[00:00:13] Shayna: A special thank you today, to today's sponsor, Uniglobe Travel Center.

[00:00:19] Uniglobe Travel Center: Dreaming of becoming a travel advisor and being your own boss. Uniglobe Travel Center's Mentor U program is the most comprehensive mentorship experience in the industry designed for travel entrepreneurs who are serious about turning their passion for travel into a thriving business. Over the course of three months, you'll dive into an online learning platform, filled with videos, worksheets, assignments, and quizzes, everything you need to feel confident launching your own travel agency.

But the best part, you won't be doing it alone. Each week, you'll meet one-on-one virtually with an experienced travel mentor who will guide you through your unique professional journey step by step. Because being a travel advisor isn't just about booking trips, it's about building a real business. At Uniqlo, we focus on helping you develop the system strategy and confidence that you need to grow as a true entrepreneur.

So if you've been waiting for the right time, start your journey with Mentor U today.

[00:01:20] Shayna: Welcome, you are listening to Travel Agent Chatter volume 35, travel Agent Chatter is an audio series produced by the team here at Host Agency Reviews each and every quarter. Now, without further ado, let's get onto the show.

I am Shayna Zand, the managing Director of Host Agency Reviews, and the host for today's interview. So what do we have in store for you today? Honestly, it's gonna be a whole lot of fun and a wonderfully inspiring story. For those of you listening who are newer to the industry, today's guest is inspirational in the growth of her agency and her resilience running a business through all of life's challenges.

Amy, the owner of Epic Away, a travel advisor. Since 2019, she has grown her sales to $2 million annually plus without a team. Today we're gonna be diving into the story of how a life changing move to Japan turned into something so much bigger. After putting their belongings in storage, selling their home, and moving their family abroad, she and the kids fully embraced life in Osaka where her children even asked to stay longer after falling in love with the experience.

And while today she's running a wildly successful business in the us, bringing in over 2 million in annual sales as a solo advisor, like I just mentioned, from the outside, it might look like a smooth upward journey, but behind the scenes, she's been navigating a lot personally. In this episode, we'll unpack what it really looks like to build something meaningful, even when life isn't easy.

So this story is about taking a leap, building a business from lived experience, and showing up again and again through all of life's seasons. So any links and resources that we do talk about today can be found in today's show notes, which you can find by visiting Host Agency Reviews.com/tac, and clicking on episode 35.

Now a map for today's talk. We'll be covering a variety of topics in each segment, and here's what they are. We're gonna start with beginnings. So Amy's gonna introduce herself and her business. We're gonna get into operations, sales, and marketing, and then into the bulk of today, which is going to be about balancing business and life's hard moments, a little bit of wisdom and our indispensable question to round it off.

And there's a lot to talk about, and I know you wanna stop listening to me and start listening to somebody else. So, Amy, welcome to Travel Agent Chatter.

[00:04:09] Amy Freyder: Thank you Shayna. Thanks for having me.

[00:04:12] Shayna: Oh, thank you for being here. We are so, so excited to have you. So as always, we always love to know how did you end up in travel?

[00:04:22] Amy Freyder: So as you mentioned, um, actually we I moved with my family to Japan. We lived there for two years. We came back in 2018 and at that time I was thinking, what am I gonna do? And I had actually been out of the workforce for a while with, um, raising my family. And I decided I loved all the traveling we did.

I loved planning all of it. We went all over Japan, all over Southeast Asia. And so, um, I actually used, um, har to look for a host agency. So that was really, um, helpful. Like, I really appreciate the service that you are providing because I did, I did find Uniglobe Travel Center through that and they have been amazing hosts and I love the, I love the community that's there.

So that's kind of how I got into travel. I did, um, Uniglobe's Mentor U program in the fall of 2018, and I launched my business in 2019.

[00:05:19] Shayna: Amazing. Did you, did you end up traveling a lot while you were growing up? Was that part of it too, or was it just the Japan trip that really got you into

[00:05:27] Amy Freyder: this? Yeah, I didn't, um, my family didn't travel a lot, so I think the first time I went abroad was I went to Europe when I went a junior in high school and I did like a student trip.

We traveled all around. I fell in love with, um, specifically Italy and Florence and I ended up coming home and I was in love with art history and I became an art history minor in college. And um, so it had a big influence on me just being abroad and, and seeing the world.

[00:05:55] Shayna: Wow. And for anybody that is watching and not just listening, speaking of art, there's some beautiful artwork on your wall behind you.

I know you were saying earlier, this is your son's room, so what a great, what a great room to grow up in. I have to say.

[00:06:12] Amy Freyder: Yeah. Thank you. The whole entire room is painted this, uh, sea theme.

[00:06:16] Shayna: It's, it's beautiful. See, these are the pros of getting to talk to Amy prior to us recording travel agent Chatter is that I got to see the whole room, but don't worry if, you know, you get to see, you get to see a nice, good chunk of it if you're watching this on video.

So, yeah, thank you for sharing your background. Everyone gets to see mine too, but they're so used to it at this point. All right, well let's get in a little bit into kind of the operations side of your business so we can get an idea of, you know, how you, how you do over 2 million annually in sales, and you only started in 2019, which is just absolutely incredible, especially starting the year before.

[00:06:57] Operations, Sales & Marketing

[00:06:57] Shayna: We know the, the word that, the word that won't be spoken. Um, but starting with the question we get from so many advisors do you charge fees? Why or why not? And what do, what do those fees look like?

[00:07:12] Amy Freyder: In the very beginning when I started my business, I resisted fees just because you kind of feel like you know that imposter syndrome a little bit, and I don't, do I deserve fees or you know, do I know enough to charge a fee?

And I did start. Charging a fee coming out of the, um, the word that shall not be said, but I'm gonna say it. The pandemic.

[00:07:33] Shayna: Yep.

[00:07:34] Amy Freyder: Um, and it, it was, it was kind of like, I, I actually categorized it as a COVID fee. I would tell prospective clients, I'm like, well, I do charge a fee. I call it a COVID fee. And then I would kind of justify justified that way.

But over time I do realize that these serve a great role in terms of, um, also compensating for me for my time and the, and the work I'm putting in also weeding out people who are, um, price shopping or who are looking at multiple advisors. And I only want people who are serious about working with me.

So I kind of also say that now. I say, you know what? I'm charging the fee. 'cause I really want us to both be all in on this trip. So, over time I raised my fees. Um, I am now, I started out at 200, then 300, now I'm at $500. It's just a flat fee. I don't charge any kind of tier. Um, it's just, you know, if you.

Wanna start working with me, then pay the fee and we'll get started.

[00:08:29] Shayna: I like the simplicity in that. It's, I, I, I find that it's very easy to manage. I also really appreciate, you know, a lot of advisors that are listening, you know, have, are nervous to start charging fees. Um, we have been finding, and we'll link to this, um, our annual reports where we, this past year we had over 3,500 travel advisors respond.

It's 193 questions. So there's a lot of information in there, but one of the things that we found with fees is now we're getting a lot more comfortable, um, and in charging them and understanding our value as an advisor and also finding that over 20% of overall income on average is made up of a fee.

So, or fees that you charge as an advisor, so it's not immaterial to your overall income. So. I love that. We'll also link for everybody here an article about a guide to charging fees in different ways that you can do it because I think that that's helpful. But Amy, I love your style. Just one simple fee.

You're very clear with your clients. Um, and also you don't get anybody that's wasting your time. So,

[00:09:36] Amy Freyder: yeah, and I think, um, actually bonus, I find that sometimes if I have like a goal that I'm trying to set for the month and I'm like, oh, I'm so close to my goal, I just gotta find one more person to charge a fee to so I can hit my goal.

[00:09:49] Shayna: I love that. So great. Everyone listening, take that advice. That is fantastic. So in, in terms of actually that, that process, that booking, you know, booking those clients, so you know, you charge the fee, you let them know upfront before you actually start doing any work, which I love because your work is worth that money.

What is your process for booking clients? So kind of if you could walk me through from when they reach out to you to kind of, when they get home, what's your full process?

[00:10:22] Amy Freyder: So I think a lot of people come to me through email that that's the bulk of it. So they'll reach out, they'll send me an email, they'll say, Hey, I found you somewhere, or somebody referred you.

And, um, so then I write back and I, and I always wanna start off with a phone call. Um, I wanna make sure that they are, you know, legitimate people that are really interested in in actually taking a trip. So I'll just respond back like, Hey, that's wonderful. I'd really love to set up a call and learn more about your interests.

And I don't have a form. Um, I find that, especially at the luxury space, people don't wanna take the time to fill the form and having a conversation. It's much nicer anyway. Mm-hmm. So we have a conversation and during the conversation I'll ask, you know, a set of questions I really wanna learn. One of the things I often ask is, why do you want to go to X, Y, Z?

Why do you wanna go to Japan? Like, what kind of interests do you have? And, and really like, kind of get a little bit deeper than. What do you wanna see and what do you wanna do? And then at the end I'll explain my process as being, um, this phone call is designed to learn about whether we wanna work together.

Do I wanna work with you and do you wanna work with me? Because it's a two-way street. And I want them to know that I am also evaluating them, like, do I wanna work with you? And, um, and then I tell them about the fee, and then I tell them I have some client information forms in my client agreement form.

I'm gonna send that to them. I tell them, no pressure. But when you send those forms back to me, then that's my cue to get started.

[00:11:53] Shayna: I really like that. I like that you the having that conversation, so you're getting to know them. You're also, and I think that this is something advisors forget to do, is that not every client is a good client for you.

So you're making sure that they're a good fit for you as much as they're kind of interviewing you in a sense. And also. My next favorite part, 'cause I've got so many, but this one is you send them that client, that form that they need to sign before you get started, right? So kind of that agreement, which we always talk about is, you know, making sure like to protect yourself, to protect your host, to also to protect the client.

That you have those forms in line prior to you starting the work, um, so that you know you're ready to go and you feel safe to do everything, knowing that everything is in line. So I quite, I quite like that process.

[00:12:46] Amy Freyder: And I do wanna add in that, um, one of the things that I like to do is I do like to talk to everybody who contacts me, even if I am not sure if this is a trip that I actually want to do.

[00:12:57] Shayna: Mm-hmm.

[00:12:57] Amy Freyder: But I always have in mind helping my fellow advisors, um, especially in Uniglobe. And so I like to have a talk with everybody and then, and then I evaluate, are they actually a good prospect? And then I will refer them. I'll say, you know what? I'm actually not a good fit for you, but I have some great people in, you know, my circle and can I give you a referral?

So that's also something that I, I like to do is talk to everybody to see if this is somebody I can refer out. I,

[00:13:23] Shayna: I think that's it. It's, um, one of my favorite things about being a part of a host is the community that you have. Right. And you also understand your boundaries. Right. We, we talked about at the beginning of this podcast, you know.

How you've built your business and the sales, and I believe, do you have a minimum amount that that clients need to spend with you or is it Um, I do. Yeah. Yeah,

[00:13:46] Amy Freyder: I do have a minimum and, um, it's kind of changed over time. It's not hard set in stone, but, um, for the most part it's 20,000 for a custom FIT and, um, I don't have a minimum for direct hope hotel bookings or, um, just easy cruises or tours if they don't involve anything else.

So, um, for the most part, yeah, for, for custom FIT.

[00:14:07] Shayna: Yeah. And I think that those boundaries of knowing what you do and what you do well and the boundaries of, okay, if I'm putting in the work for a custom FIT, this is gonna be the minimum spend that I'm going to allow for my business. And also referring clients to the community of advisors you have within Uniglobe.

Is why it a whole, I think a whole big reason why you are as successful as you are. Because then also I, you know, I would hope the same respect, you get referrals back to you as well from those within the community. Um, but also, you know, you're supporting your host, but you're also supporting the client and what's best for them.

And, and I think that that's great. So before I get into a little bit more sales and marketing, we always do love to ask operationally, what technology do you use to run your business? Do you have a favorite piece of technology that you use?

[00:15:02] Amy Freyder: So currently I'm using Travel Joy and Travely. Um, I know a lot of people use that combo and I find that Travel Joy is an excellent CRM and I use them daily.

It's, I, they're actually become kind of indispensable and then, but they don't for me do exactly the proposals that I like or the itinerary. So I use Travel Five for that. And, um, of course, uh, Uniglobe has their own, um, invoicing system. It's client base. So I've got a bunch of things I have to manage, but it sounds like we're gonna be moving over to turn soon, so I'm gonna have to start learning that.

[00:15:37] Shayna: You know what the beauty, there's so many great, um, there's so many great, there's so much great technology now. I think that's being built specifically for travel agencies and for travel advisors. We'll actually link for everybody here. Uh, we have our hardwired event. Yes, we're cute like that. We called it Hardwired for Travel, agency Tech.

And, travel, joy stratify, they're all involved, which is great. We'll also link to both of their directories within Host Agency Review. So you can go check them out and we'll link to the travel agency software page as well. Client base is there, turn is there. So you can see everybody here can see exactly what Amy is talking about, but also take a look at what's out there for you.

But our tech week is a fun, it's fun week. It's completely free to travel advisors to come and join us and hear from some of the best in the business who are building technology for you and also what some of the hosts out there are doing with regards to technology. So I'll make sure all the links are in the notes for you all.

Okay, so sales and marketing, this is always a big one. Um, something questions we get asked all the time. Um, you know, how, how do you market your business? What do you do?

[00:16:49] Amy Freyder: So, um, one of the things, and I guess we'll get into this a little bit more later when we talk about some of the challenges that I've had in growing my business.

Mm-hmm. Um, one of the things that is really important to me is, um, because I had limited time and I was really stretched thin for a while, um, I decided that I really needed to shift the marketing off of myself and move it on to someone else. But I didn't have a lot of money at that time to pay for marketing.

So I was like, okay, I need to find other people to do my marketing for me, but not pay them. So I decided to institute what I would call three Rs and, um, it's really what honestly my business is built on and it's reviews, referrals, and repeat business. So I basically shifted the marketing onto my clients.

[00:17:39] Shayna: Oh, I love it. I love it. So speaking of reviews. How do you, how do you ask for reviews? How do you actually get them to be filled out? Where do you, where do you like those reviews to be posted? Tell us more about kind of that review process, that second R or that first R

[00:17:55] Amy Freyder: Ye. Uh, yes. So, um, so in the very beginning actually when asked us, still had their Travel sense.org, um, website up.

I directed people to, uh, uh, leave me a review, um, with Travel Sense. Since that's kind of gone away, I, and then we also became Virtuoso in 2021. Um, and I really leaned into all the tools that Virtuoso has to offer. So they have a really great reviews and recommendations section and. I now really focus on virtuoso reviews, so that's something that is really important to me and I feel like it's been a big, um, way that I've grown my business.

And, um, and it's really hard to get virtuoso reviews there. It's all independent. Virtuoso sends out the link has nothing to do with me. It's basically, you know, directing my clients to see the link, find it. Open it, create, you know, whatever's needed to leave that review. And it's really kind of time consuming to follow up on that.

But, um, I've found that's really helpful.

[00:18:59] Shayna: Yeah. And do you follow up with your clients frequently on it to make sure that they do it?

[00:19:04] Amy Freyder: Yes. I'm kind of li borderline harassment about it. I've kind of, I've, I've eased back because in the very beginning actually I did set kind of like mini goals for myself.

Like I'd like to have this many reviews by this date. Like, you know, six months from now I hope I have 50 reviews or something like that. And, um, and so I'd really, especially if they're my friends, my family people, I really felt comfortable. That I could kind of harass them or people who had a great time.

They said, oh my gosh, this is the best trip ever. I said, oh, please leave a review. And they said, yes, they will. And then I'd follow up like maybe two or three times because you know, the thing goes to junk mail or it gets lost in your inbox. And I know that they would do it. They just like set aside the time.

So anyway, yeah, I, I do kind of was a little aggressive about it for a while.

[00:19:52] Shayna: You know what? Fair enough. I find for me, I find that I will be more inclined if I wasn't happy with the service that I want to advise other people. And I, and it's interesting because when I go to read reviews, I love the positive ones.

Those are the ones I wanna read. Those are the ones that get me excited about what I wanna do. Um, and so I'm like, why am I not leaving positive reviews? I'm a pretty positive person, so I completely understand it. You're like, oh yeah, yeah, I'll get to it. 'cause like it was so, you know, she was so wonderful.

But how much I know I depend on reviews and how much I read them, right? I have to keep reminding myself I should be leaving these reviews as well because of how helpful I find them to myself. So yeah, I,

[00:20:38] Amy Freyder: yeah, I do. When I, um, I write a whole thing about, um, what it means to leave a review for me when, so I explain like, this is actually really important, actually helps people find me.

It helps people find me in virtuoso. It raises my profile. It, um, it makes a difference. And I kind of say like. People don't actually wanna do anything without reading reviews first. It's like, you know, if we wanna go to see a movie or we wanna eat dinner somewhere, or we wanna go to a bar, or we wanna like do anything, it's like we look, oh, let me check out the reviews first.

So I think that resonates with people.

[00:21:11] Shayna: Yeah. No, and I'm glad, I'm glad that you, you fight for those reviews. And that that's one of the big three Rs of your business. Because I think we always talk about referral, we talk about referrals a lot, repeat business as well, but we don't talk enough about reviews.

And we know at Host Agency Reviews how important, how important reviews are that that was the bread and that is the bread and butter. Of what we do, right? And why, you know, you found Uniglobe, why others find, you know, their hosts as well, or their technology platforms or whatever they wanna use. So

[00:21:46] Amy Freyder: mm-hmm.

[00:21:46] Shayna: I love that. We do have, um, we'll put in the trip notes, a great link to, we had, um, we had a great webinar, uh, from 2024 about asking for referrals. So if you're newer to the industry and you're listening, kind of that one of the rs that Amy was talking about. And it actually does get into reviews as well.

So we'll link that for everyone if you wanna go take a listen to that later on. A little bit on sales before we kind of jump into the, the, the big part of the podcast. But do you have any secret sauce for closing a sale? So getting that client to finally book.

[00:22:28] Amy Freyder: Gosh, that's a good question.

Secret sauce is to closing. I think that all along in the process I'm really listening to the client and what they want and not so much directing them unless they want direction. I mean, if people want direction, then they'll ask for it, and I will give it, but really not trying to insert myself and my what I like.

I know that sometimes when I'm working with suppliers, they actually do that to me, and I don't like that. And so I try not to do that to my clients. And I think that, um, what I tell them is, I want this proposal to be perfect. I, I don't want to actually put a deposit on trip unless it's perfect for you.

And so really tweaking it and, um, I think really listening helps actually cut down on. The number of iterations I have to have too. And of course there are some clients who are just, they're all over the map. So there are exceptions, but for the most part, um, trying to really focus in on the small details.

And that's part of that first conversation that I have. And asking all those sort of like, detailed questions to really get into like, why are they wanting to go to this place? What is the whole point of traveling for them? And and then in that way, I know that because I tell them, I want this trip to be perfect for you.

We're not putting a pause on this until it's perfect. When you are presenting a perfect proposal, why wouldn't they wanna, you know, finish it? So that's kind of how I think about it.

[00:23:58] Shayna: I, I, I like that, that way of thinking about it. There's not like a tactic per se, it's just this how you provide the service.

Right. It's how you provide the service from day one that leads to the way that the sale is naturally closed. Um, so I think that's gonna be really interesting for everyone listening. So I think that's great. All right, we're, um, we're gonna jump into the next section of this podcast. I am very excited 'cause

[00:24:25] Balancing Business & Life

[00:24:25] Shayna: we're gonna learn a little bit more about you and also, you know, the last five, six years.

And, you know, balancing business and balancing life. Um, and I think we all, we all experience that, but as an advisor, you know, you are running and operating your own business. So from, from the outside someone could see your business, see the numbers and how, you know, over 2 million in annual sales as a solo advisor.

And they assume that the journey has been smooth. Right, because you started your business in 2019, and it's only the beginning of 2026, but behind the scenes you've really been navigating a lot personally. Could you tell us a little bit more about your personal story over the last five years? I,

[00:25:18] Amy Freyder: yeah. So as I mentioned, I launched my business in, um, actually February, 2019.

And and then one year later, so I had one year to really ramp up. And it all came to a, a screeching halt March, 2020. And when that happened, actually my oldest son was in, uh, he is a freshman in college and everybody got sent home. He came home and he pretty much announced that he didn't wanna live at home anymore.

'cause he'd had a taste of freedom and he was like, I'm leaving. And we were like, where are you going? And he was like not staying here. And I, I literally, he really didn't have a plan. He's like, I'm leaving. He, he left. And this is, and if you recall in the very beginning of the pandemic, it was all like, just unknown.

Like I, we felt like, so all the stories were so scary. And, um, nobody wanted to go to the grocery store even. And I said to him, I go, if you get COVID, you can't come home. Well, who's gonna take care of you? He's like, yeah, I know. I'll just figure it out. And it was like this really scary thing. So that was stressful because he literally just left and then, and he was 18.

And then, um, and then. A little bit further into 2020. I discovered that my daughter was struggling with an eating disorder. And and that kind of came from a place of anxiety and depression. I think also isolation from COVID and that over time led into other, um, I think that the, it was all, it was just a series of maladaptive coping skills and it's it was eating disorder and, um, self harm and suicidal ideation and running away and addiction and all sorts of things.

So this is part of what I was dealing with while I was trying to build my business in the midst of all that. Also, my father died in 2021. My husband wasn't working, which was just a bad timing thing. 'cause if we'd known the pandemic was coming, he would've, uh, approached that differently. And, um. And someone hacked into our savings account and stole $45,000 through online wire fraud, which at that time we were dealing with so much other stress from my daughter that trying to get our money back was actually a, a low priority because, um, that's just how much we were dealing with.

And Bank of America didn't make it easy. So that was another challenge.

[00:27:41] Shayna: Well, I mean, thank you for sharing that. The vulnerability. It's, you know, I think we, we always think about, and you've said it to me in the past where, you know, everyone has a lot going on in their lives. But I think sometimes to really hear that you're not alone in it and you know how, what other people are going through and how they've made it through it just, it creates a sense.

It like that creates a sense of community. And I just thank you for sharing. Thank you for sharing that.

[00:28:12] Amy Freyder: Yeah,

[00:28:13] Shayna: yeah. With, you know, advisors, same as you, really juggling life and growing their business, and you just happen to pick the best time to start growing your business. Um, you know, you've got the family challenges, the personal struggles, the mental health really of it all.

During kind of your hardest seasons, what did it actually look like for you to keep showing up? And what made you decide to keep pushing forward even when it would've been easier just to step back from it all?

[00:28:52] Amy Freyder: Um, one of the skills that I think I picked up from all of this was, um, reframing the narrative.

And that is something that was really important for me was to, when something is facing you and your. It's a, it's a worry, it's a problem. It's, it's this or that. It's to reframe it and look at it from a different angle. And that's something that I did. And what I, when I looked at my travel business during this time honestly it was, for me, it was a coping mechanism.

It was an escape, it was a distraction. It was a way for me to have some control over what was going on in my life that I didn't have any control over. And um, and it's really interesting because actually that is what they say about eating disorders and things like that, is that people who have life is spinning outta control or they have like severe anxiety, depression or things like that.

An eating disorder is something that they feel like they eating is something you have control over and um, but it's a maladaptive coping skill and the. Challenge is to find positive coping skills. And so, um, so I really use my travel business as a positive coping skill to have some way to get away from that.

[00:30:19] Shayna: Wow, that, that's incredible. I'm gonna take some notes on that. My, my coping skills. I know my, my dad got really sick many years ago, um, and still lives with it today. And my coping skill is either dark humor or to live in my state of shock. And I know that those aren't necessarily the healthiest things.

Granted the dark humor, you get an audience who actually enjoys that. Um, he enjoys it. I have to say it makes him happy. That's what I care about. But yeah, living in my state of shock because then I don't have to deal with the thing that I don't have control over. So I'm definitely, definitely taking some very real notes right now.

So if anyone is watching and sees me typing, that's what's happening. Thank you for that. When you. Are running a business while this, while, you know, a lot of personal turmoil is happening, it can be incredibly draining. Um, so what did you find were some of the biggest mental or emotional challenges that you faced daily?

[00:31:27] Amy Freyder: So one of the things about this time period is that it, it's so hard because you are, um, you have so many things that you are being pulling you in two different directions and you have to be two places at once all the time, or, um, you feel like you should be doing this, but you need to be doing this.

And, um, and I think that for a lot of people who are going through different kind of struggles and, um, you know, health struggles or struggles with their family taking time away to have to go to dialysis appointments a couple times a week or therapy appointments, or I had to drive my daughter all over the place and wait for her for a long time for all these different kind of appointments and, and it felt like I needed to also.

Do some intake calls and I also needed to drop some proposals and I also needed to be doing this, but, but it was really important for me to take my daughter places. So that was a real thing, is about dividing your time and really having to be more efficient with the small amount of time that I had for my travel business.

And I did tend to work in the evening because I spent so much of my daytime running around. So, um, so that was, that was kind of stressful and um, I think it made me more efficient.

[00:32:42] Shayna: Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, energy and focus can be quite limited, you know, because it's not just physically you having to take your daughter or someone somewhere.

It's that mental, it's the mental capacity of everything else that's going on. When it came to your travel agency business. How did you decide what was priority, what actually mattered? Was it just creating efficiencies or were there specific things where you said, these are priority, these are the things that matter in my business while I'm taking care of my family?

[00:33:17] Amy Freyder: I think that one of the things that really helped me was that I really had to focus on what was most important. And part of that we already talked about was I couldn't be the person who was doing the marketing and trying to find clients. And of course, I mean, of course I was doing that, but I mean, I was doing that through taking the clients that I had and, and really trying to maximize every one of them to like, go out and write me a review and, you know, send me a referral and and, and doing such a great job that they did wanna come back and, and have a repeat trip again with me.

And so, um. And then I also sort of along those same lines, um, handing over the marketing to like, trying to find a pipe Piper, who would grow a group with me. But then they were the ones who were getting the, you know, the, um, the clients and or finding a, like a birthday girl who wanted to do a big birthday bash.

And, you know, okay, you know what, get all your friends together. And, um, and basically giving them the TC and saying, Hey, you could go for free if you could get 15 girls together. And, um, and focusing on ways that I could get other people to go bring those clients to me. So I think that I, that helped me in in, in being more creative, I guess.

[00:34:43] Shayna: Yeah, and I think, and based on the three Rs that you talked about earlier, you still, that system really works. So in a way that, you know, that kind of the reviews, the referrals, the repeat business is everything that you talked about to allow you to kind of take the time for your daughter and for your family and for Bank of America apparently.

And and then, but put, put that, you know, kind of clients wanna do that for you, right? They want to refer you, they want to leave you a review when they're really happy. So you're just leaning into things that people would wanna do for you anyways. And now that's become the crux, the base of your kind of marketing strategy.

So incredibly interesting how that kind of all comes around big full circle. So.

[00:35:30] Amy Freyder: I think I still instill, um, most of the things that I started then I still use them. Probably the only one that I don't still do that I do recommend, um, when people ask me about marketing and, and getting new clients one of the things I did early on, um, actually started pre pandemic was.

Um, I'd have these things called tra, I called them travel parties. And, um, I would get friends to have a party and get their, and invite all of their friends. And I would provide like, you know, food, you know, basically cheese and crackers and fruit platters and things like that. I'd bring a couple bottles of wine and some soda and I would bring a bunch of suppliers, catalogs with me and we would just talk, travel and we would talk about, you know, bucket list travel or where their favorite place that they ever went was.

And it was kind of, and I'd bring some swag from suppliers. I'd ask suppliers to, you know, send me some things so I could raffle them off. And it was a way to get in front of an audience that I, again, didn't have to create. I asked my friends to bring their friends and that was. A fun way to get in front of people.

And if I was, I actually don't have a newsletter. I don't even really have a very good email list. But if I did do that, that was, I did ask for everybody's emails and it was a way to get like a, you know, to, to create my email list also, which I didn't do anything with.

[00:36:50] Shayna: Yeah. But you have the list so that,

[00:36:53] Amy Freyder: but I have it.

[00:36:55] Shayna: No, I like that. I mean, next to personally, next to sushi charcuterie and wine is my next favorite food group, so I, you know what? People love it. And then, you know, and then you also get inspired. I always find when I go to events like that, when I worked on the supplier side as A BDM, many moons ago, we won't talk about how many years, but going to those events was always super fun for me as a supplier. I always found that I would, I knew I had just ticked something off of my list of travel, but talking to everybody else there, I'd add five more things onto my list. So, and suppliers always wanna help with things like that. I think for everybody listening, yeah, suppliers want to work with you and a lot of them, if they live there's a lot, there's some suppliers that have a significant amount of BDMs, so that's business development managers.

For those of you who are newer to the industry that represent a region or represent, represent a region for their supplier, or work specifically with your host that are traveling and can be in your city at the time that you are and actually go there in person, uh, as well to talk to a group. So, I love and friends wanna help friends, right?

So, I mean. Yeah, one of my friends does, uh, she's a financial advisor and she does talks on different I went to one a couple weeks ago and half of the people in the room were her friends who had brought other of their friends, and it was, it was amazing. Right. And that's just

[00:38:21] Amy Freyder: Yeah, exactly.

[00:38:22] Shayna: Growing. Yeah.

Nick keeps growing that way. Well you kind of answered my next question, but you know, there's a lot going on. Your business continues to grow. Do you feel like maybe the three RS contributed most to that growth? Or was there anything else that you feel like has contributed to that growth over the last few years?

[00:38:41] Amy Freyder: I think when I was facing the challenges and having limited time and really trying to decide like, am I gonna do this or that one of the things that I think really helped me was that I. Had to have a vision for where I wanted my business to go. And I knew that I had to have a plan of how I was gonna get from A to B.

And so all of these things that we're talking about leaned into my vision about, or my plan actually not my vision, my plan, my plan. You know, how I had this, I think that you can have a vision about how, what you want your business to look like, how much money you wanna make, what kind of, you know, travel you wanna sell, whatever, but how are you going to get there to realize that vision?

And so part of the things that were in my plan was, um. Was about marketing, getting other people's help for that. And then also, um, narrowing down on destinations. And in the very beginning, I actually resisted being, having a niche. Then after COVID I decided, yeah, I don't wanna sell the world. This is just ridiculous.

I just wanna narrow in Japan, my natural niche because I live there, Southeast Asia, because we traveled all around there. And also I really narrowed in on on what destinations are high dollar destinations and, um, places like Australia or New Zealand or Japan or even Italy or you know, things like that.

Like, for me, I, I always like to say there are dozens of ways to get to a million. And not everything has to be luxury. Like you can be. Um, spitting out all inclusives all day long in your sleep and, and really like have a high volume and get to a million that way. And that just wasn't for me. But I do like to emphasize that there are totally different ways for different people.

And so, for me, going the luxury route was what was gonna work for me because I couldn't be Hall high volume because I didn't have the capacity to service a lot of clients. And so, um, I really need to focus on how was I gonna get, move myself into luxury. That's what I always said. For a long time, I'm moving myself into luxury and, um, and so the plan is how was I gonna get there?

So high dollar destinations and and using Virtuoso was, was a really great partner for me. Um, I think that that was really instrumental is being a part of that consortia and, um, and so there were a lot of ways that I had this plan and I'm still. You know, in that plan, even though I, I really am, you know, have pretty much reached from A to B, but I can still keep growing.

[00:41:22] Shayna: Yeah, I think you kind of touched on the point, like your consortia was really powerful in all of this. And I think for everyone listening, you know, if when you, you are looking at different hosts, uh, we have the exact same setup for consortia. So you can take a look at the consortia on the profiles, it will tell you who the consortia is that the hosts are a member of.

And I think that that is an important piece to take into consideration when you are deciding on the host you wanna work with, but also the niche or the specialty or the area of expertise that you want to lean into. Right. And Amy, yours being luxury virtuoso's a wonderful fit for that. So I think that that is a great point to make, to lean into that consortium level, which sometimes we just think about the host we wanna be a member of, but 99% of hosts are a member of a consortium.

So I think that's a great point. So going through everything that you, you, you went through, um, during this time and on top of it all, we had co we had COVID, we had the pandemic happening. I don't know why I said the word I would never say, but yet we talk about a very openly, it's not a scary word, it's just something I never wanna experience it.

[00:42:44] Amy Freyder: It's not like Volemart or anything.

[00:42:45] Shayna: Yeah, no. Yeah.

[00:42:47] Steph Lee: It's Steph just popping in for a quick commercial break. So a big thank you to today's sponsor, Uniglobe Travel Center

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[00:43:57] Shayna: Do you think that it changed the way that you approach your clients or the way that you run your business now? Going through all of that.

[00:44:08] Amy Freyder: I think that it, so two things. On the one hand, I was able to really listen in and what my clients are saying and really also be maybe more empathetic and thinking about what they are, um, what they might be going through to get to this point, to get to travel.

And, um, and also I think it, it helped me in in working with suppliers also because, you know, it's, it's really difficult. It's kind of a, a puzzle sometimes to put all the pieces together. And it's not always easy. And I think you have to have a lot of patience and you also have to be mindful about what other people are going through.

And maybe there are days, you know, not going well or something like that. And I, I know that, um, that that doesn't help a, that doesn't come up a lot, but there are things that I feel like. This journey helped me to be more empathetic and listen. And also I think having patience is a really big one. And I feel like I have a lot more patience than I used to.

[00:45:15] Shayna: Well, that's a good thing. 'cause I think coming out of the pandemic, a lot of people have a lot less patience, so,

[00:45:20] Amy Freyder: well that is actually a real thing. Yeah. Yeah. And, and the whole, and I feel like the, the whole anxiety thing of this like generation and everybody needs everything to be done immediately.

Mm-hmm. And. That's a real challenge. And I think that we as advisors play into that more than we should. Mm-hmm. And this whole idea that, um, somebody will email me something in the morning and then three hours later they'll be like, well, did you get it? I'm like, well, yeah, yeah. My inbox has like a lot of things that I gotta, you know, and it's like, why, why are you emailing me?

Or why are you calling me to ask me if I got something that you just emailed me three hours ago? But I think we as advisors, if we play into that, like, oh yes, I'll look at that right now and I will get back to you right now on that. That kind of feeds into that, and I try not to do that because it's like, these things actually take time.

If you want a great trip, then you're gonna have to gimme some space to create that for you.

[00:46:17] Shayna: Yeah. I think a big piece of it is managing ex is managing expectations. I know we talk about this a lot, but you know, it's about saying like, as long as my man, my expectations are managed, where someone says, okay, you know what?

Thank you. I've received this. It will take me five to seven business days to come back to you. If we go onto the eighth business day, yes, I am probably following up right, but I'm not expecting anything earlier. And sometimes when you get something earlier, it's like a nice surprise. You're like, oh, I've gotten this in three days.

But it's just, it's more just about communicating that. I find a lot of the times we get lost because we don't communicate that information. Or I even know another advisor who I emailed back and forth with and she has an automated out of office that just says, your inquiry will be responded to within 24 hours.

Like there's like a whole kind of thing that she has. And so I never expect responses from her. Earlier than that. And when I get them, great, love it. Very happy. Right? But I know my email's been received and that she's managing that, you know, this is what she works on. She will come back to me within, I think hers even says 24 to 48 hours.

But if something is an emergency, then she has like an emergency line or something like that. But it manages my expectations so that yes, I'm not expecting a response in three hours, which I think is just. Something else.

[00:47:48] Amy Freyder: Well, I'm really glad you just said that because actually I say this a lot, 50% or more of this job is about managing client expectations.

I say that all the time, so I'm so glad you said that because managing client expectations is actually this job. It is,

[00:48:06] Shayna: yeah.

[00:48:07] Amy Freyder: And if you've managed client expectations, then when they're on their trip or in the planning of their trip or you know, anywhere along the journey then they will know. They, they won't be surprised and they'll know what's going on and they'll know that you are helping with it or, um, getting back to them or whatever.

[00:48:26] Shayna: Yep. Yeah, absolutely. It's, I think, I think that goes for most. Like most anything. I was actually, funny enough, I was getting a delivery this morning and they said, okay, we'll be there between 8:00 AM and 11:00 AM And I said, okay, it has to be between eight and 11:00 AM because I've got X, y, z things happening this afternoon, so I can't get it delivered outside of that window.

And they were like, yep, no problem. Like we start at 8:00 AM and all that. And I said, okay. I said, because if you can't, that's okay. Then the delivery has to be the next day. And around 10:00 AM I go onto the app and I see that, oh, okay, it will be delivered by the end of day. And I called them and I said, Hey, I had this long conversation with one of your staff yesterday.

If, if this will not be delivered to me before 11:00 AM not a problem, but then it cannot come today. Right? I said, I was super clear. And they're like, well, you know, we don't typically, we don't start delivering until 10:00 AM. I said, oh, 'cause the window I was given was 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM. So, you know, and because of that, I actually, when the driver got here, they, they ended up rerouting.

So the driver got here at 10:20 AM which was great, and I got upset with something at him, but there was no communication. My expectations weren't managed at all with how the delivery was gonna work. And I actually, I right away apologized to him because I said, you know, I know this is not you. It's my frustrations from the day before all the way through because my expectations weren't managed.

Had they been managed, no problem. I would've had no issue. Right.

[00:50:07] Amy Freyder: Yeah.

[00:50:07] Shayna: So, yeah. Yeah. Which is why I am glad that I'm ending my day with the Travel Agent Chatter podcast because it's a great way, it's a great way to end the day, for sure. So if we look back. At the last, you know, six, seven years of business now, um, do you have a moment where you say to yourself, okay, this is actually working?

[00:50:33] Amy Freyder: Yeah, I, I don't know when that moment was, but I that along the way, there were markers that, okay, this is, this is working, like you said. And, um, and PE and clients were leaving. Clients were writing reviews. Like I said, I had these little mini goals that I was trying to hit. And, um, when I would actually hit a goal, I'd be like, yes, you know, I actually got 50 reviews in this amount of time that I was hoping for.

And, um, and then clients were referring me to other people, and I hit a million. And I guess. I didn't mention this earlier, but one of the things that is really a big goal for me is to really find my ideal client and only work with them. And, um, and that's hard and it doesn't always happen, but it's always in my mind, I'm always thinking about, um, what my ideal client looks like and how am I gonna find them on the intake call.

And and because, because I really, that was really important to me. Um, I, I didn't mention this earlier, but one of the things that I, is that, like my first litmus test, and actually one of the most important things for me is when I have that first phone call is. Am I going to enjoy working with this person?

Am I going to enjoy working on this itinerary? Is this going to be fun? And if I am not answering that question yes, then I am not taking that client because that in that time when everything was tumultuous and I was overwhelmed and I was like, I do not have time for people that I do not enjoy working with because I'm already not enjoying so much of my personal life right now.

And so now fast forward, I have a lot of clients that I really enjoy working with. And when I look over, you know, I'm looking at a trip and I'm looking back at our correspondence, sometimes I am laughing about some of the things that we have exchanged with clients that I just, I love, they're so funny and they're so fun.

And I love it when they come back to me. And so that was something that I felt like, this is working. I'm having fun. This is, these are fun people to work with. And. They're referring me to their friends who are hopefully also ideal friends. So, um, that was something that I, I feel like, um, was like a, you know, indication that this is going well.

And, um, and going back to Virtuoso, I actually wanted to share some stats with you 'cause I think this might be interesting. Um, in the time that I. Got my first person who came to me and said, I found you through Virtuoso. Um, it was the summer of 2022, so I think I started trying to get reviews like at the very end of 2021.

We started with Virtuoso in the beginning of 2021. So by the end of 2021, I'd figured out, okay, I'm gonna try to get a lot of reviews. Somebody came to me summer 2022. From that point to now, I, I kind of try to keep on tabs with this. It's kind of hard 'cause not everybody will tell me like exactly how they found me, but about 71 people have come to me saying that they found me through Virtuoso since that first person.

And of that 37 of them became actual clients who book with me. And I would say at least half of those people have been, or repeat, have done more than one trip with me, and at least a dozen of them are ideal clients. And so that is something that has really worked well for me. And that's something where I can say, yeah, this is working.

[00:54:09] Shayna: That those are incredible numbers. Virtuoso, I hope you're listening. Don't worry. I'll make sure they listen. I'll be sending this to them. Um, but those are, those are wonderful numbers. And taking advantage of the tools that are offered to you through your host, through your consortium here specifically, has done you really proud.

And it also shows that 12 of the 71 being essentially at least 12 of them, you said at least a dozen. Mm-hmm. Being your ideal client. Right. That's pretty incredible. Almost half of them. More than half of them, actually 37 booked with you, right? Yeah. That's an incredible, uh, like, like, I mean that, that conversion is something special.

So congrats. That's amazing.

[00:54:59] Amy Freyder: Yeah. Thank you. That also takes into account that probably the first 20 of them were coming from during the pandemic and they were complete trash. Like, I was like, really? How did you, how did you think that going? Finding me in Virtuoso and then asking me for this crazy, you know, $2,000 trip to Japan is gonna work for you.

So anyway, um, yeah, a lot of them were like really nonsense in the beginning, and then they got better and better and now they're amazing.

[00:55:27] Shayna: Wow, that's incredible. So with, um, with a lot of advisors kind of. Right now dealing with their own personal challenges and seeing where you are now with everything that you've dealt with and they're, you know, having their own personal challenges and then they're trying to grow their business at the same time.

Is there any piece of advice or anything that you would really want them to know?

[00:55:52] Amy Freyder: I think going back to what I said earlier about having a vision and a plan, that was really instrumental for me. Yeah. And, um, I think that whether you want to just you know, do this and, and make a little bit of money, or you actually have a goal because you have to pay for all the bills with this job or, um, you know, you're, you're.

Single working mother or something like that. You know, you, you have different goals and how are you going to get them? Because for me, laying out the strategy, um, everything was a strategy. Everything that I put together, and that is really how I, um, how I built it and, um, from, you know, how am I gonna get these reviews?

And, um, and one of the strategies I didn't talk about was also aligning myself with the right suppliers. Because I can be perfect in planning. I can plan the most perfect trip. I have the vision for my clients because they needed my help to put this thing together. And then if I give it over to a supplier, who I mean is, has a, you know, disappointing execution, let's call it.

That is not gonna lead to any of my three Rs. My clients are not gonna, you know, leave a good review, even though I had nothing to do with me. They're not gonna refer me to other people and they're not gonna come back to me again. And so I mindfully have to make sure that I am partnering up with the best suppliers that are not gonna let me down.

So everything is a strategy and, um, to get to those three Rs. And so I think that for. Travel advisors who are, who have, like, they're being pulled in lots of different directions and got a lot of distractions. Um, really honing in on, um, the small steps and the big steps and, and just taking everything one day at a time.

That was my whole mantra, was one at a time, one client at a time, one review at a time, one referral at a time, one itinerary at a time. Like everything was just like looking at it like in a very micro level because when everything is so overwhelming and you, you don't need more, like to look at a, your business as an overwhelming picture, how am I gonna get to a million?

Like that is not a good way to look at it. Mm-hmm. So, um, just really focusing on little things.

[00:58:10] Shayna: I think I, I really love that. I actually, um, you know, I always come up with a high level strategy closer to the end of the year to, you know, when I look at Host Agency Reviews, other companies that I've been with as well.

And then I have my, kind of my quarterly goals. Of things that I want every to achieve, but the goals all have to line up back to that strategy. Right? And I actually look at them every single week. Every week I update them. And it's most, it's for myself, right? This is, this is for me, this is to make sure that the strategy that I've talked about with the team, but also the things that you wanna do with your business you are keeping on track with.

It takes me five minutes out at the beginning of a Monday and I just check in with those. So I love that you said that because I find that, that it re sometimes it reminds me of something that I've forgotten, that I've reminded myself is important. So I love that. Before we get into you giving us some wisdom to close out the podcast, um, I would like love to know, looking back now at everything, what are you most proud of over the last five years?

[00:59:24] Amy Freyder: I definitely that I, I made it, I made it through the fire. I got to the other side. My daughter is doing really well now. Um, she is in community college and she's super happy and we, we made a lot of decisions that were, um, really hard decisions and it was a struggle. And I, um, I mean there were some crazy stories that I had to deal with, like just day in, day out and, um, and we, and I did it and, um, and I.

I still was able to go to Virtuoso Travel Week. I was still able to go to, you know, globe conferences. I didn't do a lot of fam, but I narrowed down on the things that were really important to me. And even getting away was so stressful and things happened and, um, and I know other people who've told me stories about how they made a commitment to go on a fam or they made a commitment to go to a conference and they had to leave at the middle of it because something happened at home.

And I could so relate to that. And, um, and just that, that idea that you are going to be doing this, but really you should be over here or you you need to focus on, make decisions on, you know, these important things that you can't be two places at once. And. And somehow I made it through and I was still able to grow my business.

So I'm really proud of that and that I was able to kind of, I guess, execute my vision.

[01:00:51] Shayna: Yeah, that's amazing. And I'm, I think more than anything, I'm so glad to hear that your daughter's doing well. Thank you.

[01:00:57] Amy Freyder: She's

[01:00:58] Shayna: in college and she's, oh, I'm just, that's, that's really exciting for you. That's incredibly exciting for her.

So that's so great to hear.

[01:01:07] Amy Freyder: Thank you. Um,

[01:01:08] Shayna: yeah. And you kind of, mentioned, so a little, a little wisdom that we'd love for you to share with our listeners. And you kind of talked about, you know, you still went to Virtuoso Travel Week and you still went to Uniglobe's conference. You know, what are some of, are these some of your favorite places to learn in the industry, or what are some of your

[01:01:27] Wisdom

[01:01:27] Shayna: favorite places to learn within the travel industry?

[01:01:31] Amy Freyder: Yeah, I, I know that people ask a lot about how do I grow my business, especially when I'm starting. And sometimes people suggest that you, you just need to travel more. You need to like, go on FAMs. You need to go put yourself out there and show people that you are in a destination. And for me, that wasn't possible.

And so I feel like that is good advice for some people, but it's bad advice for other people and was bad advice for me. And, um, and, but there are things that you can do and I felt like. Even if you live wherever you live, there are interesting places. There are parks, there are, um, for me, I live by the ocean.

There's the beach. There's hotels, like there's some hotel in every city. I, I feel like, you know, even if it's not a luxury hotel, you can go and meet with hoteliers and ask for hotel tours and even their, if they're in your community and you can go out and make content. If you feel like you need to be out there on social media, you can make content in your own community.

You don't have to feel like you have to be out abroad. And, um, and going to conferences was a big one for me because making those relationships with the suppliers virtuoso Travel Week has tons of hoteliers and that has really helped me a lot.

[01:02:46] Shayna: Mm-hmm.

[01:02:47] Amy Freyder: Um. And that was my priority was, was going to the two conferences that I mentioned, because I felt like I got the most value out of them and, um, and I couldn't travel that much.

So, I think there are little ways that, you know, webinars and podcasts and if you feel like you only have a tiny bit of time today, then you can just look at some destination research. I am a Japan expert and I still love to just like, like, oh, where does the, you know, what's a cool spot in Japan that I don't know about?

And in my spare time I might look for something or find a new supplier that, you know, in case I, you know, get a river cruise client. Then, you know, what are the best choices out there for Europe or, I mean, there are little things that you can do just to be moving yourself forward, even if you only have a little bit of time.

[01:03:38] Shayna: Yeah, absolutely. I love that. So the final question to close off, I can't believe, can't believe we're at the end.

[01:03:46] Indispensable Question

[01:03:46] Shayna: but we love to ask everyone that joins us for travel Agent Chatter. What person, book or technology has been indispensable to the growth of your agency and why?

[01:04:01] Amy Freyder: So, um, when I think about what really turned the key for me in, in, um, in making the leap from where I was at, to luxury and really actually making the difference was Betsy deciding that we would bring on Virtuoso and.

The tools that Virtuoso provided, and I probably honestly use like 30% of them. So if I really d dove deep down into what they offered, I could probably be doing even better. But the tools that Virtuoso offers the reviews, people find me there, the reputation that they have. I'm gonna say that Matthew Upchurch is that person who really is made a big difference.

And because he had the vision to create Virtuoso, and of course there are other consortia, and that's the one that I know, that's the one that made the difference to me. But he creating Virtuoso and doing this with this mission that he, that it's. For travel advisors. It, the whole point of virtuoso is to help me as a travel advisor and to help me move into luxury, which is what I was trying to do.

And because it has such a good reputation among people and they know it, and I, I follow, I'm in like Reddit communities and people are always talking about Virtuoso and so I really have to credit Matthew Upchurch for having this vision to create this thing that ultimately really made a difference in my life.

[01:05:34] Shayna: Oh, oh.

[01:05:35] Amy Freyder: So I do hope you share it with Virtuoso 'cause that is really my answer for this business. It really made a big difference for me.

[01:05:42] Shayna: You bet. I will. And, and Matthew is, is pretty fantastic. So. I've only had the honor of meeting him a couple times, um, and he probably doesn't remember me, but that's okay.

'cause he meets, he meets lots of people, but he could not have been nicer. Every time and listening to him speak, I understand why, why he's your answer. I get it. And yeah, with that, I mean, Amy, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for this sharing the story of this incredible business that you've built, um, and your very personal story with me, with the hard team and with the entire Host Agency Reviews community.

Thank you to everyone who's listening. Please remember, uh, to submit reviews if you are a member of a host or a consortium, uh, if you use a piece of travel technology or if you work with a tour operator or a travel insurance provider, they're now live on the HAR website. We today talked a lot about how important reviews are, so please share your reviews as well.

Thank you to Uniglobe Travel Center as our sponsor this quarter. As a reminder, uh, the Travel Agent Chatter Podcast is a quarterly podcast where we speak to and feature your travel advisor colleagues. Stay tuned for our next one coming up in Q2 for this volume 35. You can read the transcript. View the show notes and watch a video of today's episode all in one place.

Head on over to Host Agency Reviews.com/tac and click on episode 35. Amy, thank you so much again, this was an absolute pleasure and what a beautiful way to start 2026 Travel Agent Chatter podcast episodes.

[01:07:32] Amy Freyder: And thank you Shayna. Really, I really appreciate that you have this, um, this podcast and this really great way to interact with travel advisors and horror, because that's how I found Uniglobe.

So thank you for that too.

[01:07:45] Shayna: Oh, thank you so much. Have a wonderful day everybody, and we will see you in Q2.

[01:07:52] Amy Freyder: Bye.