Influential Woman · Travel

Jennifer Martinez

ICRC

Manager & Travel Advisor, Just Cruises & Vacations

Clinton Twp., MI

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree High school graduate Degree Community college (attended for about 1 year) Cert KDAC2 Cert ICRC Member ASTA Member Signature Travel Network

Her Story

About Jennifer

I've been in the travel industry for over 25 years, and it's been an incredible journey. I started right after high school working for Spirit Airlines, where I spent about 2 years booking airline tickets and opening accounts for travel agencies. I was going to community college locally here in Michigan for about a year, but once I got working for Spirit, I started traveling a little bit and getting out there, and the travel just got in my blood. I made the switch to working for a travel agency, and that's when everything changed. Instead of just booking airline tickets, I was now on the other end where I got to actually plan the trip, and I just ended up falling in love with it. It was fun, it was education, and people are happy to see you because they know that they're going on a vacation. I even got to work with wedding planners for people that were doing destination weddings, so it was just a whole new realm of different expertise. Now I work for JCV World Travel, which used to be called Just Cruises and Vacations, but we rebranded because the name was a little misleading. We are a full-service travel agency, so we do all-inclusive resorts, Europe, Hawaii, safaris, and literally everything. My specialty is Mexico and Caribbean all-inclusive resorts, although I have recently taken a leap and branched out into river cruising, which has become kind of a new niche for me. I did my first river cruise last year on AMA Waterways and took my mom, so I got to experience it firsthand. I've been with my boss for 23 years, and it almost feels like a family dynamic at this point. They've always been really supportive in making sure that everybody here is successful. It's honestly very rewarding, especially when somebody calls you and you're ultimately helping somebody's dreams come true with bucket list trips. It's really fun to be a part of that.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Jennifer

01What do you attribute your success to?

I've always had really good mentorship. I've been very fortunate to have very good mentorship throughout my career. My previous manager was fantastic, and I've been with my boss for 23 years. It almost feels like a family dynamic at this point. They've always been really supportive in making sure that everybody here is successful, so I would say that my mentorship has been key to my success.

02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

The best advice that I received is just smile and be nice and listen. I think it's really important. My boss always tells me, God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason. Listen to what people are telling you so you have a full understanding, and you always can help them create one of their life-lasting trips.

03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

I would give the advice to just, if you're interested in it, start it and just try to follow through with it. Stick through with it. Sometimes things can be a little bit of a slow start, but you don't know where you're gonna end up. It's a great industry, and the networking is fantastic, and I think it's important to really ride it out and make sure it's what you want to do.

04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

I think some of the challenges are just world events and things that are going on that do affect people wanting to travel. But I would say that some of the advantages are that the world is a big place, so there might be unfortunate circumstances going on in one place, but there's always other things you can do, even within the 50 states. There's always something that can be done to not have to sacrifice the whole travel experience.

05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

I think the most important is just always making sure that I follow up and do what I say I'm going to do. I think it's important, and I feel like even with the COVID thing, some of the customer service has kind of dwindled a little bit, so I just think it's important to stay loyal and just do what you say you're gonna do. And personally, just do what I have to do so I can do what I want to do, in simple terms.

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