Lori Gédon

I really think my parents brought me up to be free-thinking. I worked hard, and they had good values. I worked in my father's office as a receptionist - he owned an animal hospital and was a veterinarian - and I learned about business there. You have to learn about business to get into your own. You can't just say you want to do something - it doesn't work that way. You've got to know something about the background of running a business, because for travel advisors, it's not just selling that cruise. It's all the bookkeeping that's involved, and having the right contacts and strategic alliances so that your clients will be able to feel comfortable that if something comes up, you can call somebody to help them and get priority attention. These are important things.

The best career advice I ever received was to be organized. Really be organized. I also learned early on that you never get a second chance to make a first impression, and I have this on my wall. That includes your presentation, how you're dressed - and I'm not saying you have to be in a suit and stockings and high heels, but you have to look put together. Because someone who's sitting on the other side of your desk is going to look at you, and if you don't look put together, they're going to wonder how you're going to manage all the facets of their trip. If you're not looking put together, how are they going to manage that? So I tell people that you have to remember, they're judging you the minute they meet you to see how well you're going to organize their trip.

Start working for someone else first so that you can learn the ropes. That's important. Also, join every local industry organization - every travel industry organization in your area - and become active, because that's where you make great contacts. Now that a lot of travel advisors work from a home office and don't go into work where they're meeting people all the time, these events are crucial. Whether it's a trade show or monthly dinner meetings that a lot of these organizations have, or familiarization programs, whatever opportunity you have, take advantage of it. And you'll actually be doing that probably for the rest of your time in the industry, because you realize the value of it - getting to know people and meeting them.

I think the biggest challenge is that people look at price, and they don't understand what that entails. I sell - even though I'm known for being a luxury travel agency - it doesn't mean that we're expensive. But it means we know where to get the best value, and that is key. As far as the villa business, what's really important to know is that yes, you have Airbnb and VRBO. These are not vetted properties. They're strictly advertising sources, strictly media. Nobody goes and looks at these properties. They just take the word of what the homeowner sends them. We, on the other hand, in the villa business, actually go and we vet the properties. And believe me, we turn down quite a few because they don't meet our standards. And those standards - we're not just talking that they're luxury, we're talking about that they're in safe locations, that they have a nice setup, that they're clean, that they're suitable for a vacation rental. We are very accurate. We do our own write-ups and things.

Making the proper match is most important to me. Matching the client with the perfect trip for them, whether it's the perfect destination, the perfect cruise, the perfect hotel, whatever that perfection is, by listening to what the client is telling you. And then, using your contacts and experience, and all those Zoom presentations and what they call familiarization programs, where we actually go and experience the different options that are out there. That's so important. Because you can just go online and book it, but you just don't know what you're getting.