We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cecily North-rudow. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cecily below.

Cecily, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

I often joke with my husband that if I could time travel I would go back in time and start my business sooner. I started my business at 34 after going through college and getting my first master’s degree. But life changed pretty abruptly at 34 and I wanted to find my passion and needed something that I loved and could do from anywhere. Ten years later, I only wish that I had started sooner. If I had even known it was an option at 18, I would have signed up and gone through travel agent school (yes that was a thing at one point) and really dived into the business back then. It would have been a constant and a support for all of the ups and downs that life has thrown at me in the past 26 years of my professional career. My host agency has truly become a family to me and I would have loved to have started with them on the ground floor and grown my business while they grew theirs as well. It also would have been fascinating to be part of the internet jump, when brick and mortar travel agencies started closing due to the internet but continue to make the jump to an at home business. It would have taught me more resilience, how to adjust to changes and to learn new technologies and adapt quickly.

Cecily, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Traveling North is a full-service travel agency. We take care of every detail for our clients when it comes to their travel itineraries and vacation planning. We can help with the typical all-inclusives, hotel rooms, plane tickets, ocean cruises, river cruises, rental cars but we do so much more than that. We can help with tours, activities, excursions, transportation and transfers, airport parking, equipment rental (think cribs, high chairs and all the things kids require but you don’t want to bring your whole house with you), travel protection, dining reservations, private chefs, tee times and golf club rental and the list goes on. We also work with a huge network of suppliers and have one on one relationships with many of them so if my clients have an issue I can take care of it with a real person, not a chatbot.

There are so many ways to travel and so many things to see that the list is endless. We help our clients craft the perfect and highly customized vacation so they are experiencing what they want to experience without all the stress and fighting.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I think my most effective strategy is demonstrating daily what makes me a great travel agent to my clients. I want to make them advocates for me to their friends, family and network so they are referring me to anyone they meet. I advertise in multiple places in my community and I am a member of my local Chamber of Commerce which has made my business grow exponentially. But it truly is creating relationships with those I meet, demonstrating my value and expertise and taking care of my clients so that they want to book with me and tell everyone about what an amazing experience they had. I want to make travel easy for people, that’s what I love to do.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think the first part is my education. I often tell people that I am not just on google doing internet searches like the typical person would be. I have spent ten years developing my relationships with suppliers so that I know who to go to and am not wasting time looking at options that my clients have no interest in. I spent hours every month on training calls, completing certifications and gaining more knowledge to best serve my clients. Education and current knowledge is the best way to help my clients so I am not wasting their time and they are not frustrated with out of date information. I think the other part is that I am responsive and if I don’t have an immediate answer I let my clients know what my next steps are and that I will be in touch. I keep them updated as I move through processes to make sure they know what is happening. And I want my clients to know that I am here for them 24/7. They can reach out to me at any time and I will get back to them as soon as I can if I can’t answer right away. My passion for the industry is palpable and I love helping people get the perfect experience when they travel.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://travelingnorthagency.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/travelingnorthagent/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/travelingnorth
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/traveling-north-agency
• Other: https://blinq.me/tKnq1sl8nwMW?bs=db

Image Credits

Aaron Sager, Donoraa Photography