Spotlight Episode: The Travel Coach Network with Sahara Rose De Vore

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Imagine travel not merely as an escape, but as a powerful catalyst for healing, transformation, and self-discovery. This is the groundbreaking vision Sahara Rose De Vore has brought to life through her pioneering work with the Travel Coach Network.

Sahara’s journey began with a hospitality degree and a one-way ticket to Europe, igniting a decade-long adventure across 84 countries. Along the way, her personal battles with anxiety and depression unveiled the profound therapeutic potential of travel. This revelation inspired her to create the world’s first ICF-accredited travel coaching certification program.

Today, the Travel Coach Network has grown to include over 700 coaches spanning more than 40 countries. These coaches offer a revolutionary approach to travel - one that transcends booking itineraries and accommodations. Instead, they guide clients in using travel as a tool for personal growth, healing from trauma, rediscovering themselves, and uncovering their purpose. It’s a transformative shift in how we approach travel, focusing on the traveler’s inner journey rather than just external destinations.

This episode explores the profound healing power of travel. Ready to see how your next trip could transform more than just your surroundings? A big thank you to Sahara for sharing her inspiring vision with us!

The #1 B2B Travel Podcast Globally. Over 100 Episodes. Listeners in 125 countries. New Episodes Every Weds.

https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Overall, we're going to see people turning to travel
as, like I said, a source oflike therapy, a source of
connection, a source of healing,whether they book an
intentional wellness tripthrough you know what we see in
the wellness travel on thesedifferent websites and booking
sites or just to get away, andyou know, go on an explorer or

(00:25):
go on a multi-generational trip,and the benefits of what that
can do for us as well.
All fall under these umbrellasof wellness.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Hello everyone, and welcome to a special spotlight
edition of Travel Trends.
This is your host, DanChristian, and today we're going
to be speaking to the founderand CEO of the Travel Coach
Network, sahara Rose DeVore.
Now Sahara is a truetrailblazer in the travel
industry, and I don't use thatword often or lightly, but in
her instance, it is the mostappropriate way to explain what

(00:55):
she's accomplished, because thisis an individual who's been a
TEDx speaker recognized as oneof the most influential women in
travel.
By Travel Pulse, she's traveledto more than 84 countries solo,
and she has built the TravelCoach Network from scratch to
become the number one coachingand education platform globally
for transformative and wellnesstravel two of the biggest trends

(01:16):
in the travel industry.
So I was so keen to have Saharajoin us for this.
They now have 700 coaches inmore than 40 countries and have
paved an opportunity for manypeople to work in the travel
industry and also realize rolesthat they didn't even know
existed, as we get into in ourconversation today, because this
is a way of using travel as amedium for healing,

(01:37):
self-discovery andtransformation, and I know how
important that is to many of ourlisteners.
So you're going to hear somereally valuable advice from
Sahara today.
They now have more than 15,000members globally and they have
gone from strength to strength,so it's a real pleasure to bring
Sahara onto the Travel Trendspodcast, to be able to share her
story of building the TravelCoach Network and her passion

(02:00):
and interest in travel.
I think you're going to reallyenjoy this conversation.
So, sahara, thanks so much forjoining us and welcome to Travel
Trends.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
Oh, thanks, dan, so much for having me.
I'm really excited to talk withyou today.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Well, two people that are so passionate about travel,
I'm surprised that we haven'tmet before.
So this is actually, for ourlisteners, the first time that
we've actually been properlyintroduced, and I'm sure we'll
see each other at various placesor events around the world at
some stage.
We'll see each other at variousplaces or events around the
world at some stage.
But one of the reasons I reallywanted to speak to you is that
you are an avid traveler.
I know you studied hospitalityin school and then you went
traveling and so and you spent anumber of years and I believe

(02:33):
it's 84 countries, is that right?
You've been to yeah.
Amazing.
So tell us a bit about that,like what started your passion
for travel, why did you decideto study hospitality in school,
and then what led you to embarkon really kind of a decade of
incredible global travels.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
Yeah, I wasn't someone who traveled much
growing up.
Our extent of traveling waspacking into the family van and
driving from Wisconsin down tosouthern Texas and then over the
border to Mexico, which iswhere my grandmother was from,
to visit her family, and thenalso doing the same thing, but
up to Canada, the French region,which is where my grandfather

(03:12):
was from.
But I was so young I barelyremember bits and pieces of that
, and no one in my familytraveled for business.
We didn't take big vacations oranything, so travel was never
something that crossed my mind.
I was also someone who neverknew exactly what I wanted to do
for a career path either.
When I graduated high school, Ididn't know what I wanted to
study in university.
Luckily, for the first coupleyears of university you can try

(03:35):
out different topics andsubjects.
It was my third year university.
I was moving from ASU for a fewyears and then I was moving back
to the Midwest at a smallwindow of time to find a school
to transfer to, and I cameacross a hospitality and tourism
program in a school in Chicagoand I said travel, who doesn't
like to travel?
Right, I wanted to do that oneday.

(03:57):
So I got into the program andit was the very first day in my
international tourism coursethat I was really inspired by
all the foreign exchangestudents that were in my program
and they were from Europe andSoutheast Asia To hear how easy
it was for them to travel to asmany places that they've gone to
.
It just blew my mind andsomething inside of me.

(04:19):
I said I'm going to figure outa way to travel once I graduate.
So I had two years left ofschool and I didn't know how I
was going to do that.
I was a broke college studentliving in the expensive city of
Chicago and through changing mymoney mindset and really
hustling my butt off, I was ableto save enough and after
graduation I packed my first bag, bought my one-way ticket to

(04:40):
Europe and I started then.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
Amazing.
Well, I was very curious toknow where you started.
So Europe, obviously, yes, youstarted in Europe but, your
travel continued for years, soI'd love to hear a little bit
more about how that continuedafter Europe, because a lot of
people obviously travel tocountries that they're intrigued
by but also are morecomfortable traveling to first,
and you get further and furtherout of your comfort zone.
Was that more or less how youstarted to travel?

(05:04):
Were you a global nomad forseveral years, or did you come
back and then just keeptraveling?
How did you build up?

Speaker 1 (05:10):
to 80 countries.
So I obviously did not start offthinking I was going to travel
for 10 years to 80 countries.
So part of my story is thatI've always struggled with
anxiety and during the lastcouple of years at university, I
was also experiencing a bout ofdepression and I was just not
at a place of happiness.

(05:31):
I am 22 years old.
I just finished school Now.
Now, what, what do I do?
Who am I?
I didn't have all these answersand I was feeling a lot of
pressure and so I back.
Then there was year rail passes,so I'd heard about this thing
called backpacking Europe before.
So that's why I thought ofEurope and I bought a year rail
pass.
It was good for a month and ahalf and I thought I was going

(05:53):
to.
My plan was to go for the monthand a half, come back and then
figure out my life right, Find acompany, work my way up, get a
good salary, get a good titleand whatnot.
But I knew that going into thecorporate world was not going to
feed my unhappiness that I wasalready experiencing.
And I got bit by the travel bugduring that trip in Europe and I

(06:15):
was loving how travel wasmaking me feel and just
everything that I wasexperiencing.
So I decided when I came backafter that trip it was for the
holidays I saw my mom, Irepacked my bag, I booked a
one-way ticket to Costa Rica.
I've been very drawn to thejungle and the animals and the
plants, so I always had CostaRica in my mind.

(06:38):
So I went to Costa Rica andthen backpacked my way all the
way through Central America andfrom then on it was nonstop
going home, going on trips,coming home, going on trips for
the next decade.

Speaker 2 (06:52):
That's incredible and so fast forward to our
conversation today in thisincredibly successful business
that you've created, the TravelCoach Network, which I'm also
keen to learn more about andshare with our listeners.
So how did you make thattransition?
So you were an avid traveler,so tell us the founding story of
the travel coaching network andhow you decided to kind of make

(07:13):
this.
You kind of really moved on tobeing an entrepreneur, so it was
never about the corporate worldfor you, so I'd love to hear
more about how that journey cameto be.

Speaker 1 (07:21):
Yeah, so I, even though I had a degree in
hospitality and tourismmanagement when I graduated in
2010,.
And I started my travels andreally started realizing how
much I was enjoying my travelsand what it was doing for me and
how going into the corporateworld I knew was not going to
make me happy and having someonetell me when I could go on a
vacation was not going tosatisfy me.

(07:43):
And even though I had thisdegree and all this knowledge
and experience in travel, Ireally struggled for a very long
time to figure out what do Iwant to do for a career with
this?
I traveled during a reallyprime time in the travel
industry.
There was the rise of traveltechnology and social media and
the impact that they had on thetourism industry.
So there were new roles liketravel blogging and influencers

(08:07):
and all these new travel techcompanies, something I still
struggled.
I didn't want to do any of thatstuff.
It never really interested meto plan trips, book trips or
write about travel and I saidthere has to be something more.
And I gave myself to the age of30.
I said when I'm 30, I will takethis serious and I will figure

(08:27):
out my life.
In the meantime, I'm going toenjoy my travels, and that's
what I did.
I 30 came about, I bought alaptop for the first time to
start traveling with it, and Iwas sitting in the north of
Spain, in Bilbao, in my hostelin the community area, and I
opened up my laptop and startedGoogling how to start an online
business, because I figured Ididn't find what I was looking

(08:49):
for.
I guess I'll have to create itmyself.
I don't know what that lookslike and how to do this, but
I'll figure it out.
And as I was researching how tostart a business what's
happening in the travel space,just business in general
Facebook caught on to me andstarted pushing ads for business
coaches, and this is the veryfirst time I was exposed to the
coaching world business life,wellness, health coaches.

(09:12):
I was like, wow, this is areally booming industry.
I want to be a travel coach.
I didn't see it anywhere, Ididn't hear about it, didn't
care.
It just felt right to me, andso I started in 2018.
I said what kind of travelcoach do I want to be and what
does this business look like?
So I wanted to focus inwellness in the corporate space
and business travel space.

(09:33):
And as I was building thatearly the next year, in 2019, I
founded the Travel Coach Networkafter others reached out to
learn more about hey, what istravel coaching?
Where'd you learn about it?
I might want to do it, I mightbe already doing it didn't know
the word, and then that was thecatalyst.

Speaker 2 (09:49):
That's fascinating.
I know there's so many thingsthat I want to ask you.
Obviously, you've got a book,You've been a TEDx speaker,
You're one of the mostinfluential women in travel, you
belong to Travel Massive andhave your own chapter there in
Milwaukee.
So there's so many questions Ihave for you.
But specifically on the TravelCoaching Network because there

(10:09):
are many you've got programs andcourses and events and you've
got your own podcast, so tell ushow that evolved.
So did it start simply withyourself?
Because obviously you can nowhire coaches.
You've got multiple members onyour team, so tell us a little
bit more about what the TravelCoach Network offers.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
Yeah.
So as I was building mywellness travel coaching
business, I was figuring outwhat does the Travel Coach
Network look like, and Igathered all the research I was
doing and everything that I waslearning about coaching and
business and I was putting itinto a course.
That course, over the years,evolved into what is now our

(10:42):
world's first and onlyICF-accredited certification
program for travel coaches andit's our flagship program that
has over 530 members as of todayin it and that is essentially
our bread and butter.
That teaches people how you'repassionate about travel.

(11:03):
You want to start a business intravel coaching.
What does that look like?
Who do you want to serve?
How do you want to structurethat and really creating a
travel business that isauthentic and meaningful to them
?
Because travel means somethingto each and every one of us and
who and how we want to helppeople looks different for every

(11:25):
business owner as well.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
So tell me, when someone looks to engage with you
or your team and they'relooking to hire a travel coach
because I know you have theoption to become a travel coach
or hire a travel coach Tell uswho is hiring you as a travel
coach.
Is it travel advisors?
Tell us a bit more about theaccreditation that you've
developed and who it's intendedfor.

(11:47):
Who's the target customer forthat program?

Speaker 1 (11:49):
apps to develop courses for travel managers on
educating on these variouswellness benefits of travel
beyond gym spas, yoga retreatsand wellness centers.
A more holistic approach, butin the Travel Coach Network,

(12:13):
because there are so manydifferent travel coaches who
focus on different niches.
They work with anything fromfamilies to solo women of a
certain age Maybe it's during alife transition or career
transition.
We have people focus onsabbaticals.
We have travel coaches who helpwomen use travel as a way to
find themselves, find theirhappiness after loss of their

(12:36):
partner or their children orgoing through grief or trauma.
So it's very specificindividuals with a very specific
pain point who is working withour travel coaches, because
that's how specific their nichesget.

Speaker 2 (12:51):
That's really interesting.
So I certainly see the widevariety of applications for
hiring a travel coach and I sortof had some understanding, but
I wanted to hear it from you.
I guess the other part is thetypes of people that might be
attracted to becoming a coach.
Clearly you've paved the wayfor many others, and so if
someone's listening to this now,trying to understand that
there's actually a role likethis and resonating with them

(13:13):
like it did for you when youfirst came up with the idea.
Talk us through who that profilewould typically be.
What are you finding the peoplethat are taking the programs
and coming into being a travelcoach?
What are their backgrounds?
What are you finding the peoplethat are taking the programs
and coming into being a travelcoach?
What are their backgrounds?
What are their interests?

Speaker 1 (13:26):
Yeah, it's really actually very interesting of how
diverse the backgrounds are.
We have everyone in the TravelCoach Network in our program who
have backgrounds ranging fromother types of coaching like
life coaching, health orwellness coaching, of course,
travel agents.
That has been a big thingduring and post-pandemic.
A lot of travel agents advisorshave come into the Travel Coach

(13:47):
Network to learn how they cancombine travel coaching into
their business or transitionover to being a travel coach.
What we hear from them inparticular is that they felt
like there were not any otheroptions in the industry that
were available if they had apassion for travel and wanted to
help others travel than to planand book trips.
But it didn't align with themand that's something that I

(14:07):
resonated with.
That's something I was notinterested in.
I did not want to do, but wantedto take my expertise and love
of travel and help others in adifferent way.
We have everyone from medicalexperts we have psychologists,
we have pharmacists in ourprogram as well learning how
they can combine travel with howthey work with their clients

(14:31):
and serve their clients, andit's something they tell me that
they have done, but they neverput much emphasis on it.
They just knew they believed inthe power of travel so they
would integrate it into how theywork with their clients, but
they never actually made it partof their business models until
they found us.
So people who genuinely come tothe Travel Coach Network tell

(14:51):
us they've been looking for away to really take what travel
has done for them, how it hastransformed them, what they
believe in so deeply abouttravel and now they can help
others in a specific way.

Speaker 2 (15:03):
Oh, it's really interesting.
And tell us just a little bitmore on where you've gotten the
business to today, because Ialso want to get into your book,
because I have a few questionson that.
But if we think about theTravel Coach Network in 2025 and
your business going forward,where have you built it to and
where are you headed next?

Speaker 1 (15:19):
Yeah, a lot of really exciting things are in store.
Like I said, we have over 500members in our flagship program
now, but our private communityon Facebook we have just under
4,000.
We have a global community ofover 10,000 across all of our
platforms and it continues togrow.

(15:39):
We have members in 40 pluscountries.
I actually really like that.
We had a recent member fromjoined from Kenya, and then we
also had one about a month priorjoined from Romania, and we
like to set people up withaccountability partners in our
program and they wereaccountability partners.
So the woman from Kenya justwent over to Romania to meet in

(16:01):
person and sent me a picture,went over to Romania to meet in
person and sent me a picture,and just seeing that support and
the community that we've builtreally sets my soul on fire,
because I tell them all the timewhat I'm building is not for me
, it's for each and every one ofthem to really create a
business that brings them somuch joy and in a way that they

(16:21):
can impact others.
Where we're going is we aretranslating our flagship program
into other languages.
So we have our very first one,which is Spanish, going to be
launching very soon.
We're going to be developing awhole side to wellness travel
into our network as well.
We're always dabbling aroundwith what AI is going to look

(16:42):
like for our travel coachnetwork too.
So some cool ideas that I havefor that.
We have a membership club thatcontinues to grow too.
I love to provide opportunitiesfor those who may not be
interested in the certificationprogram or not ready for that,
but they can still get a tasteof the travel coaching world and
how they can integrate it intowhat they do coaching world and

(17:05):
how they can integrate it intowhat they do.
So we're always doing a lot ofreally exciting things and we
just have a really big pictureand vision for what we're
building.

Speaker 2 (17:12):
Oh, it's so exciting.
Good for you, it's, yeah, it's.
You know, you're so well spoken, you're very articulate, you're
a passionate traveler, and so Ican fully already understand
why so many people are drawn tobe a part of your network.
But certainly the other thing Iwanted to dive into is your
book, because one of the booksthat inspired me many years ago
even though it's still abestseller is the 4-Hour

(17:32):
Workweek Tim Ferriss, who Istill follow his podcast.
But it wasn't a travel book,but for people who love travel,
the idea of doing a 4-Hour workweek is pretty appealing, and
there were certainly some reallyinsightful suggestions in there
.
And I know your book is targetedtowards 20-something females
that are looking to create theideal travel lifestyle At least

(17:53):
that's my understanding.
I was checking.
I know it's available on Amazoncalled hey you Just Go.
I was reading some of thereviews in advance of our call,
but I would really love to hearthe backstory on that.
I mean, I guess it is yourstory.
Clearly, is it connected to thecoaching business or was this
sort of just a separateinitiative that you'd always
wanted to write a book and had astory to share?

Speaker 1 (18:13):
Yeah, thanks for asking.
Sometimes I forget that I wrotea book.
So it was the very first thingthat I did in my business, even
when I was still traveling, Iwas writing this book.
So what I did was when Istarted traveling.
I traveled back when I had aflip phone that didn't turn on
for service and a paper map tonavigate with and I had a pay to

(18:35):
use computers and Wi-Fi and myhassles back in the day.
So travel blogging wasn't avery popular thing yet, but
blogs were something and Istarted a travel blog just to
let my mom know where I was andthat I was okay in the world.
And I didn't turn anything outinto my blog.
I didn't promote it, didn'tmonetize it, didn't do anything.

(18:58):
But I was tracking theanalytics on it, which you can
easily do on Blogspot, and I sawthat the most popular blog
posts that I had were two prettysimilar ones, and one was
called how to Travel the Worldwhen you Can't Afford it, and
another was a very similar title.
They were far more viewed thanany of the other topics and I

(19:22):
said, well, because I'm notpromoting this, people must
organically be searching forthis and finding it.
So I took that blog post and Iessentially it was a skeleton to
my book.
I just filled it and updated itwith so much more information,
so I created it into my travelcoaching book, where I wanted to

(19:44):
empower, inspire, educate andprovide my advice and tips in
every way, shape or form forpeople to learn how they can
travel on their own time frame,on their own budget and when
they feel like they can't travel, but to show that travel is
possible for them is possiblefor them.

Speaker 2 (20:02):
Oh, that's fascinating.
So that's a helpful context forme, because I actually was
thinking about a few people I'dlike to get this book for.
I guess obviously it'd make aperfect gift for, for example, I
was having dinner with acolleague last week and he's the
CEO of Red Carnation Hotels andhis wife, and they came to
Toronto for the first time andwe went out for dinner and we
were talking about their twokids.
Our twins are teenagers there'sour 23 and 21 and their

(20:25):
daughter, who's 21, is got thetravel bug, just like many of us
had and obviously you had andshe's going to Australia and her
mom was telling me how nervousshe is for her going because
she's really afraid she's notgoing to come back, she's going
to fall in love with Australiaand never come back, and so
she's got her working holidayvisa and I was thinking this is
like a perfect book for her.

(20:46):
So tell me if I'm on the righttrack, if that is the case, and
are you still kind of activewith promoting the book, given
the importance, I guess, of thesubject matter?

Speaker 1 (20:56):
Yeah, I mean, my book is like I said.
It is every single thing that Idid to be able to travel to as
many countries as I did on myown budget, without ever running
out of money or feeling like Ihad to stop traveling.
So I was able to create mydream lifestyle and more, and so

(21:19):
that is what I put into there.
Yeah, it's a book that I talkabout during the holidays or
whenever.
Every now and then I do havesomeone on my social media team
who's so sweet and I think sherecently posted about it for me,
um, so if you do see postsabout it, usually it's from her,
um, but yeah, it's a reallygreat.
It's a mindset book, too, whichis really important for for

(21:39):
travelers, because we can faceloneliness, we can have a lot of
travel limiting beliefs andfears, and that's something that
, once we are able to pushthrough, we really can create a
lifestyle and enjoy the travelsin a way that otherwise it would
hinder us.

Speaker 2 (21:55):
That's perfect.
Thanks for the suggestion.
I'm going to order it for herafter our conversation, or I'm
going to order it for them togive to her and, um, but yeah,
then the other thing I want toask you too, is your TEDx talk.
I mean, clearly you're a veryinspiring speaker.
Uh, people are watching this,I'm sure are going to wonder
what the hats are in yourbackground, like you were, like
you clearly live, travel, andI'm sure people listening to

(22:16):
this.
It just comes across, uh, sonaturally.
But, um, how did the TEDx talkcome about?
And just full disclosure.
I haven't watched your TEDxtalk yet.
I definitely will afterwards,but tell us a little bit more
about that journey to get a TEDxtalk and what you discussed in
that talk.

Speaker 1 (22:34):
Yeah, thanks for asking.
I actually applied.
Doing a TEDx talk was always onmy bucket list for business and
I actually applied to do a TEDxtalk years ago and nothing came
about from it.
So it wasn't until morerecently when I saw that there

(22:58):
was an opportunity, for TEDx wascoming into a local university
that we have here, and I heardabout it and I applied and their
topic was around community.
So I was going to have totailor my topic of travel with

(23:18):
community, which is not hard todo, so my topic ended up
becoming how travel can help usbuild happier and more united
communities both inside andoutside of the workplace.
And I got accepted with it andI ended up reading the TEDx book

(23:38):
to help prepare for it and itwas very exciting,
nerve-wracking but rewardingexperience.

Speaker 2 (23:47):
Oh, that's great.
Certainly I think that wouldhave been an accelerant, I'm
sure, for you with the business,the book, and it's a perfect
channel for you, given howeffective you are as a public
speaker and you've built thatinto your profile as well, as I
understand.
So do you do a number ofspeaking engagements globally.
Are you kind of brought in as akeynote speaker for certain
travel industry events?

Speaker 1 (24:09):
Yes, so primarily in wellness travel.
So I really built a lot of myground in the business travel
industry so I've spoken at GBTA,the Global Business Travel
Association, for their localchapters, many of their chapters
all around the and in my homestate in Wisconsin, which was

(24:30):
pretty cool in green Bay, um.
The one of the latest ones Idid last year right before
having my son I was um was fortravel leaders, their executive
uh forum, and it's all aboutwellness travel and my unique
take on wellness travel and howbusiness travelers can really
tap into the power that travelcan provide us for our

(24:52):
well-being versus leading us toburnout like the epidemic was
happening pre-pandemic.
A lot of very random events Ispeak for, whether it's travel
agent events, travel bloggingevents as well.
We host our own events as wellin the Travel Coach Network and
for women travelers.
I'm actually speaking at anevent tonight in my local

(25:13):
hometown for local businessowners talking about visibility,
which is something I just lovetalking about as well.

Speaker 2 (25:21):
So yeah, no, that's great, Given you've got so many
things on the go and you focuson wellness.
That's one of the things Iwanted to ask you is that you
know, from being a podcast hostand author of TEDx speaker,
running a coaching business, howdo you balance?
And now you've just obviouslyhighlighted to you've got a
young son, so congratulations.
That's an exciting next phaseof life and our commitment, my

(25:44):
wife and I, when we had ourtwins, was that we were just
going to take them with us,because we were such avid
travelers and when we had read abook that told us that really
you only need to be grounded forsix weeks and as it turns out,
it's more like the first threemonths but we took our kids
everywhere and that was sort ofwe just decided they're just
going to come along with us, andso maybe we'll come back to
that one.
But I wanted to ask you, justin terms of being one of the

(26:08):
more influential women in traveland having so much on your
plate, how do you manage thatfrom your own personal wellness?

Speaker 1 (26:14):
Yeah Well, it took a while to learn and I'm still
learning, but I'm really good atcompartmentalizing things, so I
am able to tackle a lot ofprojects based off my
organizational skills.
I've always been able toorganize really well, whether
it's physically around the homeor my to-do list for my business

(26:37):
.
So I think that skill beingable to just organize everything
and I think I also have a bitof ADD because I'm able to, or
ADHD because I'm able to jugglemany things at once that would
probably overwhelm a lot ofpeople.
So I just have always been ahustler when it comes to work

(27:00):
and everything.
So that has made it really easyfor me to do the projects that
I'm all working on while alsomanaging my seventh bundle to
continue to grow and evolveevery day and now rolling over
and becoming more mobile.

Speaker 2 (27:16):
That's great, exactly as you'll need to be, but, yeah
, having a strong work ethic.
I've certainly seen that in mycorporate journey and
entrepreneurial journey.
There are certain people thatcan excel in corporate
environments but many times theythrive so much better in an
entrepreneurial setting becausethey are so much more accustomed
to just taking the initiativeand that can help you rise up in

(27:38):
the corporate world.
But, in terms of being reallysuccessful, you don't want to be
someone that is being directedand told what you have to do.
You really want to be able toembrace opportunities, seize
them and do a whole variety ofthings that you're across and
they obviously complement eachother.
So, yeah, terrific to hear thatand obviously really impressive
to hear your story and yourjourney.

(28:00):
I mean, given all of that, youclearly have a great
understanding of where theindustry is today and where it's
heading today.
And where it's heading and oneof the themes, as you know, with
our podcast and in season fourand having you a part of the
travel advisors and wellnessdiscussion, is this concept of
wellness travel, and I do anumber of keynotes myself and
I've been highlighting a lot ofthe stats from Virtuoso that you

(28:21):
know, then 23 and 24, it wasreally one out of four.
One out of five trips werewellness trips, and there's so
many different exciting aspectsto wellness travel, so I'd
really kind of like to open upthe conversation to you on that
topic.
Given, wellness travel is onthe rise, what are some of the
trends that you're seeing inthis space?

Speaker 1 (28:37):
Yeah.
So, as we know, the topics liketransformative travel,
purposeful travel, meaningfultravel, slow travel and even
responsible travel have been onthe rise, so those all fall
under the umbrella of wellness.
We turn to travel for veryspecific reasons, and there's

(28:58):
always a motivating factor forwhy we want to get away, and
they tend to fall under those,whether it's for human
connection, whether it's forboosting our mental wellbeing,
reducing stress.
So wellness travel has it'scontinuing to grow, but it's
going to shift in a way where itbecomes more of a holistic

(29:22):
approach to wellness travelbeyond the typical wellness
resorts and hotels and yogaretreats that we hear so much
about, because there's so manydifferent ways that we can
benefit wellness-wise fromtravel, whether it's emotionally
, mentally, physically,spiritually, socially and more
even professionally, and sowe're going to be seeing more

(29:45):
depth into what does atransformative trip look like?
What does immersing into alocal culture really do for us?
Why would giving back to alocal community and traveling
more responsibly and choosing amore ethical type of experience
what does that do for us?
Volunteering volunteerism aswell.

(30:06):
So all of these things fallunder this category of wellness.
So I think being able to seethis bigger scope of wellness
tourism is kind of the directionwe're going and kind of using
travel as a source of therapy.

Speaker 2 (30:18):
Yeah, it's interesting I'm over the last
few years, with the pandemic andobviously the return of travel,
wellness being a main theme,and yoga, which you alluded to.
Certainly I have a number offriends that have gotten into
yoga during that time, and oneschool friend who I still stay
in close touch with and she is asingle mom and got really into
yoga and she decided to go toNicaragua with her yoga group.

(30:40):
She's not traveled reallyoutside of the USA and Canada
and all of a sudden she wasgoing to Nicaragua, a place she
would never go to otherwise, orat least it wouldn't be one of
the first places, and she hadthe most incredible time and
she's basically planning to gowherever the yoga group goes
next.
So these are some of theemerging changes in the travel
space, and so one of the thingsI wanted to ask you, given this,

(31:00):
I guess, combination ofpersonal wellness and wanderlust
, I'm kind of intrigued by thosetwo elements coming together.
How do you see the travelindustry, I guess, better
supporting travelers or peopleinterested in traveling to
combine those two?
What are some of the resourcesthat you go to or some of the
trends that you're seeing?
I know there's a terrible termwith leisure like business, and

(31:22):
leisure travel right, there's nogood term for that but people
are traveling.
When they're traveling for work, they're also looking to do
something, and oftentimes it isgoing to a spa or going to a
retreat and tacking something on.
So how do you see that trendevolving?

Speaker 1 (31:37):
Yeah Well, we hear things like mindfulness
sabbaticals as well.
So, whether you're in thecorporate space, integrating
that so taking a sabbatical orreally utilizing your vacation
days effectively and companiesgetting around, that is
something that I've always hadan interest in talking about
boosting our company culture byencouraging our employees to

(32:01):
take vacations and to actuallytake them effectively, not just
to go home or to waste them awayor working while you're on a
trip.
Right, there's a lot of digitaldetoxes that we hear too in the
wellness space, but I thinkwhen it comes to the difference
of like wanderlust or wellness,travel or personal wellness, I

(32:24):
think they really do overlap.
Again, it goes back to theroots of we travel for very
personal, emotional reasons themajority of the time, even if we
travel for business.
There's a reason why we gotinto a company that enabled us
to travel for business.
It's very enticing, it'sattractive.
Who doesn't want to travel,right?

(32:45):
But the business travel world isa whole different monster when
it comes to business travel andburnout and what we can do in
the wellness space, especiallybeyond just the four walls of an
establishment and you know, afitness center or yoga, and
that's usually what I talk aboutwhen I talk about as a wellness
travel coach.

(33:06):
But just as, overall, we'regoing to see people turning to
travel as, like I said, a sourceof like therapy, a source of
connection, a source of healing,whether they book an
intentional wellness tripthrough you know what we see in
the wellness travel on thesedifferent websites and booking
sites or just to get away, andyou know, go on an explorer or

(33:28):
go on a multi-generational tripand the benefits of what that
can do for us as well, all fallunder these umbrellas of
wellness.
So I think being able to playaround with these different
types of wellness travel beyondjust putting them wellness
tourism or wellness trips intothe boxes of spas and wellness

(33:49):
centers and all of these thattend to cost a bit more money,
which gives people the idea thatthey can't actually have a
wellness trip, when in reality,travel is wellness and wellness
is travel.

Speaker 2 (33:58):
Well, I'm glad you brought up mindful travel,
because I actually that is aconcept that I don't think is as
well understood.
I mean, people hear the termmindfulness and it's becoming
more commonplace, so I thinkmost people listening to this
probably have an idea of whatthat means, or think that means
to them, but I would actuallylike to hear what it means to
you.
So if you wouldn't mindexplaining what mindful travel

(34:19):
is and how you would suggestthat travelers practice it.

Speaker 1 (34:25):
Yeah, that's a great question.
Actually, there's variousdefinitions of mindful travel,
depending on who it's comingfrom, what the source is, but as
a whole, mindfulness is reallyjust being present.
So in the Travel Coach Network,when we talk about mindful trips
or taking mindful travelexperiences, you have to set
intentions for your trip, beaware of why do you want to get
away, what are you looking toget out of this trip, how do you

(34:47):
want to feel?
And then, when you're in thatenvironment, when you're on that
trip, how can you be present,how can you really take in all
that you are experiencing?
Because travel can do that forus.
These different destinations,whether it's the sights, the
sounds, the smells, thelanguages, the cultural
experiences, the nature, thepower of blue and green spaces,

(35:09):
all of these can benefit us andhelp us in a variety of ways.
So, whether people integratethe more traditional techniques
of mindfulness, like yoga ormeditation or deep breathing, or
they just really practice beingpresent and allowing travel and
a trip to really do what it can, it's proven to be able to do,

(35:32):
based off of decades of researchout there.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
Yeah, it's really interesting, and there's a book
that I love and this is a puretravel book called the Art of
Travel by Alan de Paton, who isa philosopher, and it's one of
my favorite reads.
But one of the things that hehighlights to your point is you
can't take a vacation fromyourself and many people my wife
and I had both read the bookand there was many things that

(35:58):
resonated with us about whenyou're landing at a destination
and that transformation thatshould occur when you're in a
new destination.
That is almost likeintoxicating, like a drug, right
that you are, you know it's acompletely new environment and
all this new stimulationintoxicating like a drug, right
that you are, you know it's acompletely new environment and
all this new stimulation.
And I'm sure you, similar to me, if we're both the passionate
travelers, I have a common, notonly bond or understanding of
what that is.
But then you find people thatare at a hotel or resort and you

(36:22):
just overhear they're justthey're complaining about work
or they're just like.
We'd hear people in the pool or, and it was just like, and we'd
often look at each other andsay you just can't take a
vacation from yourself.
You know people are you're?
You're not at work, you're herein this tropical place, you're
in Fiji.
Why are you like?
And so, um, I think this is avery important topic, which is
why I wanted you to just expressthat, because so many people

(36:44):
whether it's um, you know stillhaving their smartphone when
they're traveling and access tosocial media, and those dopamine
hits that everyone craves fromconstantly being connected, and
that is obviously partly what'scausing this kind of erosion of
truly feeling connected andbeing present, to your exact
point about truly whatmindfulness means.

(37:04):
So I got one other question foryou on this particular topic,
just because you can speak to itso well is some of the other
practical tips that you wouldsuggest for travelers looking to
incorporate and I'll give youone that I do and you can tell
me if this is because I am soaddicted to my smartphone.
I try to take digital detoxes,but really it can be incredibly

(37:26):
challenging.
Even the idea of being awayfrom your phone can cause even
more anxiety, and so I try anddo like a one check in or I try
to manage it when I'm trying toactually have time off, but one
of the things that I do.
This is my, this is my travelhack or my mindfulness hack is I
actually set a timer on myphone, um, where I can't look at

(37:47):
it for a set period of time,and I struggled with this for a
while because I would set it fora period, I would check it
three times or four times in thefirst 10 minutes, but gradually
you have to wean yourself offof it, so that for me, I've
noticed that if I set a timer,or I set and give myself a block
out amount of time and just I'mnot even going to look at it,
I'm not going to think about it.

(38:08):
Gradually, each time I do that,as I'm starting a holiday, it
gets easier and easier 10minutes, 30 minutes an hour and
you start to become less relianton that.
So that's anyway something thatI utilize.
So, but I'd love to hear yourtips for the people listening to
this how can you applymindfulness in your travels?

Speaker 1 (38:27):
Yeah, there's two things that come into mind
mindfulness in your travels.
Yeah, there's two things thatcome into mind.
One is for people to first beaware of their behaviors and
what are your distractionstypically, because that looks
different for everybody, right?
So, if you know that you tendto look at your phone more often
, or that you're always thinkingabout work for whatever reason,
or you know we all havedifferent distractions, so being

(38:48):
aware of what those are andthen setting goals like you set
for yourself there, so findingsome little hack that works for
you.
But something that I think thatis really grounding when
traveling is to journal.
Journaling can really put usinto a place of self-reflection
and really taking in what we'reexperiencing, what we're hearing

(39:12):
, how we're feeling, and thatreally can allow us to take
advantage of that trip and whatit's actually doing for us, and
it can bring awareness to howmuch more work we have within
that.
So are we not enjoying it thatmuch because we're still being
distracted?
So how can we amp up ourmindfulness within that, our

(39:34):
presence being more present,really acknowledging where are
we and why are we here on a trip?
So that you can.
When we hear transformativetravel, there's a reason.
Travel can really do wondersfor us.
It's why we want to get away inthe first place and go on a
vacation, but setting thoseintentions and being more intent

(39:57):
you know not to use the word alot but intentional and mindful
on what you're doing with yourtime and where your mind is at
and journaling, I think, wouldbe a really powerful tool for
that.

Speaker 2 (40:08):
That's an excellent suggestion and that's certainly
along the lines of if you can'tsleep and rather than looking at
your phone, just pull out thejournal and write down notes,
and so you're not stimulated,and it's very much a passive
medium rather than an activemedium.
So that's an excellentsuggestion because I think so
many people have kind of movedaway from the idea of writing
travel journals with blogs andwith digital tools, so going

(40:30):
back to pen and paper is a greatsuggestion and so, yeah, that's
terrific.
I would also be really keen toknow what has been one of your
most transformational travelexperiences and, I guess, why
that was.

Speaker 1 (40:46):
I would say well, the first one that comes to mind is
I obviously had several overthe years, but the first one
that comes to mind is when I wasin the Philippines.
I was heading to thePhilippines of my first time in
Southeast Asia and I first flewinto Japan, then I went to

(41:06):
Taiwan and I forgot the year.
But this is the year that thesuper typhoon went through the
Philippines, part of thePhilippines, part that I was
going to fly into.
So I had all these budgetflights already booked and that
was when I learned that mistake.
But I actually ended up gettinghurt at the time so I had to
fly home.
So when I was home on bed restfor about a month, I was

(41:28):
researching how I can still getback to the Philippines and
because I didn't ever have apurpose when I was traveling, I
had time, so I wanted to find away, how I can go and help in
some way, and I found a groupthat was getting together some
volunteers to be able to help ona specific island that got hit
pretty hard.
It had a lot of schools andfarms on it.
So I reached out to them andsaid how can I get there?

(41:51):
I want to help.
You don't need to pay foranything, just tell me how to
get there.
So I did.
I flew to Cebu, philippines.
I made my way all the way alongthe border, got on a ferry, got
to this island.
The weather was still terrible.
The island was absolutelydestroyed.
It looked like a tornado hit it.
Everything was absolutelydestroyed.

(42:12):
It looked like a tornado hit it.
Everything was just destroyed,and the weather was still really
really bad, flooding everywhere.
So I lived on this island for alittle over a month and just
helped with whatever we couldhelp with Helped with
distributing food, rebuilding,we did debris clearing, we built
outdoor classroom areas for theteachers to teach the kids and

(42:35):
just really just helped with alot of different things.
And it was during that time thatI realized it showed me the
value of just humanity, not thevalue of humanity, but the
people were so kind, sowelcoming, so joyful, so happy,
despite having not very much tobegin with, and then that all

(42:58):
got taken away and they werestill so given and they wanted
to feed us.
They always thanked us, theygave us shelter, they gave us
warmth, and I ended uprevisiting that island two years
later and I made my way, allthe way back to the Philippines,
in the same island two yearslater, and saw how much it was

(43:19):
thriving.
It had a new opportunity togrow with tourism.
It finally had tourism, whichit didn't have before.
All these new developments, newrestaurants, just everything.
And I saw the same exact people, the same exact locals and they
remembered me, the kidsremembered me, and it really set
my heart on fire of justfalling in love with not only

(43:42):
the Philippine culture and thepeople, but just putting a lot
of things in perspective for methat I take with me throughout
my life and when I came backhome, that's really fascinating.

Speaker 2 (43:54):
I'm glad I appreciate you sharing that because for
many of us, as you alluded to,you likely have a few
transformational stories andwe're also going to hear today
your best travel story ever,which we'll come to.
But one of the things I reallywanted to get your take on is
the role of travel advisors.
Going forward and especiallygiven the conversation of
wellness and I'll kind of setthe stage for my question by

(44:15):
giving it context to two otherinterviews we've done on the
show we had Lauren and ChrisPronger.
Chris Pronger, of course, avery famous Hall of Fame hockey
player who I knew of and watchedgrowing up, and he's joined his
wife's company.
Lauren Pronger is a wellnesscoach and expert and they've
built an incredibly successfulwellness business based out of
St Louis and they were amazingguests on the show and I've seen

(44:38):
them at the Virtuoso conference.
And there was another lady Iinterviewed at the Forbes Travel
Summit earlier this year, alady named Eli Wagner who runs a
company called Wagner BespokeTravel and her focus is wellness
and she used to be a corporatelawyer a really incredible story
as well and she actually leftthe corporate world.
She was a corporateentertainment lawyer and she

(44:58):
actually worked on Jeopardy andso she had this kind of
fascinating kind of backstoryand decided to give that all up,
to give up her legal career andstep away from entertainment,
because she loved travel andwellness specifically.
So the question I'm coming to isthere seems to be this
overwhelming connection betweenwellness and travel advisors and
from my vantage point, havinghad these conversations, one of

(45:19):
the things that I see is thatthere is that strong desire for
a human connection that if youare looking to do a wellness
trip, you want someone that isgoing to recommend a place and
an experience that is going tobe personalized, that is going
to be really curated to you andyour needs, whether it be
dietary or your fitness regimenand there's so many unique

(45:39):
aspects to that that it requiresa high level of personal touch.
And so when I actually look atthese businesses I look at Eli's
business and I look at Chrisand Lauren's Pronger's business
they're all new.
They're new to travel advisorsand new to being in this travel
agent space, and I've spentnearly 20 years in this industry
and it used to be the bigconcern that travel advisors

(46:00):
were going away and allindications are their businesses
are thriving in the face of AIand other technologies, and so I
would love to get your take onhow you see the travel advisor
role evolving in the next, let'ssay, five years, and even
seeing how it's evolving todaywith some of the travel advisors
that you're coaching and thatare part of your network.

Speaker 1 (46:19):
Yeah, I mean, there's always been an evolution of the
travel agent role, right?
The travel agent turned traveladvisor, no matter what title
they have now term.
The evolution pointed to moreof a lifestyle guru, shoulder to
lean on, and then, of course,planner and person who creates

(46:42):
the itinerary and books thetrips for you.
So they are wearing more hatsthan ever before, and that's why
it's been a perfect fit fortravel agents to organically
come into the Travel CoachNetwork, because they're like I
feel like I've been coachingpeople or how do I amp this up a
little bit more here and putmore of my own personal spin on
this?
But therefore, like I said,it's always been this evolution

(47:06):
in the travel agent space.
But what we're seeing now ispeople going from what I've
heard is wanting less of more ofthis transaction when planning
and booking trips and less ofputting themselves into these
niches and boxes that theindustry has kind of had them
check, and more of helpingpeople use travel as this vessel

(47:28):
or this medium fortransformation, for wellness,
for connection, whatever goalsthey have in mind personal or
professional goals and thereforethat's going to impact the way
that we plan and book trips.
Something I talked about in theTravel Coach Network is what I
call destination or experiencematching, and we're seeing more

(47:50):
of this.
It's actually I heard aboutthis during a world travel forum
back in 2020, I believe it wasand this individual, he was part
of a big investment company andhe said, if he's going to
invest anywhere, it's going tobe in the wellness space.

(48:12):
But he mentioned aboutexperience, choosing experiences
first, and this is somethingthat I do talk about in the
Travel Coach Network and insteadof taking a destination and
saying, look how beautiful thisbeach is, book now, go here, how
popular this destination is,now, go here, how popular this
destination is, instead,flipping that around and really

(48:32):
getting to know the individualon.
Who are you?
What are you going throughright now?
What are you going through inyour personal life mentally,
physically, emotionally, like?
What is causing you to want toget away?
Where are these desires toescape or to get away coming
from?
What are you trying to run from?
What are you trying to get away?
Where are these desires toescape or to get away coming
from?
What are you trying to run from?
What are you trying to gettowards?

(48:53):
When we can really pull theseanswers to the surface as travel
agents, then they can makebetter planning and booking
decisions for their clients.
And that's what we're seeingmore of is, instead of saying,
here, here's a wellness trip foryou, you can do this treatment,
this spa, this exercise classand whatnot, but turning it

(49:17):
around and saying, well, seemslike my client, instead of
thinking they need to go toParis, which is a popular city,
wanting to see the Eiffel Towerthe friends have been there said
it was great and I love it as atravel agent Instead saying,
maybe because they recently losttheir grandmother and they are

(49:38):
nearing burnout in their busyjob and they're a mom who never
puts themselves first and takescare of everyone else before
themselves, maybe time in natureis what they need.
Maybe it is someplace like Baliwhere they can have more of a
spiritual journey, they canimmerse in the local culture and
they can take a look at thosewellness experiences, so those

(50:00):
local traditions and techniquesthat wellness brings in that
local community.
So it's a way to flip aroundhow we are promoting, marketing
and selling trips and reallytapping into this hyper
personalized, tailored,customized experience and why
you need that human connectionand personal touch.

Speaker 2 (50:21):
It's in the word.
One of the things I wanted toask you about with the coaching
program itself was that clearlyyou probably see a common list
of challenges, and one of thethings I think would be helpful
for our listeners isunderstanding how you actually

(50:42):
coach people to overcome thosechallenges, because I'm sure a
lot of the focus is trying toactually help people develop
their skills and become eithermore assertive or be able to
manage objections, andultimately one of the benefits
at least I understand ofcoaching is to build up that
self-esteem.

(51:02):
And so what are some of thecommon challenges that you see
amongst clients that come in andhow do you help them overcome
those?

Speaker 1 (51:10):
Are you talking for the challenges of coaches?

Speaker 2 (51:14):
Yes, exactly.
Well, yeah, as a well, as aleader in travel, coaching
yourself, um, when you're, whenyou're doing your coaching, um,
I'm just keen to know what someof the challenges that people
are coming to you with and howyou help them navigate those.

Speaker 1 (51:28):
Yeah, so it kind of I have to unravel everything that
they have been taught prior.
So and this goes back to justwhen we think of someone having
a travel business, your mindautomatically is going to go to
being a travel agent, and that'snot at the roots of what we do
as a travel coach.
The Travel Coach Network is nota travel agency and we don't

(51:49):
train travel agents as a travelcoach.
The Travel Coach Network is nota travel agency and we don't
train travel agents.
It's a whole different processand certification, accreditation
and training.
But a lot of them have gonethat route because, like I said,
they felt like that was theonly option for them, or this is
how the training that they'vebeen told or what they read
about, and so it's reallyunraveling all of the.

(52:10):
Find your niche, choose yourdemographic.
This is how you market yourself, this is how you're going to
sell trips, this is how you'regoing to get commission and
upsell, and so one of thebiggest challenges is having
them understand that or figureout what their niche is.
Who can you serve?
How can you tap into your truthabout travel?

(52:32):
How has travel impacted you,transformed you, benefited you,
and what got you into thisindustry in the first place?
Why is it that you are soinspired to help others take
trips?
Why, what does that look likeand who needs to hear that?
So working on them with that iswhat I find one of the

(52:54):
challenging parts is they can'tgrasp the concept not that they
can't, but it's hard for them tograsp the concept that their
truth matters on how travel isbeneficial to them and how they
can help someone go through asimilar process or similar
journey or transformation likethey have had.
Versus I have to put structureof a niche that I've heard about

(53:18):
.
I have to choose Disney.
I have to choose luxury.
I have to choose wellness.
Those are very broad terms likewellness.
Where do you fit within that?
How can you create a businessthat is really truly lights you
up, that you're passionate aboutand feels good to you?
Versus what I hear them alwayssay is I just don't want to.

(53:41):
I'm tired of being so salesy,I'm tired of just feeling like
I'm making a transaction with myclient.
I really want to be a part oftheir journey with them.
So, of course, we touch on orteach the fundamentals of
coaching and the ICF coachingthrough that of asking those
powerful questions beyond whatagain their program to ask of

(54:03):
where do you want to go?
What do you like to do?
Where have you gone in the past?
How many people in your party?
What's your budget?
What type of activities do youwant to go?
What do you like to do?
Where have you gone in the past?
How many people in your party?
What's your budget?
What type of activities do youlike to do?
What are your interests?
Those are very surface levelquestions and those when people
answer that that tells them,that tells us, as travel
professionals, nothing aboutwhat travel, why they want to go
on that trip and what travelcould do for them.

(54:23):
So, breaking down thosebarriers mentally around how
they're used to planning tripsand helping people go on their
own journeys and really gettingto the root of who they are as a
human being and now using thattrip to really help them reach
whatever specific goals thatthey have in mind.

Speaker 2 (54:46):
Yeah, it's really interesting, especially given
that you certainly mine upbackground is not in coaching.
So I'm keen to ask you all ofthese questions, especially
given that you know what wouldbe.
My understanding of the role ofa coach would be to not only
educate but inspire, and, and sothat very idea of trying to
inspire others, which clearlycomes natural to you and some

(55:06):
people obviously get energy fromother people and, and
especially if you're helpingthem, obviously that's how do
you keep yourself inspired,though?
That's something I'd love toknow.
I mean, because clearly I'msure you have days where you've
coached and you must be drained.
So and then you're getting on tothe next day.
So yeah, how do you keepyourself continually inspired?

Speaker 1 (55:30):
day.
So, yeah, how do you keepyourself continually inspired?
Yeah, so I, let's see, I don'tdo I was gonna say I don't do as
much that much coaching becauseI work in a group setting, so I
serve our coaches in groupsettings, so it's not as many
one on ones, but I do jugglequite a bit of projects in our
place of growth here within theTravel Coach Network.
But that's a great question.
What inspires me is I lovereading articles, I watch

(55:52):
webinars, I'm on variouscompanies' newsletters so I like
to see what's going on, whatevents.
So, kind of like yourself, Ilisten to a lot of podcasts,
whether it's travel-related orbusiness or even mindset-related
.
Whether it's travel related orbusiness or even mindset related
, those things inspire me.
I'm someone who, just like inmy journey of traveling, I

(56:17):
believe that everything happenswhen it's supposed to and I just
enjoy the journey, enjoy theprocess, accept the process, and
so I get to a point where I'llknow energetically that I need a
boost of inspiration.
So I go into what I call likemy research phase and I will
absorb whatever content that Ican and that will something will
give me a boost of inspirationor new ideas or help me get over

(56:41):
whatever mental hump I wasfacing, roadblock I was facing
at that moment, and then I'mgood to go for the next stretch.

Speaker 2 (56:49):
I got a couple last questions for you.
One of them is for all theselisteners that are now
considering a career in travelor coaching for that matter,
what advice would you offer?

Speaker 1 (56:58):
them.
Well, first come to the TravelCoach Network to learn more.
We have a lot of really greatfree resources to get started on
their own of how to combinecoaching into what they do.
Because what I always say is,just because coach is in the
term, travel coach does not meanthat you have to work
one-on-one with people.
Travel coaching is somethingthat can be integrated easily

(57:19):
into any travel profession,whether you are a travel agent,
advisor, tour operator, retreatleader, medical expert or more
life coach.
But I would just say what is itabout travel that you believe so
deeply in that you want othersto also believe in and know

(57:40):
about, and who needs to hearthat?
I think that is something thata lot of people miss, because in
the travel space, as a travelexpert, professional of any sort
, it's easy to say, well, I canserve everyone, I love travel,
everyone loves travel.
But from a business standpoint,that makes no sense.

(58:00):
It's not strategic.
You have to figure out who areyou serving, what are you all
about?
What do you want to be knownfor?
What is your message?
Because travel, we all have adifferent message about travel
and really tapping into that issomething I find a lot of you
asked me before what do mycoaches struggle with?

(58:21):
Another is really tapping intohow travel.
What is their why for travel?
What is their why for travel?

Speaker 2 (58:28):
The other thing I wanted to ask you too, along
these exact same lines, forsomeone coming into this
industry or looking to rise upin this industry, is the power
and importance of mentorship,and I've certainly seen that in
my experience, especially withfemale mentorship.
There's a number of terrificorganizations, you know future
female leaders, hospitality.
There's a number of teammembers I've worked with in

(58:50):
Australia there's that belong toa mentorship program called
time and and so, and even withinmy corporate experience I mean,
there was a outstanding teammember based in South Africa.
Her name is Carly and Parsons.
She was part of our digitalteam and she really wanted to
learn more about the widerbusiness and she had a few
people that she wanted to bementored by beyond just working

(59:11):
within our team, and I was ableto connect her to two of the
senior female executives in thebusiness and uh, and she's
continued to thrive and I thinkthat that's.
You know, I've been raised by asingle mom, so the the female
element is obviously important,but I mean, when it comes to
mentorship, I mean that appliesto everyone and I guess that's
where I guess it doesn't have tobe specific to female leaders,
but those people, how importantis mentorship Because, I don't

(59:34):
know, across the board you hearpeople sometimes asking about
getting a mentor, but it almostfeels like more like the same
likelihood of someone's going toget coaching, and there's
probably a lot more people outthere that need coaching, that
don't realize it, and there'sprobably a lot more people out
there that would benefit fromhaving a mentor.
So, when it comes to mentorship, how would you suggest that
people listening to thisapproach that who should they

(59:56):
ask?
What resources should theyreach out to?

Speaker 1 (01:00:00):
Yeah, that's a great question.
First, I'll also say that I,too, was raised by a single mom,
but I am a big fan ofmentorship as something I tell
my coaches all the time.
Mentorship is key to anysuccess that you have.
When I started out my business,and even before I had clarity

(01:00:24):
on what I wanted to do and whatdid this look like, I found a
mentor.
I first started working withDavid Meltzer from
Entrepreneurcom's Elevator Pitch.
He's in the sports marketingindustry.
He has nothing to do withtravel, but I resonated with his
values.
I found him on Instagram.
He was amazing.

(01:00:45):
He was my very first mentor.
I learned so much from him I tothis day.
I just had a call the other daywith another mentor of mine.
I have worked with countlessmentors women, men in all
different industries.
I am someone who I like to worksmarter, not harder, but also
people.
It's really important to learnfrom others' experiences.

(01:01:07):
You can find mentors who havedone something you want to do,
you aspire to do, in anything itcould be.
How did they get media wins?
How did they build and selltheir business?
How did they get to thatcorporate level that they got to
?
Whatever it is that you striveto do.
I really recommend that peoplefind a mentor and there's a lot

(01:01:28):
of great resources and you'd bereally surprised who's willing
to help you.
I've worked with mentors I'vejust met throughout the business
travel industry or I connectedwith them and I said, do you
mind if I hop on a call with youI can ask you a few questions?
You'd be really surprised athow willing people are to help
you.
Or you can something I learnedfrom my mentors say do you know

(01:01:50):
anyone who would be able to helpme and they can point you in
the right direction, kind oflike you're able to do for that
person.
Or there's also an organizationin the US called SCORE
S-C-O-R-E which is a free andI've had several mentors through
that, which is really makes itsuper easy to kind of narrow
down what specific pain pointyou have that you need help with

(01:02:13):
.
But I would highly, highly,highly recommend anyone and
everyone to get several mentorsthroughout their business
journey.

Speaker 2 (01:02:21):
Those are so many insightful points.
Sahara, it's been such apleasure having you on the
Travel Trends podcast.
I really hope we're able tokeep in touch.
I'm certainly going to betracking your journey.
I want to make sure, as we signoff here, that people do know
how to connect with you, how tolearn more.
I know you've mentioned a fewresources as we've been having
our conversation, but, yeah,please make sure that everyone
can know where to find you, whatactions they should take next,

(01:02:45):
and thanks again for being apart of this conversation today.

Speaker 1 (01:02:52):
Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
I can visit us at thetravelcoachnetworkcom or the
Travel Coach Network across allof our platforms.
Or me.
I am Sahara Rose, the travelcoach, on all of the social
platforms, or Sahara Rose DeVoreon LinkedIn.

Speaker 2 (01:03:02):
Awesome, that's great .
Thank you so much, sahara.
Thank you Thanks so much forjoining us on this latest
episode of Travel Trends and ourspecial spotlight episode
featuring Sahara Rose DeVore,the founder and CEO of the
Travel Coach Network.
For more information about theTravel Coach Network, check out
thetravelcoachnetworkcom.
Thanks again for joining us,sahara, and to each of you for

(01:03:25):
tuning in for this specialspotlight episode.
If you're tuning in for thisspecial spotlight episode, if
you're interested in moreconversations like these, then I
definitely encourage you tocheck out traveltrendspodcastcom
slash spotlights, where we dospecial features on executives,
companies, destinations andevents.
Now our season six starts inseptember, so make sure you're
registered on the streamingplatform of your choice to be

(01:03:48):
notified when new episodes golive and sign up for a monthly
newsletter atTravelTrendsPodcastcom.
Until next time, safe travels.