How Retired Professor Dannie Brown Became a Top-Selling Expedia Cruises Travel Advisor

After more than four decades in education, Dannie Brown proves it’s never too late to “seas the day.”

I met Brown enroute to Air Canada’s 50th Anniversary Celebration in Mexico this past November, when we sat together on the plane. It’s easy to tell he’s a natural with people, a trait that could only be rivalled with his sense of humour.

A former business and education professor, Brown retired from teaching in 2023 but retirement didn’t slow him down for long. Within just 14 months of becoming a travel advisor with Expedia Cruises, Brown has already achieved Platinum status, selling more than $530,000 in travel in his first year and becoming the first rookie in his office to reach that level.

“I had no idea it was going to happen,” Brown says. “When I started, they told me a good first-year goal was $75,000. I said $100,000 and then suddenly I was past half a million.”

The idea of becoming a travel advisor had been in the back of Brown’s mind for years. Friends who transitioned into travel after teaching sparked his curiosity, and his own love of travel sealed the deal. The opportunity finally presented itself in late 2024, when Brown saw a Facebook post for a local Expedia Cruises franchise information session in Fredricton, NB.

Encouraged by longtime industry contact Janice Kelly—who told him bluntly, “You’re a natural”—Brown signed on in October 2024 and immediately immersed himself in training.

“Because I’m retired, I can be in the office during the day,” he explains. “Most advisors are juggling this with other full-time jobs, so being around other experienced agents helped me learn quickly, especially by making mistakes and figuring out how to fix them.”

Unlike many new advisors who lean heavily on friends and family, Brown built most of his clientele from the ground up.

“The people I know already had travel advisors, and you don’t poach clients,” he says. “So most of my clients are brand new.”

He also never turned down a lead—whether it came from walk-ins through Expedia’s website. That willingness paid off, particularly during what is typically a slower season.

While Brown sells a range of travel products, cruises and all-inclusive resorts dominate his business—especially Caribbean sailings, European itineraries, and repositioning cruises. He’s completed extensive supplier training with Princess Cruises and Virgin Voyages, while intentionally narrowing his focus rather than trying to master every product.

“You can’t be an expert in everything,” he says. “You need to know your clientele.”

Though he’s experimented with groups—including a challenging 41-person flight to Munich over the holiday travel meltdown—Brown admits group travel and river cruising came with steep learning curves.

“That Munich trip was a big learning experience” he says with a laugh. “The flight delays began Boxing Day and it was nonstop calls for a few days. But it taught me more than any training module ever could.”

Brown is candid about the realities of being a travel advisor—especially for those entering the industry later in life.

“The administration is heavy—really heavy,” he says. “The paperwork, the tracking, the commissions… it’s massive. And it’s not a 9-to-5 job,” he adds. “If your client is at the airport or the port and something goes wrong, you help them, even if you’re babysitting your grandkids.”

Despite the demands, Brown believes the value of a travel advisor becomes crystal clear when things go wrong.

“I had a client tell me during that Munich situation that he didn’t think I was helping much at first,” Brown says. “By the end, he completely changed his tune. That’s when they really understand the value of having an advocate.”

His advice to new advisors?

“Be willing to put in the time to learn,” Brown says. “Do the webinars, take the supplier training, but also accept that this job will interrupt your life. If you can handle the stress and the responsibility, it’s incredibly rewarding.”