Travel Advisor Under 30 Helps Make Industry More Accessible to Next Generation

Rebecca Smiley was 25 years old when she quit her job in higher education to launch her own business, Smiley Travel. But the travel advisor profession wasn’t always on her radar, nor did it always seem like a job that many Gen Z and late Millennials even had. 

“When I first started, I was often the youngest person, sometimes under 50, walking into a room, so it was tough because I almost felt like I had to do more to get taken seriously,” Smiley told Travel Market Report. 

Fast forward to today, the 29-year-old runs a lucrative agency and, in February, was featured in a CNBC “Make It” article that highlighted her success. Feeling validated and stable in the career, Smiley is now taking a step back to assess the exact direction she wants to go – and much of that involves empowering travel’s next generation. 

She’s established herself in young professional circles, from participating in various travel industry young professional groups to, notably, founding one within her host agency, KHM Travel Group. 

“It’s made me realize how many people are in this industry and are young professionals. I’m meeting more and more,” she said. “Now that I feel like I’ve made my way a little bit, I’ve really been focused on helping bring other young professionals in.” 

Discovering Travel as a Career 

When Smiley first graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, she “had no idea” what she wanted to do. She tried out a bunch of different jobs, from lifeguard/pool manager to mental health counselor, and landed in college counseling for the longest length of time. 

Though she loved to travel and had studied abroad in Jamaica and Mexico, she didn’t think of “travel agent” as a viable career option.  

“I was one of those people who was like, ‘What? Those are still a thing?’ I didn’t know people had those; I thought they just worked for Triple A or whatever,” Smiley said. 

Her perspective changed after a conversation with a woman she met at the wedding of her husband’s uncle, who insisted she meet his travel agent. At first, Smiley didn’t take it seriously. But once she was back at her desk job the next week, she thought, “What did that lady say that she did? I like to travel! That sounds kind of interesting!” 

She tracked the travel advisor down, and the women ended up having a nearly 3-hour-long phone call about the career. Quickly, Smiley decided to quit her job, take a temporary part-time gig at a bourbon bar in town, and join that advisor’s host agency, KHM Travel Group.  

Smiley recognizes, though, that not all future travel advisors will serendipitously meet their future colleague at a wedding, and urges the industry to make the career more accessible to young newcomers. 

“Specifically in travel, we should be investing in the next generation,” Smiley said. “Reputable host agencies need to market to these young agents. We know some hosts do already… We’ve all seen the TikTok ads. But I challenge these hosts to not stop there. Younger professionals need support.” 

Launching a Successful Business 

Smiley didn’t need the bartending side hustle for long, as her business got rolling within a year. Getting to where she is today required training, finding word-of-mouth referrals, and getting disciplined on social media.  

First, it was all about learning the trade through KHM’s educational opportunities, such as a “travel bootcamp” program that Smiley participated in early on. She also took advantage of any FAM trips that she could. 

Then it was time to sell, sell, sell. In the beginning, many clients came from friends of her parents, grandparents, and others in the community where she grew up in northern Kentucky. This was four years ago now, just as Covid was beginning to subside and people were itching for an adventure. 

“A lot of those people were really used to their Myrtle Beach and Florida trips, and so, where I came in, was when they were trying to do the next step,” Smiley said. ” Particularly after Covid, that next step was even harder. Places had vaccine rules and things like that, so people wanted to get out; they just didn’t really know how, and they wanted someone to hold their hand a little bit. So I became that person.” 

From there, though it’s her least favorite part of the job, she knew she needed a strong social media presence. She encourages all new travel advisors to stay active online – it’s how you stay top of mind for future clients. 

“I don’t have a million followers or anything like that, but I do use social media as my way to remind people what I do and make them think of me when they think of a vacation,” Smiley said. 

Smiley’s favorite trips to book are custom FITs in Europe, such as one where a couple had three weeks to travel from Oktoberfest to Italy, which made her particularly excited about the job. 

“I really enjoy helping people have such awesome memories I’ve had jobs, particularly the one in mental health, that were really, really hard,” she said. “This job feels much more upbeat and positive, and it brings perspective. Even the ‘hard’ days are never that hard compared to a lot of professions. And I get to help people see the world! How cool is that?” 

Becoming a Voice for Young Advisors 

Nowadays, Smiley finds herself talking about young professionalism even more than travel itself – with the goal of helping others get to where she is today.   

In 2024, Smiley attended ALG Vacations’ inaugural Kindness Conference, which brings 40 travel advisors under 40 years old on a career-building FAM trip. (This year, Smiley attended again, this time as a Kindness Coach.) When she returned from the first trip, it dawned on her that there must be many more young agents at her own host agency. So, she pitched the idea of a young professional group at KHM Travel Group.  

The young professional program at KHM officially launched over the summer and has more than 170 advisors who participate in YP-specific trainings and virtual networking sessions. Sometimes they have “OGs” talk about relevant topics for growing their business; other times they talk amongst themselves. 

“I think [the YP group] will make for retention as well,” she said. “People of any age don’t want to feel alone or isolated, so with this group we are trying to combat that best we can.” 

Everyone has to sacrifice something to become a travel advisor, Smiley said, and this is especially true for Gen Z and Millennials. For her, it was having no “fun money” for a while; for others, it may be giving up sleep and free time to get the business off the ground while working a full-time job.  

In this way, young professionals, or “YPs,” as she calls them,” have different experiences than more established travel advisors, who she refers to as “OGs.” 

“There’s a lot of young professionals, or just people in general, trying to start in this industry, and it’s tough,” she said. “They often aren’t in the same position as some of the OGs. YPs don’t always have spouses or previously earned pensions to rely on for income. It’s often a little more of a struggle and grind, but many still want travel to be their lifelong career.” 

At the same time, Smiley wants people to know that it is attainable and worth it for those with the passion and drive – which is usually what separates those who make it and don’t in the industry. Overall, she is advocating for more of this support industry-wide. 

“YPs often need educational resources, exposure, and support to achieve this. So many opportunities, like FAMs and other trips, require people to have X amount of sales. We can’t get trapped in the ‘need experience to get experience’ paradox that so many industries find themselves stuck in,” she said. “Collaboration with other YPs shows young agents that success is possible. For many, that very connection makes “the grind” seem more worth it. So I think the task is two fold: to market to and support YPs. You can’t have one without the other.”