31

Lauren and Chris Pronger, Well Inspired Travels

[00:13:41] Steph Lee: You're listening to Travel Agent Chatter, volume 31. Today we dive into an inspiring story of how health challenges led to the creation of one of the industry's most successful luxury wellness travel agencies. Lauren Pronger launched Well Inspired Travels after witnessing firsthand how travel could be transformative, not just for vacation, but for healing.

And when her NHL Hall of Fame husband, Chris Pronger, joined in 2018, they created something truly unique, a luxury travel agency that doesn't just book amazing trips, but it helps clients make lasting positive changes in their lives. Their motto? Every trip should improve your life in some way. And it is not about running away from your problems at home, it is about discovering something during your travels that makes life better when you return.

And what really sets them apart is their holistic view on their approach to their client relationships. They act as travel matchmakers, conducting deep dive interviews with potential clients, and maintaining what Chris calls a no "a** hole policy".

And they are not just booking trips. They're creating transformational experiences that align with their client's wellness goals and lifestyle aspirations.

So buckle in and join us for this lively interview with this dynamic duo.

And before we jump into things, one thing to remember is that Host Week is coming up, and if you have never attended, boy, are you missing out! It is our free annual event for advisors the last week in January. We have a little something for everybody with host interviews, consortia interviews.

We have EduSpots that help both new and experienced advisors level up their game. We have keynotes from industry leaders. We've got giveaways. We've got a band that plays music for us during breaks. And we showcase your cute office pets throughout the week. What more could you ask for? So join the over 3, 000 registrants that joined us in 2024 and sign up for Host Week.

It is free. You can watch it live or recorded and so you really have no excuses. You can find a link to RSVP in the description and the show notes.

[00:15:57] Steph: We'll be back in a moment after a quick word from our sponsor.

Thanks to our Sponsor

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Intro

[00:16:59] Steph Lee: ​I'm Steph Lee, the founder of Host Agency Reviews, and your host for today's show. Today is filled with a whole bunch of firsts for us here at TAC. We have our first couple on the show. We have our first Hockey Hall of Famer, probably our last as well. And our first episode on wellness travel. And today it is going to be packed with insights for you about building a successful luxury travel business and working with clients, not for them.

So Lauren and Chris Pronger have created something really special with Well Inspired Travels and they are going to share with you how they've done it.

We'll hear about their unique approach to client vetting, their wellness consulting services that help set them apart in that luxury market and then we'll talk about what sort of unique considerations come into play when you're working with professional athletes as well as CEOs.

Plus, we'll get both perspectives on what it's like to work with your spouse and how you can make it work.

So links and resources that we talk about in today's show can be found in the show notes at hostagencyreviews. com/TAC and clicking on episode 31 or you can find them in the description.

There is so much to go over today and I will not keep you in suspense any longer.

Lauren, Chris, welcome to Travel Agent Chatter. We are so happy to have you here.

[00:18:24] Lauren Pronger: Happy to be here. Thanks for having us.

[00:18:26] Chris Pronger: Thanks Stephanie.

Beginnings

[00:18:27] Steph Lee: Yes. Well, so I always like to start things out with kind of giving a feel for our guests and where they came from.

And so I'll start with you, Chris, because you grew up in Canada. I looked it up online and you're just straight north of Minneapolis, which you didn't say, like straight line. Yeah. Super fun. And from what I have read online, because I am not a hockey person, as I told you, you are a very talented individual. You're considered one of hockey's all time greats. You joined the NHL at 19. You were voted an MVP for the league. You won two gold medals for Canada.

[00:19:02] Lauren Pronger: Look at you, Stephanie. You did your homework.

[00:19:05] Steph Lee: Kind of. And-- you were inducted into the hockey hall of fame. And this is what's really going to impress you... you won the Triple Gold Cup.

[00:19:12] Chris Pronger: Correct. Wow.

[00:19:14] Steph Lee: And—

[00:19:14] Chris Pronger: Do you want me to tell people what the triple gold is?

[00:19:17] Steph Lee: Well, I kind of wanted to tell people just to show off.

[00:19:23] Chris Pronger: Yes, Stephanie!

[00:19:25] Steph Lee: So, for those that aren't in the know, which I am in the know, the Triple Gold Cup is where you win three special trophy things. And it's where you win the Olympic medal, the World Championship medal, and the Stanley Cup. Is that right?

[00:19:43] Chris Pronger: Correct. It would be an Olympic gold medal, a World Championship gold medal, and a Stanley Cup.

[00:19:47] Steph Lee: Okay, and gold medals.

[00:19:48] Chris Pronger: Yeah, well done, Stephanie.

[00:19:51] Steph Lee: Yeah, here's the neatest part, only 30 people have won that. This is not a normal thing.

[00:19:56] Lauren Pronger: Look at you, fact checker. That's amazing.

[00:19:58] Steph Lee: Thank you. You guys are so great for my self esteem.

So now Chris, we've got that nailed down because that's really a lot of what you're known for is hockey, but soon you'll be known for travel. So my question is, as you were growing up, you obviously played a bunch of hockey-- did you travel a lot or did you have a passion for travel when you were younger? Did this come at a later age?

[00:20:22] Chris Pronger: Uh, we traveled a little bit as a family, we took the old family truckster and went down to Disney Land? California?

[00:20:31] Steph Lee: You drove? You went to California? Oh, wow.

[00:20:33] Chris Pronger: Disney Land-- we drove all the way from little old Dryden, Ontario, all the way down through the Midwest, over towards California, did Disneyland, and then went straight up the coast.

[00:20:44] Steph Lee: Wow.

[00:20:45] Chris Pronger: Washington, Oregon, up to Vancouver, then all the way across the Rocky mountains --

[00:20:51] Steph Lee: yeah. Wow. That's really impressive.

[00:20:53] Chris Pronger: And by the way, this is back before the internet was alive and we had to use paper maps.

[00:20:59] Steph Lee: I remember that too. We were lost on the map. Exactly.

[00:21:03] Chris Pronger: Or it was travel.

[00:21:06] Steph Lee: Uh huh. Exactly. You were road tripping hardcore. That's right.

[00:21:09] Chris Pronger: It was a solid road trip. And then, uh, as I got a little further on in my, uh, teen hockey career -- went over to, uh, let's see. I went to Japan, uh, you know, and then start traveling a little more abroad, went to Sweden, Japan, a few places like that, uh, for hockey tournaments and things of that nature, and then, uh, started my career and really just started traveling around for my sport. Didn't do a whole lot in the off season initially until I met this young lady right here.

Yay! Well, okay, Lauren, let's chat about you because you are another Midwestern lady and you have an amazing story about how travel transformed you and your family's life growing up. Like, I mean it was just so transformational. So very early on, it also planted a seed for an interest in health and wellness.

So can you tell us a little bit more about your kind-of origin story and the origin story of Well Inspired Travels? Yes, yes. Thank you.

[00:22:07] Lauren Pronger: Yeah, when I was a young girl, six years old, my father was diagnosed with colon cancer. And, you know, I didn't really know what chemo was. I knew my father was very sick and at that time they didn't have a lot of solutions for what he was going through and nor did they really know the extent of it.

So they were bazooking his system with a ton of chemo and it was kind of like, he needed more time for Western medicine to catch up. And it was a situation of the chemo going to take him down or is the cancer going to take him down? And he was from a small town and really hadn't traveled and seen the world.

And so he essentially asked the doctors, can I take the time off for two maybe three months in the summer when my kids are out of school because I just want to go travel and see the world with them and my father is very forward thinking because this is back in the early eighties and he specifically chose to travel all over Asia because he was very curious about Eastern medicine and holistic healing because he knew that that would potentially give him the time that he needed for Western medicine to catch up. And how he could endure that pain he was going through, through different modalities, whether it's meditation, breath work, going through a lot of deep detox is essentially getting all of the toxins out of his body, the chemo and so forth.

So, it's very interesting where his mindset was and so through my six- year old eyes, when we traveled and he was going off with these medicine men and he was actually really, you know, gaining strength, vitality. He was eating, he was laughing, he was whole. And so I looked at travel. Yes-

[00:23:43] Steph Lee: I love that !

[00:23:45] Lauren Pronger: I looked at travel as magic.

Because I didn't know what chemo was or when he was off chemo, I just saw this is as incredible, not only am I loving seeing all these sites and exploring, you know, different cuisines and hearing different languages and these wonderful people and these people that are healing my father -- talk about transformation and just seeing the healing powers for our family and certainly for my father, it really left a mark for me. And then in the wellness component, Yes, witnessing my father so sick at a young age whether you want to call it post traumatic stress, it was very traumatizing. And so I have always been very interested in health and wellness and how to stay optimal myself because of fear of genetics and a lot of epigenetics is the environment we put ourselves in. And so I figured, well, hey, I'm going to do everything in my power to, help, you know, defy the odds, if you will. And my father, I mean, my mother had breast cancer, not once, but twice and so really, I guess, you know, we continue to travel as a family because that was so special to us.

And it wasn't about the gifts under the Christmas tree. It was about continuing to see the world and explore the world together because my father did actually beat cancer, which is a miracle. And so we attributed a lot of that to that travel saved his life. Had he not gone abroad and learned all of these holistic healing modalities, he would not have been able to fight and endure all that he was going through.

And Western medicine did eventually catch up and he had a very radical surgery, but it's truly the merging of, you know, more that. holistic, you know, wellness component and then the medical component component of Eastern and Western medicine and both saved my father's life. So, yeah, that's kind of the beginning of it. I don't know how much further you want me to go. If you want me to talk about when we met, or if I want, if you want me to stop there.

[00:25:44] Steph Lee: I Am kind of curious about how you guys met, so let's throw that in there.

[00:25:47] Lauren Pronger: Well, so then you fast forward through life, and I met him when I was 21, 22? 23. It's been 25 years ish. It's been so long, but yeah, Chris was playing in St. Louis with the St. Louis Blues and I had just graduated from college and, uh, yeah, a girlfriend of mine was very interested in the backup goalie for the Blues. And she said, I need a wing woman to go to this party. And the party just so happened to be at his house and I was nursing a breakup. I'd been with a guy for three years, basically through all of college. And so I was really excited about freedom and I was going to apply into law schools and I had no desire to jump back into a relationship right when this charming man across the table leapt into my life and it was fast and furious. We met in January and he proposed in April. And then we had a year and a half engagement, but you know when you know, and he's a keeper, I'm going to keep him forever.

[00:26:56] Steph Lee: Love it. Love it. My parents met in January and I think they were married in March or April. Like, no, no, no, no, no, no. They met in January, were engaged-- I think --in March or April, married in like June or July.

So yeah, they, they feel the same way and then, and then there's me. Who's been with my partner for 10 years and still not married.

[00:27:22] Lauren Pronger: That's good. That's good. How long have-

[00:27:25] Steph Lee: What's that?

[00:27:25] Lauren Pronger: How long have your parents been married?

[00:27:27] Steph Lee: They'll be 50 years next year. So, yeah, isn't that crazy? This year I tried to plan them a 50- year celebration party, except for it wasn't this year, and that was embarrassing.

[00:27:38] Lauren Pronger: Okay-- 49, 50 ish, 49 ish, 50 ish.

[00:27:42] Chris Pronger: Yeah--

[00:27:43] Steph Lee: I know. I was really glad because I was going to do it as a surprise, and then my siblings were like, well, you should ask them where they want it to be, like, at their house or somewhere else.

So I'm so glad that they had me ask them.

Wellness Travel

[00:27:55] Steph Lee: Well, let's see. Let's move into the next segment because I want to talk about Well Inspired Travels. You focus on luxury, wellness travel, and you got started in 2018 and you had talked earlier, Lauren, about you have like a one thing philosophy, this idea that every trip that you plan should improve your client's life in some way.

Can you chat more on that?

Yeah, it's really always been the foundation and the mission of Well Inspired Travels, obviously coming from my father's story. And my goal is always to encourage clients to not run away from their lives at home of, you know, so often I'm talking to clients and they say, oh gosh, you know, I hate my job or I'm just so out of shape or I, you know, my wife drives me nuts or whatever it is, their complaints, I hate, you know, anything and I just want to run away from it. Just send me on an incredible beach vacation or what have you. And then, you know what? I'll just forget about it for a week. And you're going to come right back to it. And I'm like, that does, you know, good again, going back to my father's story of the power, the healing powers and the transformation of what the world can teach an individual is.

My ultimate goal is go out and seek something during your travels. That's actually going to help you to feel more optimal and live a better life when you return. Just one thing. And I do believe that is why we've had such success with our business because people really are feeling their best when they're traveling and coming back and they're like, oh my gosh, I'm ready for phase two what's next? What's next? What's the next challenge lauren? And so yeah, so that's really kind of really the foundation I guess of Well Inspired Travels of, you know, learning something that will help you improve your life back at home

[00:29:43] Chris Pronger: I don't need a vacation from their vacation.

[00:29:47] Steph Lee: It's so true. One line. Okay, so I have to tell everyone now that now that Chris had his first one liner. So, we had a conversation before this for a couple hours. And then one thing I learned is Chris is amazing at one liners. He just drops them like candy all over the place. It's so we can start count. There's number one.

[00:30:08] Chris Pronger: I'll get my little ticker going.

[00:30:10] Lauren Pronger: We need a whiteboard.

[00:30:11] Steph Lee: I know, but look forward to more because I guarantee you there will be more. And those at home will send out a bingo card. Maybe we'll create one that you can download.

[00:30:19] Chris Pronger: Chris bingo.

[00:30:20] Steph Lee: I love that. Yeah. Well, okay. So one of the things I saw on your site, Lauren, is you also do, cause you have a ton of certifications in wellness travel that kind of started from in, was it 2011 that you retired, Chris?

[00:30:36] Chris Pronger: Uh, 2011 12, yeah.

[00:30:38] Steph Lee: Okay, yeah, and it was due, like, to post concussion syndrome, so, yeah, pretty rough there on the ice. Now, Lauren... what's that?

[00:30:46] Chris Pronger: Or so I've been told.

[00:30:47] Lauren Pronger: That's number two.

[00:30:47] Steph Lee: I also did read up, yeah, I also did read up that you were, like, you were the defenseman in very Intimidating. So, I've only seen Chris on camera, I didn't know he was six foot six. And I was like, Oh, wow, would not want to go up against that.

[00:31:01] Lauren Pronger: It's amazing when I'd be at the games and you would watch Chris is on defense on one side and all the offense would be coming down to the ice and they start to approach Chris. And as soon as they saw Chris, you'd see the sway of all the offensive guys go the other direction. Like, uh, I am not going near that guy.

[00:31:19] Steph Lee: That's what I would do. I'd be like, it's like my dog. When he's walking around my dog, that's, a little bit in a bad mood. He just like veers all over the place. Okay. So, but with this I also saw on the site now because you started in 2011 after Chris retired, there's just a lot of changes in your family as you're going through this.

So you were taking these certifications and that's where the beginnings of Well Inspired Travel came from, but, but those certifications also come in really handy because you also do consulting with different properties and companies out there that are wanting to integrate or up their wellness travel programs.

So what are, for people that are interested in learning more about wellness travel for their clients, what are some of the innovative things that you've been seeing hotels or different properties, companies doing that you think are way ahead of the curve?

[00:32:11] Lauren Pronger: Yeah, it's interesting. Because the industry is just booming, especially coming out of COVID.

A lot of people are curious about how to optimize their lives and traveling to properties to learn more because they're so busy in their everyday life, or maybe they don't have it in their cities. And I've always been fascinated by, you know, there's the wellness travel side of things, and then there's a medical travel side of things.

And our clients particularly fall in the sweet spot right in the middle. They're pretty knowledgeable and in touch with their mind, body and spirit connection. But they're curious about, you know, more of the biohacking medical space of, you know, what, "how do I go from," which is another one of my big lines: is: I'm well, striving to be super well, why the heck not? And so I think. feel like our clients are very curious on that level of like, Hey, I feel really, I'm pretty well, but I want to feel really super well. Like I want to go above and beyond. That's where a lot of people are nowadays and with all that is out there. And a lot of these properties are embracing this. Some of them are a little late to the game, which is where my consulting business comes in. Because I have all the partners and the connections and I can step into a property and say, hey, here's where I believe you need to level up because Chris and myself, when we travel to properties, there are things that we really want to have in place or else we basically won't travel to that destination.

And it's not, you know, being snooty. It's just the daily habits that we want to keep consistent in our life when we're not at home and doing them at home, then we want to have the ability to do it at that property or even something that we're curious about doing that we wanted to try before and that's the same for our clients.

So we're, you know, always, really staying on top of those properties that are cutting edge. Whether that be, you know, a form of contrast therapy, whether it's, you know, learning meditation, breath work, whether it's peptides, whether I mean now there's STEM cells and I mean, there's the biomass, the pemph maps, the red light therapies, and you know, all of these things come into play and a lot of these individuals don't have the time, nor do they have them in their homes to explore. And I just, it's, it's so exciting because as you said, I have all this education. I've got 10 different certifications. So I've been tracking this really since 2011. And to see it come full circle where our properties that, you know, like a, a Rosewood, a Four Seasons, a Montage Penderies, what have you, are really bringing these into their hotels and but I also think it's a slippery slope because. You have to be careful. This is, these are not clinical based properties as well. You have like a SHA Wellness, which I'm a huge fan of. I love the owner. I'm actually a SHA Wellness master, which was a big honor in the United States. I was the first in the United States.

And that is a very clinically based property. So that's a really good fit for certain clients. But some of the other properties, you know, they aren't a clinical destination, but yet they're still adding an element to cutting edge out of the box, not just your gym and your fluffy spot that's going to offer a deep tissue massage so it's, it's been really exciting to sit back and see how the whole space has evolved and, uh,

[00:35:35] Steph Lee: there's a lot more to do. We'll link to SHA wellness in the show notes for people that they want to check that out as a resource. And then, so you talked about this super, super well living now that brings up something because coming up let's see, it's late November right now. Whenever you're listening to this December, you are putting on a webinar on your wellness course because you're, you're putting together this live webinar on the eight pillars of super living. Can you tell us a little bit more about that cause I feel like it might be a great training for an advisor that's looking to learn more about how to integrate wellness into their travel agency.

[00:36:14] Lauren Pronger: Yeah, absolutely. Something I'm very passionate about and I agree with you. If there's anybody listening that is a current travel advisor that doesn't know a whole lot about the wellness travel space or just somebody that's curious about how to go from the well to super well, you definitely don't want to miss December 12th at 5 PM central standard time.

I'm going to be hosting a live masterclass on the eight pillars and it's kind of a sampling of what's to come with a digital course but essentially I go through the eight pillars and I can name just a few of them. It's, it's well aging longevity, optimal sleep, nourishing nutrition, mindfulness, bio rhythm, soulful connection-- these are all basic things that essentially don't cost any money and it's kind of getting back to what my grandparents, my great grandparents did versus all the noise in this space. And I've seen it evolve and it gets very confusing and very overwhelming. I do think, you know, there's a lot of benefits to this whole biohacking culture and I do it, we do it in our everyday life, but I also think it's vitally important to just get back to some of these basic eight pillars. And, uh, on December 12th is where I'm going to be diving into all this. I'll get into kind of all the, the nerdy health and wellness, uh, just education and terminology. And yeah, there's a lot to come with it. And I think it would be a great interest for individuals that, Are curious about optimizing their own health and also maybe it'll help them sell wellness travel too

[00:37:48] Chris Pronger: Highly recommend this Stephanie. Highly, highly recommend.

[00:37:50] Lauren Pronger: You're right.

[00:37:51] Chris Pronger: I just got a gold star.

[00:37:52] Steph Lee: Excellent. Well, we'll, we'll link to that for people. And is it going to be recorded as well? So if somebody listens to this, okay, cool. We'll link to it so people can, can watch that and then I believe when you launch that course, it'll be on your site, won't it?

[00:38:07] Lauren Pronger: Yes, we will.

[00:38:07] Steph Lee: Okay. Yes. Yes. So we'll link to the site as well if people that are listening to this later want to watch that. So one of the things that's kind of interesting is you all work with a bunch of professional athletes obviously thanks to Chris's connections and one of the things you talked about before for both of you is like, Lauren, on your end, you've lived the life of being a partner of a professional athlete, so you understand the challenges that the partners are facing and the frustrations and you know, the other things that come with it.

And Chris, you've walked in the shoes of the elite athletes, and you know the needs that come with it and the challenges that come with it. So what sort of unique considerations do you have to think about when you're planning travel for this demographic? So maybe each of you can kind of talk about --Chris, you could talk about athletes and Lauren, you could talk about the spouses and partners.

[00:38:59] Chris Pronger: Yeah. I think you just have to, you know, part of it is you got to look at the, the mindset, the understanding of where they are in their career, what their needs are based on that, you know, are they really, are they recovering from injury? There's so many different steps that can, can be involved in, in figuring exact needs and timing of those needs. Sometimes have a conversation with their agent, uh, to get a little more backstory and understanding of kind of what's going on. A lot of it is mindset related and, and just, you know, there's so much pressure, so many people pulling on you that, that a lot of times you're just trying to get away and decompress and, and kind of reset or so the mind, the physical stuff is in the gym and, and, you know, in the, the spa, the health and wellness side of it, but, but more the mind, the mind body spirit as, as Lauren talked about earlier is almost more critical than the physical side and really trying to get your reset and preparing for a summer training, preparing for the grind of the season or mid season, getting a little break and stepping away for two or three days at a key break in the schedule and just trying to get a reset and understanding of what your what your body needs given the toll, uh, that it takes.

[00:40:14] Steph Lee: Yeah, I hadn't thought about that, the mental aspect of it, but that makes a ton of sense because people focus so much on the body. There's a huge mental toll with all that pressure that you're under.

[00:40:26] Lauren Pronger: Well, and I think definitely calming that central nervous system, you know, they-- having watched Chris, you know, play for 20 years and when we first traveled, actually the first summer that we met and, you know, I said, Hey, when you're off season, I want to go travel the world. That's what I love to do. And it's a big part of who I am. And he was like, well, I can't do that. I can't leave my trainer, my dietitian, all these people in place to, you know, stay top of the game.

And I said, actually, if you trust me, and this is 25 years ago, keep in mind the gyms were the size of this podcast room they're like the size of a broom closet, you know, there wasn't a whole lot offered for wellness travel. But I was able to tap into --going back to my father's story --more holistic tools to help Chris elevate his game, calming that central nervous system. He spent a lot of minutes in the penalty box. So, you know, I think as Chris said, sometimes it's just that basic. It's about resetting. Learning techniques on proper breathing mechanics instead of like, they're just being pulled and they're, you know, just on overload from the stress, the toll on their body and the constant travel. They're not sleeping in their own beds. Their circadian rhythms are flipped upside down and they've got cortisol spikes. You know, it's just that's just one component to it. But it's a really big factor that helps players return to their game the next season, a better version of themselves. And I would say, you know, that's the success in what we do, because Chris has been in their shoes and I mean, my God, he's a hockey Hall of Famer so he did it really well.

[00:42:08] Chris Pronger: Uh, it also, I also had 16 surgeries. So I understand the physical side of it, too.

[00:42:13] Lauren Pronger: Yes.

[00:42:13] Chris Pronger: Both the physical and mental side of recovery, uh, the grind of trying to rehab an injury, the grind of, you know, your mind playing tricks on you. Are you ever going to come back at full strength? Are you ever going to? be the same player on and on and on all those little things that can creep into an athlete's mind. You know, we kind of walk through and try to calm that down and figure out a solution to get back to 100%. You know, and now obviously have conversations with a lot of other teams.

[00:42:40] Lauren Pronger: And I think even on a spiritual side too, you know, of course myself always talk about we're travel matchmakers. We really are intentional about listening to what they're going through. And like, when I talk to the wives and the girlfriends, I'm listening to their struggles you know, maybe they're dealing with some marital issues maybe they just need to reconnect with their family, or maybe they need a solo trip. Because I've been in their shoes and it's, I mean, yeah, it looks very glamorous from the outside and it is a blessed life, but there is a lot of pressure for the family. And so a lot of times it shifts into this mentorship side for Chris and myself and we love that. Because we're open books, we're very vulnerable and allowed to share a raw, real journey. And it's this beautiful credibility and trust there. And I would say pretty much everything that comes across our desk when we're talking to clients and these are, you know, referrals to other high net worth individuals or whomever, because we kind of are more in that four or five star caliber of, of travel matchmaking but, you know, most of those things we have dealt with, I mean, For the most part, whether it's injuries, whether it's mental health stuff, like Chris dealt with a lot with his concussions; whether it's sickness, my family had a lot of health crisis is on my side of the family. I've dealt with burnout in a terrible way. That's why I ended up going back to all this wellness education when he got really sick or when he had a terrible concussion, so there's so many things that aren't pleasant that we share in, in common with these individuals. And that is, there's just a beautiful dance we play and I think that has allowed us to be so successful because people not only achieve the value of these beautiful trips that we curate for them, but also good friends that they're like, oh my gosh, like I learned a lot from these individuals. Not that we haven't all figured out at all.

[00:44:37] Chris Pronger: Lots still to learn here, Stephanie.

[00:44:39] Steph Lee: But that's one of the things I really enjoy about you two are you're very down to earth and you're, you know, you make yourself vulnerable because I think oftentimes, especially in this world with social media, people make things look so beautiful and glamorous all the time and they cut everything out of the picture frame that isn't beautiful. Uh, and there's something really refreshing about talking with people that are like: yes, it, it, it is wonderful and all these things that we've been given this life, but there are downsides to it because I think it's easy for people to forget those and for them to be able to connect with you and you guys kind of, it sounds like acting as therapists almost is really helpful.

[00:45:20] Lauren Pronger: Yeah. Trail manager slash therapist.

[00:45:23] Steph Lee: Exactly. Well, so what are the --when you're talking about the different needs of the athletes-- so you were saying, say they, you know, if they're recovering from something, or if they're you know, need a mental break, or maybe the spouses, they're having marital trouble-- so you take that information and then you build the itinerary around it. If there are there people that, any of your clients that, you're introducing them to the first time to these pillars of wellness or to meditation and things like that?

[00:45:52] Lauren Pronger: Yes. Yes.

[00:45:53] Steph Lee: Oh, really? Wow. Fun.

[00:45:55] Lauren Pronger: Yeah. So that's the beautiful dance that, you know, I, I love because we have so much to offer in terms of not only can we align them with these properties, but we can also help on the, or I can at least on the wellness education side. You know, as I was talking about earlier, it could be, you know, calming their central nervous system, teaching them about transcendental meditation. And if you learn a practice, how you can gear shift from going from your sympathetic nervous system to your parasympathetic nervous system, literally with the snap of the finger.

Yeah. And to me, that is one of the most powerful tools. I always say I've created this amazing holistic tool belt, which my father taught me at a very young age cause he did that for himself. And I'm not against Western medicine, pharmaceuticals, if somebody has, you know, really deep depression or anxiety, then yes, by all means, like, I know you need medicine, but for me, I have always been a believer in the power of breathwork or meditation to calm my system. And it's a simple shift of the gears because it's all in your mind and how I really work with clients and in terms of like the wellness consulting side of things is I love to use cold shock therapy, like cold tub submersion. for yeah, 40 10, but it's a great laboratory to teach them the shifting through breath work because as soon as I get in within the first minute and I have probably done, I don't know, 1000 dips in my life and no matter what my brain is saying, it's "holy crap" what are you doing in here? Fight or flight? My sympathetic nervous system is going get the heck out of here. And that's a good thing because God forbid, if a lion is chasing me, I want my brain to be like, run, you know, or get out, you're in freezing temps! But as soon as you do your breath work or your meditation, and I practice a couple of different versions, but like a four, seven, eight, I can shift my brain in a minute to drop into the most calm trance mode of the parasympathetic nervous system that rest and digest. And I look at all my wearables. I've got a whoop and or a band and I've got a CGM. And I literally can see it in real time, 24 7, how it will stress up to stress down. And that shift that I can teach individuals, it could be a, you know, somebody that deals with anxiety or, you know, fear of flying, what have you that is the most powerful tool you can have, and that weapon. And when I do it through that cold shock therapy, it's, it's just the coolest thing ever, because no matter what, in my day, I can practice some form of breath work and be in this calm place.

[00:48:42] Steph Lee: Yeah.

[00:48:42] Lauren Pronger: We're living in this world where it's just like metabolic crisis and so much stressors and overstimulation. We all need to to live in our parasympathetic nervous system way more than our sympathetic. That's like my happy place. And we all need to be in that more. And as I said, our ancestors lived in that more because they lived more basic lives, technology and all this stuff flying at them all the time. And so my goal is always to kind of work with individuals as we're aligning them with properties, but also kind of really helping them on the consultant side which obviously really lights me up.

[00:49:17] Steph Lee: Yeah. And I, I'm just going to also put in a plug for meditation for, for me. A lot of listeners know that I suffer from a pretty serious health condition and have a lot of chronic pain and it was life changing for me. Lauren and I talked about this for hours, but it was life changing for me when I learned how to do meditation and you know, didn't the medications they tried me on didn't touch anything. And the things that changed my life the most was learning how to meditate and controlling my breathing and just being more aware of my body. So, and I, I think, you know, whether you're an athlete, you're have a disease, whether, you know, whatever your background is. For an entrepreneur there's a lot of stress and pressure that comes with it so I think for any entrepreneur that's listening to this, it's worth looking into, even if say you don't have pain or anything along those lines. It's really great for you and being able to come down when you're really stressed out.

[00:50:13] Lauren Pronger: Absolutely. Absolutely. Look at that. Yes. Yeah.

[00:50:18] Steph Lee: Yeah. So yay for meditation!

Managing Growth and Quality

[00:50:19] Steph Lee: Well, let's see, I want to chat more about like I said earlier, one of the things I really enjoy about both of you is kind of your down to earth ness and we had talked earlier. Now, I'll have Chris say this because I told them earlier, I can't because people laugh. But you have a certain policy that's out there that you've built in your business.

What is it?

[00:50:40] Chris Pronger: Are you talking about the no asshole policy? Life is too short, Stephanie. Yeah.

[00:50:44] Steph Lee: You, you just don't want to deal with that. And I love that you, you know, that's one of your policies and

[00:50:50] Chris Pronger: Say that about me too, but you know, whatever.

[00:50:52] Steph Lee: Well, tell me more about how you, how you find these before they get through your screening process, because I think for a lot of advisors, they're afraid to fire clients. And you know, they're like, we want this client. And obviously you're working with probably really ultra high net worth individuals and they could be really great bookings, but yet you still have this policy so tell me more.

[00:51:13] Chris Pronger: Yeah, I think it's more just about appreciating what we do, appreciating, uh, how we can help them just like we appreciate their business they need to appreciate what we do.

[00:51:23] Steph Lee: Yeah!

[00:51:23] Chris Pronger: We do it and what we provide you know, I think a lot of times people are scared to lose business. People are scared because it's such a great booking and they're willing to, for lack of a better term, eat crow.

[00:51:36] Steph Lee: Yeah.

[00:51:37] Chris Pronger: Uh, I'm not willing to do that and nor is she, nor is anybody on our staff. You know, there's been a handful of times where people have treated some of our staff untoward and it's just a quick conversation of we don't appreciate that and we don't do business that way and we don't expect it to continue. And maybe you get one strike if, if that certainly, uh, we'll, we'll know if it's a pattern or just, just by the response to having a quick conversation with somebody there, you know, whether they feel entitled, that they think they're paying and they can treat us however they want, then they're not a client anymore, walk away and let somebody else have the opportunity to deal with them and --

[00:52:16] Steph Lee: I don't know if I would call it an opportunity

[00:52:18] Chris Pronger: --with this because a lot of our business is referrals and we usually have like a pretty yeah, we have an onboarding call. We have a call-- we have a call before the onboarding call just to get to know people to just see if we're a good fit you know, we're not a good fit for people uh, and if we're not we'll certainly recommend them to the other people we know in the business that that might be you know, and I think that's the nice part about where we're at in our, in our, uh, business is that we understand that we're not a fit for everybody just like everybody's not a fit for us and and we're okay with that. We understand that. So we go into each call without any expectation. We're just asking questions, they're asking questions and and right away out of the gate we tell them we're just trying to see if you're a good fit for us and just like, you're trying to see if we're a good fit for you. And we just start asking questions, getting to know one another, if we don't know each other already. Uh, again, normally it's through a referral and there's already been some conversation of, "hey, by the way, so and so, I'm going to give a, you know, a referral to you guys "uh, here's kind of what they're all about, blah, blah, blah here's what they're looking for." And, and you kind of start the conversation that way and then just kind of got to peel back a few of the onion layers to get to know one another a little bit better and you know as Lauren said very very very few people check the box in the latter --

[00:53:33] Steph Lee: I love that though, that you're, you're at that stage where you can feel comfortable and confident. You have this base group of people that you're working with you're attracting through the referrals, the type of people that you like to work with. And Lauren, on your--

[00:53:47] Chris Pronger: -- One thing that I forgot to mention that I think is critical for people listening to know, mistakes happen and there's, you know, in, in, in all things we do, we're, we're all about life is about mistakes and then, but really what it is, is about how you handle them afterwards.

And I think for our, for our team and for our company, we want to get out in front of the mistakes and we want to, you know, if they're our fault, we accept that and and we'll rectify it and and figure out a resolution to them or make it make it right.

[00:54:19] Lauren Pronger: Yeah, a lot of mistakes though. We don't have a --

[00:54:21] Chris Pronger: lot but when you do --

[00:54:22] Lauren Pronger: perfect--

[00:54:23] Chris Pronger: But when you do make mistakes you need to own them and you need to step forward and be like that was on us and we'll fix it.

[00:54:29] Steph Lee: No, I think that's a great point because I was just having a conversation with other business owners the other day about how If you're trying out a new product or pitching something different, it doesn't out-- you can't guarantee it's going to come out okay and so the, if you're going into it with some kind of a partnership with someone and they're paying you for it If it doesn't work out, it's kind of on you to say like, I'm sorry, that didn't work out and to make amends somehow so that it works out okay, so I think acknowledging mistakes or when things don't work out as planned is really key. It's not a weakness. It's definitely a strength.

[00:55:04] Chris Pronger: I agree. Yeah. No, I agree.

[00:55:06] Steph Lee: And, and Lauren, you had a great blog because your, your blog is fun to read and there's one with a picture of you wearing a hat with one of your slogans.

[00:55:16] Lauren Pronger: Yes. Oh, yes.

[00:55:17] Steph Lee: Tell us more about that and I'll link to that blog post for those that want to read it.

[00:55:21] Lauren Pronger: Thank you. On the note of what Chris said, no assholes -- my, my line is be effing kind and

[00:55:28] Steph Lee: Chris is our potty mouth here. Yes.

[00:55:30] Lauren Pronger: Yeah, so it's just that simple, you know, that we need more of that in this world and as you talked about, I'm a good old Midwestern girl. He's a good old Canadian guy and, and, you know, we're just kind of come from simple upbringings and all about just being a good person, being kind, good, strong work ethic, being honest. And, and I, I love, it's my favorite travel hat, actually, because so often, you know, people are assholes, if--

[00:55:59] Chris Pronger: Every plane ride, she's gotten on.

[00:56:00] Lauren Pronger: Yes. And it's just a gentle reminder to people, and, you know, I always look at the, the, you know, people at the airport, and they're working so hard, and I just, I, it's like a smile, a gentle, like, thank you for, I appreciate all that you're doing, and, and and I have my hat on and they're like, God, you're amazing. But it's just those little acts of kindness, just be kind. Like it doesn't take that much energy and time and it makes a huge difference in everybody's lives.

[00:56:30] Steph Lee: Yeah. And it makes your life a lot better too, because people are a lot nicer to you when you're nice to them

[00:56:35] Lauren Pronger: And you just feel better about yourself so he's the no asshole policy and I'm just the be effing kind.

[00:56:41] Steph Lee: But same, same lesson you're trying to portray.

[00:56:44] Chris Pronger: -- mesh together.

[00:56:45] Steph Lee: It's funny though, because they kind of fit your personalities too-- his is more bold and to the point and a little bit more gentle. Yeah, because I feel like if I'm remembering correctly, that hat is also like The words are in rainbow. Is that right?

[00:57:00] Lauren Pronger: Yeah. And it's in cursive. So it's actually kind of hard to read until you really look at it. And then people just started dying laughing, especially like people that know me. Uh, I'm not one that throws out the F bomb like my, across the table here.

[00:57:13] Chris Pronger: Accidentally on purpose, what?

[00:57:14] Lauren Pronger: He does enough of that for both of us. And so they're like, oh my God, the fact that you're wearing that hat is so good. Like maybe we think a no asshole hat. Oh my gosh, you do.

[00:57:27] Steph: We'll be back in a moment after a quick word from our

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I've been an agent for seven years and I've been with KHM for two years and it has been the most amazing two years because they are just from Rick Zimmerman all the way to little old me, you know. Like the whole company is just an amazing, amazing company. So I do not have any regrets about moving with KHM.

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Family-First Business Model

[00:58:27] Steph Lee: Well, okay. So next up one of the things, when you go to your site, it's very prominent. Like, uh, what I really enjoy about like visiting your website is it is like here, this is who we are. This is who we like to work with. And. You're very clear about putting your family first. The family, including your pups, are featured prominently on your website and your three kiddos.

So there is a challenge though that comes with working with your spouse or your partner, because that work life balance, you know, there isn't really one cause you live together. So do you have any tips for people that are looking to go into business or that are in business with their spouse or partners on how you make things work?

[00:59:13] Lauren Pronger: Uh, can I start? Yes. So, uh, kind of going back to when I started Well inspired Travels. And, uh, Chris was helping me on the side, and I was building all this out in 2017, building out this beginning website, and he was helping me on the business development, financial side, and I was greatly appreciative for that.

And my, the business was really working more with the girlfriends and the wives of all these different professional athletes from all different sports. And he's watching what I was doing and he said, gosh, you know, this looks like a lot of fun. And I think, you know, I might want to join up with you.

And I said, wow, okay, that'd be amazing because we're that much more powerful together. And he knows all these athletes and he knows all the agents and that's his world. And so I said, okay, this is great. And of course the kids got a kick out of it because they're like, wait: mom, is dad working for you? Did you just hire dad? I was like, yes, I did. Sure did.

[01:00:11] Chris Pronger: Employee number one.

[01:00:12] Lauren Pronger: Number one. But, uh, going back to, I told you I was applying to law school when we first met. So kind of wearing my lawyer hat, I drew up a contract when we first decided to go into Well Inspired Travels together. And the top three stipulations, one was it could never affect our marriage. And it could never affect our family and so on and so forth. But the two, those are the most important. And that means you have to protect the boundaries around both of those. And we would have to step aside from business or figure out what we were going to do. That was that was definitely, you know, like in place there. So kind of getting back to your question, I think, you know, it is very challenging. I mean, there have been ups and downs. I mean, when we bumped into COVID with travel business, it was really challenging to just the day to day, you know, nonsense that goes on. You have to be mindful about learning to step away, turn it off, shut the computer.

And shift your brain out of that workplace and come back to husband and wife and mother and father and really nurturing that relationship and removing the work hat. And it's hard. It's challenging. I think we've gotten better as we have gone along. But Chris and myself are big fans of going on walks, getting out in fresh air always a couple times throughout the day so usually by I would say 4 35, you know, we'd like to turn everything off, get out, step out of nature. And as Chris said, you know, a lot of times the first 5 10 minutes might be fiery. Of something that if it is, there's something going on,

[01:01:53] Chris Pronger: She's very stubborn. Stephanie.

[01:01:55] Steph Lee: I can see you're so laid back and you're just like, let everyone walk all over you.

[01:02:00] Lauren Pronger: But, you know, you get that out and you deal with it. And then you shift and you talk about other things that are more important about like, how are you doing? How are you feeling? What are your goals? What are your dreams? What are your struggles right now? What are our children doing? What did they need help with?

And getting out nature is just a wonderful thing. Breathing in that fresh air and moving the body, connecting with your loved one, having some laughter, going home, having a wonderful dinner. And you know what? You wake up the next day and you get back into that hat of work mode. So that, that would be my tips of just creating those strict boundaries because it can really eat you up as an individual and as a couple and like Chris said, you know, like there's always stuff that's always going to go on. And we do our best and we've got an incredible back office team that handles emergency situations and we feel so confident in them handling those that we can say okay tomorrow when we get back into our desk in front of our desk, like then we can deal with that but it's not going to destroy our marriage or our family that night --there's no way. You've got to create those boundaries.

[01:03:10] Chris Pronger: Mother nature is undefeated when you get out and--

[01:03:13] Steph Lee: One liner there in life.

[01:03:15] Chris Pronger: When you think about just getting fresh air, just getting the blood flow going, stimulates the mind, gets everything going. And, uh, you know, you get stuff out of the table. But I think at the end of the day, being an entrepreneur, it can be very stressful, whether you're running this type of business or any other business. It's very stressful. You can, you can become 24 7 if you let it, you have to set up those boundaries and those guardrails to a certain extent, depending upon what business you're in, uh, so that it doesn't take over your whole life and create issues on the home front and okay, the business is working good, but the home front is not and vice versa. So you need to really find that the happy medium in that balance.

[01:03:59] Steph Lee: I like the way that you get things out in the open right away when you have these dedicated times to go for walks together. But, I feel like I should have had a little scorecard here and then I would have, to keep Chris entertained and happy during this, I would have put some stars and been like--

He did the triple cup and he got 10 stars on the podcast today.

[01:04:24] Chris Pronger: Gold stars. Yay, Chris.

[01:04:27] Steph Lee: But it's, it's great because I think a lot of people be like, well, we just don't talk about work after we get off. But you know, when we were talking earlier, you said that's not realistic sometimes. So when we go out on this walk, we take the first little bit of it to get out whatever we need to get out and then we move forward from there. And then when we clock back in, we work on things, but cause I, I think you're right that sometimes it's just not realistic that you can't talk about work after a certain point. And I think having dedicated times where you're together and you can try not to talk about work, but if you need to, in the very beginning, you can, and then you have your couple time to kind of strengthen that side of the relationship.

[01:05:06] Chris Pronger: A similar analogy would be when couples go out for dinner and all they do is talk about their kids.

[01:05:11] Steph Lee: Mm -hmm.

[01:05:12] Chris Pronger: Well, you know, there's other things going on but all you do is talk about your kids and it's a very similar uh platform where you just you need. Yeah, you need to check up on how the kids are doing. You need to check up on all those things but you're immersed that all day long.

[01:05:26] Steph Lee: Yeah-

[01:05:27] Chris Pronger: It's fairly quick and then get into other pressing needs.

[01:05:31] Steph Lee: Yeah because it's easy. Well, I don't have children but I imagine it's easy to kind of forget yourselves because the kids need so much help and then. I've seen through people when they're empty nesters, they're kind of like, who am I? What, who are we?

So, well, one of the other things when we're talking about boundaries is you're working with luxury clients and ultra high net worth individuals sometimes, and they, you know, luxury clients sometimes can be a little bit more demanding. If you're spending a hundred thousand dollars on a trip and you you probably have a little bit more weight in saying, hey, I want this or getting upset about things. So I'm wondering, how do you put those boundaries up? You know, where you're still providing that great customer service that you're known for, but also you're not being walked over and you're being respected and your weekends and nights aren't handling things because someone decided they needed to call you because they forgot the date they were leaving or something.

[01:06:37] Chris Pronger: Yeah, I think you just need to create the expectations, right, right up front, you know, as we just talked about, you got to be up front on all facets of it. And it's, you know, once you create those expectations, we're here to help create memories of a lifetime and create spectacular trips for you. But there's, there is a line.

[01:06:57] Lauren Pronger: It's like a partnership, like the trust of, hey, you guys, you have to do your things. We can't be calling you and say, set your alarm. Your flight leaves at four o'clock in the morning.

[01:07:07] Chris Pronger: You know, it's, it, there, there's a balance there, but ultimately, it's, it's creating and setting the expectations up front.

We're going to do our best job in setting up the travel, in listening to what you want, talking through it as we're booking it to get an understanding of, does this sound like what you were expecting? And oh, by the way, here's other things that we think, based on our conversations, what we think will add to the value of the experiences that you're about to embark on. And then from there, you just, as you get to know people further along, as you do one, two, three, four, five trips for them, you have a much better understanding as to how they operate, how we operate.

[01:07:49] Steph Lee: Yup.

[01:07:50] Chris Pronger: From those experiences, it becomes a little more seamless.

Client Experience & Retention

[01:07:54] Steph Lee: That's great. I want to move into another section where we're kind of going to talking about this client experience that you've created. So you, it sounds like in the beginning, you set up the expectations, you let them know. Well, Chris had a great one liner that I'm going to throw out and claim for my own. It was something like, I'm gonna mess this up. It was like we were with you. No. Yeah: "we were with you, not for you." Correct. I think, was that it?

[01:08:19] Chris Pronger: Stephanie you got a gold star. Yes. Well done.

[01:08:23] Steph Lee: I deserve it. Except for I always ruin things 'cause I have to think them over. They don't just come out sounding naturally. I'm like, how did Chris do it, it was so good.

[01:08:31] Chris Pronger: When you think of the statement: "we work with you, not for you." It's, as Lauren said, it's a partnership. We are working in conjunction with you to try to create the most value and the greatest experiences possible in whatever you're doing. And that needs to be together.

[01:08:51] Steph Lee: Yep.

[01:08:51] Chris Pronger: You're making orders. We're the experts and we're trying to help guide and steer the process to wherever that is, and, and whatever the client wants, but wants and needs are two different things.

[01:09:03] Steph Lee: Exactly. And the partnership I think is so key because everyone's going to be miserable if they're just feeling like it's not a partnership and they're working for someone and they're not respected. And so that's important for all advisors to kind of think about as they're, if they're feeling unsatisfied with their relationship with their clients to look at what the root causes of it, and it might just be Chris's one liner.

So think about it.

[01:09:28] Lauren Pronger: There you go.

[01:09:29] Steph Lee: Thank you, Chris. I learned from a wise, a wise man one time in my life.

And and you do a lot of you've talked about this during this call, but a lot of discovery work with the client. What are their goals? What are their desires? So what are the most important questions that you're asking during this discovery call and process? Cause I know you've referred to Lauren as the Barbara Walters because she loves to do interviews.

[01:09:56] Chris Pronger: This is the Barbara Walters of travel and wellness.

[01:09:59] Lauren Pronger: I am. I, you know what I love? I'm so inquisitive and curious on what people's Interests are, what are their goals? What are their bucket list trips? What are the challenges that they're, you know, like I want to explore this area of wellness, or I want to feel more optimal in this area and really digging in on these onboarding calls.

And as I said, you know, the travel matchmaking term that I go back to, and it's all about listening with intention. And then basically saying, okay, what are those things and how can we put them in touch with the right properties for the outcome to be successful? And and yeah, I asked a lot of probing questions on, I mean, it could be, you know, are you dealing with, you know, some, some mental health issues? Are you dealing with some sleep issues? Are you curious about hormone optimization? Are you trying to shed some weight? What are your goals? Are you, you know, trying to, because a lot of times, you know, people who are trying to shed weight, they don't realize like eating should be about feeling well, it shouldn't be about weight or to be skinny. And I think there's a misconception there. So it's really listening to their goals and what they're trying to achieve throughout their travels. What's that?

[01:11:23] Chris Pronger: Styles. Styles. How they like to travel.

[01:11:25] Lauren Pronger: I mean, it doesn't even have to be wellness. It could be, you know, a multi gen trip. It could be you know, like a honeymoon. It could be

[01:11:33] Chris Pronger: Culinary, language, history, like just really kind of digging into what they're trying to get out of their travels.

[01:11:41] Steph Lee: Mm-hm.

[01:11:42] Chris Pronger: Then kind of going from there.

[01:11:44] Lauren Pronger: And so each onboarding kind of takes its own shape and we have our whole team as on and everybody's taking copious notes and then wait, your whole team is on the call with the clients, the key players you know, the air team, not so much and Sabre and so forth, but really our, our, our main, you know, key team members are all there on the call that first call and then step away and have an internal meeting. And that's where the fun really is. It takes place because there's a lot of banter of this is a good fit. No, no, that's not a good fit. And this is, you know, it's, it's like everybody's shooting it down or agreeing and we like to condense it usually to at least, you know, three, four properties that we can present them with and put it in a beautiful, as we were talking about, Plan It Easy, that's the system we use and present them with a beautiful itinerary and then let them review it, go over it with their spouse, their family, whomever it is, they're gonna be traveling with and you know, they'll come back with more questions and maybe some tweaks and, and then we all hop on again. And it's, you know, you just really starts to streamline and narrow the focus for ultimate success.

[01:13:00] Steph Lee: Yeah, exactly. I'm also going to link to, uh, for those that don't know, we just launched our travel agency software technology profiles on the site, along with the host agency ones. So, Plan It Easy has one on there. It's got the reviews, more information on it as an itinerary builder. So we will link to that and if you haven't checked out the software list, travel tech software list, make sure to check it out.

[01:13:23] Lauren Pronger: Super. Yeah. Yes. The technology at Plan It Easy is amazing. It's a one stop shop.

[01:13:28] Steph Lee: That's great to hear. It's been really fun actually launching these travel agency software profiles since I'm not on the agency side anymore. I'm not in these, I'm not in itinerary builders. I'm not in the website builder CRMs anymore. So it's fun to read the other advisors take on things to get a feel for them, because all I know is from visiting their website, which, of course, doesn't give you the real world examples that you do with reviews.

Well, let's see, I wanted to check in. Okay, when we had chatted earlier, I was, I was saying on your site, I liked how you had the different destinations that were there. And then when you click on the destinations there might be some regions or whatever, but you then you have a list of a couple different hotels that you've selected and you would surprise me because you said, actually, we're moving towards having more private communications on our recommendations rather than having them on the site like that. So can you tell me a little more about that and the strategy behind it?

[01:14:26] Lauren Pronger: Yes, I learned it the hard way, unfortunately. So anybody listening here, take my advice. When I first started, you know, in 2018, I loved to write and I really enjoyed the processes of always taking copious notes on our travels and journaling, you know, whether it's restaurants that we went to, the food we ate, the experiences we did, hiking and what have you. And that is ultimately what I was sharing with a lot of the clients or in the early days.

And so it naturally turned into these blogs, which I had so much fun and I'd put them up on the website and I'd add all of our personal photos and so forth. And I found myself shooting myself in my own foot because then the feedback was like, it's same thing with social media. Like our Instagram is all pretty much photos. We've had times where we sprinkled in some personal content, but really people are looking at social media and they were looking at all the blogs and they're like, hey, thanks so much for all your insights. I was so excited. I booked it on my own and I was like, oh, great. Thank you. I'm so glad that I did all my --

[01:15:32] Chris Pronger: --so glad we're able to help.

[01:15:33] Lauren Pronger: Yeah.

[01:15:35] Steph Lee: And thank you for telling us because that was just the knife in the heart that I needed.

[01:15:39] Lauren Pronger: It was like: do you have any brain cells? Like, do you realize we're travel advisors and we book for you? That's the whole goal. The incentive is, hey, here's my nuggets to share and then call us and we'll book it for you.

But anywho, I had to learn that the hard way. And so I figured out a process of just creating private newsletters for our well inspired travels clients. And that's where I share, which is nice because it's on lockdown and it's like our little secret newsletter that we share with the clients that actually book with us and you want to talk about high level knowledge and value there, that's where we have all the good nuggets. So, yeah, I've learned that that has been the best route for us. And our clients certainly enjoy it and more to come on that. I'm always developing. I've got something else very exciting up my sleeve that's going to be launching. I know I, I shared with you, Stephanie, going to be launching probably in the spring.

[01:16:33] Chris Pronger: Squirrel there. I like that. Ladies.

[01:16:35] Lauren Pronger: It's, uh, it's going to be, uh, very exciting and I look forward to sharing it with people in the travel space.

[01:16:42] Steph Lee: Can't wait. So you guys should all follow. Lauren's we'll put the uh, Instagram account up maybe would be the best one.

[01:16:50] Lauren Pronger: Yeah, I would put, so as I said, Well Inspired Travels, the Instagram is there, but it, it's, it's nice, beautiful photos and so forth, but for the time that it takes and I was doing it all and, and it was--

[01:17:03] Chris Pronger: She's asking for your Lauren Pronger.

[01:17:04] Lauren Pronger: I know, so when, so Lauren Pronger is Lauren, Lauren underscore Pronger.

[01:17:11] Chris Pronger: Stephanie loves it. Cut to the chase, right Chris?

[01:17:14] Lauren Pronger: I know, I know, but I wanted to explain. People will go up and they'll be like, there's no --

[01:17:22] Steph Lee: I'm going to say those of you that are not watching the video version are really missing out. oh, God, you better get on the video here because it's an actual--

yeah. you audio people need to need to check it out on the YouTube channel because there's a lot of fun stuff happening here.

[01:17:40] Lauren Pronger: Yes, there is. And in fact, these dogs in the background, look how cute

they are.

[01:17:44] Steph Lee: Yeah. Lots of puppy visiting, coming back and forth. They're just so sweet. Stars of the show.

[01:17:50] Lauren Pronger: Yes. I love it. Dog lovers here.

Continuing Education

[01:17:54] Steph Lee: Yep, exactly. Well, okay. I want to move into some kind of continuing education or for people that are interested in learning more about wellness travel. So what are some of the places that you really like to learn about either travel or what's going on with wellness trends that people that want to look into this space or add this as a service, where would you recommend?

[01:18:24] Lauren Pronger: So in terms of properties and learning the properties out there.

[01:18:29] Steph Lee: Well, you know, I would say I'd open to anything. It could be about properties. Like where are your favorite places where you're like, I love the way they feed me the content. I learn a ton-- it's, it's so worth visiting every time.

[01:18:40] Lauren Pronger: You know, gosh, I've got a lot of different resources.

And for me, it's even looking at, you know, Travel and Leisure Magazine, Condé Nast, you know, like staying on top of all that. And then on the wellness front, really staying on top of what is going on, cutting edge biohacking space and so forth and the properties, what they're doing. We do a lot of webinars with our partners.

They'll update us or if we're boots on the ground at actual properties, we love to, if we're in a city, we'll knock out, we'll strategically line up, you know, visiting four or five different properties. We may not stay at them, but we'll spend two hours with our wonderful partners and also friends there and they love to show us around and show us, hey, here are the new updates that we've done you know at our in our wellness space here, what have you and because the success of what we're doing is staying on top of all of it and sharing it with our clients. There are I mean some websites. I feel like --

[01:19:45] Chris Pronger: It's better to get it from the properties themselves because it's ever evolving. They're constantly updating, renovating, you know, all the, all the square foot spa, now they're building a 90, 000 square foot spa. You know, they're, they're constantly trying to outdo one another or try to adapt to what the marketplace is showing them. And, uh, you know, and from that, you then hear about the new properties and like, oh, yeah, we've got, we're building this new property and so and so has got 1 right over there and you just start learning, uh, from from, I guess, the inside, uh, insiders.

[01:20:17] Lauren Pronger: Yeah, and if we're not boots on the ground, like I said, we do webinars. We go to a lot of wellness summits too. Chris, myself enjoy that's more on the wellness, you know, side of things. And then, you know, we'll go to different travel shows from time to time where they have the segments that are more wellness focused. Obviously Virtuoso, VTW and it's really all about, you know, continuing and nurturing those friends and partnerships that we have. I mean, I feel like we can pick up the phone and call a lot of them and you know, find out kind of, hey, what, what have you updated since we last sent a client there? And I also know, you know, wellness consultant side too, when I go to these properties and I'm helping build out, you know, new projects. I'm really right there immersed in everything that they're doing. And I'm passionate about seeing these properties evolve and change so that they're ultimately successful because I want to send clients to these properties. And if I'm like, Hey, you need to up your game in this area because I'm not going to send our clients here. That makes me so happy because then it's rewarding for them. And then I can continue to send clients to them as well. And I'm all about, you know, like using the certain locations from, you know, a cultural standpoint and, and building out really unique health and wellness offerings. What they have there, like for example, in Mexico, I was working with a property and with a Temezcal and using, creating a whole really cool contrast therapy area where they have the sweat labs, Temezcal, and right next to it, like a big horse drop with the ice tubs, you know, and it's not anything fancy. It actually was very, you know, cost efficient. They didn't have to get the fancy 8, 000 plunge tub. They are right there. And you light a bunch of them up and the clients, people love it. And it's, you know, spiritual in it. It's, it's Mayan ritualistic with the Tema skull and everything. So that's just an example of you know, things that I like to help assist with and thinking outside of the box.

[01:22:19] Steph Lee: Yeah. Is there, when it comes to the wellness summits you mentioned going to, is there one that's a favorite of yours that you would recommend?

[01:22:28] Lauren Pronger: I love, uh, we're big fans. Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, she's a good friend, too. She wrote Forever Strong. Excellent book. I know you're asking about books later, but that might be one of the top ones. Muscle centric medicine and muscle is the key to longevity truthfully. And she's brilliant. She's got an incredible summit called forever strong summit. And this year it's going to be in Houston in April. I'm just giving my girl a plug right now, but she has incredible speakers. And, uh, ranging from all different areas from nutrition to, God, the medical side of things to gosh, Evie does speaking

[01:23:09] Chris Pronger: And it's very well rounded.

[01:23:11] Lauren Pronger: Yes. It's on all areas. From medical to truly just

[01:23:16] Chris Pronger: Medical, mental, physical--

[01:23:18] Lauren Pronger: Spiritual--

[01:23:19] Chris Pronger: Spiritual. It kind of touches everything, which is really nice.

[01:23:22] Steph Lee: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, so Dr. Gabrielle Lyon and then the Forever Strong Summit.

[01:23:30] Lauren Pronger: Yep. And her book is Forever Strong.

[01:23:33] Steph Lee: Yeah, we'll link to those in the show notes for those that are interested.

And then, I wanted to ask you both and you can each answer this separately, is if you could go back six years in time to 2018 when you started, and could give yourself one piece of advice as an agency owner, that would make your life a lot easier, what would you tell yourselves?

[01:23:55] Chris Pronger: Shoot.

[01:23:56] Lauren Pronger: I would start a fee structure day 1

[01:24:00] Steph Lee: Day 1. When did you start to implement it?

[01:24:02] Lauren Pronger: Far too late. I think it was a year and a half into it. I would say we, and even when we did implement it, it was like. still too soft and it just, it really --

[01:24:15] Chris Pronger: COVID did not help.

[01:24:16] Steph Lee: Yeah. Oh, yeah. I didn't think about that.

[01:24:19] Chris Pronger: We were getting ready to implement it and COVID happened and it just.

[01:24:22] Lauren Pronger: And then we kicked it, yeah, down the road more. Then we kind of kicked --

[01:24:25] Chris Pronger: it down the can. We were going to start thinking COVID was going to last as long as it did. And it just-

[01:24:31] Lauren Pronger: but then we really had.. Really implemented, yeah.

[01:24:34] Chris Pronger: We value our time. Yeah.

[01:24:35] Lauren Pronger: And it holds people accountable from not being assholes like Chris said, so often you get people that are just window shopping and they're like, hey, you know, I really want to go on this trip or whatever. And we do all this work and our team does all this work and we present them with all these options and then they take it and they book on their own. And it's like, no, no, no, no, you're not going to do that to us. And like Chris said, our time is too valuable. So anybody listening, implement a fee structure right now, stop what you're doing and get it going.

[01:25:05] Steph Lee: It's, it's something I hear a lot from agency owners on their advice to their former selves. And we'll link to our article we have about charging fees.

That gives you lots of great information on like, the rates people are charging, if that's something you're nervous about and wanting to be competitive, the verbiage that people use when they're telling their clients, cause that can be a little uncomfortable for some people. And then there's, there's also some creative ways I've seen advisors do it if it's, if it feels so uncomfortable to you that in the beginning, you're like, I don't have the knowledge and the expertise. I shouldn't be charging for it. We had an advisor that, I think when she opened her agency, she said for the first six months, she put out like a promo code or a coupon that if you used it, they would waive the consultation fee so that that way she didn't charge it for the first six months to a year.

But then her clients knew that that was something in the future because that's something that's uncomfortable for people is asking people that have worked with them before to now charge a fee. So that's a fun way around it.

[01:26:07] Lauren Pronger: Yeah, no, for sure. What's yours?

[01:26:11] Chris Pronger: 6 years ago. It's a long step. I can't even I don't even remember what I did 3 weeks ago

[01:26:20] Steph Lee: Don't even remember what I did this morning also.

[01:26:22] Chris Pronger: 6 years ago. Hmm

[01:26:27] Lauren Pronger: --with Well Inspired Travels,

[01:26:29] Chris Pronger: with Well Inspired Travels. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you with the company. Um I would I would say don't be solely focused on one group of people. In the beginning, it was all about athletes and now it's athletes, entrepreneurs, high net worth individuals, you know, we do group travel. And I just from referrals and people that we've been introduced to our business has kind of evolved and athletes are a part of our business, but not completely our business, which is nice.

[01:27:04] Steph Lee: That's a great lesson too, uh, cause I always, you know, I work with a lot of new advisors and I always talk with them about how, you know, they'll think so hard on what their niche is, which is important to do, but I'll always let them know that. Your agency is going to evolve over time. Even if you have a niche, you're going to figure things out. You're going to figure things out that work differently, or, you know, you're going to, so not to think too heavily on things in the beginning, think about it so that you're getting good information, you're making a good decision, but don't get stuck on that because, uh, businesses are dynamic and they change over time.

[01:27:38] Chris Pronger: They do. You have to be willing to evolve.

[01:27:41] Steph Lee: Yep, exactly.

Indispensible

[01:27:43] Steph Lee: Well, this brings us to our last segment where we ask the same question to everyone and I'm really curious what yours are going to be so I want to know which person, book, technology has been indispensable to the growth of Well Inspired Travels and then why?

[01:28:01] Chris Pronger: You want me to go --you go?

[01:28:02] Lauren Pronger: You can start.

[01:28:05] Chris Pronger: I read a book called Buy Back Your Time.

[01:28:07] Steph Lee: Oh, okay. Don't Know this one. What is it about? Buy Back Your --

[01:28:12] Chris Pronger: Time. Basically just, you know, you get busy like, oh, I can take that meeting. I can take that meeting. And your time is very valuable. There's only so much of it to go around. And be conscious of that. Understand what you're doing. Set barriers and boundaries. For when you want to take meetings, you need personal time too, to think about the business and understand how to grow, how you want to evolve the business, you know, setting up systems and training and, and all, all, all the things that revolve around running a business.

[01:28:43] Steph Lee: Yeah.

[01:28:44] Chris Pronger: It's so focused on, uh, client development that you're just like, do, do, do, do, do, do, and you need time for other things and you need time for yourself, your family and for all these things and you really need to be focused on that.

[01:28:57] Steph Lee: I'm gonna look this up afterwards. Thanks guys.

[01:28:59] Chris Pronger: Got my mic drop?

[01:29:01] Lauren Pronger: Wow--

[01:29:02] Chris Pronger: Yes--

[01:29:02] Steph Lee: I'm, i'm pretty excited about this and I especially like when I haven't heard of a book that before --Buy Back Your Time-

[01:29:09] Chris Pronger: It's very -narrow

[01:29:10] Lauren Pronger: Traction is another really good one --

[01:29:13] Steph Lee: Traction?

[01:29:13] Lauren Pronger: Gino Wickham? Okay.

[01:29:16] Chris Pronger: Gino Wickham.

[01:29:16] Lauren Pronger: Gino Wickham. Yeah. There you go. But it's an expert.

[01:29:18] Chris Pronger: I think it's Gino Wickham.

[01:29:20] Lauren Pronger: Uh, yeah. You better fact check that. I'm going to fact check myself.

But it's an expert for productivity. Again, time management. Teamwork. Kind of basically giving everybody their roles and responsibilities, staying in your own lane.

Work Smarter, Not Harder. Oh, yeah, that's an excellent one. If we're talking books, but I would say in terms of technology Plan It Easy has been a game changer, which I touched on earlier, but it's keeps everything really under one umbrella and then having a really good task task management system, whether you use Asana, I'm also a big fan of Base Camp, which for visual learners and people that need the visual like task, cause it keeps them in different buckets.

So those are my technologies and, uh, to top it off, I would say to this man across from me, that has been the success of the business because I couldn't do it without him and a lot of fun. Yeah, I mean, I should get all the stuff -

[01:30:30] Steph Lee: I know this feels like this was a last minute goal at the end where she just took everything

[01:30:38] Chris Pronger: In an overtime. Oh my god. Victory!

[01:30:41] Lauren Pronger: Yes! Do I get the Stanley Cup?

[01:30:43] Steph Lee: You get the gold, three gold, the golden triple crown, whatever. Maybe a gold globe that I can hold up? Uh, no. No? Yeah,

really, that's, that's so sweet. Chris, which person has been most indispensable to you? As you grew your agency.

[01:31:02] Chris Pronger: Well played Lauren. Well done.

[01:31:03] Steph Lee: She did. She did really, really left

[01:31:06] Chris Pronger: your Right. My left.

[01:31:08] Steph Lee: Yeah, that was, that was a surprise and wow. Lauren. Took the cake. I love it. I mean,

[01:31:16] Chris Pronger: Yeah,

[01:31:16] Lauren Pronger: that was my goal all along.

[01:31:18] Chris Pronger: Yeah. She waited in the wings. I knew it

[01:31:20] Lauren Pronger: was coming.

[01:31:24] Steph Lee: Well, it has been a pleasure to have you both on today.

Thank you so much for your time. Cause for those that don't know, we usually all talk with the guests on the Travel Agent Chatter podcast for a couple hours beforehand, just to get them to know a little better. So it's not just the time that they're on the podcast, they've invested a couple hours beforehand so that we can make this a very valuable podcast episode for you.

So thank you both for all the time you put in and for sharing all your knowledge.

[01:31:53] Chris Pronger: Appreciate it.

[01:31:53] Lauren Pronger: Thanks, Stephanie. Oh my gosh. You're an incredible host and you really do have this down quite well because I think the homework that you do and the pre Whether you want to yeah And all the questionnaires and so forth.

It's really helpful and it's been an enjoyable process and you are an absolute pleasure to visit Stephanie.

[01:32:13] Chris Pronger: Oh-

[01:32:14] Lauren Pronger: Thank you all and thank you all for tuning in.

[01:32:17] Chris Pronger: Yeah. Thank you. And thank you

Closing

[01:32:19] Steph Lee: Hey, hey! Well, a whole lot of time has passed since we told you about Host Week in our intro, and I bet you have not registered. But guess what? You can now. So head on over to hostagencyreviews. com slash Host Week to register or you can follow the link in the description. Whichever is easiest for you. So you can join over 3, 000 other advisors during the last week in January for a party celebrating all things Hosted Advisors.

You can also read a transcript, view the show notes, and watch a video of today's episode all in one place. Head on over to hostagencyreviews. com slash TAC and click on episode 31. We will be back again in Q1, so we will see you then.