Alexandra Faunce

I attribute my success 100% to my husband. He is a golden retriever husband who fully supports me all the time. When I transitioned from being in the workforce, being in the military, and then being in the workforce, and then staying home, we didn't miss a beat, and it is fully because of him. Even when I transitioned into doing this full-time and really going for it, he has supported every single idea I've had. Anytime I say something kind of crazy, he's like, alright, well then, how are we doing it? He is like an angel on this earth.

The best career advice I've embraced is that it's scarier to never know than to take the risk. I want people to see or hear about my story and think, she did it, maybe that's what I need to hear. Even if it is scary, it's scarier to never know. I'd rather regret doing something and not liking it than to regret never having done it at all.

Go for it. If it is something that you feel strongly about, if it's something that you are willing to invest the time and never stop learning, absolutely go full throttle into it. I feel that way about anything, really, any career choice. I joined the Navy at a young age when all my friends had graduated college and were starting their first careers, and I was like, I think I'm gonna go do this. You can always learn something new. I love to learn, so you can always learn something new, always.

The biggest challenge in my field right now is that the world is kind of rough. I have a lot of people who are scared to go certain places and experience things that they've wanted to experience forever. There's always going to be something happening everywhere, but I also always want to make sure that their concerns are validated, because they are valid. I really listen to what they're feeling and do everything I can to support them in those feelings and also educate them on certain things, as far as geography. Everything that's going on in the world really makes it difficult in a lot of situations for people who are wanting to travel. On the opportunity side, thankfully, we have a lot of really good partners on location, so I'm able to get to people who are in these locations and not fully rely on what I'm seeing on my TV. That is such a strength for not even just my business, but the travel industry as a whole. We rely on the relationships with the people that are in these locations, and having built those relationships helps us advise our clients in the most informed way.

Attention to detail, service, serving others, and really just compassion are things that I feel like kind of get lost in today's world, but it's something that I really like to make important. I make it a point to, you know, even if I'm frustrated in something, or somebody else is having a bad day, I have to remember that it's not always personal, and I think a lot of people do take a lot of things personally, and most of the time, it never is. I like to show compassion, I like to still bring my A-game, and just listening, really listening to people is something that I feel like is important in my personal life and in my professional life.