IAM911- Owner Makes Travel Dreams Come True

Katiana Jolimeau (KJ) is the owner of Trips Travel Agency. She embarked on a career in travel after having spent many years in the financial services industry. In that time she has spent many years providing travel planning services and concierge to clients worldwide. Her travel specialties lie in international destinations, sporting events, and behind-the-scenes access. If you're looking to follow your team during the World Cup or plan your next Safari trip, she's the one who can make your travel dreams come true.

• CEO Hack: Reading a lot more ii) Full Focus Planner
• CEO Nugget: Keep checking your inbox
• CEO Defined: Taking control of your life and the people you love

Website: https://www.tripstravelagency.com/

Facebook Community – https://www.facebook.com/groups/Tripsloveoftravelgroup

Full Interview:

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Transcription

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00:20 – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

00:50 – Gresham Harkless

Hello, Hello, Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have KJ of Tripp's Travel Agency. KJ, it's awesome having you on the show.

00:59 – Katiana Jolimeau

Thank you for having me Gresh. Hi everyone. I'm happy to be here.

01:03 – Gresham Harkless

Definitely excited to have you on. And before we jump in, I want to read a little bit more about KJ so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. And KJ is the owner of Tripp's Travel Agency. She embarked on a career in travel after having spent many years in the financial services industry. In that time, she has spent many years providing travel planning services and concierge to clients worldwide. Her travel specialties lie at international destinations, sporting events, and behind-the-scenes access. If you're looking to follow your team during the World Cup or plan your next safari trip. She's the one who can make your travel dreams come true. KJ, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:38 – Katiana Jolimeau

I am, I am. I love the bio.

01:40 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, absolutely. It sounds so exciting and inspiring. So I can't wait to hear a little bit more about it. But before we did that, I wanted to hear a little bit more about it. But before we do that, I wanted to hear a little bit more about how you guys started. Could you take us through what I call your CEO story? We'll let you get started with the business.

01:53 – Katiana Jolimeau

Yes, as I said, I started out in the financial industry and I love the industry. I love working on projects. I love doing different, I get a lot of conversation. But also during that time, it was a lot of hard work, a lot of very stressful industry as well. I like to take vacations where I get to relax, explore, and rejuvenate myself. And that's why, and that's how I came to travel because I needed a lot more of that when I was working in the industry. I would try to take about 2 trips a year and in planning those trips I realized that every website I was looking at you know the websites all the online travel websites had the same product So and they're pricing out the same. So everything wasn't really fitting my budget.

But I made it work. Finally, I realized when I finally realized that, you know, I wanted to put the industry look from the inside out. And that's how I realized that there are more things out there. Then I started the business, just to see if I could make it. I had never started a business. I did not know the first ropes of starting a business. I did not have a mentor when I started the travel industry. I did not go to school for it at the time. It's just, that these things were just not available. A lot of travel agents in fact started as receptionists, secretaries, and executive assistants, and then got into the industry because that's what their bosses needed, help with travel.

So I was just out there just to see if this is possible. And I'm glad to say 9 years out it is possible. It's been a learning learning moment. I've grown since then. I've done so many things and I absolutely love it. So definitely when you're starting from scratch and not knowing anything, it is possible as long as you have the passion. I think that's why I chose to travel because I definitely had a passion for travel, learning different places, and just soaking up the information to be a better agent.

03:49 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, I absolutely love that. I can definitely hear the passion. I think a lot of the most successful people always talk about, how you can start a business and you can do a lot of different things, but you want to do it if it's a passion because it's going to be a grind, it's going to be a lot of things that you have to juggle, it's going to be ups and downs. And you want to make sure if you have that passion, it's going to allow you to ride through those things because you're going to want to be eager about, you know, starting it and doing it. And definitely, it sounds like it's been, you know, that way for you and of course, happy 9 years as well too.

04:18 – Katiana Jolimeau

Thank you. Thank you. And as you said, it is up and down. And I think anyone who's a travel agent in the travel hospitality industry learned a lot of that in 2020, as it is a grind. And if you don't love it, then you really don't know how to kind of pivot or you don't really know how to know what the next step is. And we were able to take that lesson from 2020 and create a few different methods of pivoting. We created our own Facebook travel group, which was something we had never done before. And just to keep people up to date. Today, I think you're in the group as well, Grash. Today there's a question in there that I'm working on with a client right now. So it's really just being informative and being there front and center for the clients, for whoever's in the group as well. So that's how we kind of pivoted in 2020. And it's been a, it's been an absolute learning lesson in 2020 for sure.

05:15 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. So I definitely appreciate that. And yes, I am in this group. So definitely when we're done recording, I'll go and put my answer in and my 2 cents in as well too. But I appreciate the engagement and all the tools that you pivoted in ways by which you help people to be prepared and be informed about, you know, the travel industry and everything that they can possibly do. And so I know we touched on the Facebook group, and I know there's a lot of different ways that you help support the clients that you work with. Could you go through some of those things and how exactly that process works?

05:43 – Katiana Jolimeau

Yes, so one of the things that we do here at Tripp's Trial Agency is that we are a full-service bespoke itinerary company. So what that means is it's really a nice way to say that we take care of everything for you so you can enjoy the trip and an adventure when you're on the trip essentially. What that means is that we have a consultative practice, So you call us, you email us, you let us know what you're looking for, and we work through that process for you. We hand on the itinerary, and it's a back-and-forth, of course. But in the end, it's really what you are looking for versus prepackaged. Now I say that, of course, cruises, when they do come back in 2021 or 2022, those are already prepackaged, we work with you in finding the right cruise for you, or unless you wanna, you know, privatize the ship for you and your corporate company, right?

That's a different story. We also do our monthly newsletter, which is a great way for people to just learn what's happening with Trap Trial agency, and what's happening in the industry. During the holiday season, we have different holiday guests that you can choose from for your people who love travel. One of the things that we talked about was a travel doll. It's one of those it's a doll that actually is made by a lady here in Boston. And it really talks about you know kids from Africa kids from they dress them up in and the dresses from Haiti Dominican Republic so it's a lot of options there So we talked about that as well. Everything we do is we talk about travel for the most part. And of course, we have the Facebook community.

The Facebook community is the one that we started out in 2020. Again, every Friday we have a weekly wind down where we talk about what's happening and give you a rundown. We do answer the polls so it's a really great community, just to find out what's happening and travel and how we can help you. So those are the things that we are doing right now to keep our clients informed and keep them on top and keep them on top of what's going on because travel right now has changed a lot in terms of no longer just your passport and the flight. It is your passport, your flight, maybe a COVID test, maybe not a COVID test, maybe a separate travel insurance product, maybe not. So it's gotten a little bit more than just your regular, this is my itinerary, and here's my passport and tickets. I'm ready to go. So we're trying our best to keep up to date with that.

08:04 – Gresham Harkless

What would you consider to be what I call your secret sauce? The thing you feel kind of sets you or your organization apart and makes you unique is the ability to be able to communicate those things and stay, you know, abreast of the changes and the fluidity. Do you feel like that is part of your secret sauce?

08:20 – Katiana Jolimeau

I do feel like that's part of my secret sauce. I will say one, I'm always soaking up the information and I think that's absolutely necessary during this time of coronavirus pandemic. Everything's always changing. I never tell a client that I know the answer when I don't know the answer. I'm always researching for you. That is exactly what you need. If I don't know the answer, I'm looking for the answer for you. My secret stuff has always been just to really go out, do my best, practice, practice, practice. I mean, I've had so many things. I've done so many things that. Maybe, you know, to see, I've done so many things that I would say it was the first for me and it was exciting. I've done private jet experience and let me tell you, I did not know all the different planes that were out there.

I do now know I've gotten all the different books on planes and seats and what's out there. And of course, now because of the pandemic, all the planes that are out there have changed. A lot of airlines are not flying those big airlines those big planes anymore. Right. I still had the knowledge in case I needed it again, right? But I learned about different sports teams and that's one of the things I also want to mention. It's when I talk about travel, I'm not just doing just your flights and your hotels. I've done on-the-field experiences, a football team, and that's me learning out, you know, what that looks like.

I've done parties for clients in various countries. So it runs the gamut. And it's always something because I'm soaking up the information. I'm eager to learn. I'm always willing to take something on. Of course, there are a couple of things that I won't take on. And those are things I just tell clients that are very impossible to do. But I'm always eager to learn. And I always have my ear on the ground to see what's possible for clients. So that would probably be my secret sauce always keep working, always keep growing, always keep learning.

10:25 – Gresham Harkless

So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an Apple book or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

10:36 – Katiana Jolimeau

This year, I would say what's making me more effective and efficient is that 1, 2 things. I'll give you 2 little pieces of nuggets. I am actually reading a lot more. Right now I'm reading the 4 disciplines of execution. I will say yes, it takes me a little bit longer to read things than I would like, but you have to start from somewhere. Secondly, I'm actually keeping my planners. I switched from a different planner to a full-focus planner this year. I'm not sure if you know about it, Gresh.  I don't. But it's like, it literally is just like a regular planner that breaks out into 90 days each one and says, you know, what are the goals that you're trying to do for this year? And then break out those goals as to, well, how do I achieve each and every one of those goals right what's that's going to take.

11:20 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome Awesome Awesome so I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget this could be a word of wisdom or piece of advice it might be something you would tell a client or if you happened to be a time machine you might tell your younger business self.

11:31 – Katiana Jolimeau

I would say check your inbox is what I would say. I know a lot more people are using LinkedIn these days and people are not checking their inbox. If you knew that there was a $10 million deal or a $10 million check in your inbox, would you check it? You would, and if you found that out 5 months later, you would be kicking yourself.

11:56 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely love that nugget. And definitely if you know KJ, if you're connected on LinkedIn, especially make sure you check their inbox because there might be an opportunity there. And so I wanted to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So KJ, what does being a CEO mean to you?

12:15 – Katiana Jolimeau

It means to me really taking control of your life and the people that you love, feel that you love. And I say that because I have the flexibility to do whatever, whatever I want, right? But it also comes at a cost. I know that I may not be around a lot for family because I don't have a regular 9 to 5 job or, and even right now, it's in the pandemic, you know, people that have regular 9 to 5 jobs, you know, right now they're working extra hard. I've heard of work creep right now it's happening.

Where instead of finishing at 5 years, you're finishing at 7, 8, and you have business learning. I mean, it's crazy. But I think being a CEO is really taking control of your life and your family because you have to set the tone of how this is going to go. You have to really focus on what you're doing when you're doing it, why you're doing it, and making sure that you are seeing success. And success sometimes does not always come in the form of money. It comes in the form of, were you there to take care of your loved one? For instance, my dad passed away a year ago.

13:32 – Gresham Harkless

Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, He passed away a year ago. Oh, I'm sorry.

13:33 – Katiana Jolimeau

Yeah, he passed away a year ago. No, 2 years ago, in fact, right now, right? But I was here for those 3 years that he was going to the hospital, needed somebody to take care of him and whatnot. And I thank God for that, because had I been to 9 to 5, I would not be able to take him to the hospital when needed. I would have to, you know, find somebody. I would not be able to be there with him constantly. And that right there is why I love being a CEO. I have been in control of my life, my finances, and as well as my loved ones. I'm there for them when they need me. And they understand that, hey, I cannot be there for everything, but the most important things I'm there for essentially. So that is my CEO nugget piece of information, I guess.

14:21 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I definitely appreciate that, you know, definition and it hits home because I think so many times we forget why we do the things that we do. And I think putting that all in perspective, you know, whether it be time with loved ones and, and, you know, being there for our family or, you know, reaching goals or whatever that might be, you get the opportunity to chart that to figure out what that is for yourself. And then, as we talked about before really taking those actions in order to reach that goal and make sure you have the flexibility in order to do that. So truly appreciate that perspective, KJ. I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best they can get a hold of you, find out about the Facebook group and all the awesome things you're working on.

15:01 – Katiana Jolimeau

Yes, definitely. You can always find me at tripstravelagency.com We do have a Contact Us page, so feel free to email me. Those emails do come to me directly. I will get back to you in a timely manner. If you want something done, and you know, like right now, a lot of people do have travel credit that they're just trying to figure out how to use. And especially if you travel a lot, and you're just like, well, now I have all this credit, where do I start? What's out there? Definitely set up a consultation for us.

And that's actually, it's not a free consultation, but it is a consultation where we're doing work for you. Essentially, you would send us the information and we start working on it for you and getting you out the door to enjoy your next vacation on that one with the credits and whatnot. So definitely do set that up with us and the Facebook community, come on out and join us, chat with us, and leave us your questions in the Facebook community. That is for the love of travel, which you can also find on our website right there. We love to answer. We love the engagement that we're seeing so far and we only see more engagement coming up, do join us. And that's pretty much it. Sign up for our loose letter. That's pretty much it, really.

16:10 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome. And we will have those links and information in the show notes. I truly appreciate you again, KJ, for all the awesome work that you're doing, and the reminders that you gave to us today as well. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:22 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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