Kelli Hayes Smith
Kelli Hayes Smith is a travel industry marketing strategist, speaker, and podcast host known for helping travel advisors move beyond transactional marketing and build businesses rooted in authority, positioning, and long-term brand value. Currently serving as Agent Marketing Manager at Legato
, she works at the intersection of travel advisors, host agencies, and suppliers, helping each side better understand how marketing impacts the overall health of the travel industry. Her philosophy centers on the belief that the industry does not suffer from a lack of marketing, but rather from a lack of clear positioning. Through speaking engagements, educational initiatives, and her Social Takeoff Podcast, Kelli advocates for a smarter, more strategic approach that helps advisors compete on expertise instead of price.
Kelli’s journey into the travel industry began in 2016 when she became a Disney-focused travel advisor while working as an OR scrub nurse. Originally intended as a way to offset the cost of frequent family vacations, her side business quickly grew into a full-time career after the birth of her youngest son inspired her to seek greater flexibility and family balance. Following the disruptions of the pandemic, she discovered a deeper passion for marketing travel rather than selling it directly. That realization led her into leadership roles within the industry, including serving as Senior Director of Marketing at Wanderlust Campus
, where she developed educational frameworks and positioning strategies that helped travel advisors strengthen their brands and marketing confidence.
Known for her candid industry commentary and thoughtful leadership, Kelli has become a respected voice in conversations surrounding advisor commoditization, supplier relationships, and the future of travel marketing in the age of AI. She frequently challenges the industry to rethink its reliance on discount-driven messaging, arguing that constant promotion trains consumers to prioritize price over expertise and value. Instead, she teaches advisors how to turn their real-world knowledge, decision-making, and client experiences into meaningful authority-building content. Her work emphasizes authenticity, strategic growth, and community, and she remains committed to helping travel professionals market themselves with greater clarity, confidence, and purpose.
• Northeast State Community College- Associate's
• 2024 Wunderlust Campus Expert of the Year
What do you attribute your success to?
What means the most to me is when my Instagram DMs are filled with people saying 'I did this, you said' or 'I listened to that episode and it changed how I think' or 'what you've done changed my business.' I also have a podcast called The Social Takeoff, and recently people have been flooding my DMs saying 'you've changed my business, thank you for showing up so real.' That is what actually means the most to me. The only reason that my 2024 Campus Expert of the Year award means anything to me is because it was voted on by people who listen, and that is what means the most to me. It's when they come in my DMs or they tell me 'you helped' or 'this changed my life,' because this industry changed my life. I have the freedom to show up, to take my kid to school and pick him up from school every day, the freedom to show up for his awards days. When I was in the hospital, those things were not options. This job has given me the freedom and changed my life. This industry did, and it makes me feel like I can give back to people by being able to help them create things that will then change their lives. And that's really what this is all about for me. My heart is definitely with the agents themselves, because I was there. I've sat in rooms before in big conferences with CEOs from host agencies and from suppliers, and listened to them talk, and sometimes the agents are being left out of the conversation. They're talking about the things that are difficult for the hosts and the things that are difficult for the suppliers, but nobody's talking about how do we make this better for our agents? And that's really important to me, to be that voice.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The block button on social media is about protecting your peace; don’t let comparison steal your progress.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The first thing I would say is stop following people on social media who do what you do, because you're gonna follow people who are further ahead in their journey, and you're gonna start comparing your beginning with their middle. There's not a comparison, and you can't compare because no one's life looks the same. Starting to compare yourself will be the thief of all your joy. I learned a long time ago, the block button on social media is not about you trying to keep people from seeing what you're doing, it's about protecting your peace. And if you find that you are watching something that makes you question if you're doing it well or impacts your peace of mind in any way, it needs to go away. The next thing that I would say is when it clicks, it'll click, but don't judge yourself before that. Take your time to get your footing and keep your eyes up. I like to run, and I was running one day and I realized I was looking at my feet, and the road looks the same everywhere. But if I would pick a point in front of me, that mailbox, that tree, and watch, I could see myself getting closer. And then once I got there, I picked another spot, and I could see myself getting closer. You can't look at your feet all the time. You can't look at where you're standing right now, because you can't see a difference. You can't see that you're moving. You have to keep your eyes up so you can see that you are actually getting closer to something. And that will help you see that you're making progress. But if you're looking at where you're standing today, it feels like you're not making any progress, so keep your eyes forward.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges in the travel industry is that marketing has historically been supplier-focused, which often sidelines advisors and reduces their value to pricing alone. The opportunity is to shift toward agent-centered marketing through better training, positioning, and toolkits that help advisors build authority, communicate expertise, and differentiate themselves beyond discounts.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I really have tried to focus on the career that I know I'm really good at, and then being a mom and being present. Family is number one. This career gave me an identity back, because it was something I was good at, and it was Kelly, not my kids, not my kid's mom, or my husband's wife. It was who I was, just me. It wasn't my relationship to anybody else that gave me that identity, and so that really helped me get my feet back on the floor after I suffered really severely with postpartum anxiety after our last one. Networking and community are the things that are most important. Working from home and building things like this are lonely. I think networking and finding a group of women who cheers you on, who are not intimidated by your success, who are truly excited for you, is insanely important. It's also the most difficult part of what we do, of being part of a network, is finding the actual humans that will actually cheer for you. And in my opinion, finding that group for networking to grow your brand, but also community to have a cheerleader, a soft place to fall, somebody who tells you that you're making too small of a deal out of this, this is a bigger deal than you're making it, and I want you to celebrate this like it deserves to be celebrated. We're so powerful when we come together like that.