We recently connected with Janel Carnero and have shared our conversation below.

Janel, appreciate you joining us today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. So, we’d appreciate if you could open up about your growth story and the nitty, gritty details that went into scaling up.

I started off in the new-to-me industry of luxury travel just over two years ago. I knew in order to be successful, I was going to have to give it my all and dive as deep as possible into learning and personal growth.

This business is all about relationships, knowledge, and the ability to adapt and overcome obstacles. From years as a CEO of several companies, adapting and overcoming obstacles was a part of who I was. I had that down. What I didn’t have were the relationships or the knowledge just yet.

I began researching trainings and people in the industry that I admired. I signed up for several online programs based on “best practices” and “how-to’s.” I listened to countless podcasts, read different books, and started reaching out to those I admired. Most think the idols they aspire to be are out of reach. The truth is, you are just intimidated to reach out to them. I mustered my nerves and started sending emails and DMs asking to connect. I wanted to learn, I wanted to hear their wisdom and advice, and doing exactly that has helped me be successful.

Within the first year in travel, I completed nine different training programs, including a very in-depth year-long program with Embark Beyond. One of the wisest decisions I have ever made. These programs all came with a cost and all took time, but in order to be successful, I needed to believe in myself. Boy, was it scary and hard. I didn’t make a salary or a weekly check. This ALL depended on me. I had built successful companies from the ground up, I have turned around failing companies, and all while making a great salary for myself and making the owners wealthy. I have worked 100-plus hours for weeks on end and have experienced all the sadness of not making it to my child’s game or practice or school on time. I have been absent as a spouse because I was building an empire for someone else. This time, it was for me, it was for my family, and it was for our futures and the ability to truly love what I was doing, and that terrified me. Still does from time to time.

But scaling up to the magnitude I have was all about believing in myself and doing all the things we know we should be doing consistently. I put in the time, I researched, I pushed my boundaries, I read every book that could help me, I trained on every program I could, and I listened, truly listened, to my mentors.

Finding clients isn’t easy by any means. You have to analyze your market, know where your clients are, speak their language, and show your value. How do you do that? You get out of your head, and you just start doing it. Sounds simple, but it is anything but. Consistently making those small choices each and every day is easy to do, but it is also easy not to do. You have to decide each and every moment which choice you make.

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?

Here I was on Facebook late at night doing a random survey about my dream job. I had just left the trucking industry after successfully building 7 different companies and I was exhausted. My weight and health had taken a toll because I was working myself to death. Yes, in moments I loved what I was doing but looking back it was only because I love building, I love molding and I love creating opportunities for others that was not there before.

This survey told me I should be Travel Advisor and I dove head first (after almost a month straight of researching) and started my journey on being a Luxury Travel Advisor. Within 2 years I have crushed my goals of selling over a million in sales, I have been named Travel and Leisures Rising Star, I have been named a top advisor, I have been on and lead panels discussions on how to navigate our industry, integrate AI and so much more. I have become a mentor to several new advisors just starting out and have helped some who have been in the industry over 10 years.

I am Janel Carnero, the travel whisperer for the Ultra Luxe!

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Managing a team and the morale of that team, starts with you. You have to know your true priorities, what your company culture is, and you have to showcase that in yourself first. Say you want relationships to be important, but you don’t deliberately foster an environment that showcases that how will others follow.

Create an environment where people can grow, they can learn, and they can thrive. Errors will happen but it is how you deal with them in those moments that matters most.

I give my team the opportunity to make mistakes and to learn from them. What I do not is allow them to make the same mistake because I simply didn’t take the time to show them how to not make the same one again.

Put value on your time as well as your teams, show them why this important. LISTEN, you don’t know everything, and you certainly don’t always know best. That is what you have a team for, to collaborate, to build off ideas together and to come up with solutions. Show your team their value and you will be amazed at moral even in the toughest moments.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

My biggest source for finding new clients has been analyzing my market and where I am trying to grow my business. We often overthink things to the point we become immune to the obvious.

Want golf clients? Take up golfing and start immersing yourself in their world. Want Luxury clients, start immersing yourself in the luxury world and go meet your client where they are. Do not expect them just to come to you. Go have drinks at the country clubs, talk with people at the airport lounges, attend events, the options are truly limitless.

Want fashion clients? Start by going to the fashion shows, go to events that are already happening around you or simply create an event and collaborate with others to make one happen. Think outside of those 4 walls and make something happen.

Another great source for me has been my community. I started putting my name out there, explaining who I was and what I did. I go to all the events I can that I know my clients will be at.

Immerse yourself in their world and build relationships.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.virtuoso.com/advisor/janecarn29195/MyDashboard
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janelcarnerotravel/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janel-carnero-33973321/