Codi Gunn

I attribute my success to following my intuition and taking the leap to pursue what truly fulfills me. One of my most defining moments came when I won an RFP for a citywide convention in Seattle early in my career. I was a young event planner serving as my own sales rep with a team underneath me, and we were able to execute an event for about 12,000 people across Seattle for an entire week - handling everything from transportation and room blocks to activities. Winning against reputable hospitality companies and being chosen to execute an event on that level was an incredible honor that showed me I was exactly where I needed to be. More recently, my trip to Patagonia was truly life-changing and helped launch me into my new business full-time. While I was there experiencing the luxury side of travel in that region, I had this profound realization - this place exists, and I want more than anything to share it with other people. If I can help people with the logistics to get to this place that I just experienced, it gives me chills just thinking about it. It's so big and expansive and logistically difficult, and people are intimidated by planning the trip to get there, but being able to help other people go there comfortably and in luxury - that was the turning point for me where I realized this is what I want to do, because this is going to give me the most reward. Since then, I've planned almost 10 trips to Patagonia, and that sense of purpose and passion for sharing transformative experiences with others is what drives my success.

Sarah Lee has been my mentor and an amazing source of inspiration and guidance throughout my journey in the travel industry. She's essentially the person whose team I joined - I'm a sub-agent of hers - and she is just a powerhouse in the travel industry. Not a day goes by where I don't text her my crazy questions about real life travel scenarios that I'm trying to navigate, and she's been doing it for over a decade, so she's incredibly knowledgeable. Having Sarah as a mentor has given me the confidence to navigate this industry and continue learning every single day. The relationship we share and the support she provides has been invaluable to my success, and I'm ever grateful for her guidance.

I would say just do it. It was really hard for me to step outside my secure corporate job and trust myself to follow my intuition, and I never would have thought, if you would have asked me a year and a half ago, that I would be full-time doing this and would have been able to quit my corporate job. The travel industry is really easy to get into, and you don't have to go all in right away - you can get your feet wet and try it out without sacrificing everything. It's a super welcoming industry that has a lot of education built around it and a lot of support, so I recommend giving it a try. Follow your intuition, be your own advocate, and don't be afraid to take that leap when the opportunity presents itself.

One of the biggest opportunities right now is how accessible the travel industry has become, with endless education and resources that allow advisors to stand out by pairing deep event expertise with thoughtful travel planning. The challenge, especially as a solo operator, is managing every aspect of the business—from client acquisition and marketing to operations—while also helping travelers overcome hesitation around higher-cost or logistically complex destinations.

The values that are most important to me in my work are trust and transparency. I always want to be open and honest with my clients and my partners - if something's going wrong, I'm the first one to say it. I believe in maintaining that transparency in all my relationships, whether it's telling a client the truth about a situation or being honest with a hotel about why they won or didn't win a bid, so they can improve for next time. The other value that's absolutely crucial to me is community and relying on your support team, because I'm only as good as my partners are. I sell a service that someone else is executing on essentially, so it's incredibly important for me to have those strong partnerships and a team I can trust. In my personal life, I'm passionate about animal rescue - I have a rescue dog and do a lot of work with Street Dog Hero, a local rescue here in Bend, Oregon. One of the ways I contribute is by serving as a flight angel, bringing rescue dogs from places like Mexico to the U.S. when I travel, so they can get to their forever homes. I've been able to fly angel 5 different puppies so far, and it's an amazing way to make a difference. In my downtime, I love traveling to discover new places and do research for planning trips, and I've really gotten into golf. My husband and I enjoy exploring new locations and golf courses, building trips around golf excursions, which has been fun and rewarding.