Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Erica Graham. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Erica, appreciate you joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

In August of 2012, we were in Morocco on our honeymoon. While there we went on a hot air balloon ride, a desert camel trek, and visited a traditional Berber home. As we looked through our photos, My husband said “This would be so much fun if we were with some of our friends or cool people, even if we didn’t know them.” – That is when the idea was unknowingly born. Two weeks later I went back to work as a traveling project manager for a healthcare technology company. He was working for the same company in an International role. I was traveling all over the US for them, but always thinking about what country I would explore next. Over time I started feeling overworked and massively underpaid. My husband could see the shift in my attitude. I was miserable. As the years passed, I started rethinking the goals I set at college graduation. I realized that I was eight and a half years into a 10-year plan and needed to make some moves if I wanted to have my own business. The depression set in harder this time…My husband was very understanding, yet fed up with my funk. He grabbed my shoulders one day and said “JUST QUIT”. I was so confused…I didn’t think that was even an option at that point in our lives with student loans, mortgages, car payments, etc…. He said..” don’t quit tomorrow, instead let’s put together an exit strategy. Let’s realistically do the numbers and see how long it will take for us to pay off everything other than our mortgage and I can take care of us until we figure out the next step.” He whipped out his laptop, opened Excel, and went to work crunching the numbers.

I changed my mindset about “that job”. I needed to use “that job” to get what I needed this time. I knew travel was what I wanted to do but I wasn’t sure how to get there. First, we positioned ourselves financially by paying off all of our debt except the mortgage, eliminating over $25,000 in student loans, all credit card debt, and car payments in six months. At the same time, I started researching the travel business, travel agencies, and pretty much anything travel-related.

At this point, we had our personal finances in order and Instagram was gaining popularity so we would post pictures of our travels eventually using the hashtag #paperplanesandpassports. “Paper” equates to business, entrepreneurship, and generational wealth. “Planes” brings in the travel aspect broadening your network and experiences. “Passports” focuses on access and awareness of people, places, and experiences. All the things we valued and would highlight in our content. This hashtag created a small but loyal following recognizing our travel knowledge so when I asked my husband what should I call our travel agency? He immediately said, “Paper Planes and Passports, duh….”

We laughed but I knew I wanted to give people the same high-quality travel experiences that we have created for ourselves in an affordable way and allow more access to travel opportunities for those who desire to travel but may not have the knowledge or the budget to maximize their experiences. My mission was clear, and I was focused. I planned my first group trip to test everything out…Whew…I’ll explain more about that later…

In November 2016, after 9.5 years at my 9-5, I submitted my resignation on my 35th birthday. Almost a month later, on Christmas Eve, I received the official Paper Planes & Passports LLC incorporation as a present from my husband. We have been helping people, especially minorities, see the world ever since.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hello, My name is Erica Graham, owner of Paper Planes & Passports. I always say “ I got into the travel industry very organically.” I was a traveling project manager for a healthcare technology company so I would visit the United States, then I started traveling internationally with my then-boyfriend and was officially bit by the travel bug. He traveled extensively for work. For us to spend time together, I’d visit with him in his work destinations like Sweden, China, and Paris. We would share our travels online, and people were asking how we could afford to travel so often. What was then work for him was play for me. Remember… this was 2012. I didn’t know I was creating content for the founding of my business today.
Paper Planes and Passports removes the stress from travel planning and organization from destination selection to your return home by curating group travel, personal travel, or self-booked travel with a high level of customer service. We offer a unique perspective as experienced travelers having visited over 70 countries, many of them multiple times.
Our products & services include:
Full-service host travel agency. We provide travel booking services for flights, hotels, private villas, tours, and customized itineraries. We also manage group trips for our clients to take the burdens of communication and collecting money.
Digital Travel Guides- These itineraries are game changers with clickable links, photos, and our personal experiences.
International group experiences- We host throughout the year and anyone can join.
Co-host International Group Experiences- We partner with social media creators who want to host trips with their audiences. Working with reputable travel agencies to organize everything and streamline communication and trip finances is key.
Travel agent and group trip training- We provide hands-on learning opportunities for those who want to make money from their passion for travel as an advisor or hosting group trips.

I am proud that we are making travel accessible to those who only dreamed of it. We offer payment options that help our clients manage and budget appropriately for their travels, in turn, helps them travel more! Also, our clients feel safe with us. We are well-traveled and have global partners in over 17 countries.
Let’s start planning your next trip: https://www.paperplanesandpassports.com/booking-calendar/travel-discovery-call?referral=service_list_widget
Client Reviews: https://www.paperplanesandpassports.com/clientreviews

Travel Sustainability – We strive to make travel and tourism more environmentally, socially, and economically responsible.
One of my favorite stories is about when we booked a cooking tour in Kenya in 2019. We continued to book her tour for our clients with great reviews. In 2024, we returned to Kenya and booked another experience with her. This time, we learned Josephine was pivoting into entrepreneurship after surviving personal traumas. She shared her growth journey with us, highlighting how our support helped her financially and motivationally- my eyes filled with tears, and my heart was warmed to see her thriving. Being able to tell stories like this from around the world is why I’m proud of my work. If you are ever visiting Nairobi, Kenya, book Josephine’s Cooking Tour with a Market Shopping Experience. It’s truly a life-changing experience. Booking Link: https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/237642

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I promised I’d come back to this…As I transitioned out of Corporate America, I tested my business model…I almost gave up on the test run.
We planned a trip to Thailand. The trip sold out with 9 people. Everything was going as planned. Two and half weeks before departure I received cancellation notices for all of our flights to Thailand. Of course, I had to notify the group, but I needed a backup destination first, and needed it fast! My clients trusted me with their vacations and money…I couldn’t let them down.
The first thing I tackled was where we could afford to go on such short notice. Where could the money for our flights be transferred?
The only destination that made sense was Egypt…But my original trip was Thailand, which is a much different culture…would they be OK with this? I’d never been to Egypt…Am I missing anything? I had several nervous breakdowns because I wasn’t sure if I could pull this off.

Turns out, everyone was super excited to see the Pyramids. I was able to add a beach day at the Red Sea. We shared so many personal moments like crying in the first pyramid ever built after touching the hieroglyphics, depicting ancient kings and queens. Learning and sharing the culture with our tour guide left a lifetime of memories.

Have you ever had to pivot?

COVID-COVID-COVID – I think that was the time when I had to dig deep and trust myself and what I built. I had to trust that no matter what the circumstances were at that moment, I still pushed forward even when the doors of international travel were closed.
How was this even possible?? At one point, I didn’t even want to see another destination. I was mad at the whole world. I didn’t know if I’d even have a business to go back to after COVID…when was it going to be over…? I had so many doubts, I didn’t know what to do with myself. Travel is life and I felt like COVID was taking it from me.

I have to stop and thank my husband for seeing me and being patient during that time. He, yet again, sat me down and said “Look…you can’t travel right now and we don’t know when we will be able to or what it will look like and there is absolutely NOTHING you can do about that. What you can do is focus on the things you have not been able to do to scale the business, keep people informed, and inspire people to travel again once we get out of this.” Again, took action by immediately sharing our content from previous trips and writing blogs. I was focused on just sharing information about my favorite places and things I’ve learned during my experiences. During that year, countries started to slowly, but surely open up. I started sharing how to safely travel during the pandemic. We took some road trips and then met up with some friends in Costa Rica. People were ready to get out of the house too and started booking with us because we handled all of the requirements and scheduled our clients’ departure COVID tests. With so much misinformation we made it easy for people to travel during the Global Pandemic.

I found my groove… I was back and felt compelled to share my knowledge of how I became a travel agent. In that, I realized the training to become a travel professional is subpar in my eyes. Everyone doesn’t learn well in an online class. You take the lessons, and may not use the information for months when you actually get a client. Ultimately, having to take the courses again and potentially lose the client simply because you don’t know how to use the booking systems. Furthermore, you don’t have a dedicated resource to assist in those times. I researched other host agencies and decided that I wanted to do things differently. I had time and used it wisely to create our Paper Planes & Passports Academy.
In our training, you have access to an online platform, for reference. The bulk of our training is hands-on learning. Sitting in on client calls so you know how to handle tough questions and supplier calls so you know how to properly communicate. Our team does shadow discovery calls because every client and their needs are different. As an agent, you need to know how to respond confidently, even if you don’t have specific travel experience. We teach our agents how to get paid upfront for their services and for their personal travels.

This was just the beginning of the actual pivot for PPP. COVID was still a thing, but restrictions were lifting more and more.
Soon after I was invited to speak virtually on Travefy’s The Lounge Podcast on two occasions. Shortly after, we met a young lady named Kayla who was vacationing in Atlanta with her family. We were hanging out at a rooftop pool and started chatting. I told her what I did, and she stated she was interested in becoming a travel agent. We exchanged information and followed on IG. My course wasn’t complete, but that was the motivation to get it done. Kayla reached out sometime after and wanted to know more information. I was ready then, but she needed a bit more time. About a year later, she contacted me again, and PPP had our second travel agent.
The reliance for me was seeing that we had something to build upon when the doors to travel were closed indefinitely. Also, realizing that if I keep going, I cannot grow alone.
It wasn’t perfect, and still isn’t..but here we are 3 years later and Kayla is still with us + 3 more have joined the team. It’s working… TRUST YOURSELF! We look forward to guiding more agents who are ready to break into this trillion-dollar industry.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.paperplanesandpassports.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paperplanesandpassports/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paperplanesandpassports
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/paper-%E2%80%A2-planes-%E2%80%A2-passports
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@paperplanespassports
• Other: Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@paperplanesandpassports

  Threads: https://www.threads.net/@paperplanesandpassports?xmt=AQGzYd7_AJYk5ogM6GfUcPkka8GyVPHUdrdEb09y1ZFVT_E

Image Credits

Keiner Lopez- Cartagena, Colombia
Tanya- San Pedro, Belize
Sedef Ergin- Cappadocia Rental Dresses
Santorini Dress
Paper Planes & Passports Media