Tell us about yourself girl!
Mom, wife, undercover princess. Plus, I own a travel agency. Which I kind of love and hate at the same time right now – but I usually love it. I’m originally from a suburb of Pittsburgh, I have a BS in computer information systems and an MBA, I’ve worked in the travel industry for about 35 years, and my ideal diet includes prosecco, pizza and chocolate. My favorite exercise? An afternoon walk around a city I’ve never visited before.
What inspired you to do what you do?
Giving birth to a preemie and being told I couldn’t put her in daycare for at least three years. Plus, the absolute certainty that I was way smarter than anyone I’d worked for to that point. (If they could run businesses, so could I!)
What is your favorite part of your job?
There’s no doubt that I love designing luxury vacations, and I do have some clients with great budgets, but I think my favorite part is working with my agents and helping them grow their own successful travel business. It’s very satisfying to see someone be able to trade in a regular job they hate for a work-from-home job that they completely love.
Are there any resources, books, etc that you love and think will help others?
Book – What Color is Your Parachute? (helps you hone in on finding work that’s best suited to you); Connie Podesta and her method of identifying someone’s personality “shape” so you know how to best communicate with them
What advice do you have for women wanting to start their own business?
Think big right from the start… If your business completely explodes and becomes more successful than you ever thought it could, what would that look like? And then plan every process and procedure as if it were already at that point. (At least, do so as best as resources will permit.) Because it’s way easier to grow if you’ve built everything for size from day one. Which means you can’t rush into the launch no matter how excited you are to get going. AND you need enough money in the bank to survive for at least six months (and preferably a year or more) because nearly every business takes a lot longer than you think it will to get it up and running to the point that it’s making money.
What’s your website? Do you have any special discounts you want to offer to the group?
There are six divisions of the agency and the sites are being re-done – but MTEvacations.com is our Disney/Universal site and it’s pretty close to finished. We’re happy to provide a FREE 15-minute, no obligation Vacation Launch Session to help you figure out some destinations that will fit with your vision of the perfect vacation (and your budget). BTW, most travel agents don’t cost you a dime more than booking things yourself, we have access to things you don’t, we usually save you money and/or get you some extra perks, and using a travel agent supports small business!