Avoya Travel, an American Express Travel Representative

I am going to keep this relatively short which would be unusual for me so I wouldn't advise anyone to take bets on that! My team partner Tim Orlowski signed up with Avoya 7 years ago this past February. Tim was trained by me and also SABRE and CLIA back in 1990 when we opened a "brick and mortar" travel agency in San Antonio Texas named Anchors Aweigh Cruises and Tours. When he signed up he asked me if I would be interested in partnering with him and I wasn't wild about the idea of leaping back into the Travel Industry again. I started writing airline tickets for my Moms agency for allowance when I was a teen back in the early 1970s and then went on to get a degree in Hotel Administration with a concentration on Tourism and Travel so this is not new for me. Tim was working a full time job as an accountant in the Bay area and he was getting over surgery for cancer on his vocal chords so his voice was very raspy and he wasn't able to speak for long periods of time on the phone. I had just recently sold a business so I was kicking back and just doing real estate sales now and then. We both did the training of the system for 3 days back then and since Tim was working Monday to Friday, I figured I would try it since it was from home so nothing ventured nothing gained. We came into Avoya with quite a few of our own leads but I found clicking on the live leads was like being in a casino so I thought this could be fun. Well, from the hesitant player, I ended up working 8-10 hours a day. Tim would come home and find me at the computer on the phone. For anyone that says this cannot be done, just contact me or contact Avoya and they will share my success. We hit the 1 million mark easily in the first year. We stated the second year out so busy, that Tim quit his job as an accountant and started full time with Avoya with me. We went to our first Avoya Conference in June of the year we began and found out that we were "Rising Star". We won lots of awards and met so many fantastic people. I always say, if all of these amazing agents lived in my city, when I would have a dinner party, I would have to invite at least 100 people over . We have become true family. I grew up in this business and anyone that thinks that you will get a lead and sell that one and every other one you get, does not know this business. When we had our walk in travel agency, you won some and you lost some. That's the story of all businesses. The secret is persistence and talking with clients to get to know them ,their story and their wishes for a great vacation. Once you listen, then they will listen to your expertise and you will not only have a client for many years but many times a new friend. Every company has positives and negatives but I have to say, I get much inner joy working with this organization. The owners of the company are people that I can truly invite to dinner at my home and we would all enjoy each other and they would enjoy my cooking!!! If they didn't like it, they are too kind to tell me. Anyway, my guidance to anyone looking to join a host agency would be , whoever you choose to work with, don't blame them for your failures. Look within yourself and ask yourself if you put in 150% to clients and if you do, you will truly be a success. Looking forward to many more years with this fine organization. Stephen Solomon/ Travel by Tim and Steve