T1C 03 | The 1% Closer with Eli Facenda

Title: The 1% Closer - Eli Facenda

Summary:

In this segment, Seth Bradley interviews Eli Facenda about what sets him apart in the ultra-niche space of travel hacking for entrepreneurs. Eli explains that he and his team truly live what they teach—they’re entrepreneurs themselves who have traveled extensively and understand the time and complexity challenges of business owners. Their credibility comes from personal experience, deep destination knowledge, and practicing what they preach. Eli shares one actionable tip to move closer to a dream life: block time on your calendar now for your dream trip—because unless you schedule your fun first, it won’t happen.

Links to Watch and Subscribe:

https://youtu.be/oLrxBcm_WFU

Bullet Point Highlights:

• Eli separates himself by living what he teaches, he travels extensively and is a business owner, just like his clients
• His team has traveled to 50–100 countries, giving them expert-level insight on global destinations
• They bring real-world credibility, personalization, and strategic value to clients
• Most travel "gurus" don’t walk the walk; Eli's team does
• Actionable advice: Pick your dream destination, put it on the calendar, and commit
• Quote inspiration: “If you don’t schedule your fun first, it won’t happen”
• Entrepreneurs must prioritize life experiences, not wait for “the right time”

Transcript:

Eli, you're clearly in the top 1 % of what you do. I don't even know if there's that many people out there that do what you do at all, period. So clearly in the top 0.0001%, what is it about you that separates you from the rest of the field?

 

I think it's our ability to actually live what we preach. This is something where, you know, there are other fantastic people that talk about credit card points, but very few of them are actually business owners, like that's who we serve, and very few of them are actually traveling in the way that they're trying to help people travel. So we've done both. I've built multiple businesses, so I understand the...

 

psychology and the relatability of how you want to think about travel and point in the various stresses in your life, the limitations on time and complexity. So yeah, so not only have we really walked the walk with actually living what we preach, but we also understand that psychology of what it's like to be a business owner, your limitations on time and complexity and all that stuff. And because we're talking about travel, people also want to know like what's actually in store for me in this destination. I've been to 50 countries now and my business partner has been to almost a hundred.

 

We have other team members who are all over 30, 40, 50 countries. So we've been to a lot of the destinations around the world that we're advising people to go to. So we know the ins and outs, best places to stay, hidden gems, top restaurants, stuff like that, that really add another layer of personalization and true experience into the service. So I think those are the things that really make us most credible in this space.

 

Dude, it's so important, right? Like there's so many, you know, there's so much content out there now. There's gurus and coaches and mentors, whatever you want to call them. Like the ones that are truly valuable and that people should pay attention to are the ones that are actually practicing what they preach, right? The ones that aren't just selling you education or aren't just selling you a product. Like they're actually, they've done what they're selling and they continue to

 

Enjoy or do.

 

100%. Yeah, if you're a living embodiment of what you do, makes it that much easier to communicate it and sell it because you just are the thing you're selling. Yeah.

 

Absolutely. What's one thing someone listening could do today to get 1 % closer to their dream life?

 

One thing that would be the easiest is to spend 30 minutes, go on Instagram, go on your favorite social media site, go on some travel blog site, look for your dream destination, then pull up your calendar and put a time on the calendar where you're committing to go. One of my favorite quotes is from Tim Ferriss, I forget the exact quote, but basically the idea is that if you don't schedule your fun first, it won't happen.

 

because your business and your life will take up as much space as you allow it to. So most people find that I'll take the trip when it's convenient. I'll take the trip when I have more time. That time is never coming until you make it a priority. So the one thing they can do to get closer