We were lucky to catch up with Courtnie Nichols recently and have shared our conversation below.

Courtnie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned while working at a prior job?

The most important lesson I learned from my previous career and job as a fundraiser is ” Relationships are key” I might have learned this concept even earlier on in life as my dad was a politician and is a businessman and was always very engaged and immersed in the local community but where the theory went from what I knew, heard and saw became practice when I graduated college and got my first job which again without a relationship with the person I wouldn’t have probably gotten but any more importantly when I started in the non-profit realm I quickly realized that fundraising was a relationship business so I better be good at it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

So I am the founder of TravelBash, a destination wedding concierge & CEO of TRVLB, a luxury travel design studio delivering bespoke travel experiences. I also act as an advisor and consultant to various travel brands looking to serve a more diverse group of modern cultural travelers through their tourism marketing efforts.

I got into this business because I am married to a college basketball coach and so I got to the point where I was moving every year I think we are at 8/9 moves in 15 years. Prior to that my husband played professional basketball overseas so travel has always been apart of my life. My parents sent me to Greece and Italy for a few weeks in highschool, my grandparents spoiled me with so many trips and some of my fondest memories come from us seeing and exploring the world together.

I think I am most proud of the fact I started this baby from scratch and have grown and brought on a team while still building a life I want to live. I get to create VIP experiences for amazing people and advocate for a more inclusive travel environment for people of color. That is a dream come true for sure.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

COVID lol! I think we all could answer this one. I am in the travel industry so most of the world shut down but with that said I kept seeing there was this core group of my clientele that was still moving around. That was what led me to starting TRvLB a luxury membership-based travel club for affluent travelers. Luxury doesn’t see a recession so I started to focus on the 20% of clients who were giving me 80% of my output/income. Now TravelBash only focuses on destination weddings/ luxury group trips and I don’t take one-off clients. In order to work with me, it is on a retainer basis that runs for the year which is very different from others in my industry.

Any advice for managing a team?

The advice I have on managing a team and maintaining high morale goes back to the the leader and culture they create. I reward what I want to see more of and discipline behaviors I don’t. I also believe in the saying slow to hire, quick to fire. I still have one of the very first hires on my team from 2018 and that says a lot, especially with all we have had to overcome in the last 5 years. I am very direct, I give opportunities for direct feedback- that goes both ways even for myself, and constant communication, I think letting people know what success looks like on your team is important. I try to also have fun. We are in a business that lots of people dream about so not taking ourselves so seriously. They know I believe in the work hard play harder motto. Its really showing and not just telling your team what you expect and giving them clear freedom to do what is asked of them. We give SOPs and they have processes and not expecting to guess or assume. We try to put people in the right seats and put them in the best position to be successful. Listening is another valuable skill and piece of advice I would give anyone who is managing a team. It’s not always about us at the leaders even if the business is our baby, we have to let go and trust people to do what they were hired to do.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.travel-bash.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/travelbash
• Facebook: www,facebook.com/travelbash
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtnienichols/
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/travel-bash.com
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/travelbash-blacksburg
• Other: www.courtnienichols.com