What Advice Would You Give Your Younger Self?

What would you tell your younger self? 

 

COVID-19 was a moment of reflection for so many people in their careers, especially travel advisors, many of who saw so much of the progress they had made in their careers erode away in those early pandemic months. 

 

Even without COVID-19, it’s important to reflect on what mistakes you made early in your career, not only to improve your future, but to help others—travel, an incredibly a community-orientated industry, thrives on passing on hard-learned lessons to the next generation of advisors. 

 

To help that flow of information, and to give advisors a chance for their own self-reflection, TMR asked some travel advisors at various stages of their careers what they would say to their younger selves. Here’s how they answered: 

 

“I wish I knew more about setting boundaries at the start of my career. Although the nature of our work is 24/7 (due to varying time zones and ‘weekend’ days, based on geography and culture), it is beneficial to establish weekly work hours to maintain balance. I started using a daily out of office message between the hours of 6:00pm and 10:00am to manage client expectations. I have also begun to schedule emails (even if I am working outside of my set office hours) so that clients only receive responses from me during my set office hours.” 

 

“If I could rewind time and step back into 2005 when my career in the travel industry began, I would practice boundaries in my business.  Being a wife, mom, and entrepreneur is a challenge. I wish I had been less accessible to my clients and to my team outside of my business hours, and in turn more accessible to my family. Contrary to popular belief, we do not have to be accessible 24/7. And, don’t believe the lie that everyone must be answered immediately. Boundaries are a lovely thing. Hold true to yours.”

 

“You can have it all, just not all at the same time…Life is a balancing act of priorities and tradeoffs. Recognize that saying yes to something actually means saying no to something else. And vice versa…Tears are merely the end of a conversation … and an opportunity to begin again.

Never get lulled into believing your own press.” 

 

“Among the many things that I wish I would have known at the start of my travel career, there are two things that I would put at the top of the list.  The importance of aligning with a consortium for marketing, supplier education with support and ultimately, higher commissions.  I was hungry to sell all types of travel to all people.  Establishing a niche at the beginning of my travel career would have allowed me to profile my ideal client, focus my education in that area and sell with confidence.”

 

“One of the best advice I can give to aspiring travel advisors is that being a travel advisor is a full “contact” sport. We always talk about being able to create relationships with our clients, but having a large network within the travel industry is as important if not the most important asset. Build a community around you to lean on to help brainstorm ideas, keep you accountable, and to share knowledge and learn from each other’s mistakes is essential to growth.  Take advantage of conferences and events, and be willing to meet others not for benefit, but to provide value. As your network grows, you’ll be able to grow with it, which in turns grows confidence, builds credibility and creates opportunities you may not have seen before.”