We were lucky to catch up with Kelly Wiemann recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kelly, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to start by getting your thoughts on what you are seeing as some the biggest trends emerging in your industry.

One of my favorite travel trends I am seeing more of is multigenerational family trips. When I grew up, family trips consisted of parents and their children. But over the years, family trips have evolved and now include grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I love seeing the growth of this trend. I think after COVID, more people (myself included) realized how fragile time is and are more willing to go out of their way to make time to spend with family outside of their nuclear units.

I encourage anyone interested in a multigenerational trip to find a travel advisor to help you with planning and coordinating. The more people you have the more possibility for error. An advisor can help you navigate which options would be a good fit for everyone’s wants/needs. Travel advisors spend hours learning about what different brands have to offer. They can help coordinate different flight schedules and address any accessibility issues. They will also make sure that your itinerary has activities for all age groups.

Kelly, 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?

For those that do not know me I am a busy mom of 3 young children and I have spent a bulk of my professional career in the hospital setting as a nurse. One perk of being a nurse is you can stack your shifts at the beginning of one week and at the end of the following week resulting in 8 days off. Using this to my advantage I spent a good part of my twenties visiting new places.

As I got older my priorities shifted and I started to have my wonderful children. My love of traveling took a back seat. As parents, I feel like there is always a reason we convince ourselves that travel isn’t possible. Whether it be money, time, or the logistics of getting all the kids from one place to another. Coincidently, it wasn’t until after the world shut down from COVID that I rediscovered my love of travel. I stopped making excuses for why I couldn’t explore the world. After being restricted for so long from the pandemic; as well as seeing how fragile life is from personal experience and from my years as a nurse. I was determined to see the world and have my kids experience it with me.

I first discovered Travelmation when I wanted to plan my children’s first trip to Disney. It was a big trip for us because it also included an aunt, cousins, and grandparents. There were a lot of moving pieces that I thought would be best handled by a professional. I was blown away by how knowledgable my agent was and how seamless she made our trip. To this day, I have some of my fondest memories from that trip. It was this sentimental feeling that I wanted to invoke in others. I called my agent and asked if they were hiring. To my luck they were! Better yet, they were willing to train me!

When I travel, I disconnect from the distractions of my day to day life and reconnect with those that matter most to me. I want others to have this same experience. If I can handle the stressful details that come with planning travel, then I know I have made a positive impact. As an advisor, we help curate itineraries that are a good match for our clients. Everyone is different and one person’s likes/needs will be different from the next. I have spent countless hours learning about various locations and suppliers. It is this knowledge base that I pull from when I help clients choose their itinerary. When you travel, interruptions can happen (flight cancellations, natural disasters, kids get sick, ect.). Situations like this is when using an advisor comes in handy. A travel advisor will walk you through how to handle these interruptions and will even wait on hold with the supplier so you don’t have to. This is something you aren’t going to get when you book from a wholesale brand.

Travelmation is more than just a travel agency. Our leadership team and agents have created a culture that is unmatched. Our number one goal is to help people “Get Out There”. We do this through our partnerships with our suppliers; support from our fellow agents and leadership team; and capitalizing on any chance we can to travel. I can honestly say this is one of the few places I have worked that I feel nurtured and are given all the tools I need to grow. This translates to providing the best service I can for my clients.

The biggest thing that shocks people about my services is they are 100% COMPLEMENTARY! Yes, that’s right! You pay the same price whether you use my services or not. Travel advisors are paid by the suppliers and our commissions are already factored into your price. By not using me as your travel advisor you are leaving unused amenities offered by your vacation supplier.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

A lot of my clients right now find me through word of mouth. I never studied marketing in school and have no idea how to market myself outside of social media, and even that I struggle with!

I always feel honored when someone refers me to the their friends/family. It is the best compliment my clients can give me.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Right before I joined Travelmation I stepped down from a management position in healthcare. When I took the manager position I figured it was the logical next step in my nursing career. I quickly realized it wasn’t a good fit for me. Being a manager in healthcare is tough! It requires 24/7 availability! I was forced to choose between my family and the unit I managed on multiple occasions. The longer I was in that position the quicker time was getting away from me, and I felt like my children were growing up without me being present. The thought of compromising my time at home to climb the leadership ladder just didn’t seem worth it. So I went back to bedside nursing and started working as a travel agent on the side. Never in my wildest dreams did I think my career with Travelmation would take off as quickly as it did or that I would love it as much as I do. I love the flexibility that being a travel agent has given me. At the end of the day, family is my number one priority.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.travelmation.net/kellywiemann
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellyw_travelmore/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kellywtravelmore/
• Other: https://linktr.ee/kellyw_travelmore