you know, because you're not always going to be right. And even though when you're right, you know, you still want that customer to give you a good review, you know, um, still refer you to somebody, you know, to a friend or, you know, family or, you know, comment on your post that, you know,
00:31:36
Speaker
They did a great job. You still have to remember that you're in customer service. So I do think that that's probably one of the things that could break somebody in this industry. I had a bride who reached out to me. I did a consultation with her last year, and then she reached back out to me several times and was like, man, I should have hired you. Man, I should have hired you.
00:32:04
Speaker
That's a great compliment. Right. And this is without hiring me. I wish I would have hired you. And so we ended up talking this year and she told me how she, she, she, she didn't want to pay my fee. So she didn't want to hire me. Um, but she knew she should have, she ended up hiring like her sister's best friend, you know, who was like, Oh, I'll do it for free.
00:32:30
Speaker
And it was the worst experience ever, like her sister and the friend are no longer speaking. She's no longer speaking, you know, to that travel agent. And she was like, the travel agent cussed her out and, you know, all these different things and told her all this about herself. And it's like,
00:32:49
Speaker
She had a very bad experience. She's like, I'd never, ever, ever refer anybody to her. And sometimes you just have to remember it's not about you, it's about the business. Do you want to live to see another day in this industry? Because social media, like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google, people will let you know.
00:33:15
Speaker
Well, they'll let others know where we see it with no big companies. We see it with, you know, small businesses, like, you know, you have to be ready to always deliver, you know, a high level of customer service because it could definitely be either the benefit or detriment to your business. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Well.
00:33:35
Speaker
That is a very unfortunate experience by that bride. Yeah, and anytime you try to go cheap with something, you're going to get burnt. So it always, it pays just to pay. It pays just to pay. So hopefully she learned her lesson and moving forward in her marriage and her life, you know, she'll just know that making that financial investment will ultimately lead to a better result for her in the end. Right, right, right, right.
Handling Challenging Client Relationships
00:34:02
Speaker
Have you ever had a wild experience with a customer or like what's been, what's been like that woof moment? Like I did not expect this happened to me being a travel agent, but that was kind of a crazy experience. Anything like that ever happened? Oh, absolutely. And so I hope your listeners, I'm going to say, you know, listeners put your seat belts on because you're about to. You're going to go for a ride. So, um,
00:34:32
Speaker
Around this time last year, I was actually hired by a bride for her wedding that was supposed to take place July, what was it supposed to be July 2nd or July 3rd of this year. And, you know, sometimes like, you know, you have your that gut feeling of your intuition, you know, in
00:34:55
Speaker
My advice is, you know, don't be afraid to follow it, right? Because, excuse me, it was just something about this bride when we first started that I knew something wasn't right. So like, you know, like, so it was actually a little further on in 2021. It was like closer to Christmas time. And I was pregnant. I was about seven months pregnant during, during the holidays.
00:35:19
Speaker
So I took two weeks off and when she hired me, like right after Thanksgiving, like I let her know like, hey, we're gonna be out, you know, you know, these last two weeks of the year. So anything that we don't get done before, we're gonna get done at the beginning of the year. Well, during the break, she was calling me and emailing me and sending me text messages about her wedding website and all this stuff like that and I'm like,
00:35:48
Speaker
Well, my website designer is out, you know, we will resume, you know, in January. And, um, you know, it's just, she just, you know, it was just like back and forth and back and forth. And then, um, the resort she chose was a resort that I did not recommend, but her wedding planner recommended the resort. And I told her, no, this is your wedding.
00:36:12
Speaker
Here's my, here's my advice on this resort, but ultimately you hired me to do a job. I'm going to give you my, my honest opinion, but ultimately it's your decision. She decided to move forward with that resort. It was terrible. We had to change resorts in the middle of, um, of booking and like, you know, like with a wedding with room blocks, like you have to find a contract.
00:36:39
Speaker
And you're subject to different cancellation terms. You're subject to different cancellation terms other than you're just booking a trip. Sometimes you can cancel the night within 24 hours. You can't do that with a room block contract. You have payment deadlines that are required that you don't have, and you're just booking a room on your own. So unfortunately, we had to change resorts in the middle of booking.
00:37:08
Speaker
And then she was upset because they still had the same payment deadline. Well, I'm like, well, you're still, you're not pushing your wedding back. You know, we're, we're, you know, making it farther to change the dates. You know, the payments are still, they'll do at the same time they're due. Well, this fast forward, this was Memorial Day weekend. I get an email from the bride.
00:37:34
Speaker
And she was like, you know, unfortunately, I just found out that my father passed away and, um, we have decided to postpone our wedding, you know, and she, she gave me a date, you know, we're thinking that grandma postponed it to August 2nd. I just can't think about planning a wedding right now with my dad, you know, recently passing away.
00:37:53
Speaker
And for me, you know, I haven't lost my dad in 2015 before I got married, like immediately, like my heart went out to her. So, you know, I'm making calls, I'm sending emails, you know, trying to get everything done, you know, but this, her father unfortunately passed when they were in penalty, like a hundred percent penalty for cancellations. So.
00:38:17
Speaker
I'm trying to advise her guests who didn't have travel protection. If you can't rebook your room for the new dates, unfortunately, you're going to lose your money. You chose not to add travel protection and you can't travel on the new dates. It's out of my hands. She signed a contract. It was a big mess, Brandon, big mess.
00:38:41
Speaker
Fast forward, this is going to be like, like maybe three, four weeks later, you know, as we're, I'm trying, still trying to work on getting everything done with a new contract and everything. One of her cousins, like she's calling me and she, no lie, she called me like six times in one minute. So at this, like I was on a call, you know, I'm doing a training and I'm, you know, and I'm just like, I'm like, I've had it. Okay.
00:39:09
Speaker
What's going on? So I call her, you know, she's yelling at me and I'm yelling back at her and I'm like, you know, at the same time, I know it's a customer service, but the customer service is like, we know, right? Cause she's like six times in one minute. So we hang up, right? Unless she sends me a text message and she's like, you know, and you're a liar saying that her dad died. And that's why she postponed her wedding when her dad died 10 years ago.
00:39:42
Speaker
I picked up that phone, I said, excuse me, what did you just say? Right, what? Wait, what? But the woman was claiming like that her father had just died that year? Yes, yes.
00:39:56
Speaker
So the cousin, now the cousin is my best friend, right? Now she's my best friend because now she's finding out that she lied to me. So she sends me an Instagram post that she shared, saying how I can't believe it's 10 years. This was Father's Day, how she can't believe it's been 10 years. And all this stuff, and I'm like, wow, she really played me. She really played me.
00:40:32
Speaker
That's how you get that juju in your life. By using that, that is jaw-dropping. Somebody would use that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know, like, I had my feelings, you know, because, like, she had another cousin who needed to go to Jamaica because they're Jamaican and, like, you know, they needed to go at that time. And luckily, I was able to get the resort to agree to let them keep their reservation.
00:40:52
Speaker
That's how you bring some bad juju in your life.
00:41:02
Speaker
but you know everybody else had to face penalties and then like the hotel was nice even though i told them that she lied because i had to remove myself from her because i couldn't no longer be aligned and work with her you know i had to remove myself and i notified the hotel you know that she she lied and things of that nature they still were very gracious and reduced the penalty to just a one night penalty instead of the full three or four nights based on what how the rooms were booked
00:41:29
Speaker
Yeah, this girl had everybody file chargebacks on their credit cards. As if they were false. Wow. Wow. She really? Yes. I mean, it still gets worse from there. So, you know, I just, you know, I had to, I mean, I lost a lot in that, you know, because of, because of her, her, her lies and her behavior, you know, but, you know, for, for that.
00:41:59
Speaker
You know, my word for 2022 was discernment. You know, I have to respectfully, you know, you know, pass you on to somebody else because I, I pray to God. I never had an experience like that again. The relationship is a two way street. It's not just them with the power as a customer. You also as the agent have to want to work with them also have a sense of trust. So totally understand. Absolutely.
00:42:28
Speaker
Absolutely. Well, thank you for sharing that. I think that also applies to like that watch out. You know, if somebody decides to go into this, be discerning with who decided to take one as a potential client or customer, ask questions, get to know them more than the surface level so that you can protect yourself in a way, I guess. Because you said you lost a lot also, so you need to be protecting yourself as well. So thank you for sharing that story and that message.
00:42:57
Speaker
I intend for that to be a learning opportunity for people who are listening and considering it. So thank you. Absolutely. You're welcome. You're welcome.
Final Thoughts and Gratitude
00:43:06
Speaker
So we are coming to the end of the show, which I have thoroughly enjoyed. And I have a curveball question for you. It's not something I sent ahead. It's a really fun question. It gives the listeners a chance to learn a little bit about who you are. And there is no right or wrong answer either. So I imagine your answer tomorrow may change from what it is today. But are you ready? I'm ready. I'm ready.
00:43:37
Speaker
So you have just been hired as an ANR for Def Jam or Columbia Records. And they're giving you an unlimited budget where you can bring on any three artists and one producer or beat maker. Who are the artists and the beat maker that you would choose for this song?
00:44:05
Speaker
Okay. Three artists and one producer or the maker. Okay. Well, of course, it definitely depends on what mood I'm in. Exactly. Right. Right. That's why there's no right or wrong answer. Right. Okay. I would definitely choose my favorite artist. My favorite artist. Probably not everybody else's favorite artist, but
00:44:32
Speaker
Karen Bailey Ray, that is my girl. I have all of her albums. I love her music. That's actually what, when I'm doing like, don't drive me Houston and driving to Oklahoma, that's what I put on. And singing on the top of my lungs. So, I would probably...
00:45:03
Speaker
Who else would, I would probably bring Cardi B. I'd bring Cardi B. Okay, okay. I'd bring her. This all be shaping up, okay. Yeah, I like Cardi B. And then I would probably, hmm.
00:45:27
Speaker
Who would my third person be? See that current baby red dot cardi? Ah, let me breathe. I don't know why T.I. keeps blowing up in my head, but I think I'll probably be T.I. Legend. You know, the T.I. can be in now too, so we'll rap and I'll get some laughs. So I'll do T.I. Have you seen his stand-ups? I mean, his stand-ups I've seen online didn't really hit the mark, but being a stand-up comedian does a hard job.
00:45:58
Speaker
I haven't seen any. I mean, I've seen the transformation. He done grew out his hair. He got dressed now. And I've heard that he's doing comedy, so if he's not... We are not old heads, hey. We are not old heads. I will not claim that. Not yet, Amy. Let me take back that hello there.
00:46:30
Speaker
But I would say, yeah, I hadn't seen his comedy, but, you know, I'll probably help him work on it because we're not doing it. So TI, Cardi B, and Karine Bailey, right? Those would be my three. And then producer. I'll probably. OK. Do you know who? Can I trade TI?
00:46:59
Speaker
Yeah. Have you heard of La Russell? You know who La Russell is? Okay. You got to look him up. Okay. La Russell. He is a phenomenal rapper. My husband put me on to him. He is a phenomenal rapper. Phenomenal. Um, so I would bring La Russell and I don't know the name of his producer.
00:47:29
Speaker
But I bring him with him. Okay. All right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My husband is into producing and he, you know, he made speech and stuff like that. And the way he, he talks to me and breaks it down how the Russell.
00:47:46
Speaker
producer does things. I mean like just like my husband he's like all into it you know so you know it's probably a tie between my husband and Larosa's producer but I probably bring Larosa's producer just so he could you know teach my husband how he does what he does because he's just he loves it. Awesome awesome and well
00:48:10
Speaker
Thank you so much for answering that question. I know it can be tough especially put on the spot and there's so many artists out there and you have to just come down to three but I appreciate you giving it a try and I took a note on the Russell so I will go to I'll go to YouTube and check out a couple of his songs and maybe even do a little digging and find out who his producer is. Well Stephanie this has been
00:48:34
Speaker
Yeah, no worries. Well, this has been a great conversation. Thank you so much for coming on again and sharing what the life of a travel agent is. Thank you for teaching me something new about music also. I guess in closing, I'll let everybody know they can find you at kttravelandmore.com. That's kttravelandmore.com.
00:48:59
Speaker
and where else they can find can they find you on instagram and other avenues yes so on instagram and tiktok it's kt travel and more a-n-d-m-o-r-e on facebook forward slash kt traveling more llc um on linkedin kt traveling more llc as well
00:49:28
Speaker
Yeah, those are the main places you can find me. Awesome! And is there anything you would like to leave us with before we go?
00:49:45
Speaker
Well, I do definitely want to thank you, Brandon, for this opportunity. I think your podcast is absolutely amazing. I love what you're doing, giving people, giving other individuals an insight into what your friends do for a living. I think it's an awesome opportunity that gives people the opportunity to showcase what they do day in and day out. We spend a lot of our time at work.
00:50:12
Speaker
So being able to share what we do is amazing. So definitely thank you so much for the platform.