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

Jennifer, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

Starting a Travel Agency from nothing more than a love of travel and a dream wasn’t something that should have worked out logically. I had a few years experience as a Travel Agent, but I had such a passion for the business, that I just always knew there was no other way. As a child, we would invite neighborhood kids in to play travel agency with our globe and phone books. As a teenager, I would go to the library and photocopy hotel pages from phonebooks of other states so I could look up the options in AAA books my mother had. And during college, I finally had the chance to work for a travel company. It was love at first reservation. Within 5 years I started up my own business and figured it out as I went along. I have come through many disasters since that day 22 years ago, and it still amazes me that my company not only survived but is growing at an amazing speed. I’ve had to change and adapt many processes and just the overall way we do business over the years, but it was a huge risk to quit a full-time job in hopes that my little company would succeed.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started out in the travel industry with a well-known wholesale company. I quickly realized I had found my calling as a Travel Agent. From there I went on to work in local travel agencies and cruise companies. Once I gathered as much intel as possible, I opened The Tropical Travelers on January 1, 2001. My remote Travel Agency was going to specialize in tropical honeymoons with a specialization in customer service. I could see from several years in the business, that there was a lack of customer service in the surrounding area agencies and I wanted to offer a custom experience to my clients. This set the groundwork for what my company has morphed into today.

I quickly realized this business wasn’t just going to be about being a Travel Agent. Many hats were required if I was going to be successful in this business. Everything from accounting to graphic design was called upon to take the business to each new level. There are challenges when jumping from employee status to owner status. Relationship building was and is a huge part of growing a business. Aligning with the right people can take a business from good to great.

A little bit of luck and a lot of hard work is what I accredit much of the company’s success to. Delighting my clients with a smile on my face has always been the philosophy behind The Tropical Travelers. My team is made up of so many amazing people who absolutely love their jobs and that is the backbone of the company.

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

Being a small business owner can be challenging under the best of circumstances. As a 35-year-old, with a 2-year-old, we had a sudden disaster strike as my husband learned he had terminal cancer. Attempting to keep my family afloat was no easy task. It seems that most people don’t realize how resilient they can be until situations arise that call on every ounce of strength you have. Thankfully I had amazing support from family, friends and co-workers during the most difficult time a person could ever have to deal with and my son and I made it through with the company intact. My husband was my biggest supporter and he would have loved to see where I took The Tropical Travelers through the years. This time in my life has certainly been full of life lessons and learning to take care of yourself comes first even when you are running a company.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

The closest The Tropical Travelers ever came to death would have been during Covid. We had survived 9/11, Swine Flu, recessions and more. But Covid was enough to take down even the strongest travel company. After we all had our crying fits and spent days, weeks and months cancelling bookings we would never get paid for, it was time to figure out the next move. It took some agents longer than others to get back to their desk, but as a single mother, I didn’t have time. My company meant too much to let it all crumble. I quickly set out to find new clients because so many of my current clients had gone silent due to fear of traveling and restrictions. I knew there had to be people who still wanted to travel and I found them through an online service that matched up service providers with clients. Thankfully this fueled the business for over a year until my clients started calling again. To say we were near death, yes, the panic set in at the beginning of Covid and I don’t think anyone in the travel industry knew what would come next. I am very grateful we came through that and are on a growth track.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.TheTropicalTravelers.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetropicaltravelers/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetropicaltravelers
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-tropical-travelers
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYxxO6Lwixcc-V9udl3Qq7g
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-tropical-travelers-malvern
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@thetropicaltravelers