We were lucky to catch up with Erick Rosales recently and have shared our conversation below.

Erick, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

I think it started like everything else, because of a heartbreak

I quit my job as a Barista on a Monday and that Saturday went on a tour as a co-host to learn the job. It all started there.

I met the owner of Xplora Baja in late 2016, he used to tell me I had a lot of potencial and was loosing all of it working in a coffee shop. It all started there, he (Ivan) lighted the spark.

The next defining moment was when decided to become an independent tour guide and do my own tours, with my own vibe and all the ideas I couldn’t apply at the other company.

Last but not least was when I learned to let go and started hiring more people to help me with the tours, I had to learn I couldn’t do it on my own.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Erick Rosales, I finished my career in international business a couple years ago and started working in the tourism industry 5 and a half years ago (February 2017).

I worked with different companies because they all get along with each other so whenever an agency needed a tour guide or driver, my boss would send me or a co-worker to take care of it.

A couple years after that I felt again that I was missing my potential, I wasn’t working that much, I had a lot of ideas we could apply in the company, I wanted to be a bigger part of it, I wanted to be recognized as someone that was doing something too.

In January 2019 I decided to become a freelancer and start doing tours on my own, I had created an Instagram page and named it “Baja Tour Guide, Where I used to post a lot of things about the places we visited in Valle de Guadalupe and More

I used to work with another agency (Baja Wine and Dine) and tried to mix it up with my own tours and the ones they sent me to. Until I was too busy to work with someone else.

I always considered collaborating as the main reason people grow a business. I love the idea of helping each other to get to the next level.

About what we do: We do 100% private tours with tailored itineraries, this means we don’t mix groups, it is only the one who booked + family, friends or co-workers.

About the “tailored” part, that means we ask our guests many questions about what they like and they don’t, and then we create an itinerary for them. Our MO is to make our guests feel at home, feel like they don’t have to worry about anything because that’s our job, we will take care of you and your friends, you just focus on having a good time and enjoy.

That’s all I could remember rn haha

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

I’ve always though self-consciousness is a big part of what I do, you have to understand what you’re capable of, you have to be confident and look like it, our guests feel a lot better when they see us moving around at the places we visit like is our house, helping them order, showing them where the restroom is, making recommendations.

Like I always say to my groups, I’m your driver, co-pilot, host, waiter and more.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

For me, word to mouth for sure, yeah Trip advisor works a lot too (and Yelp) but I think for what we do, there’s nothing better than a group of 10 recommending us to 10 more friends each, I forgot when was the last time someone contacted us on their own without someone they know telling them about Baja Tour Guide, I love that.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/bajatourguide
• Other: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g150776-d21056839-Reviews-Baja_Tour_Guide-Tijuana_Baja_California.html

Image Credits
All the photos were taken by Mafer Benitez from Mafer Photo