Boundaries as a travel advisor is an ongoing topic. But in this hectic season, it feels more relevant than ever to not only have boundaries, but to stand strong in them. Here on this episode of Masters in Travel is Beth Bastian, owner of Bastian World Travel, and Kate Sullivan, founder of Anthology Travel. Beth, Kate, and Whitney discuss the world of evolving boundaries and learning how to say no to clients.
Jul 12, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 79
In this month's Master Hour edition of Masters in Travel, Whitney is joined by Julie Patterson of Wanderfully Planned and Madeline Steuber of Steuber Travel Group. Listen in as they are joined by other members of the community and think-tank to tackle some great questions on how to run and grow your travel business.
Jul 05, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 78
The, “what's your budget?” question can be difficult for both clients and advisors to answer. This very important step in the trip planning process can be daunting, especially if it’s for a brand new and unfamiliar destination. But what if there were strategies to keep this process simple and fast? On this episode of Masters in Travel, Whitney is joined by Kate Thomas, Owner of North & Leisure and Travel Pro Theory. Together they get down to business and find great and easy ways to deal with...
Jun 28, 2022•51 min•Season 2Ep. 77
Planning the bones of a custom FIT itinerary is sometimes just the beginning. Once the client is comfortable with the basics of their trip, the concierge like questions and requests start rolling in. What should we do during our free time? Where should we eat? Do we need reservations? And the list can go on and on. What are we as travel advisors expected to do for our services? How do we serve our clients best while not letting it take over our day to day? Where do we draw the line? Here to disc...
Jun 21, 2022•46 min•Season 2Ep. 76
Planning group travel seems quite appealing as an individual advisor. Especially when we see the potential revenue and commissions earned from a group booking, we're often very eager to dive into this type of travel planning. But when you learn more about groups, a few big questions and potential challenges often. What type of group will you organize? Will it be a custom itinerary or an organized tour or a cruise? As our guest on today’s episode of Masters in Travel, is Kate Sullivan of Antholog...
Jun 14, 2022•56 min•Season 2Ep. 75
Mindset is a topic that we hear about in our personal lives and in our professional lives. It is a topic that lingers behind all decisions that we make, especially as an entrepreneur. If we asked ten people, or ten advisors, what mindset means to them we would get 10 different answers. On today’s episode of Masters in Travel, Whitney is joined by Lina Sutton and Danielle Gaerte. Three travel advisors talking about their experiences and their challenges in running a travel business and their mind...
Jun 07, 2022•59 min•Season 2Ep. 74
When starting a travel business, there's so much information out there. Very little of it feels structured and most of it is just that, information. Sometimes it's reliable but very rarely is it relevant to you where you're at in your business. But it doesn’t have to be this difficult. On this episode of Masters in Travel, Whitney and Korrine Johnson discuss an amazing project that they’ve been working on; The Journey. The Journey is an in-depth course in everything you need to know to develop a...
May 31, 2022•54 min•Season 2Ep. 73
On a prior episode of Masters in Travel, Whitney, Kate Sullivan, Julie Patterson discussed the pros and considerations of planning FAMs. Now, Julie is back from Portugal to talk about her experience. Listen in as Whitney and Julie discuss the trip, what Julie learned, and what she might do differently moving forward.
May 24, 2022•45 min•Season 2Ep. 72
It’s time for another Master Hour, the special forum discussion when members of the Masters in Travel community ask experts important questions about running a travel business. This time, Whitney is joined by Andrew Finn, of Kartagener Associates Inc and Rochelle DeBaun, Owner of Five Senses Journeys. Together they discuss in-depth solutions to making your business efficient and successful.
May 17, 2022•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 71
When planning a customized FIT itinerary, there are so many individual components that come into play. How well do we know the destination and how experienced are the travelers? Do we feel comfortable piecing together the itinerary one component at a time? Or do we sometimes prefer to work with the DMC? Deciding to specialize in customizing your design and receiving this type of request is just the beginning. On this episode of Masters in Travel, Whitney is joined by Kate Sullivan of Anthology T...
May 10, 2022•59 min•Season 2Ep. 70
You may be interested in being a travel advisor, but are you also interested in being an entrepreneur? Sometimes running a travel advisor business requires much more than just planning travel. You may have to ask yourself if you’d rather join a team to help with the workload, or go solo to control more of your business. On today’s episode of Masters in Travel, Whitney is joined by Korrine Johnson to dive into this big question, considering all of your options, and how to figure out what will wor...
May 03, 2022•43 min•Season 2Ep. 69
On this brand new episode of Masters in Travel, Master Hour, Whitney is joined by Kate Sullivan and Kelli Bakopanos. During this panel discussion, Kelli shares her experience and expertise in recruiting, hiring, and all it entails to onboard new assistants. Listen in to hear best practices in hiring and how to set yourself, and your new hire, up for success.
Apr 26, 2022•53 min•Season 2Ep. 68
FAMs, or familiarization trips, are a part of our industry that provides an invaluable opportunity to learn about a new destination and supplier partner services on the ground. They offer a tremendous opportunity to connect with and forge relationships with fellow travel advisors, but they can sometimes feel rather elusive. How do you get invited on a FAM anyway? To talk about the ins and outs of FAMs, Whitney is joined by Kate Sullivan and Julie Patterson on this episode of Masters in Travel. T...
Apr 19, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 67
On this month's Master Hour, the expert in the room is Kate Thomas, owner of North + Leasure and co-Founder of TravelPro Theory. Whitney and Kate answer tons of community questions in this all-encompassing episode. Topics today include; reaching out to suppliers, finding new clients in a post-covid world, and much more.
Apr 12, 2022•1 hr 41 min•Season 2Ep. 66
Working with supplier partners can sometimes be risky. Even with consortia or host agency relationships, most of the time, we take a leap of faith. The conversation about who to work with, who is financially sound, and who is really taking care of their business behind the scenes, can often be a really hard question to answer. On this episode of Masters in Travel, Whitney is joined by Marnie Brown, Founder of Trusted FIT Services. Marnie is here with a solution to this problem. Listen in as they...
Apr 05, 2022•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 65
After receiving an exciting inquiry, we may celebrate, but then what happens? Do we spend time on research or forms? Maybe this is a chance to welcome clients into our world, our business, and our experience before talking with them about their specific trip requests. On this episode of Masters in Travel, Whitney is joined by Madi and Kristen Steuber, Cofounders of Steuber Travel Group. Together they discuss the importance of onboarding a client while Madi and Kristen share their experience in l...
Mar 29, 2022•49 min•Season 2Ep. 64
In the world of business, and especially in the role of a travel advisor, selling is a vital factor. Some people hate it while others excel at it, but the key in closing a deal is first knowing who you’re selling to. Jenn Lee, expert saleswoman and VP of sales and marketing at Travel Planners International, is our guest on today’s episode. She and Whitney discuss the BOLT Process of learning how people operate and the best way to handle them in closing deals and building better relationships....
Mar 22, 2022•56 min•Season 2Ep. 63
On this month’s Masters in Travel Panel Discussion in collaboration with The Bridge, Whitney is joined by Anita Powell, Founder of The Africa Hub & the Managing Director of Small World Marketing. This episode is all about the fantastic resource that is The Africa Hub. Listen in to hear more about how this hub can provide you training tools, marketing resources, and tons of tips and tricks in both learning about and selling Africa.
Mar 15, 2022•36 min•Season 2Ep. 62
Sustainability is a growing interest and a priority for some. But what does sustainability actually mean? How would implementing sustainable practices affect the way we do business and our clients’ experiences? On today’s episode of Masters in Travel, Clark Kotula, Kate Sullivan, and Whitney dive deeper into this topic and find ways to make sustainability easier for everyone.
Mar 08, 2022•53 min•Season 2Ep. 61
On this episode of Masters in Travel, Whitney is joined by three amazing advisors who are a major part of the Masters in Travel community and Think Tank to talk about the power of community. Being an entrepreneur can be isolating at times, and sometimes you need others to help you grow your business. It's about collaboration. It's about sharing ideas, inspiration, troubleshooting, and finding a better way than any of us could do alone. To share what community means to them, Kate Sullivan, Korrin...
Mar 01, 2022•37 min•Season 2Ep. 60
On this new and exciting episode of Master Hour, Whitney is joined by Jenn Lee and Theresa Chu-Bermudez to answer all of the questions from the community. This episode includes topics on optimizing Traveljoy, managing challenging client requests, and deciding how you can best use your time to grow your business.
Feb 22, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 59
When starting a new business, advisors can get busy with all the steps necessary to establish ourselves as business owners. But what about protecting ourselves as business owners and our clients? Liability insurance and other policies, though at times intimidating, are vital to get drafted. On this episode of Masters in Travel, Whitney is joined by Jeff Ment, Miguel Campos, and Kate Sullivan. Together they discuss the importance of being prepared for the unexpected and ensuring that your busines...
Feb 15, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 58
In the travel industry, representation companies can be a bit of an enigma. Many advisors don't know representation companies exist while other advisors may know about them, but they aren't really sure how best to work with them. Why should advisors work with representation companies in the first place? On this special Bridge episode of Masters in Travel, Whitney is joined by Janine Cifelli, David DiGregorio, and Dave Kartagenerto clear the fog a little bit and bring to light the tremendous reso...
Feb 08, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 57
Introducing the Master Hour, a monthly coaching call for the Masters in Travel community and Think Tank where advisors can bring questions to a panel to discuss what's going on in their business right here and now. On this first episode of this very exciting discussion, Whitney is joined by Emily Steele of Love Local, and Korrine Johnson of Travel Biz Boss and Journeys Travel. These think tanks are a really great place to push, to challenge, and to really encourage all of us to step into our CEO...
Feb 01, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Season 2Ep. 56
Profitability is a topic you've surely heard about, but what does it really mean? What does it look like in the numbers and in the financials of your business? What numbers should we be looking at and monitoring on a regular basis? And at the end of the day, is it really that important to our small business? On this episode of Masters in Travel, Whitney is joined by Jenn Lee to discuss everything about what profitability can mean. Together they discuss tips on how to analyze your business as wel...
Jan 25, 2022•59 min•Season 2Ep. 55
As a travel advisor, planning fully customized FIT itineraries is a trip design style that fuels the passion of so many of us. It seems simple enough upfront because for most of us, we were planning every detail of our own travels prior to starting our travel business. So it shouldn't be too much of a challenge to transition into the world of FIT trip design as a professional travel advisor. Right? It's only after you dive into the deep end of FIT itinerary design that you realize, no matter the...
Jan 18, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 54
On today’s episode of Masters in Travel, Whitney, Lila Fox, and Kate Sullivan are back to dig deeper into tough conversations. Expanding on their first conversation, there are so many more tough conversations to cover. Not only in how to look out and avoid sticky situations, but how to navigate your way through difficult conversations with clients while staying true to your values.
Jan 11, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 53
In the journey of hiring an assistant and seeking out support for a growing business, there are many places you can look to get the help you need. One great way to find an assistant is through agencies, like Tailored Assistant Services, that train assistants to help in travel businesses. On this episode of Masters in Travel, Whitney is joined by Tiffany Wade, CEO of Tailored Assistant Services. Together they talk about what it looks like to engage a service that provides assistance to travel adv...
Jan 04, 2022•44 min•Season 2Ep. 52
On this special episode of Masters in Travel, Whitney is joined by Gwen Rawlinson and Maria Kuznetsov of ERM tours. For this panel discussion, Whitney, Gwen, Maria talk about the art of collaboration between advisors and DMCs. They go over their experiences working with clients as well as how to foster a creative and productive relationship between travel advisors and DMCs.
Dec 28, 2021•48 min•Season 2Ep. 51
Air is sometimes described as simply a necessary evil. It can be nice to earn a commission that you aren’t expecting, and at other times it’s a hassle to deal with changing flights and finding refunds. Some advisors say that they just let clients handle air on their own, but no matter whether we book air or not, it still affects us as advisors and the itineraries that we've planned for clients. On today’s episode of Masters in Travel, Whitney is joined by two air experts, Sam Dorfman and Rachel ...
Dec 21, 2021•49 min•Season 2Ep. 50
