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TravelManager’s Dana Brown talks work flexibility in an exclusive Q&A

Working for yourself means you can take control of your work and your life, and that frees up more time to hit the road for adventures.

Working for yourself means you can take control of your work and your life, and that frees up more time to hit the road for adventures.

 

In the end we work in this business because we love to travel so being cooped up behind a desk helping other people have a good time is not the ideal model. When you work for yourself, in partnership with someone like TravelManagers you can have the best of both worlds: business support plus the ability to work anywhere in the world. Then you can show your clients first hand what it is like to travel the world, and you can give real advice based on your adventures. And get paid for it.

“My point of difference is that I am not sitting in an office from 9 to 5 (or 7 – 9 as I was, to get those catch up hours in before and after the store closed),” says Dana Brown of TravelManagers. ‘I am out in the world, constantly travelling and experiencing destinations first hand to inspire trips for my clients and creating strong relationships with suppliers that will benefit my clients when they visit.”

Dana’s clients know and trust that they can contact her anytime, anywhere in the world and they love that. When they call or email her they are always asking where she is and they follow along on her adventures on Instagram and engage a lot more.

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Dana Brown takes her work with her on her travels

But that wasn’t always the way, she had lost her spark working as a traditional travel agent. “I have always been a passionate writer and photographer. My dream was to have my own travel blog and freelance for magazines, as well as become an author – which I’m working on!,” she says. “I had lost all passion in my last role because I had no time and was burnt out. Hence the change to TravelManagers which has completely opened up my world over the last 2.5 years and afforded me the freedom to maintain a successful travel business that pays me well, gives me a lot of travel opportunities and more time to focus on building my dream.”

We talk to Dana about how she managers to balance work and travel:

 

Did you face any challenges becoming a home-based consultant? If so, how did you overcome these challenges?

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Taking the leap from a secure and well-paid position with one company to start my own business with uncertainty of what I would be earning, was the biggest challenge. Overcoming my fear and ego of ‘what if I fail’, was the most confronting. However, I have grown exponentially from the experience and I look back now and laugh at the things I was worried about.

 

What do you love most about partnering with TravelManagers?

I love having the support of the TravelManagers family behind me. It has allowed me a lifestyle of complete freedom.

In the last twelve months I have been working remotely from Asia, New Zealand, Europe, USA, Mexico, Central America, plus sailing down into Colombia.

If I need help, I have the National Partnership Office easily contactable by phone and email as well as a closed Facebook group of over 500 personal travel managers, who quickly help each other come up with the best solutions to anything we need.

 

How does being a PTM allow you to spend more time with your family and friends?

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I created a business plan which outlined what type of work I want to do and the clients I want to work with. If clients come to me now and we are not the right fit for each other, I refer them to someone who I know fits what they are looking for and I stick to mine. It has been so empowering coming from an environment where we were told we had to book anything and everything to now have the freedom to choose and model my business around my principles.

 

What else do you now have the freedom to do?

Not only have I built my business, being a personal travel manager has created so much more time and space to focus on my values and dreams, my health and my relationships.

 

What are your secrets to being successful and growing your business?

Being active, engaged and passionate about your clients and their travel. Asking for help whether it be from National Partnership Office, other personal travel managers or my own clients for referrals. Being a small business, my clients are everything and how I treat them and myself really shows in my numbers.

 

Lastly, your advice for other entrepreneurial travel consultants out there. Can they too make the change from employee to successful business owner?

I have become the biggest advocate for making the switch from an employee to business owner with TravelManagers. It is truly the best decision I have made since I have been in travel.

 

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