Karen Cherrett

I know that I've nailed it when I have a client, a new client, someone new that I meet in my Get to Know You introduction session, and I plan and work with my DMC and the destination and plan an itinerary for them, and they come back with the response of wow. Then they go on their trip and all they're talking about is raving about the special little things that happened while they were on the trip, the extra benefits they got, the extra things that happened. It's such a warm feeling knowing that I've helped them have such an experience. Building relationships is everything in the travel industry. Relationships are everything, and it's about knowing where to go. I don't need to hold all the knowledge because there's always knowledge at my fingertips. I have connections at the tourism board, I have DMCs and suppliers and hotels that I can easily tap into at any given moment in time to give me the most up-to-date information that I need. The relationships with them are the key thing.

Assuming anything makes an ass out of you and me. It was one of my bosses from many, many years ago, and it just stuck with me that assumptions create so many problems down the path. It's about having open communication and making sure that you confirm things with people, so that you know, no assumptions in any situation.

I would say it's not what you think. A lot of people stepping into the travel industry, especially when they see a job advertised to become a travel agent, don't realize it's hard work. There's a lot of intricate pieces involved, and it takes time and effort to build a business and to build the knowledge and experience in the industry. It's not something that you can become great at overnight. I'm still in the early stages, and I've been involved for 4 years, and I feel like there's a lot that I still don't know. People think it's glamorous and glorious, like I get to travel, I get to do this. They see us go on trips, but when I go on a trip to Spain for a week, our day starts at 7am and we don't finish until near midnight. We're on an educational journey, we're not here on a vacation. People see us and think we're just on a vacation, but it's full on for the whole time. You're going to need a vacation when you get back. There's a lot more involved in it than just travel, and there's a difference between being a travel agent and being a travel advisor. It's a smaller industry than you think, and building relationships is going to be everything once you join it.

Exceptional customer service is one of my top values. The other one is honesty, that sense of if I don't know something, I'm going to tell you I don't know it. But in my industry, I'm lucky enough to have support that I don't need to know everything. I've got someone that can find that for me, so I think honesty's important.