Laura Garcia

I attribute my success to commitment, pure and simple. Life throws obstacles at all of us, and there are moments that can knock you down or pull you off track. What has carried me through is the ability to stay motivated, believe in the path I'm on, and get back up every time something tries to stop me. You have to find the self-motivation and believe in your career and the journey you're on in order to get back up and get back into it. Dedication and perseverance go hand in hand with that commitment. I've been committed to the beauty industry for many years, and although I've tried other things, it's always been within servicing clients and customer service. When I got into travel, it was pretty much the same thing. You're servicing, you have customer service, and you're committed to making sure that everybody is safe, happy, and satisfied. You get good feedback, and it's a reflection of you. That same commitment translates into everything I do.

The best career advice I've ever received is: don't stop, keep going, work for yourself, and be your own boss. I've been an entrepreneur since I was young, so I constantly remind myself of that. My mother-in-law is the one who encouraged me, and that advice is always embedded in my mind when I think back. Just keep going. Don't be working for somebody else. You have full range of your career, you have so many options, and you just have to go with the flow and make it work. Trust in God that your journey is on the right path, and just keep going. That message of persistence and entrepreneurship has guided me throughout my entire career.

My advice to young women entering the travel industry is this: there is no limit to what you can do here. People are booking travel every single day, and they're looking for all kinds of travel. It's not just domestic and international. It's about breaking away from the daily routine. I would say get into travel because it helps other people see what you've experienced and the feeling of rejuvenation from travel. You're going to create that wellness feeling within people, and there's no better reward than knowing that you've helped others feel better because you've encouraged them to break away from the routine. Getting into travel is an easy market to enter, and the opportunities are endless.

The biggest challenge in the travel industry right now is income stability. There are bills and things you have to pay before you actually go out and travel, so that financial aspect is a real challenge. I'm also building my travel business, so eventually I'm hoping that my travel business will pay for my travels so I can travel more. It's kind of a double-edged sword in that way. But the opportunity that I can offer is incredible: helping entrepreneurs get into the travel business themselves. I offer the opportunity to become a travel business owner where you can have a website, work remotely, and as long as you own a laptop, you can work wherever, whenever. I love that part of the travel industry. You can be in Mexico and still work in travel, or be at home or at the coffee shop researching and booking travel. It's fun to research travel, and the flexibility is unmatched. The opportunity is that it's not hard to get into this field.

The values most important to me are passion, love, and service. What brings value to my work is the passion and the love I bring to it. It's really about the service that you're providing that brings the value, not what the cost is. I mean, I can charge a certain amount, but as long as I can give good service, that brings value to my business. For me, value is created through the quality of care and attention I deliver to every client, not the price tag attached to it. Great service is the foundation of everything I do.