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

Jamie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

As a full time power wheelchair user, I have always loved to travel, however travel also looks very different for me. Often times I would have to come up with creative work arounds for the most basic travel excursions. With over 20 years in the marketing field and owning my own marketing firm that handles event planning, I was often asked to book the hotel, flights and car rentals needed in addition to planning my client’s event. I started in travel as a way to fill this need for my company, but it opened a door to something much bigger.

I decided to start my own travel agency that would focus on accessible travel. Providing the much needed resources for everyone to easily book and enjoy their dream vacation.

Jamie, 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?

I was born with congenital muscular dystrophy and have used a power wheelchair for my mobility my entire life. I have never let my disability stop me from attaining my life’s goals. I have a BA in Mass Communications Television Production and Direction from the University of South FL and a Masters in Management from Bellevue University. I have worked in Marketing over 20 years and have owned my own marketing firm focusing on non profits and small businesses since 2016, and started a full service, special needs certified travel agency in 2017. In both businesses I want to use my expertise to assist the disability community. In June of 2022, Adventures by Jamie was named the Best Travel Agency in Tampa Bay.

On the more personal side, I have been in an interabled relationship with my amazing boyfriend, Kevin, since 2013. He makes me so very happy and has never thought twice about my disability. I am admittedly a bit Disney obsessed, and try to go to the parks as often as possible. At the core, my passion in life is to help people. To make our world somehow better. I live my life as a faith based woman who truly believes God never gives us anything we can’t handle. I am so thankful for my loving family who encourages and pushes me to go after my goals and dreams and reminds me that there is always a way, and my disability is not an excuse to not try to attain them.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I have always been a forward thinking person. I lost my job of 12 years in 2016 and honestly had no idea what I was going to do next. I decided at that point that I wanted to give entrepreneurship a try. I wanted to continue doing what I loved, which was helping the disability community to thrive, and so I focused my main clientele for my marketing firm on non profits and small businesses that supported this demographic. With my travel agency, I personally was well aware of the need to help to make travel more accessible and began my journey to do just that. I not only have built an agency of 55 agents (and growing) all over the US, but I also have added public speaking/advocacy, travel career coaching and accessibility advisor to my repertoire in the hopes that I can play even the smallest part in making our world more accessible and inclusive.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

When it comes to building your audience on social media, consistency is key. You want to ideally be posting on Facebook and Instagram once every day with video being your most powerful tool in your social media tool kit. Remember you aren’t just posting to post. Think of who your ideal audience is. What do you want them to do with your information. You always want a call to action in your posts. What do you want your audience to do? Your posts should also have purpose. Either to educate, entertain, empower or engage.

Using Instagram Reels with trending sounds is very helpful in expanding your reach. Look for audio on other videos with an up arrow before the song title. This means it is trending. Once you click on the audio name it will show you how many videos have used it. The lower the number the better. Higher numbers means the trend is on its way out.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.adventuresbyjamie.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/adventuresbyjamie/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/adventuresbyjamie
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-santillo-mam-37644213
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AdventuresbyJamie
• Other: calendly.com/adventuresbyjamie