Influential Woman · Travel

Jessie Riley

Founder, Emerald Atlas Travel

Blythewood, SC

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Bachelor's Degree in Communication from Sonoma State University Cert Digital Marketing Certification for Financial Services Cert University of Virginia Darden School of Business Leadership Training

Her Story

About Jessie

My brand-building background, my marketing background, and my project management background have really allowed me to lean into each of my travel clients and ask the right questions to figure out what they want to do. I get messages through email, Instagram DM, or a form through my website from people who have a trip in mind - whether it's a honeymoon, a milestone birthday trip, or something else special. Usually the common factor in any situation is they don't have enough time to do this and do it the right way, and that is really where I come in. I ask the right questions to figure out where they want to go, what their budget is, what's important to them, whether they're a fast-paced or slow-paced traveler, if they want every hour planned out or just one big thing each day to use the rest of their time to wander around and explore. I take all that information and essentially plan custom itineraries based on what I get. Once I get the green light, I go ahead and book it for them and manage it through the duration of their return trip home.

Quick Facts

IndustryTravel
Based inBlythewood, SC
Specialty Travel, Custom Itinerary Planning, Marketing
- Brand Building
- Project Management
Volunteers with Volunteer at son's private school
- School charitable partnerships with different communities

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Jessie

01What do you attribute your success to?

I would say launching my travel business is my most notable achievement. I've been through ups and downs in my career, but even rewinding 9 years ago when I launched my marketing consultancy, I never really had the courage to say I'm going to do just this, I'm going to go out on my own and see if I can just do this and not have to rely on a corporate job. It wasn't until this year that everything fell into place, everything clicked, really thinking about priorities with my family and how that balances what I'm doing for a living and the example that I'm setting for my family. It wasn't scary to just say, you know what, I'm going to start the business I actually want to be doing, and I'm going to do it because I can, and because I have the family that supports my dreams, and because I have the experience to either know what I'm doing or figure out how to get to where I need to be.

02What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

I think that you can do it all, and you can have it all, but it's not possible in all situations. I've really tried to create that environment where I can spend a lot of quality time with my family. That is part of the reason that I've really just leaned into creating my own business. I realized how important brand building is, and it really is one of those situations - a rising tide lifts all ships. You're not going to just pull one lever and change everything about your trajectory. It really takes effort and time and care and investment in several areas, whether that be having the right people behind you, or the right partners, or investing in your website, or things like that. It really takes everything to grow your company and grow relationships, which is the key, essential ingredient to what it is that I'm doing with travel.

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