Maximize Your TA Business Q&A Coaching Conversation

Hey there. Welcome to the No BS Travel Advisor. This is the solo edition. Just me, Marcie Muensterman, my mouth, my mistakes, and the real stories from 19 years in this wild-ass industry. There will be no guests here. No censorship, no filters, just the truth behind how I burned out, rebuilt, and finally learned to run this business like the the CEO that I am. And if you're an independent advisor who suspects your host might suck, hates working for free, and appreciates a well-placed F-bomb, you're in the right damn place. So let's go. Hi. Hi. Welcome back to the No BS Travel Advisor Podcast. I'm your host, Marcie Muensterman. I woke up in quite a mood, kind of, what do they say, on the wrong side of the bed. I've been a little bit frustrated. With my own schedule. As I told you last week, I'm suffering a little bit from burnout and I am excited to travel with my daughter this week and completely disconnect in many ways. Yesterday was International Women's Day. So happy International Women's Day to all of my women out there. As you guys know, or maybe don't know, I specialize in coaching women TAs. I am completely biased and obsessed with you, and we tagged each other and celebrated each other yesterday in the Maximize Your Travel Advisor Business Group, and it was just so much fun to read all your comments and all your uplifting encouragement for each other. I'm so proud of you. I don't know if you guys know the statistics of travel advisors, but women make up the majority of the sales force in this industry. It's one of the only female-dominated sales industries besides multi-level marketing. And of course, we know there are a lot of multi-level marketing travel advisors, so it makes a lot of sense. There's a lot of commonalities in those 2 industries, and I do understand why this attracts a lot of women, but I often think we're still underestimated. We still are carrying all of the mental load plus trying to do this job, and men just are never gonna get it. I don't think that they ever will get it. I think even my lovely husband has a hard time fully understanding the investment that we put into our lives, our businesses, our families, and just the amount of effort it takes to get up and be a woman every day, especially in the United States and in many other countries around the world. I hope you were able to celebrate yourself. And there's reels being made and memes going around that the irony that we only got a 23-hour celebration because of course daylight savings has also happened this weekend. If you're anything like me, that 1 hour really does fuck up your entire Nervous system, and I feel exhausted this morning. But I'm really excited about today because last week one of you had the idea, Heather, shout out, to do a Q&A. The travel advisors and Maximize ask the questions, and I give on-air coaching and answer them. It makes my life a little bit easier today. So I am literally going to be reading the question straight off of the Maximize post that I did. If I don't cover one of your questions, I will. I will try to do a post about it in Maximize or potentially do a future podcast on it. Some of the questions are a little bit more in-depth than I'm able to cover on just a quick answer, as well as some of the questions literally asked me to do things that are not possible to do on a podcast. I just want to put that out there that it's not me ignoring your questions. I have them right in front of me, but some of them don't make sense for the podcast. Let's get started. Elizabeth Poor asks, where do you feel your strength and confidence came from after your burnout period to catapult you back into the industry? This is a great question and it's something I've talked about in the past and in the, in the courses, you'll hear me tell my story. I believe my strength and confidence have come from realizing my worth and my desire to be a travel advisor despite the burnout. So even though I burnt out, I really feel Okay with the decision to take time off. I've accepted that that was the right thing for me to do at that right time. It's not something I want everyone to have to go through, which is why I tell my story. But I did a lot of self-care and self-love and therapy after I left my first travel agency. I really poured into reading a lot of self-care and mental health books. I went on a mental health journey with my therapist, and I realized that it's my responsibility for all the decisions I have made, and I don't need to have regrets. I just need to learn from and do the things I want to do the way I want to do them, and really understand what it is that I want and that I'm allowed to change my mind. Those are the pieces that were really important to me as I worked through therapy. And I was very successful at another sales job in the middle of all of this, so I think my confidence also came from the fact that I realized I can really sell anything I want. I am a really good salesperson, and that has been something I've been the majority of my life. If anybody has taken Propose to Close, then you've heard my red wagon tomato sales story. But I also just really feel like this is where I'm supposed to be. And when you start to accept yourself and honor yourself through the decisions instead of people pleasing and hoping that people like you and If you can stop caring more about what other people think and focus on yourself, it is a lot easier to build that confidence and find that strength. And I've said it before, but I'll say it here. I always used to say, oh, I didn't know what I didn't know, but I've realized I didn't know what I didn't want to know. And once I wanted to know, I fixed everything that was wrong with my business and I was able to clearly see it. Without clarity, you can't have confidence because you don't know what direction you're going. So getting clear and finding yourself through the journey is so huge in building your confidence. And I really do want the life I want more than I care about what other people think. So I say this too, it could be my mom, my sister, my kids, I don't give a fuck. Like, if you are not somebody supporting me wholly, you are not important to me. Your opinion does not matter to me. You are somebody in the cheap seats. I love everyone I just mentioned dearly, but you don't get to decide how I live my life. And as long as I live in that strength, I feel like nothing could slow me down when I decided to come back. And I wouldn't even say I catapulted back. I slowly came back. I came back for one destination wedding, and then I slowly started doing small trips and one-offs after that. And I didn't blow it out my first 2 years back. And then there was COVID. So it was all a matter of slowly deciding. And even during COVID deciding, do I want to keep doing this? Is this the right time? And I'm so glad I stayed and I'm so glad I trusted my own instincts. And I think That's what you have to do is just listen to your gut, listen to your instincts, and do what's right for you. And if you continually make decisions that are right for you, your confidence will absolutely soar. And really, you have to stop giving a fuck what people think. Absolutely have to stop. Because if you don't, you'll never actually accomplish everything you want to accomplish because you'll always be allowing the people pleaser inside of you to control your decision making, which is. Such a waste and so sad. So don't do that. Amy McGuire, I love your will you come to the cottage this summer meme? I love, love Heated Rivalry. It is one of my favorite shows that's ever, ever been on TV. I've never ever watched something more than like twice, and I watch Heated Rivalry when I'm bored. So obsessed, and I would love to go to the cottage with you this summer. Let's go. Yes. Spivey is asking, I feel like many of us fell into travel because we love it, not because we have a business background. Do you think learning sales and business skills is a must? And if so, where do you even start? Well, I know you have all my courses, girl, so I feel like you have all of the answers to this right at your fingertips. But I do absolutely think that you have to learn sales and business skills because you are running a business. If you're a 1099 independent contractor in the United States, and I'm assuming Canada, you running a business because you are managing your taxes, handling money, and you have to set a budget for yourself and get insurance and your LLC and your terms and conditions. There are so many things about this business that people ignore because they just think it's like a little side hustle. But sales skills and business skills are going to help you build confidence, and being in sales Is what we are. You know, we are not booking travel. We are selling vacations. And until you get in the right mindset to do that, it's going to be harder to accomplish. And where do you even start? You start with your host. If you are with a host, you start there. You take all of their training, make sure that your backend is set up correctly. I have a course that's free. So you wanna be a travel advisor, but then If you decide after taking the freebie that you want to pursue it, definitely consider the No BS Guide to Building Your Travel Agent Business because it is business 101 for the first year of the business, how to get it set up correctly. It has so many resources and so much information. And I do think it's a really great place to start, especially if you've been doing this less than a couple of years, because it will show you where the holes are in your business. I also think my sales course, Propose to Close, is like completely where it's at. It is a sales system that works. It's a workflow that absolutely works for the ADHD overachiever, people pleaser woman. I designed it for myself and it has served me so well since 2018. And those are 2 places I would absolutely start besides doing your host training, besides finding a mentor, because a mentor who has good sales and is willing to give you a little bit of their time is worth their weight in gold if they're willing to help you. You have to take radical responsibility of your business and learn those skills so that you feel excited and ready to tackle anything that comes your way. The other thing I think it's important to realize is this is a service business. And so even though I love propose to close, I feel like if you have shitty service, your business is never going to fully get off the ground. So making sure you're taking really good care of the clients who do trust you with their money and building that service muscle is also going to be huge. There are a ton of service classes out there, and this is something I do feel like the hosts do a little bit better at. So definitely dig into your host, see what they have to offer in this arena and how they support you in the service side of the business with a CRM and different tools like that. If you don't have the finances to get your own and just realize that it takes time to learn this business, it can take anywhere from 3 to 5 years. To feel you've got a handle on it, but also realize that we're always learning. We're always growing and building up business muscles and sales and service muscles just takes time, especially if you didn't realize this was a sales business in the early days. So the sooner you accept that you are in sales and service and that you're in business for yourself, the better it will be for you because that acceptance is a huge jump the curve moment. You You can also get certified as a travel advisor through ASTA or CLIA, and those are always a great option. And just trust yourself, trust yourself through the process of learning that you're getting better every day. Nobody came into this business with all of the knowledge they have right now, right? So even if it's your second day, you have more knowledge than you did yesterday, and trust that that is the way it goes in all business experiences. Alexis Price is asking, when you're looking for new DMCs, which is destination management company or suppliers like tour operators, how do you narrow it down and choose from the plethora that is out there? The resources seem so endless and overwhelming. I always started with my host's preferred companies. I think it's important that you lean in on the relationships that have already been built before you. So if you are with a host or a travel agency that has a list of preferred partners, I would focus on your niche. And start taking their webinars. Contact your medium directly. You don't need to do all of them, but if you are an all-inclusive specialist, I would work with your preferred partner through your host, which are probably in VAX, like Funjet, TI, those places. And then personally, I like Vacation Express. They're one of my favorite all-inclusive suppliers, and it's because they have a really good agent program that provides Lots of rewards for advisors who are actively booking. They have great fam opportunities that are really inexpensive. So I would do basic research on all of the preferred partners and then whatever my instincts told me. Literally, I always just listen to my gut and make decisions. And if I'm inclined to want to learn, I go all in on learning about that supplier. For example, I have never in my life logged into Delta Vacations. I do not have a lot of clients in Delta areas, so it has never felt like a high priority for me. And that has never harmed me that I don't know anything about Delta Vacations. I know they're a great supplier. I hear good things, but it's not right for my business. So you have to look at your entire market and also evaluate what you're selling and who you're selling it to and make decisions about that. When I transitioned into luxury, I did start connecting with more DMCs. But I only work with 2 and it's all based on the relationships and response time of the BDMs and the webinar opportunities available to me. If I'm not enjoying an experience, I either scale back or I ask for another salesperson. And that has worked for me in multiple places. I think it's all in being professional, being kind, but firm if you want this to be a partner of you individually. But I think start small. Don't. Look at it as this endless list. Look at it as what do I need in my business and who's going to pay me the most and start there as well as what kind of services and offerings do they have for the travel advisor that's not company-based. I really like that Vacation Express specifically is very focused on the agent and not the agency. So if you earn President's Club, you've earned President's Club. It's not something that is shared with the travel agency, and I really appreciate that. And ultimately. Jet Vacations is a DMC that I really like. Now, a lot of people I've talked to recently have not had great experiences, but I've never had a problem. And I think it's because I took all the training. I met with my BDM and I took my time. I also don't expect perfection from DMCs. I do a lot of the heavy lifting before I even go to them. I make sure I have fully qualified my clients, looked up the hotels that I want to sell to my clients and make sure they carry those hotels. I think a lot of people make mistakes when they're working with DMCs, and one of the mistakes they make is they assume their pricing should be very competitive with a basic supplier like Classic, when in fact DMCs do have specialty offerings, more custom choices. They do have higher markups because of their 24/7 in-destination support. They're actually working with many partners on the ground. And it should be elevated service. So I'm always looking for extremely elevated service. And that doesn't mean elevated response time, because when you're working with DMCs over the pond, as they say, you might have to wait a few more days, but that's what makes those experiences special. But that doesn't technically answer the question. So again, I'm going to go back to saying that you need to work within the preferred partner list to start. And then as you expand your business, you're going to have to make decisions that make sense for you and only work with DMCs that you can build your own relationships with by doing their webinars, emailing your BDM or their salespeople and getting to know them and what they do and throwing your hat in the ring for a proposal. Until you actually give them a chance, you won't know who you want to work with. And so it just takes time. To navigate all of the different options and suppliers and DMCs that are out there, and just know that choosing one or two is completely fine. So if you have a really good experience with one of them, and you enjoy the experience from start to finish, and your clients had a good experience, then you don't need to keep shopping around. I think we make our job so much harder by continually seeking something bigger and better, and grass is greener. But if something is working, and your relationship is building. With the salesperson at that DMC or supplier, stick with it. Stay in it with them. That's what we're supposed to be doing, is partnering with them, communicating clearly, and making sure we do our part, making sure that we show up for them the way we want them to show up for us. That is a two-way street. It is not just their job to make everything perfect. It's our job to partner with them. Okay, can we only report a bad agency or host if we're current ICs? No, actually there is a 2 to 3 year statute of limitations in the United States for reporting misclassification to the Department of Labor and the IRS. That's the short answer to that. The long answer would be that if you choose to go that route, know the consequences for both you and the travel agency in question, because if you've already paid your taxes and done all your write-offs, You'll have to if they prove that the misclassification exists, then there are consequences for the agent as far as if you did a bunch of write-offs. Those might not come into play now if you are considered a W-2. So you want to make sure you get with a lawyer and an accountant before you make the decision to send off your documentation to the IRS. But if you really feel genuinely that you are being treated like an employee instead of a 1099, think it is our duty to report those misclassifications via the SS-8 form. But you want to make sure you have all the proof and all the documentation. Don't waste anybody's time by just sending in the form. You have to send it in with all the right appropriate documentation and make sure you're still paying your taxes on time as a 1099. At the end of the day, the worst case scenario is that they come back and say, nope, you were a 1099 and we ran our audit and everything is fine. And that's good news for both you and the agency owner. If they come back and say you're a W-2, then there will be consequences for the agency owner. But obviously there are consequences for you as well, especially if you had a lot of write-offs. Keep that in mind as you're making those decisions, but also absolutely get a lawyer. I am not a lawyer. I am not an accountant, but this information can be found on the IRS website. And you can look up the SS-8 form if you would like to file it alongside your taxes. Then definitely talk to somebody first and then make that decision. And whatever that decision is, it's right for you. Do the next right thing for yourself. Danette McAllister wants to know, what is your best recommendation for what to say to friends, family, and past clients for whom you may not have previously charged a planning fee but are now sticking to new business processes and boundaries that involve fees. She says, I'm now charging for things that I did not used to, like cruises, escorted tours, searches, etc. Danette, I'm so happy for you that you're charging. And the best way to say that you are implementing a planning fee and research fee is to say, while I had not previously charged for this service, starting now in 2026, I changed my business model. And you would do that during a consultation. So when they make an appointment, it should say on your Calendly link that as of January 1st, 2026, you have implemented planning, research, and concierge care fees, and they are determined during the consultation depending on the variables of that vacation. And then if it is somebody that you've already worked with before, you would say, I understand I was not previously charging, but I now charge a research and planning fee because I changed my business model to be able to serve my clients better and take on less clients. Because ultimately, I think that's the reason a lot of us are charging fees is so that we can give more attention to the clients who are willing to pay our fee than the tire kickers and the ghosters and the taking advantage of us-ers. And in my opinion, it's just a quick, I have changed my business model in 2026. That's the answer. We don't have to go on and on and on about it. We don't We don't have to overexplain. We don't owe them an explanation if they choose to no longer work with us because of the fee. They were never an aligned client to begin with, and they will weed themselves out. And it's such a blessing. I'm always so grateful when people I personally know weed themselves out. I actually have a friend who doesn't work with me because her husband doesn't wanna pay my fee, and I do not give a shit. I don't want to work for people who do not see my value and don't wanna pay me. And that is something else I'm always happy to say straight to my friends and family's face. I don't mince words when it comes to people who've known me my whole life and don't wanna pay me. I would never ask a friend or family member to work for free, and I don't expect to be asked to either. So if I wasn't charging, I would just let them know that I've changed my business model and I look forward to the opportunity, but I'm not waiving my fees for anyone. And once you take up space, you'll feel more confident every time you deliver that information. It gets easier and easier over time. You'll feel so much better when you're charging fees and people are paying you. You will feel more valued. You will feel more excited and confident to get up and do your job every day. And those people that don't wanna pay, those past clients, friends, family, whoever they are, they will not even be in your orbit to worry about. Lindsay Dollinger is asking, I'd love to hear top tips to go from 6 to 7 figures. And I'm assuming you mean sales figures. I've never made 7 figures as far as bring home income as a travel advisor, and I don't think that's what you meant here. As far as going from 6 to 7 figures in sales, I have a course called Commission with a Comma that walks you through every single thing I did from 2018 to now to consistently bring home 6 figures. Um, so it's 5 to 6 figures, right? And there's so many different ways I've leveled that up. And of course it means I'm also leveling up my sales. My gross sales totals went from like $450,000 to a million over the course of about 5 years. And I really truly believe it comes from consistently showing up in your business in a very specific way and working your workflows in a way that allows you to have the opportunity to sell more travel to the same people over each year. So I, I think in one, in one of the ways you level up from 6 to 7 figures in sales is to consistently get repeat and referral business. And set a minimum spend. If you have a minimum spend, you can actually do the math on how many clients you would have to close to get to seven figures. And from there, upsell as many people as I can on extras like private transportation, upgraded room categories, and even airfare. Because if I'm selling somebody a premium vacation, I also want them to have premium airfare. And I book all of that through an air consolidator and make commission as well as. Get the credit for that sale. So if you're looking to go from like mid to high 6-figure sales to a million or more in sales, I think you really have to dive into building a referral type of business because it's going to be where those people tend to spend more year over year if they're repeat, and they're going to send friends to you who also spend similar money. You also have to start saying no to anything that does not align, because if you keep saying yes to the onesie-twosie vacations, they actually block your— like, they block the way for you to meet your next larger-scale vacation spender. Transitioning into luxury was a decision I made in 2019, and it came along with that minimum spend. I refuse to sell anything other than a 4.5 to 5-star property wherever any of my clients go. I think that automatically automatically increases the amount of money they're spending. And then obviously that means the amount of money I'm making. You want to also partner with vendors, MCs, suppliers, and tour operators that have the highest level commission through your host or travel agency. And you need to be at the highest commission split available to you. And that usually means needing to be at least at 90/10, in my opinion, because then You will make more money on every single sale. Really running your numbers to see where you're at financially is going to be huge in leveling up as far as like bring home. But as far as sales, it really is growing over time and increasing the minimum spend, upselling every single client so that you are not working twice as hard. You're actually working with the same people and getting them into the perfect vacation with all of the amenities the insurance coverage, the private transportation, and any tours and excursions that they want. I book all of that now. I used to pass off the tours and excursions piece, but those are such great opportunities and it's such a silly thing to leave on the table. Like, you're not only leaving income on the table but the sales. Consider taking commission with a comment. It walks you through all these different ways. And then of course I charge a So charging a fee will also increase your bring home, but I also feel that my clients who pay my fee do spend more money. They do. I can run those numbers all day. And pre-charging fees, my clients were spending far less money than they are now. And moving completely into a luxury market has taken me to the next level while working far less hours. Black TTHB is asking, for those who've had to pivot due to health challenges, what's the best way to restructure your business when you can't handle the same number of clients as before. So I would just say that it's so important to put yourself first in this situation and really listen to your body, especially if it's a health concern that is going to slow you down. And be so gracious with yourself, be so kind to yourself, treat yourself with such love and respect, because health challenges of any kind, whether they're physical, mental, or you're grieving even, can really affect How well we can do this business because we are giving so much of ourselves to others, caring about their vacations and having to be so empathetic through the process of planning a vacation. Especially because you mentioned that you do destination weddings and social groups of 20 to 75 passengers. You are so busy, and you've got to give so much of yourself. First, I hope you're okay, and I hope that the medical issue. Subside. But if they're chronic and it's something that's going to affect you for a very long time, you have to be willing to slow down. You have to be willing to say no more than you say yes. And as far as restructuring, I think you have to be completely vulnerable and honest with anyone who comes to you and needs you too much. You know, you are probably really good at intuition and trusting yourself is going to be the biggest piece here. So if you find that somebody is a little bit more high maintenance and needs more of you than you can give, then you're going to have to say no to that person. I would also scale your hours way back by having lots of calendar control and limiting how many new groups you take per year. So for example, when I was doing a lot of destination weddings, it was one of the causes of my burnout. And I realized when I came back in 2018 that I needed to not do as many. So I went from doing like 14 a year to 5 a year, and then I slowed down to 3 a year, and I'm actually not doing any anymore, and I'm the happiest I've ever been in my business. I always tell people, just because you're good at something doesn't mean you have to keep doing it. And I live by that rule, and I'm so glad that I no longer do destination weddings. I think that you have to also really take into consideration niching further down than right here. You like Greece, Caribbean, and Mexico. Then it's like wellness, solo, and intimate groups. Like there's a lot going on here in the comments of your post. And I think you have to niche. You have to get where it's really serious about what you love. So for example, I'm mostly 80 to 90% only selling Italy, which makes my life so much easier. It means I spend less time per client and I work with 2 vendors on these vacations. So I don't have a ton of shopping around to do. I'm really focused on the client needs and I only work with 2 to 3 clients a month at the very most. And they spend anywhere From $15,000 to $35,000 per couple or family, and I think too increasing that minimum spend is a great restructure opportunity here. Right now you say your average spend is $7,000 on Greece, which I find to be incredibly low. I would increase your minimum spend. I would work with less clients, and I would only say yes to everything that I'm really excited about in my niche. That is how I would restructure if I wasn't feeling very well and needed to focus on my. Health so I could work far less hours and really understand my own needs and then be honest with my clients about why I'm restructuring, why the changes are happening. And whoever is aligned will stay in my orbit. I would also make sure you're charging fees for your time. So when you are in the office and working on these vacations that you are being paid appropriately for that time. And that will supplement some of the quote unquote loss you may feel in the early days of making this shift. I hope you feel better and I hope this is not a long-term problem. Teresa Kennedy Austin wants to know, I would love to know the actual proven methods to gain clients. Is it a Facebook group, posting regular on socials? And she wants to know which specific content helps reach clients that don't know you personally and are willing to contact This is a big question, and I have a First Class Community course on how to build and run a private Facebook group. It is absolutely worth its weight in gold. I highly recommend taking it if you want to grow your business on Facebook. And it is the 1,000% way I have grown my business since 2018. I do not have a website still. I mean, I have one, I don't use it. And I I have no page. I have no Instagram for my travel business. I have tried to start an Instagram, but it is so much work and so much effort and not something I wanna spend my time doing. So I am still consistently in my private Facebook group, and that is where I get 100% of my clients at this point. Like all of my clients are in there or have referred their friends to be in there. And I run that group just like I run all of my groups, and it is how I have built all of my businesses. Is private Facebook groups that are hyper-focused on my niche and hyper-focused on client care. And it is posting regularly. I post anywhere from 2 to 7 times a day. And in First Class Community, I encourage 2 to 3 times a day utilizing the Google Calendar that I provide for you, which is very much cut and paste. And then obviously you have to make it for yourself, your niche, but for the most part, there's a lot of things you can just copy and pace and it's relationship building. That is the content that you need to be focused on for long-term sustainable growth. This is not get rich quick anything. This is not get all the sales quick anything. There is no absolute guarantee that your people will respond. But when I say most of the advisors who are doing this course to a T, they are having the most success. They are having the most fun and they are having the most sales. And it does take time. You have to be so patient, but you have to build a brand around yourself. At the end of the day, we should not be highlighting resorts and destinations. We need to be highlighting ourselves, what we offer our clients, and show our personality online. Show your face because your face is your logo. We are not here to brag about Sandals and Beaches products. We're not here to show off more Disney And give them free marketing. They don't need free marketing. They have their own marketing. What we need to do is sell ourselves in every single piece of content. That is why you are here. That is why you are in my group because I show my face. I talk to you every single day. I am my 100% self. I don't mince words. I give no shits if you like me, and it helps to be yourself. It helps to show and make that connection through anything we have in common, whether it's motherhood, grief, the stories. I tell, like, you see yourself in me if you're here. And that is what you have to be putting out there. You have to be obsessed with yourself and your business, not obsessed with the products you sell. And I think the more you're willing to do that and not care what other people think, the more successful you're going to be. And that is a proven method because I work that method every day in both my businesses, and I attract my aligned clients every single day. Do they book right No, not necessarily. Do you guys invest in courses right away? Absolutely not. But you do hang out, continue to get to know me and connect with me. And that is the goal, is the relationship side of sales. It's so important to grow that before expecting everyone to trust you. You have to have trust through authenticity and being yourself. Megan Tabor has an idea that trying live streams in her Facebook group or on her social media is a way to grow the business, and ChatGPT also suggested it. Her initial idea was to do a Q&A or a live to discuss vendor promotions, but she wasn't sure if it was worth it. So one of the things I have to tell you guys a lot is that you won't know until you try, and you need to be consistent. So if you're going to go live and do different kinds of promotional opportunities, it needs to be every single day for a year before you know if it's worth it, before you know if it actually works. The other thing is I am anti-vendor anything. So in this case, I would say, if anything, go live and talk about yourself, your business, what you provide to your clients and share stories of your client experiences. You don't have to name names, but it's so important to go out there and tell people like how you're solving problems for them in travel, how you are qualifying your clients and finding the perfect properties. And if I were going to go live every single day, that's what I would talk about. I would not talk about promotions or discounts or deals or any of that such nature. Just like I don't want you guys talking about how free you are. I would encourage you to avoid ever discussing discounts or deals unless it is just so stupid to pass it up. And in which case it needs to be within your niche as well. So not just Disney has kids eat free. Well, I'm going to promote that and you're not even a Disney specialist. So make sure you're promoting things that you actually want to sell, your niche, and not just promotions that pop into your email every week, but also really talk to them about what it means to hire you, not hire a travel advisor, not use a travel advisor, but hire you. If you're going to go live, commit to this decision. Whenever it comes to marketing, you can't just do it a couple of times and then be like, Like oh, that didn't work, so I'm not going to keep doing it. In fact, it's one of my biggest like ticks is agents who tell me they tried twice and then they're like it just didn't work, Marcy. I posted for a month and it didn't work. I did this for two days; it didn't work. Well, no shit. That's not consistency. Consistency isn't showing up half the time or for one month and then going dark for a month. No, that didn't work for you because you didn't actually commit. Commit to it. 90% of what we do as travel advisors is educate and market. So you need to make sure you're fully committed to whatever marketing campaign that you wanna put out there. If you wanna go live, go live every single day, not once a week, not once a month, because not everyone is going to see it. And it's never too repetitive. Nobody complains that there are 45,000 billboards for McDonald's as they're driving down the highway. Way. They're just not surprised by it. And people need to be not surprised by how you show up. You guys expect a certain level of show up from me, and I do show up that way. And the only reason why you expect it now is because of how I've done it the whole time. So you need to make sure that when you are ready to commit to a marketing idea, that you fully commit and go all in for at least a year. I always tell I don't know if that worked. Ask me in 2 years. Because you will not know what worked until you're seeing the results way, way later. And those results may come from the most random places, the most unexpected clients who call you and say, you know what, I have been watching your lives for a year and I just loved it, and now I'm ready to book my vacation. That's when you know it worked. You won't know if it works for a while. So give yourself the opportunity by fully committing, and remember that the theme needs to be you and not the products you sell. Stop giving free marketing to resorts and destinations that don't need it. Okay, Monica Vanderhurst is asking me, what is the best way to balance having a regular job and being a TA on the side, especially if something happens with a client while you're at that regular And the issue is time sensitive. I actually dove into this during Do the Damn Air, and I talk about it in From Clothes to Home a lot because those are my service-based courses. But the best way to balance having a regular job and being a TA on the side is making sure that your TA business is on the side and that you are not trying to work it 40 hours a week. You need to limit your hours, you need to limit your intake of clients, and you need to limit how much you give to it. I know that might not be the answer you thought I was I was gonna say, but like trying to grow a business full-time on the side of your everyday job is going to lead to burnout. And nobody needs to be working 80 or 90 hours a week between 2 positions, in my opinion, if you don't have to. And travel is a huge commitment. And in many cases, we are required to show up 24/7 if there's an emergency. That's the only time I think that you will ever have to show up like that is on a travel emergency day, or if there's something intense happening. Otherwise, I think you can limit your hours to 10 a week. You would manage your time using your calendar by only doing one appointment a week on a specific day. And then when your clients are traveling, ideally they would be traveling when you aren't working, trying to plan those travel days on weekends or during weeks that you can take off. That sounds crazy, I know, but like hopefully you have some PTO. for emergencies that you might be able to use, but also understand that if you take on too much and you're unable to step away, you are doing your business a disservice and you're especially doing the client a disservice. If you need to partner with another travel advisor or your travel agency owner, you need to do that. It's important that you ask for appropriate help and backup if you are unavailable to the client. I think flight days are going to be the worst ones, but sometimes something can pop up in the middle of a trip and you need to stop what you're doing and help that client urgently. You need to have a flexible full-time job if you wanna be able to do that well. And if you do not have flexibility, you absolutely need to partner with a travel advisor who can help you in an urgent situation because it can absolutely destroy the trust that you have been building with that client if you are unavailable, especially if they are in destination. And like during massive events, like days and days of working that require you, I hope that you have PTO and can take it last minute. But really it's calendar control. And just know that the majority of times our clients do travel without hiccups. And if those hiccups are truly emergent, they're the rarest of the rare. So try not to stress out too much about it, but understand that it is on you and your personal responsibility to take care of your clients that you've committed to servicing. And if you're unable to do that, you have to consider what this looks like for you, especially long-term. As you do get busier and as you do grow and truly setting limits around what you're willing to do, willing to sell and be available for. If you're unable, then you are not servicing your clients as white glove as you may have promised, especially if you're being trained by me. I know that it's hard to hear sometimes, but the less you are doing, the easier that will be. The other side of this is make sure they have all of the phone numbers that they could possibly need while they're traveling. Do a pre-travel call to make sure they're fully prepared and be honest about working full-time. Make sure they know that you have working hours in the office, but if there's an emergency, here are some phone numbers that they can call if it's during your working hours. This can be really troubling to hear too, because you might say, well, I don't want them to know I'm not available. But if they don't know and they try to get ahold of you and you're unable to help them, that is going to be far worse than being upfront with them and providing them with a backup plan that makes sense for them. Kristen Powell wants to know where I get all my huge mugs. Literally everywhere. Everywhere I go, I go into souvenir stores to see how big the mugs are. I don't buy the 11 or 16 ounce mugs anymore. I only buy like the 21 ounce mugs and they're always so expensive. I feel like I've spent an exorbitant amount of money on large mugs, but I usually just go in and I look and see if my hands like fully wrap around both sides and barely touch, then that's the right mug for me. Okay. Christine Joy wants to know marketing in general as a business owner. She says, I know you have spoken about this, but going more in depth, especially for those who can't afford marketing professionals, which I would say is everybody. Nobody can afford marketing professionals. We're not big businesses. Canva templates seem to be everywhere. How can we stand out from the crowd? Not just niche marketing, but stand out from the MLMs and even other agents in the business. A take on how you did it beyond Facebook groups and how you cultivated your following via social media? I feel like I've answered this already a little bit today, but the way that you stand out is by being yourself and focusing on yourself and your business and not worrying about the MLMs or the other agents at all, not giving a fuck what your people think and really honoring your audience through getting to know you exclusively, showing your whole personality, not making everything perfect and pretty in Canva. In fact, I hate Canva and I have really started encouraging you to stay out of Canva. Obviously, if you need to create something for your client, that's fine. But I think I only use Canva now for carousels on Instagram and the, you know, my courses. I'm not in there creating content for regular travel business at all, ever. I use real photos of me in destination. I use videos of me, not even in destination, to create a social media following so that you guys can absolutely get to know me, my voice, and what my messaging is. Is I don't use anything other than Facebook groups to grow my travel business. So I don't have any advice there. I've only done that since 2018. I have done nothing else, no trade shows, no marketing outside of that, and no networking even. I don't network in person. So if you want to grow it like me, you have to fully commit to being 100% yourself online. And the way I've grown my coaching business is by doing that. That's why you guys are all here is because I don't fake who I am. I show up as myself and I I don't bullshit you. I don't lie to you. If you are a part of my communities, you're going to get all of me when I am there. I think too, you have to be okay with people not liking you. So coming across as your full self and then releasing the outcome, like not worrying about what happens next, only worrying about what you have control over next. And I don't look around and go, I want to stand out from this MLM person or this other agent. It's what can I do to make sure people know me and know my heart and how I'm I giving back to my community, helping my community, and being a part of the community as more than just a salesperson or trying to sell them something. I want people to feel safe to be themselves around me and know that I will never lie to them. So, and that goes for all of my businesses, not just the coaching, but definitely the travel. My clients know that I don't lie, that I tell them the truth about what I think, and that I will never put them in a situation that sucks on purpose. So I think that's huge, is really just building that trust, like, no factor and leaning in to being imperfect, showing up imperfectly, and being approachable and accessible. And like I said, I don't care what everyone else is doing. I don't care what everyone else thinks about how I do it. I don't look at my quote unquote competition and try to stand out from them. I just am standing out from them because I am not them. No one can be you, like you. This isn't about having marketing professionals behind you. It's about how you show who you are and what you do and how you do it with confidence in all spaces without apology. If you are able to do that and do it consistently and not always be trying to sell somebody something or get them to join some membership or sell them a course or whatever, they're going to trust you more. I think you have to give more than you take in marketing. Give away everything and take almost nothing, and people will trust you and they will show up for you and they will refer you. And when they are ready, they will book their vacations with you. Miranda Fazio is asking, how do you manage a trifold of duties and the feeling of overwhelm and burnout, i.e., working part-time, mom full-time, household duties, business duties? Outside of calendar blocking, what other systems and processes do you put in place to help you manage the Or do you outsource things like cleaning, socials, et cetera, and force yourself to work that into a budget? This is such a good question. It's like, how do we have our cake and icing too? So I have 2 businesses and then I am a mom full-time and I do have household duties. I feel calendar control is the number one way I have managed this. And I say no far more than I say yes. I do not take on every volunteer opportunity. I make a donation instead. I have I have said no to many, many social things. I prefer to say no than yes to like child's birthday parties. Like even when my kid was— were small, when kids were small, I would say no to birthday parties for their classroom friends and it would upset them sometimes. But I just said, look, it doesn't work for us. I always make sure I have at least 2 full weekends at home with my family. It's a little bit harder now with softball involved, but as far as like big plans, we keep our weekends as free and clear as possible, which means saying no to so many things. It has been a lifesaver. I do not get FOMO. I operate in the joy of missing out, the joy of staying home, the joy of laying in bed and rotting some days. I actually did a full bed rot day on Friday, and I am going to now schedule one of those per month moving forward. I absolutely hire. I have A housekeeper who's been coming since 2009. It used to be monthly, then it was bimonthly, and now it is weekly and has been weekly since 2017. It is the best investment I have ever made into my household, and I will never give it up unless I am destitute. I will make it work. She is the most amazing human being, and she genuinely enjoys cleaning for me, and it's something I genuinely appreciate and could not live without at We also hire our lawn care, our pool care, and really anything that's gonna take a substantial amount of time, I hire somebody to come do it. That includes mobile cleaning my cars and things like that. Also to reduce time, I only work with mobile services. So our vet is mobile. Our doctor nurse situation is mobile. They literally either do telemed or come to our home. I get my blood drawn at my home so that way I'm able to work all the way up until the time of the appointment. appointment, and that means I'm spending far less time like transporting. I also order all my groceries online versus go get them myself, and I don't cook, so that helps. My husband does all of the cooking, and my kids, both of them have a substantial list of chores they have to complete every single day. They have to take care of their animals, walk the dogs, and they have to clean the cat box, do the dishes, do their own laundry. Really have reduced how much I am personally doing because I am working or in my car chaper— uh, chauffeuring my daughter around specifically. My son started driving this year, so I am down to one car line now, and that has been a game changer. But I think it's a matter of looking at the whole picture and then seeing what you can delegate, what you can afford to hire out for, and then asking your family to help you. There is no reason that a working woman should be doing all of the heavy lifting inside of her household, and I think it's about communication in your partnership and in your family. So if you have kiddos, they need to be responsible for things from the time they are able to walk. My kids have been cleaning up after themselves for a very long time, and they know their responsibilities. And when I have to nag them, they do not get paid because I also do pay for some of their chores. But if I have to nag you more than once to do something, you don't get paid for that chore. You still have to do that chore, and that really helps. Everybody has to be personally responsible inside the house. It should not be one person's job. And other time savers are subscription plans for dog food and things like that where I don't have to think about those things. They're just automatically happening once I set it up one time. So anything that I can automate is huge, especially in business. And that is what I teach in the Propose to Close course and the From Close to Home course as far as business goes for travel automations and making sure everything is set up so things just happen versus you constantly having to go in there and remember to do those things, putting things on your calendar, like payments, 10 days prior to a final payment, huge time saver, as well as having certain days that you do certain things. I do not do calls or appointments on any other day except for Tuesday for travel clients. For my coaching business, I only do calls on Mondays or Wednesdays. That way I know going into my week, like I'm doing coaching on some days and travel on other days. Additionally, I think you have to look at your entire situation and scale back. Instead of looking where you can add more, do more, where can you take things away? Is there anything on your calendar this week that you absolutely do not have to do or do not want to do? Even if that's something like a dental appointment for your kids, can you move it to next week if this week is really crazy? Because the more that you're willing to look at your calendar and free up time, it creates space and breathing room for you to have flexibility. fall apart, have an anxiety attack if you need to. I think it's so important to take care of ourselves and make sure that we are not overscheduling and that we are asking for help where we can. I did hire an assistant as soon as I sold $300,000 in travel. I think that's kind of a sweet spot to hire somebody because you still have time to actually train them and onboard them as long as you have working systems. and workflows in place that are replicatable so that you can teach them quickly how to do that. And then you're able to really pour into the sales side while they're doing the administrative side, and they should pay for themselves within a couple of months. But it does take time to train someone. So making sure you free up that time on your calendar by saying no to everything you do not have to do. I don't know if you can hear the theme here, but I never do everything. I only do the things I absolutely have to do that week. And lean into your village. I do have a couple of really great friends locally that help me with the kids when I need it. Specifically my daughter, who I do car line for. My really good friend Kat, she works at that school that she goes to and she'll help me take her or pick her up on occasion and vice versa. I do that for her as well. It's just figuring out whether or not you can afford to hire it out versus do it yourself or ask for help within your community, your family. I know it's hard. I think it absolutely is one of our our biggest challenges as mothers to do everything. I think doing less is going to help us more in the long run, and it certainly has for me. I can attest that doing less has actually made me more successful financially, and I am way more mentally stable. As far as social media, I absolutely schedule everything, but I love social media so much I don't have a whole lot of problem with the way I do it. But I schedule a little bit of time every single day for social media creation, as well as block off certain day of the week to do about 2 hours worth of content creation. I accept what I can get done during that time, and I don't beat myself up about what I didn't get done. And I think that that's something I'm coaching as well, is looking at your entire schedule as well as your to-do list for the day. And instead of looking at it as I have 57 things to do today, looking at it and saying, how many items up to 5 can I get done? And if I can only get 3 done, then I only get 3 done and I pat myself on the back and I worry about the rest tomorrow. Because I think we live in a world of people pleasing that does not need to exist. We absolutely do not have to do it all at 150,000% every fucking day. And if you want a bed rot day, go rot. Elizabeth Beach is curious about my largest booking that I had prior to my burnout versus the largest booking I've had after, were they similar? How did I handle them differently? Were either of them repeat clients? My largest booking prior to my burnout was I had back-to-back years where I did a corporate incentive group that had over 250 people travel. It was the most amazing experience as far as having that many people go. And it was with the same company back-to-back and I traveled with them. Hilariously, I only made $24,000. Like I remember it like it was yesterday. And I cannot believe that that's all I made on a 250-person group. I'll never forget that check. It was one of the biggest checks I'd ever gotten up to that point. And I absolutely loved doing the corporate incentive group over the destination weddings because there was no emotion. It was, you earned this. And the company paid every single invoice I sent over on time. They also paid for me to travel and I built in a pretty large fee. So even part of that $24,000 was a fee, but my commission split was so fucking low. My biggest reservation that I've had since then is the year before last. I did a $132,000 7-night Turks and Caicos villa stay for a family of 20. And there, there was a connection I made while I was at CABI. She's also a real estate agent. She was challenging to work with because Because she's so busy. She chose 2 villas side by side in Turks, and it was so easy and fun to do. My bring home on that was right around $14,000. So as far as like size of bookings, that was one of my largest bookings on a 20-person family. However, I've also did a Croatia yacht for 36 people. It was a huge booking as well, and my bring home on that was $36,000. And it was by far the most lucrative bring home I've ever had on any group I've ever done. I mean, if you think about the 250-person corporate incentive group and $24,000 bring home, and I was able to do a 36-person Croatian yacht for literally $36,000 bring home, so much better and so much more fun to do. They're all slightly similar in terms of being groups or larger amounts of people, but, and there were no repeat clients, but there are people from the corporate incentive group that I still book their vacations. They've referred me and I've done other weddings and other events over the last decade, which is so crazy. So crazy to me. I've been doing this for so long. But yeah, I mean, part of the reason I burnt out was because I was doing these large groups, destination weddings. And although there were a lot of people, there was not a lot of income per group and I was still working for pennies on the dollar because I was working constantly around the clock. And now I work far less, I make so much more money, and I don't feel the level of stress that I used to feel when I was doing destination weddings. I'm so happy I don't do those anymore. Morgan Atkinson is asking, how do you know if an opportunity is right for you— the right FAMs, tools, etc.— since there are so many out there? You have to evaluate calendar and make sure that the time away makes sense. If it's a fam or a conference or even a lunch, I, I don't look at every invitation as this amazing opportunity. I look at it and I pre-K pause and say, is this right for my timeline, my schedule? And then I make sure it's right for my budget because even if it is an invitation to a You still have to pay for your airfare typically, and you have to maybe get childcare, dog care, those types of things. What do you have to pay for physically to be able to go on this fam? Then you have to look at your niche. Is this within alignment of what you want to be selling? And every time you're able to checkmark everything, yes, yes, yes, this, this meets my needs as it's my niche. I have the finances and I have the time away and it's not going to cause drama or stress in my life, say yes and go. If it's 1 out of 3 and you have the money, but not the time, or you have, you know, the time, but not the money, then it's probably not the right opportunity, even if it's aligned in your niche. So asking yourself those questions before you make that decision and being so strategic with how you plan your year. If you start planning your year well in advance and you block off times you definitely want to be traveling or you want to be out of the office or you have celebrations celebrations and those things, you're able to then make those decisions faster, right? So if you're, if you've got a really good calendar control situation going, then when you get invited to different conferences, opportunities, then you can literally look at your calendar and say, okay, I have this time. So now I can look at my budget. Do I have $5,000 to $10,000 in my business budget? And is this how I want to spend my money? Have I allotted for this type of opportunity in terms of budget. Same thing for those tools and those types of things. Like, if you're looking at it and do you have time to learn that system or tool if you invest in it? So many of you guys invest in the courses and then you never take the time to take it. It's not even about the money, it just comes down to it's a 12-hour class. Do you have 12 hours this month that you're willing to dedicate to this and invest that time in it? You have to Also, if the person who's teaching the course and it's somebody like me, am I the right fit for teaching you? If not, why would you buy my course? If it's a CRM and you already have a CRM, do you have time to learn and transition to a new CRM? How long is that gonna take? How many clients do you have to download and move over? If it's investing in a VA, what do you need them for? Is it project-based? Are all your workflows in place? Because if not, it's going to take a lot longer for that VA to learn your systems and tools. And it's so important that you have a really, really solid decision around each of those things when it comes to financial investment, but more importantly, time investment. If you don't have the time to learn a tool or a skill or a workflow right now, then it's not the right time to invest in those things. I really think it's calendar. under control. I think we overwhelm our schedule. We say yes far too much. We've been taught that we need to take everything. I think we need to learn how to say no more, and the more time that we will free up to focus on the things that are really important to us, whether it's business or life. Is there one skillset you would like to see our industry as a whole get better at? Yes. Service. The more service we can provide, the more value we all add to our industry and the more elevated our industry will appear to be. I think the reason a lot of people don't like to hire travel advisors is because they hear about the bad service. They hear about people not doing the air or abandoning them after the sale or not caring about the vacation. Service is huge. Learn how to service your clients and you will grow, grow, grow. Okay guys, that is the end of the Q&A, and I am so excited to be able to answer all of these questions. I feel a little out of breath, but I'm so glad I was able to offer you this. I hope you're able to take something away from it today, and I look I look forward to being back with you with a brand new podcast in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, there are 2 of my favorites going to pop into your feed the next couple of Fridays. And of course, please be patient with me while I'm out of town because I'm taking a page out of my own book to be with my daughter and be disconnected. But I will be posting on my IG stories because I love an IG story moment, and I will connect with you when I get back. In the meantime, I hope you have an amazing rest of your weekend. Bye, Marcie. And please share this with your colleagues. Leave me a 5-star review. And remember, I am not a lawyer. I am not an accountant. I am just here to help you based on experiences I've had over the last 19 years. Have a great day, y'all. All right, y'all. That is the end of another episode of the No BS Travel Advisor Podcast. Thank you so much for being here. And remember, I am not a lawyer. That is my disclaimer. I am a coach and mentor in the travel business with a ton of big opinions. So don't forget to leave that 5-star review, and if you need anything, I'm here for you. Bye!