The Why Behind the Journey: Transformational Travel & Leadership with Angie Rice
In this episode of The Inn Crowd, host Jamie Mattingly sits down with Angie Rice, Co-Founder of Boutique Travel Advisors, to unpack what it really means to design transformational luxury travel experiences. From her background in forensic accounting to building a mission-led agency, Angie shares how her team creates one-of-a-kind itineraries that inspire, connect, and give back.
We explore:
BTA’s unique business model that blends independent and employed advisors
How travel advisors can scale through mentorship and specialization
The growing demand for purpose-driven and culturally immersive travel
Real stories of philanthropic travel that leave a lasting impact
How Angie is mentoring the next generation and advocating for tech upgrades in the travel industry
Whether you’re a hotelier, travel advisor, or luxury experience creator, this episode is packed with insights on how to grow with intention — and how to make every trip matter.
🎧 What Listeners Will Learn:
Why luxury travel is becoming more about transformation than amenities
The importance of defining the “why” behind every itinerary
How to build a travel agency that fosters collaboration, not isolation
Ways to incorporate philanthropy authentically into travel planning
Strategies BTA used to grow organically before ever investing in ads
How mentoring diverse learning styles builds stronger, more loyal teams
The real pain points behind travel tech — and how the industry can evolve
Why multi-gen travel and villa/yacht experiences are trending
How giving back on a trip can reshape both the traveler and the destination
🔗 Links Mentioned in This Episode:
👤 Guest – Angie Rice | Boutique Travel Advisors
Website: https://www.travelbta.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/travelbta
Blog: https://www.travelbta.com/blog
Email: info@travelbta.com
🎙️ Host – Jamie Mattingly | Duval Street Media
Podcast Website: https://www.duvalstreetmedia.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/duvalstreetmedia
-
Jamie Mattingly (00:00)
Welcome to The Inn Crowd, where we explore the trends and insights and creative strategies shaping the world of
hospitality and travel. I'm your host, Jamie Mattingly, and today we're diving into the world of luxury travel. Not just
the glamorous side, but the intentional transformational experiences that redefine what travel can do for the soul. Joining
me today is Angie Rice.
co-founder of Boutique Travel Advisors, a luxury travel firm known for creating deeply personalized itineraries that go
far beyond the five-star hotels and first-class flights, although they do that as well. With a background in finance and a
lifelong passion for travel, Angie has built a company that pairs strategic thinking with heartfelt storytelling. From
milestone celebrations in Italy to philanthropic journeys in Costa Rica,
Her team crafts trips that inspire, connect, and leave a lasting impact. Angie, I'm so thrilled to have you on the show.
Angela Rice (00:51)
Thank you for having me.
Jamie Mattingly (00:53)
My pleasure. So before we dig into the trends and the strategies, I'd love to start with a quick introduction of boutique
travel advisors. Can you tell our listeners what it is that you do and how it was that you came to start this company?
Angela Rice (01:07)
Sure, Boutique Travel Advisors was a passion project. So I met my business partner about the same time. We both were
looking and reflecting on our careers and our personal lives. And together we sensed that we had this synergy. And it
was a combination of our love for travel, but more so our continuation of wanting to pursue growth and personal
development. So the combination of the two really lent itself to us being really good
business partners with a philosophy and a set of core values that I believe is the foundation of Boutique Travel Advisors
to this day.
Jamie Mattingly (01:46)
So you guys started with a philosophy, which not a lot of businesses do. Sometimes business owners start it because,
you know, we want the money too, right? But I have found that the entrepreneurs that start with those core values and
that mission tend to be more successful. And would you think, would you find that to be true with BTA?
Angela Rice (02:05)
think it creates sustainability. It can be messy because when your pursuit is not necessarily profitability right off the bat,
you have to come up with other solutions to survive that short term. And I would still say there's times where I still feel
like I'm in that startup mode. The way that Boutique Travel Advisors started a lot of that foundation was based on
forward thinking, long-term thinking. And I was at a cross in my career where I had had a lot of success.
Jamie Mattingly (02:14)
Yeah.
Angela Rice (02:34)
but it was no longer fulfilling. So I was looking for this opportunity to instill my work ethic into a business that had a
mission. And for that mission to really be successful with a business partner, I had to make sure that we had similar
values. And I really wanted to create a business that elevated opportunities for women and professionals, and to be able
to allow them to see their true growth potential. That is something I did in my
consulting background in forensic accounting was to watch people elevate. I have former colleagues that I mentor who
are now CEOs of companies. And to me, that is really rewarding to see people that you've mentored be significantly
more successful than yourself, right? That is really to me a way you can give back to a company. And then secondly,
nonprofit was something that I wanted to instill as a core requirement for our company, that we were always thinking
about ways that we can be philanthropic.
Jamie Mattingly (03:34)
I love that, that's so beautiful. And so can you tell us in a nutshell, you know, if I'm looking to travel, why would I go to
Boutique Travel Advisors? What is it that you guys can do for the traveler like me?
Angela Rice (03:46)
Right, and I love that question, why? So when my team members ask me to invest in a marketing strategy, or they want
to do something outside the box in terms of planning a trip for their client that isn't something they're sure that the
client's going to receive, but they have a gut feeling that it's going to be inspirational for that client, I always say why?
Like, why is it that this is something you feel we should do? Or why is this a good decision for the client? And when
you start to have enough
passion for that why I think things start to really unfold right and when we plan travel we really ask our clients why like
why do you want to take this trip? Who are you traveling with? What is the significance of these people that are part of
your life that you're going to take this investment this time and this all your resources and in travel I think sometimes we
focus on how much something's going to cost right?
Maybe not in the luxury market as much, but it's still like one of the questions that has to be answered in our early
discovery with a client. Like what is the investment you're going to make in this trip? But the more you have established
yourself as a luxury traveler, you're really going to be more focused on your time, the meaningfulness of the time, and
the fact that you're taking that time away from other resources such as your profession, your business.
And so you value that time so much that you want to turn it over to a true professional that has expertise in travel and
the connections that you have as an established travel agency.
Jamie Mattingly (05:22)
Yes, absolutely. And I love the wording that you chose and it sounded like it was very intentional. You didn't use the
word budget, you used the word investment. So, and I truly see travel as an investment. So can you talk about that a
little bit? This is an investment where you're taking people, the trips that they're going on, the opportunities to give back
to the areas that they're traveling in. It really can have a transformational impact on people, right? And it sounds like
With that word choice, you guys understand that from day one. This is not a budget. This is an investment in your soul,
in your character, in your memories, in your life. Like, I love that idea. And was that an intentional use of that word?
Angela Rice (06:04)
It is in the sense that you really have to understand that the real value of vacation is not what you spend on it, right?
People talk about value and they, well, what does it cost me? No, the real value is what the experience provides you,
transformationally, as well as from a human connection perspective. And there's also learning and education that takes
place. And to build that transformation into our clients itineraries, and then for our clients to come back,
Not only do they have opportunity to change, but they also have this opportunity to create these lasting memories with
others, their family, their friends. And it boils down, in my opinion, to the fact that if you're willing to make those
investments and you're really willing to, with the travel advisor support or other, to really allow yourself to disconnect
during that travel experience, there's studies and statistics that say that the probability of changing when you're outside
your environment
traveling, you're most likely to have the ability to put those changes into motion more long term.
Jamie Mattingly (07:15)
that that's actually, you know, the whole swing right now, it feels like everything is moving to experiences and to be
able to turn those into something that can actually, you know, change somebody. I love that concept. So let's dive into
what really sets boutique travel advisors apart, the experiences themselves. So you guys are, you guys are really known
for creating these incredibly personalized high-end trips. So what is the process for designing something that truly sticks
with the client?
Angela Rice (07:34)
Bye.
Jamie Mattingly (07:43)
What does it look like from your sales process from them inquiring to boom, they're setting out on the jet.
Angela Rice (07:50)
team refers to it as the client journey. So we're constantly looking at ways to evolve the client journey to improve it, to
enhance it. And the notion of transformation has always been a big part of our mantra. However, it's scary to a lot of
people. It's not necessarily what they believe they're signing up for. It might even deter them initially out of fear and for
other reasons, it can be rejected. So it's a quiet
mantra within our business. It's not something we spell out to all of our clients. Some, yes, but for those we take baby
steps and we look for opportunities to build that curation into their travel. And it allows us to be part of that movement
that I think is apparent in the luxury travel market is that luxury is being redefined. It's a personal statement, right? How
you define luxury. To some people it's that penthouse suite with privacy, butler service, and really feeling that
moment of success because you've achieved this ability to have this profound experience in a luxury environment.
Whereas for others, they define privacy and luxury a little bit differently. It's more those intimacies and our ability to
provide them opportunities that maybe came to them at a little bit of a surprise. It's in the itinerary, but it's not. You
know, things like being able to go to the Clift of Moors and not expecting a boat to pick you up and taking you to
a place where you get just as magical view without all the parking lot and white buses lined up to see that same
experience. You're watching it from a boat and you're then following up with a picnic lunch with your significant other,
maybe your family. And to me, that element of we did it differently. We did it on our terms. And to know that you have
advisors and agencies who are passionate
about providing you those experiences and the ability for the traveler to really entrust us with the opportunity to curate
their trip is really important.
Jamie Mattingly (09:49)
Yeah, that sounds like a very unique experience. And that's what I think sets you guys apart is, you know, I could never
personally plan a vacation like that. I wouldn't even know that that existed, you know. So it's kind of like taking and,
you know, cheating a little bit. I'm letting you guys do all the work for us because you guys are the experts. You guys
have the connections. So I think that's really, really cool. Are there any like destinations or styles of travel that you are
seeing that are really lighting you guys up right now? Is there anything that you and your agents are just like?
I hope, you know, this person comes through the door because I really want to book this kind of trip for them.
Angela Rice (10:24)
So our agency is a team collaborative environment. And for my ability to feel as though we can truly offer the expertise
of a destination, the expertise of a style of travel, whether you're multi-gen or you're honeymooning, or maybe you're
executives and you're bringing a team on a retreat where you need a little bit more of a professional environment created
and curated for you with more VIP experiences.
So similarly to my prior profession where I worked for a consulting firm where we had different disciplines and
specialties such as I worked in construction for several years and really built up my experience in constructing vertical
projects. Another consultant might be more specialized in business valuation. So I wanted to run my
travel agency in a very similar fashion. So as my business partner and I were able to invest in more travel advisors, we
looked for advisors that had specialties. They were seasoned advisors and they were specialized in certain destinations,
whether it's the UK and other areas of Europe being their specialty, or they had a lot of experience in off the beaten path,
adventure style travel, even solo travel. I have an advisor that specializes in no man
style of travel where you solo travel but you meet up with other travelers and she runs a lot of groups. And I think it's
fascinating to be able to take those expertise and with that expertise we can share and communicate across our team to
enhance the experiences of all of our travelers. And I see a lot of times our niches are what drives the traveler to want to
work with our agency. So we sometimes have a little bit of a
a synergy and an influence on where they want to travel. I personally really enjoy multi-gen travel. Families that really
look at the value of traveling with the youngest member of the family and the oldest member of the family and trying to
create a unique environment that appeases everybody as best as possible, whether that's taking a yacht charter for a
week.
finding a private villa where you bring a lot of the amenities and the experiences to the villa, but then you create these
excursions throughout the trip. That's really one of my specialties. And I think that the more you create these client
experiences that allow your clients to experience something that's truly unique, their ability to share that with their
community is what really determines where our clients travel next.
So we always see a trickle effect from our current clients. And then the next year, it's usually we have twice as many
clients that want to experience some of the past trips that we've planned from other clients.
Jamie Mattingly (13:17)
Yeah, I bet that's social proof, you know? It's almost like for me, because I know that I'm just bad at planning vacations.
So I would want to like go through, you know, an Instagram of just like other people's vacations that you guys have
arranged to sort of pick through it that way. I also love that you have approached this style of business with a very like
niche mindset that you definitely took from your, you know, forensics, accounting background and stuff.
The idea of having such niche professionals in this industry, think is so genius. Do you find that, you know, if I worked
with Susan and she's great in the Caribbean, that I will be a repeat guest and come back and work with Angie because
you're good in Europe? Is that kind of, do advisors share clients? Is that how it worked?
Angela Rice (14:03)
Right. It is a different business model for sure. But I think what we do is we really establish and we revisit with each
client, whether the client has a connection to the advisor. And if so, we want to foster that relationship. But then there's
also times where the client is a little more flexible and wants to have that direct interaction with the team member that
might not be their main point of content who really knows the destination. And what we're able to do is
work together and design the itinerary. just because my advisor Jen might be helping my advisor Jessica on a UK
itinerary for a family doesn't mean that the client isn't forming that relationship with Jessica. What it means is that the
client knows that Jessica has this inside resource that goes beyond what a one-to-one relationship with a travel advisor
and a client might have elsewhere. So we take a lot of pride in the fact that
we do feel we're building a true layer of expertise in our industry by destination and type of travel. And I hope that that
sets us apart. And I do think it's hard to be all things to all people. I think it's hard to know the entire world or even a
type of traveler. You know, there's different layers of luxury. There's different styles of travel in the sense that some
people focus more on food and wine. Some people focus more on
the adventure side of a destination. And so with our model, the focus is ensuring that all of our advisors have the
expertise of listening skills to really understand what it is that the client is looking for, what are their preferences, and
what do you know about this client, their past trips, their future trips, their travel goals for this particular trip. And as a
result of that, if we focus on that skill set and building a process where
We have consistencies in how we manage the client journey. We feel that that added resource just is a compounding
effect of why our clients have a more exceptional experience.
Jamie Mattingly (16:08)
Yeah, absolutely. I think that's a really, really smart take on it in such, know, coming from a different industry. I think
you have a little bit of an advantage. And I think that from what I have, the agencies that I've spoken to that are similar
to yours, I have never talked to anyone that has that similar model. So it is unique, at least in my eyes. So good on you.
Angela Rice (16:26)
It is
different, Amy. And sometimes I feel like it's misunderstood in the industry. So not everyone in the industry
understands that business model because the travel industry has really moved towards independent contractors where
people are running their own business and they might have a host agency that provides them great mentorship or the
opportunity to meet with their peers at conferences and things like that. But in my opinion, sometimes the collaboration
in a more cohesive environment allows you to not only share resources on what suppliers are offering us preferential
resources and contracts and things like that, because certainly preferred contracts and relationships are valued in this
industry. But the day-to-day relationships when you're in more of a team environment where you don't feel like you're
on an island and you know, I'm not very good at marketing, but I can...
team up with another advisor who can be stronger in marketing and I can be more valuable in the design and the
curation of the itinerary. Or some of our advisors wear the left brain versus the right brain. And that's a real reality. I feel
like an independent advisor with their own business model starting in this industry with no clients is really going to have
a lot of pain points because not only are they going to be focused on marketing sales to generate that first
client, they also have to know have a system in place in terms of how am I going to create this client journey and behind
the scenes, what's the workflow? How do I ensure quality control? And at the end of the day, do I have the skill sets to
manage my financials? And that's a lot of disciplines that you don't see in all of my years of consulting with different
industries. That's a there's an enormous amount of diversity in the skill sets.
Jamie Mattingly (18:07)
Yeah.
Angela Rice (18:20)
that are required for one travel advisors to operate a travel business on their own.
Jamie Mattingly (18:26)
Yeah, absolutely. It's that, you know, that fallacy. We always think like, I love what I do. So I'm going to start my own
business. But then you realize, well, when you're running your own company, you don't get to do that thing. You know,
you have to do the financials. You have to do the marketing, the sales, you know, the stuff that didn't drive you there in
the first place. So it sounds like, you know, you really are passionate about travel. You guys are a great place to work
for because you get to do that, but you're supported with the stuff you don't necessarily maybe want to focus on.
Angela Rice (18:43)
Right.
bright and it's supporting we do have both employed advisors and independent advisors, but it's the notion of trying to
work with our independent advisors to understand their skill sets. focusing more on the business and less about the
travel and the design and it's kind of a given you're passionate for travel if you enter this arena, right? But
Do you know how to run a business? Do you know your strengths? your weaknesses? Do you have a business plan?
And then being able to say, if you're not good at something, can you delegate it? Or if you're not good at something, can
you hire a consultant to support you? Or can you team up with another advisor and share resources a little bit through
some sort of joint venture type arrangement? And then evaluating whether you're going to perform better as a
independent travel advisor running their own business.
or whether you want to be in a team collaborative environment where you're an employee advisor. So I think that those
decisions oftentimes are overlooked when we first get into this industry and many different personalities are going to do
better in one lane versus the other.
Jamie Mattingly (20:03)
Yeah, absolutely. I'm a big fan of partnerships. think that we all keep, you know, we're all really good at something and
there's always something that we don't want to do, right? My partner is, was a forensic accountant. So yes, his
background is all of the things that make my eyes roll backwards. And I'm a creative. came from, you know,
videography and photography backgrounds and graphic design.
Angela Rice (20:15)
What are the odds?
Jamie Mattingly (20:27)
So we just, it was just a perfect meeting of minds. And so I'm a huge fan of partnerships. I recommend them to anyone
who is feeling like you don't necessarily wanna jump on that one project. I'd to shift gears just for a little bit and talk
about how you reach the right clients. So we know that you guys are, you have these really niche, amazing travel
advisors. We're in the luxury space. We also...
care about the areas we're going to, want to give back, it's a transformational travel concept. So how are you guys
finding the right clients? And also, is this something that BTA is helping the advisors do or is this on the advisors
themselves?
Angela Rice (21:09)
Really good area to explore when you're looking at the success of your business is dependent upon those clients, right?
You can have a great product or service, but it needs to be marketable, right? And you need to attract those clients. We
definitely have focused on the organic approach. So to me, it just creates authenticity. It's harder, it's more time
consuming. You're going to fail because some things are going to work, other things are not going to work.
And, but for me, I feel like the organic approach has longevity. So when something works and you bring a client into
your business using a very personalized approach that is true to your brand, I think that you have a much greater
possibility of onboarding that client and servicing them long-term. So we have a very, very high success rate in
onboarding a client. So once they connect with a BTA advisor,
and they experience our consultation that comes at a complimentary basis or on a complimentary basis, we usually can
convert that client 95 % of the time. So our messaging, I believe, is very clear and it gives the clients a roadmap of what
to expect when working with boutique travel advisors. But getting those clients to experience our brand, obviously that's
always a work in progress.
right? Especially when you're not investing in paid ads. That is not something we've done historically. Is it something
we might have to do in the future as we grow? Probably, you know, it's something we will have to consider because
when you scale a business, you kind of have to be a little bit more vested in the different approaches to how you market
your business. But in the meantime, we really focused in the beginning on two very strategic approaches to how to
generate ideal clients. And my
business partner, Janet Seminova, handled one approach, I handled the other approach, but we did it in tangle, meaning
there was a lot of synergies, a lot of yin-yang conversations that took place. She was more intimidated about working
directly with our target audience and trying to really educate them. Inn her mind, that was a little bit more on the sales
side, so maybe I took over more of the sales approach, and she focused on content creation. So we started with a blog.
And our blog was really our marketing tool. So, and we worked very closely. I would find what was of interest to our
prospective clients. And I would tell my business partner, we need a blog in Portugal. We need a blog that really
outlines the top 10 destinations and where to stay for families with teens. And that content was my research to do a
better job of building my expertise when we started. And it also gave our clients a visual.
People want visuals, they want photos, they want videos, they want things that are personalized. And we've really kept
our blog relatively strong by requiring our advisors when they come back from a work travel experience, which in our
industry we call fam travel, that they have to share their experiences to our community. And I love that our online
community also reaches a much larger audience, right? It's not just our clients, but it's the people
we serve that may never become clients. And then down the road, we find people call us and they indicate that they've
been following our content on social media and on our blog for several years. So it really is.
Jamie Mattingly (24:44)
which is gorgeous by
the way. So anyone listening, go check out their Instagram, you your social medias are beautiful. So you guys are doing
that well. And I have seen your advisors come back and share their photos and they're incredible. Absolutely. It's a
genius.
Angela Rice (25:00)
The other side of our business, as far as how we lead Jen, is being a part of our communities, figuring out how we can
add value in our community. And some of that was trial and error, because we were naturally following that mission
statement of being philanthropic. I was debating on whether I wanted a profession in philanthropy. I was going to apply
for executive director positions in my community. And instead, I...
I looked at our travel business and felt like I could use that as a vehicle to give back. And so that give back really put us
in front of our ideal client. The ideal client isn't just somebody who is going to book travel. It's someone who wants the
experience. They want the transformation, but they also are a good person. And I feel you're going to find a really good
audience in the nonprofit world.
people who are volunteering, giving back to their community. Those are ideal clients, not based on how much money
they're going to invest in a trip and whether that's profitable for your travel business, but because they're good people.
We want to work with good people that value our services.
Jamie Mattingly (26:09)
Yeah, and they're going to if it's as
transformational as it sounds, they will tell their friends and they will tell their friends and so on and so forth. So that
word of mouth marketing, you know, that that can be priceless.
Angela Rice (26:22)
Agree.
Jamie Mattingly (26:23)
Yeah, definitely. you know, I like what you had said earlier that you guys really wanted to start authentically. So you
have built up this amazing brand and your socials, your website, everything, clearly you guys know what you're doing.
And so, you know, I'd say if you guys are going to jump into advertising now, you should not feel like a phony because
you guys have done it. You guys have done the thing. And I do think that there is a, know, a lot of people can say, I'm
going to start this company. I'm going to invest so much money into marketing.
and they can become successful, right? But you're right, it almost doesn't feel the same. I can't weigh those two
companies the same as someone that started a brand from the ground up and built it up organically. And I'm not saying
there's anything wrong with either model. It's just, I think that you guys have done a really great job at that. And it's a
very hard thing to do. And I'm wondering if you feel like you may have been ahead of a couple of these trends.
For example, the blogs to give information to inspire those destinations, to answer the questions that people are
searching for. Do you feel like you and your team were possibly a little bit ahead on that curve? Is that been as the SEO
and the blog has been really the main driver of that for you guys?
Angela Rice (27:35)
A lot of it was social proof. I still feel like our community is a result of our networks. But then they go to our social
content and our blog, and then they're able to really feel that inspiration to take that trip that we write about, that we talk
about. So sharing that content kind of goes hand in hand. I think without the content, we wouldn't have been able to
have inspired as many people to actually reach out to us.
I do feel though to really capitalize on the content that we created, it may take advertising. And although that goes
against our like philosophy a little bit, but it also, like you said, when you've built something that you are proud of and
that you know is delivering a new experience for people, a new way of traveling, you're going to reach a much larger
audience when you do have a marketing plan that involves
advertising to reach a larger audience. And with the amount of analytics that are available today, we can really target
our ideal clients in that advertising. Is it scary to do something different? Of course.
Jamie Mattingly (28:45)
Yes, absolutely. You you guys are growing and scaling and you know, that's an amazing part of growth is it feels a little
scary at times. So let's zoom out a little bit and let's talk about what's happening in the luxury travel space. What trends
are you seeing in terms of traveler behavior and expectations and how are they, how have they evolved over the years
and how is BTA rising up to answer these?
Angela Rice (29:08)
Right. There has been that spin, right, on luxury and transformation. And we've always kind of married the two. So
we're really happy and excited about today's trend because it fits our normal way of traveling ourselves. It's our style.
And so it's so authentically ourselves to be able to combine the two to maybe strip some of the traditional luxury and
Jamie Mattingly (29:18)
Yeah.
Angela Rice (29:34)
replace it with transformation, right? And doing things that are more outside the box. And by all means, you can
combine the two, right? Nothing says that you can't stay at a Rosewood or at a Four Seasons and have a
transformational experience. And there is this new focus on wellness too. You we always want to look at if someone
taking a seven day trip versus a 14 day trip, how do you build the right balance between
downtime, relaxation, wellness, personal growth, and combine it with the destination and the ability to feel part of that
local culture and be able to allow yourself time to immerse yourself in that destination. So the balancing act, I think, is a
big trend right now, is to ensure that you're getting that balance. People are overworked. They're tired. They don't have
as many days spent with their children. It's just a go-go-go society. And so I think being able to
all of those other responsibilities and be able to take a vacation that's built with a lot of intention. It's going to be a better
investment and it's going to, I think, really change the landscape for how people plan travel going forward.
Jamie Mattingly (30:50)
Yeah, absolutely. think, you know, as, as I told you before we started the show, I'm a mom of a nine year old and a 12
year old. And I do feel like most of our vacations are go, go, go, go, go, right? You know, for going up to Disney, I'm
probably coming back more exhausted than I left. So in speaking with travel advisors, it's really opened my mind up to
the idea of like,
you can have that kind of vacation, but then you can also add in days of rest or days of cultural experience or days of
giving back and this mixture of vacation ideas and experiences I really love. So I'm wondering, you had mentioned that
your favorite trips to plan right now, or I believe that's what I heard you say, are multi-generational trips. Can you give
us an example of some trends?
and maybe itineraries that you would suggest for a multi, or maybe one that you've even created for a multi-generational
family when you have to consider perhaps the five-year-old and the 75-year-old.
Angela Rice (31:48)
You definitely want to know each traveler. Obviously you may not talk to every traveler, but you want to know kind of
the ins and outs of the different families that make up that multi-gen, any pain points associated with any of the children.
the real reality is you might have a child with a special needs. You might have a senior traveling that has mobility
issues. So we've got to address the real realities upfront that are going to.
B, the focus of ensuring that everybody's needs are met. And then secondarily, you want to focus on ensuring that
everybody has a joyful vacation. Like how are we going to make this fun and exciting for everybody and balance the
different ages of the group? There might be some activities that are not suitable for kids under the age of 15. And so you
have to divide and conquer to keep everybody happy.
I think the destination is also really important and the style of travel. So for me, think Greece is a great destination for
multi-gen. It allows you the opportunity to rent a private villa. It's a great market for private villas in destinations that
really appeal to all ages. And it's also a great place to charter a boat. So keeping those types of travel in mind when
you're accommodating a multi-gen. I also think ski vacations can be really fun for multi-gen.
even for the non-skiers, because there's so much to do in a ski town, summer or winter, and you have the opportunity to
hike in the summer months. Inn the winter months, you can take advantage of the wellness, know, focus on the wellness
that's offered at most ski resorts. And just the joy of seeing kids on the mountains being active. And like, let's say there's
a grandparent that doesn't ski, grandma could be in charge of getting the kids to and from ski school.
So there's ways to really interact as a family on a ski vacation that I think oftentimes can get overlooked if you don't
really focus on setting expectations and really letting everyone know that you have a role in making this a memorable
trip for everybody involved.
Jamie Mattingly (33:50)
I love that. sounds like a great trip. And that's like my next vacation. My actually, to be honest, my kids have never seen
snow. So I'm down here in Key West, Florida, and we don't get any snow down here. So that is my next vacation. I've
got to get them to a cabin somewhere in a mountain with some snow.
Angela Rice (33:58)
Right?
Yes, every
kid needs to see snow in their lifetime for sure.
Jamie Mattingly (34:12)
Absolutely. And I mean, I just, I recently lost a grandparent. It's okay. It was a, it was a beautiful, beautiful experience.
It is weird as that sounds, but I also don't get a lot of snow in my life. So when we went up there to say goodbye, the
first thing we did when we got outside of the airport was grab snow. And it was like dirty old, like, I don't know. You
probably have more experience, but it was gross snow apparently, but it still was amazing. It was magical. I would love
for you to give me an example of
You mentioned that in every itinerary that you create, you give your traveler the chance to give back to the community
that they're traveling within. Can you give a couple examples of what that looks like?
Angela Rice (34:47)
Yes, we always have the conversations with our clients kind of upfront to learn about what it is that they do. And a lot
of times I'll ask, you involved? What do you do in the community? What are you involved in? And that always gives me
a signal of how to incorporate volunteerism or giving back to their community. Sometimes we focus on giving back in
our local community. So that's an area where our clients participate in our philanthropic involvement. We're very
involved with Make-A-Wish, Amanda Hope.
PTSD now. And then when it comes to the destination, it takes a lot of research to really provide good solid
recommendations on how a traveler can support a community because there's a lot of sensitivity involved. We might
have a family that says, we want to volunteer at an orphanage for the day. That's not always what's best for those kids
that are being housed at that orphanage. Sometimes it's a little intimidating to see travelers
in when you're in that environment, right? And so we have to take a step back and research with our suppliers. If not for
our wonderful destination partners overseas, we wouldn't probably be able to offer that resource to our clients because
they're the ones that really explore local communities. They explore the nonprofits in the area or the vicinity where our
guests are staying to really help us figure out ways to give back to the community, whether it's
an environmental cleanup day, whether it's supporting an orphanage, not necessarily working with the children. That's
what we have to educate our clients. Like that's not always possible. And then we also have ways to give back to
organizations. For example, Courage Worldwide has this coffee plantation and they have a coffee shop right near the
base of Mount Kilimanjaro. So to me, that's really cool to
order a bunch of coffee, send it to our clients that are going on safari and let them know that when you're at the base of
Kilimanjaro, which oftentimes we add that as an excursion, whether you're hiking the mountain or not, you get to feel
that closeness to that community that you're supporting. We also over the years have supported not just tourists, which
brings medical supplies from the United States that are considered non usable, just because once you open a medical kit
in the United States, it's usually considered
disposable at that point in time. So instead of disposing that, we set it aside with some of our partners at the hospital
level, doctors, and oftentimes our it's our clients that help support not just for tourism tourists. And we also help pack
for a purpose where we have partners around the world, several hundred hotels that serve as outlets for our travelers to
bring gifts that can be donated to nonprofits in that community.
So it's like a housewarming gift. So when you visit a destination, yes.
Jamie Mattingly (37:42)
I love that.
how sweet that is. that's you're after my heart. I love that so much.
Angela Rice (37:49)
And Jamie,
I'll share with you like my own son's experience with travel. We've been traveling, you know, with our children over the
years, obviously, knowing that I'm in the business, they get to take some great trips. always remind them that these are
trips that are afforded to you because mom works in travel. But my son has become just an eager traveler, not just to
experience the destination, but to add value to that destination. So when he was in junior high,
Jamie Mattingly (38:01)
Yeah.
Angela Rice (38:17)
He went on a volunteer program by himself in Costa Rica where they would, for two weeks, they would work with
farmers and help on the crops. He helped make wooden beds for children. And this year he's going to Peru on a
community service project through his school. But it's his travel experiences over the years that has built that sense of
philanthropy and how he can help other countries knowing that U.S.
you know, for the most part, we have more resources in comparison to some of the third world countries where my kids
have traveled.
Jamie Mattingly (38:54)
You must be so incredibly proud.
Angela Rice (38:57)
He's a good kid.
Jamie Mattingly (38:59)
That is so beautiful to hear. And we can only hope as moms that the career that we're doing and the time that we're
taking away from our children can still be a positive influence in their lives. And how amazing for you to know that this
thing that I focus a lot of energy on, might have lost out on a few hours with my kids here and there, but look at them.
They were watching the entire time. That's so cool.
Angela Rice (39:25)
Yes,
your influence is important and sometimes you're right. It's them looking at our experiences and not always being a
direct part of it. And that's why I do think that balance in real life with working parents is we do have to set our work
aside. And sometimes the best way to do that, especially if you are very passionate about your work, is to take that
vacation, to go off grid and to set boundaries on cell phone and other technology use.
Jamie Mattingly (39:55)
I love that, yeah, you need like a refresh, right? We have to do it. We need that detox. And what better way than
spending a multi-generation travel trip in Greece? The next part I wanna talk about is really the renaissance of the travel
advisor. Before the internet, it's like the only way you could do it. You had to call up somebody and then I feel
personally like...
it might have dropped off. OTAs became all the rage and now we can plan our own vacations. But I personally, going
back to the fact that I'm a horrible travel, but I'm horrible at planning my travel. I've gone on vacations where I have left
and realized how much I didn't take advantage of it. Right. So I personally love the travel advisor and I love to see this
luxury swing that we're, that we're watching right now. So I'm wondering if you can talk a little bit about the evolution
of the travel advisor role.
and what opportunities that you think there are in the industry right now.
Angela Rice (40:50)
think my journey in the travel industry, knowing that I've worked in a multitude of different industries from construction
to banking to focusing on clients that are involved in litigation, I've seen a lot of different industries over the years. And
I've been fascinated by the travel industry because it doesn't know how to describe itself sometimes in terms of how
advisors can truly service their clients. There's not really a true set of best practices where
Jamie Mattingly (41:10)
you
Angela Rice (41:16)
When I was a young auditor, there was a lot of resources that told us this is the way to do it. We had to follow audit
standards, right? There isn't a rule book in terms of how to service your clients. And I think that we're at a crossroad
right now. And I saw this when I entered this industry, you know, eight years ago, I saw that there was going to be a
bubble that was going to burst. wasn't the pandemic that I was referring to, but that hit too.
Jamie Mattingly (41:41)
You didn't foresee
the pandemic.
Angela Rice (41:44)
But what I thought is that there was an imbalance between professionals in this industry and hobbyists. And there was a
lack of best practices which further swayed those two types of people servicing our industry. And I think it was adverse
for our industry. I don't think it was a good strategy to allow people to come into this industry without a set of
requirements in terms of credentials.
and expectations on your commitment to the industry. I don't know of too many industries that allow you to come in
without being able to substantiate that you're going to work part-time or full-time, right? And when I mean part-time, 20
hours or more. And I think a lot of people were given the opportunity to work in this industry to service their friends and
family. And I don't think that that sets the professionals of the industry to be perceived as professionals.
And so we've battled whether the travel advisory industry has the same level of professionalism as similar trades,
lawyers and accountants. And what I'd really like to do is play a part of rebuilding our professionalism so that we can set
new standards and be seen for our expertise. Thankfully, there's a lot of media that helps really elevate the standards
from the standpoint of
they do a good job of highlighting the experts in our industry, travel and leisure, Nass. So those resources are great for
our industry because it elevates those that are truly representing the travel advisory industry with professionalism. I'll
separately share that I feel this opportunity, you know, there's a lot of people that are retiring from our profession
relatively soon. And then we have new
a new demographic of advisors wanting to get involved in our industry. It's a great, it can be a great profession. And I
feel the younger generation is very smart in their approach. They're looking to find a career that they're passionate about
versus this career is going to give me a sad income and it's got the benefits. They're taking chances and risks and that
entrepreneurial spirit should be welcomed. But I kind of am in the middle. I have this bridge. think I have a long enough
career to kind of
relate to the legacy, the people who really built our industry, I think I have lot of relatability to them. And I can share
that knowledge with the next generation of travel advisors. I think that establishing myself as a leader and being
amongst those other leaders to really create that bridge in our profession, I think is an exciting and thrilling opportunity.
And then lastly, I think it's technology. Right now there is a strong need
for the technology in our industry to be available to not just the agency, but also to the advisor, meaning it needs to be a
technology system that works well for agencies and that would include the external partners, our suppliers as well. Like
we need a system that talks to each other and it works favorably for the advisor. We have tried all different products,
okay? That's part of our learning curve, that investment in learning.
So we've tried Travelify, we've tried Access, we're now trying Safari Portal. And we're also working on CRM systems
and project management tools. And there some great resources out there, but everybody's doing something different
instead of coming up with like a concept that says our technology that really runs the travel agency industry is a
commodity, like the GDS system that the hotels use and advisors use.
Jamie Mattingly (45:21)
Yeah,
yeah.
Angela Rice (45:22)
If we
turned it into more of a commodity, I think that it would actually be well received because we would all be using the
same technology tool and it would be our professionalism that would allow us to set ourselves apart. But instead you
have advisors and agencies who are struggling with their technology and if their technology is making them less
productive or organized, you then can't take on as much business. So it's derailing some of the successful advisors
from being able to onboard more clients because they don't have the right technology tools to keep up with the
workflow. So right now you have a lot of people getting into technology and travel. So the travel technology is, the
bubble is going to burst. So we've got another bubble bursting. And I think what would be great is if some of these
suppliers in the software would come together, open up the API. API has been closed off in travel.
Jamie Mattingly (46:06)
Yeah, yeah.
Angela Rice (46:15)
But if you open up that API, it's going to allow different systems to truly win the usage of the travel agencies and the
advisors because we all want the best marketing tool, the best lead gen tool. We want the best tool for reconciling
commissions. We want the best tool for proposing to our clients so they have the visuals, the video and the photo. So all
of those suppliers, they're doing one thing or two things really, really well.
But that client journey has so many moving parts and we need the technology to do a better job of supporting it. If we
have to be the ones to help create that technology, sign me up. think we're willing to get involved because it's a need that
is, it's coming from a strategy background. It's very frustrating to know that I see a lot of agencies and advisors who
could be growing their business 25 to 50%, if not more, but they're...
they're precluded from doing so because they don't have good technology tools.
Jamie Mattingly (47:17)
Yeah, that's interesting. it's, you know, that's something that barrier to get in is something that I wouldn't have even
known existed. Although, you know, it does exist across the board now with other industries as technology is ramping
up, but it's only going to get, you know, exponentially faster and better. We all have to start to figure out what role does
technology play in my career, in my business, in my marketing, in my outreach.
Angela Rice (47:41)
And other industries have to support each other. Like for example, when I was getting my hair done several years ago, I
asked my stylist, can I see your technology? Like what is it on your end that sets, you know, so how do you set
appointments? How does your text messages remind your clients? Let me see what your accounting looks like. And
when you do that with enough industries, and I used to do that professionally,
but now it's more looking at smaller businesses and what technology tools they have available. And to think that the
technology that is used in a hair salon, in my opinion, is more robust than what's used in the travel industry, which is
one of the biggest industries in the world. It's just, it's absurd. And so I hope that as an industry, we come together and
we recognize the need for
technology tools that can be more readily available and more flexible with different users because it will be a game
changer in one's ability to grow their business.
Jamie Mattingly (48:44)
Yeah, well, listen, the way that your career has spanned software development is like just it's your next natural place.
So, you know, I think you found your next calling. There you go.
Angela Rice (48:56)
Well, I don't know about that. We've been working hard on building what I would say a little bit of customization in our
tools so that it works with the tools that are known in the industry. Like I will plug Xeon, for example. It's a product
that's doing really, really well with reconciling commissions, which is so imperative because that's how we get paid. But
it's just as important to have the tools for marketing your business and lead Jen. And remember, there's a lot of sensitive
information in travel.
we're taking down our client's passport information. We're gathering their credit card details because we're authorized to
act as their agents when booking hotels and cruises and airfare. And so you have to have a system that's PCC compliant.
So if your CRM system is great, but doesn't have the PCC compliant, you're missing an important element of servicing
your clients because you have to be able to take down that information.
Jamie Mattingly (49:38)
Yeah.
Angela Rice (49:53)
and you have to store it with security. So we've got to start solving these problems. And I would say it needs to be
probably the biggest issue in travel right now is solving those technical systems, processes and procedures, putting good
processes and procedures in place. So we can focus on what's most important and that's servicing the clients and
creating these memorable trips.
Jamie Mattingly (49:57)
Yeah.
Absolutely. So we've got the technology needs clearly. There could be some improvements there. But BTA has been
very successful and you have, again, with a career that has spanned and started in consulting and forensic accounting
and, knowing how to look at things from a different angle, you have become an advisor to your advisors. Is that the right
way? You become a mentor to your advisors. Can you talk to me a little bit about your approach?
to fostering the next generation of travel advisors and investing your time and best practices in them so that, know, BTA
can not only scale and grow, but that these advisors are gaining the knowledge to be the next generation of travel
advisors.
Angela Rice (51:01)
I've loved being a mentor. It's probably something that I've enjoyed most in my profession since I was given the
opportunity, right, as a young auditor. And I would emphasize that what I've learned along the way is that you have to
be a different mentor to the mentee because every person has a different set of strengths.
and they have to overcome different things. And those challenges that are probably the roadblock to their ability to
succeed could be personal. Oftentimes it's not work related. It might be somebody who didn't have a good upbringing
growing up. And as a result of that, they aren't confident. They lack the confidence necessary to make risky decisions in
their career. Yet at the same time, they have the strengths and they have the plan
that they could execute to be successful. So they've already minimized the risk in my opinion. So you have to be able to
sort of let down barriers a little bit and build a personal relationship with the person you're mentoring. And by doing
that, I think you exponentially improve the outcome of that relationship and who you're mentoring. So really, and that
was hard for me at first in the travel industry, it's so easy to want to scale in a way that you
build training programs, guides, and videos, and you think that it can be on autopilot, right? That you can just give them
the training tools that worked for you, and as a result of that, you're gonna have 10 successful advisors in a year. It
doesn't work that way. You have to give them the pep talks when they're not expecting it. You have to check in on them
when they're not expecting it. And they have to know that in the hardest moment of any sort of redirect, right?
Jamie Mattingly (52:28)
Mm-hmm.
Angela Rice (52:49)
you have to be able to accept criticism to grow and to learn. But I always tell my team, and I think they know this, I'm a
tough critic sometimes, if not all the time, because I'm like, you've got to roll up your sleeves, and I have to be authentic
in my approach to say, these are the things that you need to fix. It's easy to talk about the things that you do well, but
you always do those things well. So investing time on the things that you already do well.
is only precluding you from improving the things that you don't do well. And we have to evaluate the things that you
don't do well and the things that we know that you're not capable of doing. It's just not in your wheelhouse. We have to
have a solution for that as well. And the minute you find the weakest thing about a person's skill set and their overall
professionalism and you solve it, the confidence goes way up.
Because that's the burden that holds them back, that makes them feel like they're hostage, right?
Jamie Mattingly (53:49)
Yeah, no, absolutely. love that. And it's, it, feel like it goes back to your like forensic accountant. You're really looking
for that one tiny thing, you know, that take that microscope out. Once you find it, it's all good. You know, it, opens up
the door.
Angela Rice (54:03)
there's a lot of improvement
that starts to take place. And you also have to remember that there's so many different learning styles, right? And so you
have to remember that it kind of goes back to that love language, right? There's like five different love languages. Apply
that to your ability to mentor and coach people. And I believe you will see pretty instant results because you have to,
don't teach the way that you learn.
try to develop a style that allows you to be versatile. So if someone learns more with visuals versus something in
writing, breaking it up in steps, some people learn the best by allow, you have to allow them to fail, but make sure that
you provide them the right environment to fail. So maybe it's a practice environment, not necessarily, you don't want
them to make failures with a real client, of course, but allow them to be working behind the scenes in a way that if they
fail,
they'll still succeed and they'll learn from those failures, right?
Jamie Mattingly (55:02)
Yeah, no, absolutely. I think it sounds like you guys maybe invest a little bit more time and money into these
relationships, but I have to assume that the outcome is a lot better. And I also assume that if you're investing in your
advisors that they wanna stay with you, they wanna stick around longer. Have you noticed that?
Angela Rice (55:22)
you create that loyalty, right? And someone always knows that you made an investment that goes beyond what is
expected in an employer-employee relationship or even in an agency and an affiliate advisor relationship. And as much
as I hope that it creates this culture and allows us to have more sustainability with our travel advisors, I also want to
express to the greater community that is interested in travel that sometimes the best position is a
Apprenticeship, right? I may want to be in luxury travel, but my goal is to work at a in hospitality. Or my goal is to
eventually be a marketing representative for travel. But I have to learn the consumer, and I have to learn the ins and outs
in the industry. Contrary to creating this longevity in a relationship with an employee or an affiliate advisor,
I also really, really welcome the opportunity to create shorter term career paths for people so that they can then take the
experience from BTA and apply it somewhere else. And now it just builds our external affairs, right? So I love the idea
of recognizing travel advisory services may not be a long-term career for everybody. They might come in thinking that
it is, but they might leave with so much value and had learned so much about the luxury consumer.
Jamie Mattingly (56:30)
Yeah.
Angela Rice (56:44)
that they're going to have this ability to market themselves somewhere else and maybe more successfully. So as much as
I want to create loyalty and longevity with my team, I also see opportunities for some of them to be more successful
long-term somewhere else. But I hope that they know I'm an open book and they can have that conversation. I want to
be part of it. I want to say you want to your plan to be an opportunity with the hotel year. Those jobs don't come about
all that often. So let's really build up your resume. What are you doing outside of work?
Jamie Mattingly (57:04)
Yeah.
Angela Rice (57:14)
to be credentialed in this area so that you have a resume that's going to stand out in addition to your experience at
Boutique Travel Advisor.
Jamie Mattingly (57:24)
I love that. So you guys are really investing in the team and it's not even in a selfish long-term way. You're happy to see
them move on to their next career path.
Angela Rice (57:35)
If it's best for them, yes. But of course I want our advisors to stay because I think what we're building is a long-term
career path for our advisors. We want to focus not on, you have to focus just enough on the short term to ensure that the
long term is on the horizon, right?
Jamie Mattingly (57:51)
Yeah, absolutely. Well, that's beautiful. I love I love the way that you guys get back. I love the philosophy that you guys
have with, know, the excuse me with the giving back to the communities you travel in. It's such a beautiful business and
business model that I think that our listeners today got a ton of value in, you know, maybe a different type of way of
looking at business. It doesn't always have to be, you know, the profit at the end of the road. Of course, we need that.
You know, we want that. But I do think that
in the same way that we see a shift in travel trends and we're moving towards wellness and experience. I feel like the
business world is also shifting and that this concern about, know, okay, that's great. I'm doing good in business, but how
can I get back to the community? How can I get back to the next generation? cause they do feel like there is a generation
that kind of got screwed over and you know, the saying that the other ones, they pulled up the ladder, right? So you can,
you know, how can we climb if the ladder was pulled up before we got there?
And I've seen so many entrepreneurs in the last few years that are like, no, I'm putting that ladder down. I'm going to
make sure the next generation can learn from my mistakes, can climb up with me because I want them here. You know,
I don't want to do this job forever. I need someone to come and take it over. So the last thing that I want to ask you
before you wrap, now this is a fun one. You've heard about so many amazing trips. I'm sure you've been in so many
amazing places.
Angela Rice (59:04)
Right?
Jamie Mattingly (59:16)
If you could plan your own dream itinerary anywhere with anybody, where you go and what do you do and what does it
look like? I know it's so tough.
Angela Rice (59:24)
Right? I mean, that's a compound question. I think it starts with my
family. It definitely starts with my family. I have two boys, one that's 16 and one that's 19, and my husband and I. And
for me, it would definitely probably be a country like Vietnam. That's on our bucket list. We're always talking about
different destinations where we want to travel. And my boys love to fish. And mom will go along for the ride. But at the
same time, I want to be in a scenic environment where
I can kind of immerse myself in the culture and also the focus on wellness as well. So being able to be in an
environment and on a trip that allows us to check off different buckets on my son's list, my husband's list, my list, and
then the things that we like to do as a family. And that destination really appeals to me. We did do a family safari a few
years back and that really enlightened
the importance of not just family, but the importance of the conversation that was had at that moment and how we can
continue to grow on that conversation. When we were traveling and doing our safari rides, my son and my husband
were like writing a movie script. Was it for fun? Of course. But it was like doing something that you would never ever
necessarily have the amount of time to devote to it to really get
far enough along. It's kind like that puzzle that sits on your table for a month when you were expecting to get it done on
a weekend. That was a lot of fun. And I think being in places where there's no cell phone service for our family is
important because my kids are at vulnerable ages where they want that connection with their friends. They do get a little
bit of that FOMO. So for me, yes, it's about the destination, but sometimes I want people to recognize that
Even for someone who really loves to travel and to be in a new destination, sometimes the focus has to be on what is the
destination that can accommodate my family for the particular timeframe that we have, as well as the budget or
investment we're able to make. Because sometimes it's less about the destination and it's more about the human
connection of an experience, right? So don't lose sight of one if the other is cost prohibitive.
Or in our case, it tends to be that it's too far away. Like I've been wanting to take my kids to Fiji, but trying to
orchestrate that trip with the flights and the timing, it's been hard. So if you don't have more than seven days, there's
certain destinations like Australia, New Zealand, from the United States. I wouldn't take that trip unless I had 12 to 14
days. So until I can get that block of time, it's not in my immediate future.
Jamie Mattingly (1:02:07)
Yeah, no, that makes sense. I think that's super smart. know, stay, well, not stay in your lane, but you you can't just try
to force a vacation somewhere because the idea of it sounds cool. You really got to consider who you're traveling with,
your timeline, your investment, not your budget. So this was such an amazing conversation. For listeners who want to
follow along with your work or maybe even want to book a trip, where's the best place to connect with you?
Angela Rice (1:02:20)
and
Right?
Well, to be inspired, would definitely like our social media at TravelBTA. And separately, you can visit our website,
TravelBTA.com, and you can also email us at info at TravelBTA.com.
Jamie Mattingly (1:02:51)
travelbta.com. Yes, no, that's it. Please check out the website and the blog and the social media pages you guys will be
incredibly inspired for your next trip without a doubt. Angie, this has been such a pleasure. Thank you for your insights,
your stories, and everything that you've shared with us today and the inspiration I think to you know, to other
entrepreneurs that you know, if you're in the position, you can really give back even if it's just investing in your own
employees in the next generation. Yes.
Angela Rice (1:03:17)
It's a necessity, Jamie. It's a necessity
for entrepreneurs to give back to other entrepreneurs because it is not a journey that you are to experience alone. And if
you do, I think it's going to be a lonely journey and you're going to probably misalign the success of your business if
you don't involve others in that decision making. That includes, you know, the ability to bring on employees that help
with building your business.
but also relying on other entrepreneurs and people that in some cases, they're just going to want to give back. Inn other
cases, you might have to professionally work with them and it's a partnership or you're paying for someone's consulting
services. But know that entrepreneurs want to help other entrepreneurs and they know that the journey is a challenge
without that give back within the industry of entrepreneurialism.
Jamie Mattingly (1:04:12)
Yeah, it can be such a lonely journey, especially in today's remote working world. You get out of COVID and all of a
sudden we haven't seen anybody in a long time. And now, some days I won't see anybody for an entire week. And I
don't know if you can tell, but I'm a pretty social person. So it kind of hit me a couple months into running my business
from my house alone. And then I was like, wow, I'm like.
much more detached than I ever remember being in my life. And I had to, it took me noticing that to be like, okay, I
need some sort of community. And I have, I have since then found community in entrepreneur groups and in consulting
and in mentorship. And it is, it is a beautiful relationship because no one understands your struggles like somebody else
who's done it.
Angela Rice (1:04:46)
Right, right.
Right, that key is community. We're applying it in our nonprofit partnerships where we're focusing on luxury travel
clubs. When we go to market in our industry, we look for opportunities to serve on communities and committees. And
then same with entrepreneurial. There's so many organizations that support entrepreneurials. And I think in order to feel
a part of community, you have to...
leave that virtual space and really connect with people. I mean, and it's great that we have the hybrid, right? Because if it
weren't for the hybrid, you and I wouldn't be having this conversation. So I feel like I got to know you and it's a start of
an opportunity to always reflect back on that conversation we had, right? And to pay it forward, knowing that listeners
have the opportunity to hear what we have to share as entrepreneurs. So thank you again for this opportunity to speak to
your audience. I really appreciate it.
Jamie Mattingly (1:05:31)
Exactly, I'm not complaining, but...
Yes, no, thank you so very much. This is packed with value. Our listeners are gonna get a lot out of it. So again, thank
you. Thank you for paying it forward and being here today. And for those of you listening, if you enjoyed this episode,
be sure to subscribe for more conversations with other leaders shaping the travel industry. And if you know someone
who would make a great guest, please go to my website, doallstreetmedia.com and submit an inquiry. I would love to
have them on the show. And remember.
The best travel experiences don't just take us somewhere new, they change the way we see the world. So keep
innovating, keep elevating, and let's make an impact together. Until next time, safe travels.