Meet Brenda: Her Military Service Instills Values She Brings to Travel
by Marilee Crocker /Travel Market Report salutes all of our veterans and thanks them for their invaluable service.
At age 37, travel industry newbie Brenda Llamas Young has served in the military longer than she’s been a civilian. So when she launched her travel agency in 2011, it was natural for her to bring the discipline, values and leadership skills she honed in the U.S. Army to her new profession.
“As a non-commissioned officer I lived by a set of principals. It has to do with integrity, my morals; I take that into my business,” said Young, who operates Encore Romance Travel out of her home in Tupelo, Miss.
How does that translate? “I try to do what I say I’m going to do. I don’t promise anything I can’t deliver. The commitment and the integrity––you bring that with you,” said Young, who in October marked 20 years in the U.S. Army, nine of them on active duty.
Deployed to Iraq
It was in 2010, the year Young and her soon-to-be husband were deployed to Iraq, that she got her first taste of the leisure travel business.
“I was planning my honeymoon, and I couldn’t find an agent who would call me back,” she said. Young was stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, so she had a toll-free number agents could call, but not a single one responded to her inquiries.
“We were in a very high-stress situation. I just wanted to give my money to somebody who could put this together,” she recalled.
Instead she ended up planning the couple’s January 2011 honeymoon to Fiji herself. Soon after returning to the couple’s new home in Louisville, Ky., she decided to jump into the business.
Early frustrations
Getting started proved difficult. Young couldn’t figure out how to get the education she needed, and her online searches only turned up what she called “those ‘for $499 you can become a travel agent’” schemes.
“That was the hardest process ever,” Young told Travel Market Report.
Eventually, she asked around on Twitter and someone suggested she contact business coach Cory Andrichuk of brandUcoaching in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Acquiring the tools of the trade
Over the course of a year, Andrichuk guided Young through the process of learning the agency business, building a strategy and selecting a host agency.
Young completed Career Quest’s online training program for home-based leisure agents and, after interviewing several hosts, affiliated with Travel Planners International.
She also invested in graphic design and copywriting services for her website, and she credits her early successes with having an attractive online presence that speaks to her target market.
Another factor, she said, has been her social media activity, especially on Pinterest, a favorite among brides, and more recently on Instagram.
Service & leadership
During her time in the Army, Young worked on staff for a general, an experience that gave her a customer service orientation which has served her well in travel.
“I worked with a lot of high-level people; it’s definitely high touch. You translate those skills to the business,” she said.
Young also learned leadership skills that she’s bringing into the agency industry. She has launched a Facebook group where travel agents share marketing ideas and has hosted webinars for the 900-member group.
She spends a lot of time on the phone helping other agents with their marketing, and this week, she’s speaking on social media at OSSN’s Home Based Travel Agent Forum in Chicago.
“I have this philosophy that if we all help each other, we help the industry as a whole.”
A few interruptions
In her own business, Young is not yet hitting her sales goals, but no doubt that’s because her attention has been elsewhere.
“This year was supposed to be an awesome year, but we got pregnant and we moved,” said Young, who in July gave birth to the couple’s first child, a baby girl named Alyiah.
Despite not marketing actively, her sales are up 30% over the previous year.
More importantly, she’s getting the kind of bookings she wants––exotic beach honeymoons at the price points she’s aiming for. In the past year these have included a $15,000 honeymoon to Bali and a $20,000 honeymoon to the Maldives.
Not bad for a newbie.