KRISTINA: A Corporate Marketing Maven by Day

Hey everyone, welcome to the No BS Travel Advisor Podcast. I'm Marcie Muensterman, your no fluff, no filter, tell it like it is coach. I'm so excited to bring you the stories, strategies, and straight up truths right from the mouths of your colleagues. So glad to have you here. Let's get to it. Hey everyone, welcome to the No BS Travel Advisor Podcast. I am Marcie Muensterman and I am here today with Christina Fox. She is the Vacay Maker. But before I introduce you to her officially, I want to remind you that I am an 18-year burnout survivor and now travel advisor coach. I say it like it is. I want you guys to always know that this is a safe space and I love helping agents really come into their own, make more money, spending less time at their desk, really exploring the world with their clients and having a really enjoyable travel advisor career. And I'm so excited to have my colleagues, our colleagues come and tell their stories, which is why we're all here. These women have experienced a lot in their life and they're doing multiple things while they're being a travel advisor. And I think what's so special about Christina is that she has by day a corporate career in marketing. She's a mom and We all know being a mom alone, Christina, is like the crazy, right? So thank you for being here and—

Welcome. Thank you for having me.

Introduce yourself.

Yeah, thank you so much for having me and I love being a part of this. Um, so a little bit about myself, building on what you said. Yes, I have a corporate career in marketing. I have 2 passions in life. One is definitely marketing from a corporate perspective. I am a geek. When it comes to the niche that I have in marketing. And people always say I become too passionate. And then my second one is me being the Vacaymaker. So as you heard, I do have a son. I am married. Um, I have 3 dogs, although one passed over the holidays, which was sad. Um, no, thank you.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Thank you. Um, but yeah, there's a lot going on in my world. And quite honestly, when I took this on, when I became the Vacaymaker, it was over 2 years ago. And it was because my son went to high school and my husband looks me and said, you can't read 24 hours or during your downtime. You can't constantly have something in your face. Find something else to do. I said, I'm gonna go become a travel advisor. Yeah. Had this crazy idea and said, this is what I'm gonna do. And I am so glad I did it. And I am, yeah, I don't even know where—

Well, hold on. I have a question about that. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. No, no, no, no, no. That's, this is how this goes. I try to not interrupt, but then I'm like, I'm such an interrupter.

The ADHD is real here.

No, please. Here, here. Um, he said that you've always got your nose in a book. Like, what is your favorite book?

Oh, my favorite book is a book called Emmy Lost and Found. It's by, uh, I forgot last name Scott, but I read lots of different books to get my mind out of it. It's really funny. I did, oh, actually I have it right here. Hold on one second.

Yeah, tell us.

A friend gave me this recently. Um, and it says, I still read fairy tales. They're just spicy. So that's pretty much what I do.

My friends obviously know you, and I, I don't know if you know, I have a book club.

Oh, I didn't know that.

Yes. And so that's where that— Wait, you have to tell me your very favorite book. I started my book club in 2016 when I moved to Tampa. It was like I had 2 friends and I was like, hey, do you guys like to read? Do you wanna, do you know people? And we started this book club and then it kind of fell apart. And yeah, we, I revamped it in 2022 and we've been going ever since. It's such a great. Oh, you don't spend a day of your month. Oh my gosh. I mean, now we're like going out on Tuesday dinners and so, and a lot of them are my clients now. Like it took a little while, but I highly recommend, but I want, yes, I want to add your favorite to my list.

Selfish time.

It was all selfish. I think a husband should be telling us to get our nose out of books.

You know, you're reading, maybe you should do something else because you're not shuttling Harrison around, my son, um, as much as you used to. And that's when I was like, okay, well, what else do I like to do? I mean, I kind of went about it in college. I went to college the same way when I was trying to pick a major. What am I good at? Well, I'm good at talking to people. I'm not afraid. Um, I bartended in college cuz I had to pay for it on my own. And so grit, right? It's like, you know, you—

Bartending and waiting tables in a bar is like legit, like one of their first interactions with the public at their very highest.

I found out years later that, uh, somebody in my corporate world, um, I said, why did you hire me? And he was like, cuz you were a bartender. And I was like, what? And he, he's like, what the hell does that have to do with anything? And he said, because you, if you are a bartender, that means number one, that you're not looking just at the myopic of what's happening right now. You've already surveyed everything that's going on. You know how to upsell because instead of making a drink with just one vodka, you're gonna call it Belvedere or Tito's or whatever it is.

Absolutely.

You're gonna ask and you're gonna keep pulling it up. And I never thought of it. thought of that until after they said it. And I'm like, you know what? You're absolutely right. You know?

Yeah. Bartenders are really good salespeople. And I talk about that a lot when I'm just casually talking about sales because I feel like I've been a salesperson since I was 7. But one of my favorite jobs was waiting tables and bartending because I like, people would be like, how much is the drink? And I'm like, well, it's $9 plus $2 tip. And people would be like, what? And I was like, I walked all the way over here to get this for you. So I've earned it.

It's, um, that's also unabashed, right? It's also the personality because it gives people, um, an insight into who you are. It gives them something to talk about by you saying it. Some people may be offended by it, but others look at it like somebody like me. I look at it and go, no, that just, that's her key point of difference. She just set herself apart from that one. I'm gonna give her that $2 because she did do it right. And you know, that's just kind of who I am. I mean, I walked around over the holidays in Jamaica. It was Christmas. I wore my hat in my bathing suit and I had it on from the plane ride from New York to the next day when the Grinch was on the beach. Like, I just am who I am. And my 15-year-old son is like, hey mom, why does everybody know your name? And I'm like, oh. I think I had a drink with them in the bar. And, you know, you know, it's just—

I love this. I love this. So where did you go in Jamaica? Was it Montego Bay, Negril? Where did you go?

It was closer to the Negril side. They just opened up the Princess Grand in—

Oh, awesome. And you said the food was good. We talked about it before the call. Yeah.

It was amazing. The service was amazing.

You often hear food is amazing in correlation with Jamaica.

Right?

I know. I love this. Jamaica's my very favorite Caribbean island, by the way.

It is too. It's my number one. I, I go back and forth between Mexico and Jamaica. Like when I'm in Jamaica, I'm like, oh, I miss Mexico.

Same. But it's, there is something special in the water in Jamaica, don't you think? Like the culture, the vibe.

The vibe.

I always wanna sell Jamaica when somebody says, oh, Jamaica, I went there on a cruise once. I'm like, nope. No, that is not, that's not the vibe. Like you have to get into it. Like, yeah, talk to the people who work at these resorts.

100%.

And be willing to maybe explore a little off property. I think I've been 18 times and I'm going again in March. Like I'm obsessed with it. I got married there. So every time somebody says Jamaica, I just wanna like heart, like, thank you for going.

That's what I say to everybody. I'm always like, how do I get you to Jamaica? Because you gotta feel the vibe. And, and I recently had a client last night, a potential client who I was like, are you willing to go to Jamaica? You know, everybody talks about the travel advisories and then they get scared. I'm like, the travel advisory has been in place since like 1972.

Oh my gosh. I know.

I'm like, that's one love with Bob Marley. Yeah. That's sending you into the woods on the east side of the island. Like it's—

I just love it too. Like every time, it doesn't matter what time of day it is, it doesn't matter where I'm going. Bob Marley is playing on every single station, and if you understand that vibe at all, I feel like you can definitely embrace Jamaican culture. I also love to talk about when it comes to Jamaica, and I know we're on like a yeah, we're on a world, but what I love to share with clients is that, and I share this with agents who are like, oh, I don't sell Jamaica. People complain about service specifically on TripAdvisor. Well, they were not properly prepared. Prepared for island time. These people are not trying to make your service experience bad. They're just wanting you to embrace their version of chilling the fuck out because their version is so extreme from an American version of chilling. And it's not bad service. They're just not gonna run around like a chicken with their head cut off. They're just not gonna do it. It's not because they don't care about you or Hear about your experience.

Exactly. I mean, their whole, their whole vibe is about relaxation and, you know, take it easy. I mean, think of the words of Bob Marley, right? You don't, you don't even have to be smoking to figure it out. It's like, it's a total vibe of like, just relax, just chill and respect, right? Respect is a big one there. And if you don't respect them when you walk into their culture, you're not going to get the service that you're looking for. I get amazing service when I go.

I said, I have no doubt. Not to mention you have been a bartender. You know how hard these jobs are with all these Americans demanding drinks at like a high rate of speed.

I asked some beach attendant, I thought I'm an idiot. I thought the beach table that was on the other side was really heavy. Otherwise I would've picked it up myself. And he was over there and I was like, would you help Can you keep getting that and bringing it over? And he did. I still thought it was heavy, but I gave him a couple bucks, right? Because it's a couple bucks. And he was like, respect, respect. And dude, yeah, I have respect for you. I realized that it was light as a feather and I'm an idiot and could have picked it up myself.

You're on vacation and he didn't have money to spend. I gave it to him, so it's a good relationship from the jump. I always tell people, just give Jamaica a chance because it is some of the most beautiful weather all year. There's very rarely, even in hurricane season, they typically have pretty decent weather. And the sunsets from Montego Bay to Negril are just, I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it. Like, I can't wait to take my mom in March. Oh, I'm so jealous you got to go over Christmas because I guarantee that weather was banging.

It was good, but it was good. I mean, not a bad way to spend Christmas.

I love that. I'd really excited to talk to you about how balancing corporate America and being a travel advisor, what does that really look like? Because you love your job. You're not, I mean, are you trying to get out? I don't think you are. So you're like, oh, I love my job.

But, um, yeah, so the balance, the balance, the balance, the balance I owe to you. And I'm not just saying that. And she is, so whoever's listening, it's not because I'm like, hey, Marcie's paying me. It's just respect. When I first started this, Um, 2 years ago, I didn't come out saying, okay, I'm going to make money. I'm going to become a travel advisor. This is what I'm going to do. First of all, I had a peer who's already a travel advisor. Hey, Michelle. Um, who actually told me, Christina, it's not going to ramp up for at least 3 years.

Love a realist because it does take about 3 years.

So then I started getting into it and I was like, okay, well, I can in corporate America. This is what I do. As you've said, and I keep repeating myself, sorry. But I can make you drink creamers cuz I work on coffee creamers and water and coffee. But I'm like, I can sell this to you. But the way that I do it, what I've quickly learned is not how you work within the travel industry. So I had to do a lot of education. I probably spent probably the first like 6, 7 months just understanding because it was, so it was a lot of reading, maybe not a book, but I was reading. Other things in understanding, um, just what I need to do. And then the question, because my husband said to me, how are you gonna do this if you're not gonna quit your job? And I'm like, I'm not gonna quit my job. And that's again, bringing it full circle how I found you. I started following, um, you know, the different Facebook Maximize, and then I started—

How did you find Maximize? I'm always curious because I feel like the way people find me is Obviously now Facebook suggests me, which is fantastic. Thank you, Facebook. But like in the early days, yeah, like 500 people in there, wasn't it? But I feel like you've been there a long time, Christina. Like almost the whole time I've been there.

Yeah, 100%.

It's only a 2-year-old group.

I just search words and Google.

I was just trying to figure out, you know, even on Facebook, y'all listen to what I say.

Yes. Like. I started looking at words and then I started pulling 'em apart and saying, okay, well, you know, here's what do I have to do for to be a TA? What do I have to do for here? And I just started pulling it apart and then I just watched. There's a lot of us. I was not as vocal as you can sit and have conversation with me like this or be in a bar with me and I, I'll talk till the end of the day. But when it became a social, I wasn't that. into it because I was like, I followed because I had to with my day job.

Common. Yeah.

So I, I watched, I stalked, I looked, I understood, and then I was like, okay. Then I put the toe in the water and bought the Facebook course and I was like, huh, interesting.

You know? I feel like when you purchased though, you came out like you were all over the Facebook group.

Oh yeah.

Like that exclusive group. For those of you who don't know, I have an exclusive group. For each of my courses and the Facebook one is probably the most active now. It has the most clients in it, but you were right out there right from the beginning. I remember.

You know, I watched it and I embraced it and I was like, okay, this is my tribe. This is like who I am because I'm no bullshit either. I like, yeah, I can't, I can't fake it ever. Like if you know me just on a daily basis, I can, I can't lie. I try, but like, not really. But you know what I'm saying is like, you try to not do something and people just read it on my face and I'm just, I suck at it. And so I came out, I embraced it and I was like, yeah, all right, this is my tribe. And then I elevated, right? And I went to the next course and I was like, okay, I'm gonna propose to close. Because at that point I only had like 2 clients, 3. One of 'em was my husband. So?

I was like, okay. Sometimes our husbands are our worst clients. So I think it's a good, it's a good training wheel situation.

Then I was like, all right, I have to go to Propose Close. But I jumped all in on the Facebook groups and I really follow it to this day. I, while I still use your Trello board, I still use Excel mostly.

That's all right.

I, I'm a visual person.

I put it back in because I was like, oh, this was very helpful. And I was looking at it in a different perspective, but I'm glad they're both in there. But I do see on your form that you did have a hesitation on the price point. Can you tell me a little bit more about how that kind of held you back a little? And then, because you said that you've bought a lot of stuff during your training days, like weren't really sure about. Yeah.

Um, there were, if there were quite a few things, you know, when you come into this and you're investing in, you're like, okay, where do I put the investment? I mean, yeah. The Facebook group was the first investment I made. Um, the second investment was Proposed to Close. Then I started adding Canva and then, uh, I went, I went to Canva Pro. I started off on a trial. I went to Canva Pro. Then, um, I love Canva, by the way. I think it's— Oh my gosh.

I'm obsessed with it. I wish I wasn't. It's always on like multiple tabs.

Yeah, exactly.

I was messing around in there.

It was what really put me is commission with comma because I did, I did end up buying it.

Yeah.

So I was like, okay, I need to take a step back. And then I had FOMO. Um, and then you extended the sale from Black Friday and it was like the last day, probably the last hour. And I was like, I have to do it. I have to do it.

Let me just say I have a coach and they help me with this type of thing and I'm often trying to Explain the investment for travel advisors is a little like I have to be so conscientious. I originally was going to price it a little bit lower, but she's like, Mars on commission with a comma pays for this for them, and it's so much stuff because she's like, you never stop adding. She really had to convince me because, and I don't want anybody to be mad about it, it's worth the money. But I think I am always thinking. What did it look like for me when I was a new advisor and I did not have any income coming in? And I think there's just so much to be said for charging a fee so that you can actually start investing in your business sooner. But also, I had wished somebody had told me 18 years ago that I needed $5,000 to $10,000 so then I could freely invest, not in my stuff necessarily, but other things. I mean, And, you know, you get invited on certain things and you wanna go, but you still have to pay. You still have, there, like even the retreat I'm going on in March that is actually a reward, um, that I earned is still $200 plus air. I mean, yeah, you don't have $200 plus air, which doesn't sound like very much. I'm just saying nothing's 100% free. Having $5,000 your first couple years to quote unquote like play with. Is, it's huge. And you can, you know, hopefully start, especially with my courses, the idea is you only have to do X amount of work to get back your ROI.

Yep.

I know it's an investment.

You had said 2 things though that, um, while I make a joke about FOMO, is you said 2 things that were, I think are very important. Um, and kind of go back to what I tell folks, right? Is that one, you, hey, speed. Let's take that as like a, put a pin in that one for one quick second. But the other part is just listening to others and believing in what you're offering, right? And I think that's something that you've, not just you, but what I've read and educated myself on. Um, and quite honestly, personally, I think by becoming a travel advisor, I've come out of my shell. I have believed in myself so much. And I think anyone out there, number one takeaway. Believe in yourself because you're not, if you don't believe in yourself, you're not going to get very far on this. And take it slow. Don't expect that you're going to become a sensation overnight or that super successful because you have to learn to be trusted. You have to learn to have that respect that we were talking about, like in the Jamaican culture. Oh, I mean, think about it. It really is a great foundation. If you don't have the respect or the, you know, the belief in yourself, you're, you're not going to make it anywhere.

Fees. 100%.

Bringing it back to what you said. Yeah, I had to take a step back. I was saying, you know what, I can't, I can't afford to do this right now. Not because I didn't have the money sitting there, but I just wasn't prepared. I was spending a lot, right? All of my dues, uh, like between my host fees, I'm part of Mexperts with Lori's amazing. I know, right?

Um, I mean, she got person of the year last year.

I know.

And then just, she's just amazing. So. Again, I think I've already talked about Lori in one of my other episodes, but if you do not have Mexperts and you sell all-inclusive properties, you are missing out. So grab that. I'll put it in the show notes, but go ahead, Christina.

It was all coming together, but one of the things is fees, right? It's a very, you talk to different people, they give you every conversation and their opinion and, you know, do you charge fees? Don't you charge fees? I didn't charge fees when I started. Uh, I didn't feel like I was deserving of it. Uh, which in hindsight, I probably should have started sooner. And like what you were saying is that it helps to build that cushion to help me invest in myself to build or invest in my business.

Yes. I mean, what's worth like our value of time and energy? And I always just kind of compare it to lawn care or things that we don't Absolutely need. I mean, we are experts in our own business, and we're taking that time to research and give you this incredible opportunity. I do think our time is worth something, and everybody gets to decide what that is. I'm not gonna—I mean, I always say start at 150. Like, it's a nice like amount that it's a little skin in the game on both sides, and I'm just so excited to get started when I get a fee. Like, okay. This is gonna be awesome.

100%.

You know, it's a team effort partnership and, you know, it's, it just has, it's faith on both sides. I feel like there's so many things besides just, oh, I get this fee, but it could take us hours and hours and hours to put together a few proposals. And especially if you're doing FIT, but even if you're not, if you're looking for that perfect property, I mean, we wanna make sure that we have the hours in the day to do it and the It allows your reputation to stand up for itself, right?

So while you have to believe in yourself, but you also, by going in and saying and holding to it that I have fees and this is, you know, I, I call it like you do, the concierge fee of, you know, this is what I'm gonna provide you because this is what I'm doing for you. And it sets the tone, it sets the boundaries. And then I, I sit back and I'm like, okay. Well, you can choose to pay me or you don't. I believe in myself now. In the beginning, I was chasing every lead and it's—

Well, it becomes exhausting when we are chasing that lead or chasing that sale down the DM rabbit hole. It's, it doesn't feel like a relationship. It literally starts to feel like, oh my gosh, I am annoying this person. I don't wanna be salesy. I'm just like, well, get outta the DMs then because you're perpetuating that conversation in a place that's impersonal and They might've sent this to 5 different people, cuz I know I do when I'm looking for a window washer or a lawn care provider. I'm just sending out the DMs real quick and I always respond well to somebody who picks up the phone or texts me and get, kind of gets it outta the DMs. Yeah. Give me their service information, share with me what they actually provide.

Oh my God. I had this same conversation with my friend Michelle this morning is because just in the last week, and I'm, I'm not making this shit up, I swear to God.

No, you're not. Oh.

Just this past week, there were 3 things that happened. Um, and I related back to just in the shifting mindset and the way that we've, I've learned to set up the boundaries to do both of the things that I love. But one was, um, I got put out on, my name got put out there in one of the community boards, uh, Facebook boards, which I love. And I can, you know, I'll respond back and just be like, Hey, I'm happy to help. Or, you know, I used to respond, I should say, I used to respond back and say, I'm happy to help. Here's my Facebook group kind of thing. Like, and then 20 other people would jump over the top of it and be like, I'm the only travel agent in town. And you know, everything else. And I'm like, okay, I got over that. I'm not you. I'm not gonna fight with you over this. You know, I live in the tri-state area. There's enough people out here. I have a reputation in my town now. You wanna fight over that? Go fight over it. I don't have time for that bullshit. And then, so that was number one that happened, and it was the first time that I actually sat back and was like, you know what, I'm not really gonna respond on that one. Second thing that happened is that I got a DM on Facebook literally 2 days ago, and somebody's like, hey, my name, your name came up and I would love to talk to you about a trip to England. And I'm like, okay. And they were like, well, specifically about transportation. And I wrote back very nicely and I said, I don't do just transportation. I, you know, this is how I work. And then I also added in very nicely emojis, cuz I like emojis. I'm a girly girl. But I wrote back and just said that it's, I also charge a planning fee and this and that and the other thing. And they wrote back and said, oh, you know, I wasn't sure how to work with a travel advisor and I didn't know about this. Let me talk to my wife and I'll get back to you. And I was like, okay, like you're kicking tires and I'm not gonna go through it and I'm good. Let's release. I gave you my calendar link. I told you about my Facebook. I don't know where you found me. That's cool. I charge a fee. If you wanna walk away, walk away. And then the third thing was that the power of social media. Um, a friend of mine does run a mommy blog or a mommy Facebook group in one of the local towns, and somebody was looking for a travel agent, so she put my name out there and she said, get this. Nice. Just yesterday morning and said, Christina just booked, um, a trip for us for Antigua for spring break. I highly recommend her. So I, she texted me to tell me to do that. I went to go respond before I could even respond. The woman who, the author had already looked me up. So, and I had just recently pinged like, hey, you know, here's my Facebook group. We celebrated over a year, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I just pinned that on my personal page. She already joined.

Oh, what a coincidence. Wait, guys, hold on. We're gonna pause. Her celebration of her year onto her personal page at the very top of her timeline, which I assume was a public post.

Yep. Yep. Okay. Pinned it up there. And so this woman already looked me up, already joined my group, like last, and then started DMing me and I'm like, Whoa, whoa, whoa. And then, because I learned my lesson yesterday, because this is a process of learning, right? Everything that we're doing from the day I started till today, I learn every day. And if I'm not willing to learn, then I'm not going to be successful. And one of the things was that she immediately went on my calendar, Calendly, and booked something for last night. And that's when what I learned is I don't like same-day appointments.

So never set that up. Oh my gosh, that's so funny. I don't either, but sometimes it's okay if I control it from the DM, but like, if it's like, oh, they just snag something and you're like, I'm not prepared.

Exactly. She should have paid me for like 5 o'clock yesterday.

And I was like, oh my God, that's so mean.

I was fine. It all worked out. And you know, I went through the whole thing and right now I'm just waiting for her to pay the fee. And here's the funnier part. Sorry, I'm all over the place. About the fee, going back to the fee, I was charging like it was a family of 4 adults going to an all-inclusive. And I just, as I admitted to you, I started in September and my fee changes. 4 adults, 40s and 50s celebrating dad's 80th birthday. And I know all-inclusives in the Caribbean like the back of my hand. So I was like, well, my planning fee is going to be like $200. Her, the look on her face, this is the second time in the last month. I was like, okay, so look what— she goes, that's it? For everything that you're gonna provide, that's it? And I'm like, and I said to her, yes, look, I, and I told her the truth. I didn't start planning fees. I didn't believe in it. I'm very transparent. And you're the second one who's apparently I need to up my fees. And so I've learned.

Every single time somebody has said that to me, I increase my fee.

Yep. So going forward, I'm increasing my fee because—

Good for you.

Learning, right?

And we're not saying, you know, blow it out, but you are providing high levels of white glove service. I know you do because we've talked about this and I know that that's very important to you and your business. And that is valuable, that extra care. And we're not saying that people who don't charge fees don't provide it, but it comes at a— I just believe my service is just So elevated, and it gives me permission to be up in their business. Like I love yeah, I love to text while you're on vacation. People are like, don't they don't want to be bothered? And I was like, well, they know in advance. I mean, it's part of the experience that you're going to get with me. I love that she saw your value. She appreciated you, and she was up in your stuff like right away. Oh, it's like wow!

And I ended up just from putting that out there and. Here's another tip. By putting it pinned and putting it out there, somebody else joined my group yesterday too. Absolutely. They found me, they looked at my page, and then they went. And I also put it on my business Facebook page, which I use as a billboard. Very rarely do I even post, but just, I kind of put it out there so I keep it active. But that's where it was. Little by little, right?

Um, little by little. And I think what you're saying here is. First of all, congratulations. Like, it's amazing to, if you put a little bit of effort, I always say it's a percentage of your time in marketing, right? And you know that with your day job, but I think with when it comes to the social media side, the more consistent you're willing to show up, those Pied Pipers, I hate that word. I say that every episode, but it really is a thing. Yeah. Just having that support. But a lot of people are like, oh, I don't want to be included on those Facebook posts. But the thing about it is, guys, is that. When somebody tags you, you don't even need to speak directly to the original poster. You have to think about your aligned client, who you're attracting, and what they would want to hear from you on this thread. I just always encourage you guys to give a little bit of advice, add a little bit of value to the conversation. Don't just say, I can help you, right? Or, oh, let me know if I can help, or I'll shoot you a DM. Don't. Give yourself permission to roll up like that, but do give yourself permission to say something valuable, a tip perhaps about what they've asked. The other day I was tagged on Facebook by a really good friend of mine, and all it said was, I'm looking for a travel agent in the area. And of course there's dozens and I know most of them. They're, yeah, they're part of my community. And I got tagged by the admin of the group and I love her. And I just said, hey, thanks for the tag, Jen. Depending on where you're going. I would be interested in chatting with you. Here is the link to my group. But just keep in mind that we're all probably experts in different things. So I kind of like talked about all of us. So definitely check all of us out and see who you get to know the best. I really think it's important that we just give each other that space to breathe on those posts too, because I'm not trying to book anything I don't want to book. And I'm really shifting my niche right now. So even if I used to do it, Jen probably wouldn't know that I'm now shifting unless I tell her. So I did post it on there. I said, my niche is I'm starting to specialize in high-end luxury Italy. This person did not join the group. However, 3 other people from my community did join the group. Yes. Right. So it's not just, I'm not even trying to get the business from the original post. I am just educating this entire— anyone reading this post on what I do. And that's really what I coach to you guys. But I'm really encouraged by the pinned personal post too, because A, you're celebrating yourself, which we just don't do enough. Women just—

No, we don't.

We're horrible at it. We are horrible. And even, oh my gosh, I don't know if you saw my post yesterday. I celebrated the fact that I'm completely independent now. I have my own agency, which is Insane. But I didn't expect that response of, I think I have like over 100 congratulation comments and that wasn't even really, I wasn't posting it for that, but it made me feel so happy that even though I've been doing this for so long, there is this always a level up that you can go.

100%.

They were like so happy for me and I was like, I'm happy for me too. And I didn't even realize how happy I was. No. And so—

That's the most amazing part. And then you should.

Yes.

The journey that I found just in doing this. Yes, I love travel. I love helping people plan. And I'm sure, I mean, you're the same. My friend Michelle is, Lori, like there's so many people in our community who are the same thing, right? But it's that journey of believing in yourself and what you're learning and how you're going. It's from a personal growth perspective, not just a monetary perspective, is the way that I look at it. Right? Is that sure? Do I like the money? Oh yeah. You know, like who doesn't? And yet I am very fortunate that I have a full-time job. Um, I don't have to, but I do. You know, my husband's constantly trying to get me to retire and I'm like, I'm not at the age to retire yet. I mean, I guess I could, but I don't want to. And he is like, but you'll, you could do, you know, the vacay maker. And I'm like, but I don't want to, like, I, I like Both right now and eventually, but I also think I have so much to learn still. So it's been 2 years and there's so much I talked to you about. I did this and this happened, you know, and I'm like, oh, okay. You know?

Oh my gosh. I mean, you could literally try to learn every single nook and cranny of the world and never get through it in your lifetime. If you're not still learning as a travel advisor every day, I do think you're doing it wrong because—

I 100% agree.

It does not matter if you've been here 2 years, 12 years, 25 years. And we all know those agents that have been around forever, but I know that they're still learning. I talk to them. I, you know, and the biggest thing, the biggest takeaway I always take away from those conversations is that they're very open to learning. And I especially love it when they're opening to learning from me because I am teaching kind of different, different ideas. And, and I just, I love it when you have that open mind because it also means there's so much room for pivoting and making decisions that make more sense for your business, your lifestyle. And I think you're a testament too to that full-time day job worker who thinks, oh, I'm, I can't tell anyone that I have a day job or I have to work certain hours. I have to work through my lunch break. And it's like, well, you don't get to do that. You get to pick your hours.

Present.

Yeah. So I— through your weekends or what are you doing over there? Not working too much, I hope, but what do you—

Not at all. I set it all up. So, you know, based on the boundaries and the learnings that you provided of saying, you know what, so here's my calendar. I will take Consultation calls from 5 to 7 PM. And 2 days a week, it varies depending on what I have going on in my personal life. Um, I love that. Work life, professional life, because I do travel a lot from—

I was just gonna ask, do you have to travel for your day job?

I do. I do.

Wow. You are, you are really the juggling master.

Yeah. And so I'll, I'll go in and change it on a weekly basis of saying, all right, this is what I'm doing. I'll put it out into My Facebook group and saying, you know, here's when I'm available if you want me, you know, I will spend consultation calls 2 hours on the weekend, Saturday and Sunday. I only put it on there for like 10 to 12. And then I'll probably spend, I think all in all, it's about 15 to 20 hours that I'll spend on the bank anchor versus what I do during the week, which seems like a lot. I mean, it's a part-time job. But I spend a lot on social media, which probably I shouldn't spend as much time as I do, but like I get caught up in that, in that Canva. But I think I'm getting better at it. That's, you know, I'm learning. In the beginning I was like, my God. And I was spending every Saturday and Sunday most of the day doing it. And now I'm not like, so now, you know, I plan it out a week in advance. If I go 2 weeks, yay. You know, it gets me.

But I mean, it gets easier and then there's gonna be those times when it's the holidays or I have a hard day or I have something difficult going on at home or the distractions of life. But what I love about Facebook groups especially is that you can come back to it whenever you want. You can take a break if you absolutely need a break. We talk about this in the group all the time cuz people get burnt out. But I do think those first 30 to 60 days of consistency is so key to the long-term ability to then like Scale, right? I only post maybe once or twice a day now at the very most when I use, you know, when I encourage you guys to do a little bit more in the early days. But I think it's because I have a reputation. They know I'm there now, but like it takes a while to build that trust that you are still doing this, right? Unless you are showing up a very consistent way and set, and you can't just set something and release it, right?

So even if you're planning by Sunday, I'm planning, I have my scheduled post. All week, but I'm constantly going in in the morning while I'm sitting in bed having coffee and going, this is going to move here and this is going to go here, or I need to add this for, you know, and I chime in because you just can't set and release it because if you are, uh, and this goes with marketing in the corporate America too, is like, know your audience, man, know your audience. So if you have something going on, you know, the death of Jimmy Carter, President Carter, you know, if that's important to you and your, your people acknowledge it. The fires in California that were going on right now. I didn't have anything, but this morning I posted about it. I moved like everything that I had going on because I was like, you know what? My heart goes out to here. And I did the quick Google research and said, here are the verified donations for those people who want to make donations. Here are verified donations.

I mean, I love that you did that and that we're, I think being compassionate too is a huge piece of who we are as travel advisors. That's affecting a community that some of us are experts in. Some of us live there. How is this really affecting travel right now? Because I imagine there is probably a domino effect with airlines and changing of plans, and it's not getting better. As the, you know, of the recording of this, we're right in the thick of it. So those Santa Ana winds are insane right now, like hurricane.

Yeah.

It's giving me total PTSD from the hurricane because when you're waiting for something, even though you can It's like that kind of level of stress is so intense.

I was texting one of our travel peers who I've become friends with, who actually lives in California last night. It was like 10 o'clock here. I'm like, are you okay?

I need to know you're okay.

He's like, I'm fine. I live like 10 miles away. But you know, the shifting of winds, I have no idea. In the world today, it's kind of like everybody I tell when I sell them the travel insurance, I'm like, you know, Hey, I get it. It's optional. You choose what you want. I highly recommend it because in today's world, I don't trust a fucking thing. I don't trust—

Exactly. The world is literally on fire, so we have to really make sure we're protecting ourselves. So do you sell a lot of insurance?

I do every single time. Um, I had a client just in September that I sent to Iceland who I told them, here's what I recommend for insurance. And she's a lawyer and she was pushing really hard of saying that's a lot of money. And I said, well, yes it is. But let me ask you this. If you go over to Iceland and the volcano, and it happened a week later, but the volcano blows up and they shut down the Blue Lagoon that you were planning on your bucket list to go to, and you spent all this money, how do, how are you gonna feel? Like you need to invest to make yourself like, Prepare yourself for anything that could possibly go wrong. You know, illness or this, that, you never know. You just don't know. And I think—

We have had need to use their insurance on illness or, um, just even myself having to use insurance there when my dad passed. Um, I was supposed to be on a cruise 2 days later and I have never had that high of a claim and just to be able to get I think, I mean, I think I got all of it. I, I, I don't even remember what I paid, but it was a lot of money. And I just remember getting that refund back in my account and just being, realizing I'm gonna be able to take my cruise now. Like having that insurance and yes, you have to file some paperwork, but oh my gosh.

I mean, and I, and I learned another lesson with insurance. I got stuck in that American Airlines. I was literally sitting on the tarmac in JFK. I was supposed to take off.

I totally got it down. What was it? It was like their system crashed on—

Yes, the, the system crashed. So there was no ticketing or being able to label all of the luggage. So they grounded all the flights in the US. And I literally just boarded a plane in JFK on New Year's or Christmas Eve.

It was Christmas Eve.

We were supposed to leave at 7:15 in the morning. I didn't get off the tarmac. We didn't fly. I would've landed in Jamaica. Before we took off. We didn't take off until noon. They only gave us one cup of water. But here's the kicker. You know what I learned from that?

Get it together.

You know what I learned from it? Because I always do insurance, but this particular one I said, I'm not gonna go the high-end insurance. I'm just gonna go the middle or the basic insurance. And now I don't get anything because it was a 6-hour international and they literally pulled outta the gate. 5 hours and 45 minutes. Uh, so there is nothing I can do. Now, if you choose the right policy, if I chose with what I normally do, it would've been a 4-hour international.

Okay.

And I would've had some time.

Topic now, but like, have you thought about doing a claim through AA directly without the insurance and just see? Because I—

Well, I try. I haven't gone that far yet. I am going to. I just haven't yet.

File it, girl. Just see, because they, if nothing else, they might give you like more points or I mean, I've gotten anywhere from like $99 to like a couple hundred bucks. You just never know what AA's personal policy on and who you might get on the other end of that. As far as I have to call them that perfect customer service person who's like, I totally feel this in my gut and in my bones. And I mean, I have, I feel like I've pulled off some miracles getting money back from different airlines that.

Yeah.

You know, if you don't ask, they are just gonna ignore you.

But it's on my to-do list. I haven't gotten there yet.

All right. Extra tip.

I asked American Express because I booked it via Platinum and my Platinum card, and I called them and told them to go fight it. And you know what they did? They just sent a letter to 'em saying on my behalf, telling 'em of the issues. And American Airlines sends me a note and it's like, thanks for your feedback. I'm like, yeah, thanks for my feedback.

Might be what they'll say again, but yeah.

I'm like, so. Yeah. Anyway, uh, that's what I'll call them.

Okay, y'all, let's pause for a quick break. I know you wanna be the best travel advisor that you can be, and if you're tired of being a one-and-done booking engine and ready to build a business rooted in loyalty and referrals and providing the best white glove concierge care from close to home is the course for you. You will develop a workflow that keeps you in control of your time and service the hell out of your reservations after the deposit is placed. You'll never miss a final payment again. You'll continue to connect with your clients between the deposit and their descent home. You will master that post-booking client care in ways you never thought imaginable. Learn how to VIP peer clients that allows them to feel so special without breaking the bank of your business. You will sell more insurance, you will upsell them throughout the experience, build those relationships, all while setting boundaries. There is no 24/7 here. You'll learn to manage hiccups like a pro, and you'll have the confidence to follow up with them after they return And encourage them to rebook for next year. Stop chasing new leads and start creating raving loyal fans who never want to travel without you and refer you to everyone they know. Head to my website to grab From Close to Home, and don't forget to check the show notes for an exclusive coupon code. Okay, now back to the pod. Anyway, this is good. I love talking about the business of travel. I mean, it makes me so happy. But I love too that like agents are taking themselves seriously, whether you are part-time or, and I say this fluidly, that I consider myself a part-time travel advisor, but I make full-time money. And I think like that's really what I want people to realize is you do not have to work 40, 60, 80 hours a week to have a full-time income as a travel advisor, depending on your own needs. Obviously, if you wanna make $200,000, which I found out a lot of y'all do. You do have to work more than say somebody that is only working 15 hours and they're, it's a supplemental income. But I think what is so powerful about all of us is whether we work 15 hours or 45 hours.

Yeah.

If you're taking yourself seriously, if you are putting yourself out there as a professional, if you're excited about your business and talking about your business and pinning it to the top of your page. And you're willing to give 10% of your hours that you work to marketing.

Uh, one of the things that you say in, um, First Class is that if you're scrolling, you have time to answer.

Oh yeah. If you have time to scroll, you have time to post.

Yes. And it's— yes, I'm, I'm there. I'm scrolling and I'm scrolling and then all of a sudden it's like little Marcie sitting over here going, Hey, why aren't you responding? Why didn't you just respond to that? And then I'm like, son of a bitch. And then I go back and I read you.

I have someone now who lives, literally lives in my groups because they have gotten so big and there's so much conversation. And I'm like, I can't just scroll. I have to respond to all these. Um, and that's how I get kicked off sometimes is cuz I'm responding to— you have to look at it as an opportunity to serve. And if you're trying to just be like death scrolling or what do they, doom scrolling, they call it. They, I don't know who these people are. Here's my tip. If you're following the news, if you're following other travel influencers or other travel advisors who are posting news or something cool and fun, and I'm not saying, you know, steal it word for word or anything, but like sometimes I just see the news, like the fire. I saw it right away on Instagram and I'm like, screenshot, put it in my group because it doesn't, to me, it doesn't take very long. And I get it that a lot of people's brains don't immediately do that. But if you can train your brain to be looking for content, While you're scrolling content, it just you don't have to recreate the wheel. You can give credit where credit is due. Maybe you do borrow something from another advisor. You know, just tag the advisor or say one of my colleagues posted this. She's amazing, and I just wanted to share it with you as well. You know, and that's why I think when people say I just don't know what to post, it's like well, I do give you 150 ideas, but also there is. Always travel news. Google top 3 travel news articles for January 9th, and it's gonna pull up, right, the fires in California, and it's gonna pull up that American Airlines shut, you know, it's gonna pull up something.

Take advantage of the education, the webinars, and the newsletters that are out there. Yes. I get a lot of different travel mags, or my husband constantly sees them and some of them are piled up upstairs when they come in and he's like, Do you even read these? I'm like, I do, but I don't read them as soon as they come in. I leave them and then I read them as I'm drinking coffee or whatever that is going on. And I'll take something from there. Or here's another tip. Set up your Google where it will schedule and it will pull it down. Any kind of travel news that is there, you can actually filter that and get it just fed to you. My problem is that I do all of this and then I forget where I filed it and then I have to go back and be like, oh yeah, it was a perfect—

it's not, it was a perfect thing. All right, girl, let's talk about, let's talk about this. What is going on with you for 2025? I just wanna hear, what are your plans? What are you excited about?

It's really making sure that I continue to invest in myself. I continue to grow my clientele and my reputation because, you know, I think just like my friend Michelle said in the beginning, it takes 3 years. And since I'm in year 2, it's kind of like, all right, what's next? How many different people can I add from a client perspective? I don't need to kill it and break bank or anything like that, but try different things. Like reputation is, I also leveraged, I finally got outta my own way and launched a newsletter. I'm gonna send it out to the, to the emails that were taken in from my Facebook groups or potential clients or whoever I interacted with.

I love that you added. You know, you learned this skill.

Exactly.

Then you decided, I'm gonna add this. And that's what I always tell people about marketing is like, do one thing at a time and give it some time before assuming it doesn't work. First of all, you have to almost give it a whole year before you even really know the statistics. I don't care what the last 28 days say. And then secondly, when you are ready, when you have kind of mastered this marketing skill, Adding a new skill. And I know you're probably pretty good at a newsletter. I was like, okay, I'm going to do this.

And you know what? I'm super proud. I only had 52 emails of a group of 188, but 52 emails is great. And over 50% opened it and nobody unsubscribed, which is good.

Winning, winning.

Yes. So I'm like, okay, I'm going to keep doing that on a monthly basis. My next goal is I'm going to try and tackle Instagram. I'm not really 100% in love with the energy of it.

It's my personal hell. Yeah, it really is. And I, you know what though, it's a mindset thing. Okay. So there are certain things about Instagram I personally love and enjoy, but like, I definitely am, I prefer a private, more like intimate space, which is why I build my groups and why I believe in my groups and why I think everybody should have a group. But there is something to be said for you being on Instagram and all the travel advisors being on Instagram. So I was like, I know I have to go there. Yeah. Figure it out. It's coming. Talking myself through it and having a coach has really allowed me to like, okay, Marcie, open up your mind. Do what you tell your clients to do. Yeah. Try it and see what happens. And I have grown to 4,300 followers in 2 years.

Amazing. Sure.

Argue that it didn't work. Like, it, it, I don't know everything, but I know that that consistency of showing up at least 3 or 4 times a week, right? There were days when I was showing up twice a day and now sometimes it's once a day and sometimes it's twice a week. But again, I was able to build up enough consistency that first whole year. Thank you, Miranda. She's amazing anyway, her whole vibe.

She is. And you follow her?

Yes, I'm obsessed with her. I mean, she is my coach and my business manager and things, so I'm bought in. To that, but she's so great, uh, with the travel advisors, kind of understanding them from learning from me, like just understanding what you guys need, which I love. And so it's like anything to make lives easier. And I don't think we should be spending thousands and thousands of dollars, but sometimes you have to invest a little to get yourself going.

The beauty of social media and the beauty of the whole thing is you can start this for free. You don't need, I didn't need Canva. Now, do I have I had a little bit of a step up because I use PowerPoint for decks and everything that I do for my job. So I knew how to manipulate.

Cool.

Yeah, but I, and so I didn't need Canva right away and I was piecing stuff together or I was borrowing stuff. But like the first 6 months I go back and I look at it and I was like, oh, that wasn't really polished. But that's, it don't need to be polished, you know? And now I have fun in the Canva world because I have fun. fun with Canva, but it's like you don't need to invest in social media. What you need to invest is in the education to understand how you're using those, right? You know, I went out this summer and, and was like, I'm going to learn TikTok. I'm not gonna learn TikTok. And I mean, I am, I use it, but I'm saying for travel, I didn't have time over the summer.

I'm trying to.

And you know, I've made these videos. If you like look up my TikTok, there's like 2 Horrible little videos of like me eating an Aperol Spritz or, but it was like, okay, I tried. And then I was like, you know what? I don't have the time for this. So I backed off. I'll reengage. I'm gonna take it baby steps, right?

I'm gonna get on your newsletter first.

Understand the private— I had 10, not a potential client. I ran into a family of 14 that goes away every holiday and they asked for my business card. And I gave it to 'em, but they asked for it while I was sitting in a pool and I didn't have anything on me. So I went back up to 'em. My husband kept saying, are you gonna give it to 'em? That's a good one. That's a good one. They, you know, are you gonna give 'em your card? I was like, yes, leave me alone. Right? And I ended up giving it to 'em and I was like, I have a private Facebook group. She goes, oh, I really only do Instagram. And I said, I'm on Instagram, but I don't invest a lot of time in it because it's not private. So if you want everyone to know where you're going away, For 2 weeks every Christmas and everything else. Okay. I mean, I'm going to be out there, but this is why I do Facebook. And I felt confident in the way I was saying it and she appreciated it and respected it. Now, whether or not she ever calls me, I have no idea. Or whether or not she looks at me on Instagram or eventually finds me on Facebook. I don't know. I said it earlier, know your audience. And like Instagram is a different audience. a different mindset than when you're using Facebook groups. I mean, it's vision boards. So—

Yes, it's a lot. I love it though. I mean, I like to be on it. That's why I always had to tell myself, if you have time to scroll, you have time to create something here too. I want people to go away from each one inspired to do something that they don't have to pay for to do, but that could change their business almost immediately if they started it. So what are your top 3 tips in that arena?

Top 3 tips is definitely think about leveraging those emails, right? So when you get the email list, like I said, it took me over a year to finally sit down and put it into an Excel document.

Now, do you have like a freebie on your website or are you just collecting them in your Facebook group?

I'm just collecting them in my Facebook group. I haven't gotten that far of putting the freebie. That's, that's okay.

I was just clarifying so we know what that vision looks like.

The email, there are so many email platforms out there, whether you're using CRM or whatever. I found sender.net. It's free and it has pretty much everything. I did the research to understand it, but it's something simple. You don't have to keep up with it every single week. You don't have to make that commitment. You can make it quarterly, you can make it monthly, but I think that's something to get yourself out there and share something with your community. And it's free. You know, the second one that is free, and you've heard me say it in this podcast before, is education. There are so many opportunities, whether it's the Jamaican Tourism Board, uh, the Maldives, the, like wherever it is that you want to.

Yeah.

I became a Maldives certified expert, um, because I had a lot of people who were interested in it and I personally was interested. I'm a diver, a scuba diver. So I'm personally interested in doing that. And so I went out and just invested in it. It's the only thing you're spending on is time. Now you can go and have a conversation, an educated discussion with your potential clients and/or clients, or just having drinks with friends.

Insane. And I think people forget they exist. I actually was just talking to Wendy Bartley about this on her pod. It's like the very first place I go when I'm trying to learn something brand new about a destination. You can— there's a tourism board for almost every state. You can go to any province in Canada to their tourism board, to any Caribbean island there's a tourism board, and learn stuff straight from the— usually it's run by the government or some version of a marketing person that they've hired to, you know, get their information out there. So I love that. And a lot of the time, if you sign up, like with Jamaica, I don't know if you know this, The Love Jamaica website is the tourism board. And if you register all your bookings, you can earn bonuses, free stays. You can get a discount on Club MoBay. There's like all kinds of, if you become a Jamaica certified agent through the tourism board.

You have to take advantage of. The last part is just remember, um, you're not gonna know it right outta the gate when you're going into it is from a financial perspective. You know, we talked a lot about having a, Like the nest egg to help invest in yourself and your business, go out and take advantage of those free checking accounts. Make sure that your business is separate. And I say that from a personal place because I didn't when I first came out of the gate because I was doing such little, uh, you know, I wasn't making a ton of commission and anything, so I kept it personal. Uh, I just had it flow into my personal checking and it wasn't until the back half of 2024 that I was like, How am I doing? And I really need to pull it apart. And, you know, so that's kind of, don't feel like, oh my gosh, you have to go big when you're coming outta the gate, but take advantage of those free checking accounts. Take advantage of whatever it is financially, the free advice, you know? Um, I'm in the travel agents tax advisors group on it. Probably forgot that name.

Yeah.

But you know what? I've learned so much. You know, take advantage of that because you need to not think about what's just happening now. You gotta think about what's happening in a year or 2 from now. Because if that fam shows up or that opportunity, like you said, you wanna be able to have that money and that cash and then take it. I look at so many of the, the Facebook groups and so many people beat themselves up for everything and I'm like, just stop. Just stop. It's not—

if you're in a learning mode, there's no possible way we could know everything.

Right.

Okay. So we did the tips. Did we do all 3?

Yes. Yes. Financial education newsletter.

Yes. Perfect. And then what's your personal, like controversial, unpopular travel advisor opinion?

It's really, I think you refer to it as scarcity mindset, right? Is that you don't have to chase down every single lead. You don't have to feel like if you don't want something or you don't work in it. I, I don't work in cruises. I don't book cruises. And it's okay for me to then say, I don't work in that. And you know, some people have a completely different mindset than that. Some people feel like, okay, I have to go and that was offered to you and oh my God, I can make a commission on it and I have to go track it down. That's cool if that's the way that you wanna go for it. It's not who I am. You don't, I don't know enough about it. Have I been on a million cruises? Sure. But I also don't care. Let's be honest, I don't give a shit about cruises, uh, just because that's just not who I am, right? It doesn't mean that—

Oh my goodness. Because the guest I had before this, that's all she loves to do. And she doesn't wanna do a lot of other shit.

I will give her every cruise that I get.

Like, I can't— no. There's so much business. There's so many travel options. If you have an abundant mindset, the shift of that. There is something out there waiting for you when you do say no to the thing that doesn't serve you. And you don't go to a heart surgeon for a podiatry situation. Like, you don't call— you don't roll up on Starbucks and order a Big Mac. They do similar things, right? It's the fast food, you know.

Right.

The overhead of that is fast food. I was just trying to say, like, I don't do this. I don't go to these places and I expect them to give me something just because it's in the general vicinity of what they do, but it's not what they do, right? And I, I think about this all the time. We're just not asking people to do things that they don't wanna do. There's so many billions of people there where there's no possible way we could all serve them.

Mm-hmm.

But if you niche down and become very well known for something, you're more likely to make more money doing it because you become somebody that just is a badass at that.

Yes.

You know, I have friends who are badasses at selling Virgin Voyages, and I think if I ever wanted to go on one, I would call them. I would just be like, hey, I need help with this. You have to teach me which one I need. I'll book it with you because that's giving them the opportunity to do what they're great at. I love that non-popular opinion. Yeah, I love it. I think people do get scared though. You know, they're like nervous. Like if I say no, will it hurt me or will they be mad at me or will they come back?

Will they, right? Will they, you lose a potential client that, I mean, when I had the person in town Gave me a call. She's like, I wanna go on a Mediterranean cruise. And I was like, you know, Erin, um, I appreciate you calling me. I'm flattered that you called me. I don't do cruises. Let me reach out to a colleague and give you the name. And so I talked to a bunch of people and found a colleague and recommended somebody. And then I followed up with Erin a week later and said, did it work out? And I was honest with her. I was like, there's so much involved. You want an expert in, in that, and I'm not an expert in it. Can I book it? Sure, but I'm not going to save you money. I'm not going to give you tips. I think that actually was a testament to my personality and my reputation by saying, you know what? I'm not an expert in that and you need an expert in that. And that, is she going to come back to me? I, in my gut, believe that. And she even said it. She's like, well, I'm sure, you know, I'm going to be planning other vacations in the next year. And I'm, do I think she'll call me? Sure, I do. I absolutely do because. She learned to trust me in if I said no, that's okay.

You were like, let me hook you up with somebody that's amazing at this. And when you're ready to go to Jamaica, I would love to be able to assist you. You know?

Exactly.

That's the other thing, like make sure they do know what you sell and what you're an expert at because you do want the business. We're not saying that it's just doing something that you don't know how to do is also doing them a bigger disservice. And yes, you can learn. A disservice to yourself.

Yeah. Because you're going to spend so much time trying to get something done and it's just going to, you're just going to pull your hair out and it's not worth it.

Well, I just want to say it has been like, I mean, we could be on here for 5 hours, but I really am so excited we got this opportunity to chat and learn about your business. And I have no doubt you are inspiring so many people who's listening. But, uh, thank you so much for—

No, thank you. Thank you for everything. Um, you know, thank you for putting me on the right path. Thank you for the engagement. Thank you for the conversation and, and definitely thank you for the full no bullshit transparency. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart because there's so much out there of where it is all bullshit. And I love that fact that you're saying it's no bullshit because smoke and mirrors, baby, is a lot of what I deal with on a daily basis and it's Just be yourself. Be your authentic self. It'll get you further in life. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you so much, Marcie.

That's a wrap on today's episode, friend. Thanks for hanging out with me again on the No BS Travel Advisor Podcast. I hope you're leaving this episode feeling fired up, inspired, and ready to take back control of your business. And let's be honest, your fucking life. If today's episode hit home, do me a favor and share it with your fellow travel advisors who need to hear this, and don't forget to leave a review. Your support means the world and helps me reach more badass advisors like you. And hey, if you've got a story to share or some no-BS advice of your own, you've taken a course or two of mine, maybe you've been a coaching client, I want to hear from you. Head to my website to apply to be a guest. I'd love to feature you on an upcoming episode. Until Until then, you fucking got this. Keep being bold, keep being unapologetic, and keep building the business you fucking deserve. This is Marcie Muensterman signing off with zero fluff and a whole lot of heart.