We recently connected with Kendra & Kelvin Brown and have shared our conversation below.
Kendra & Kelvin , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risk taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
We were in Maldives on a once and lifetime experience and find out about Covid and the possibility the border was closing. While there many people loved our images and shared how everything looked beautiful.
When we returned in March we had so many travelers booked for travel in 2020 and 2021 that we were knee deep in making changes and updates. But we knew from how amazing this experience was that we wanted to go back and bring our community. We already had other group experiences like Bali, Greece and Italy that we had to rebook so there was a risk in 1) launching a trip during the pandemic but also 2) launching a luxury bucket-list experience like Maldives.
But if you know us you know that we haven’t had the success we had without taking risks. We reached out the hotel negotiated an agreement and payment arrangement. Please note that Maldives resorts don’t do payment plans. But we had one.
We curated and edited some amazing videos and pictures from our stay and used them as marketing materials. And we launched the trip in late July 2020. The trip was sold out with 34 people in August 2020.
Eventually we were overwhelmed with people requesting to be added to the experience or those booked referring their friends that when we arrived in Maldives in May 2022 we came with 68 travelers (70 including us). We also booked 58 of them on group flights with Qatar Airlines.
The travelers still talk about how amazing this experience was and some booked to go back in 2023. This was a risk that was well worth the hard work and sacrifice. Our community thoroughly enjoyed themselves in one of the top destinations in the world.
This is exactly why Kendra founded Younique Ventures in 2015. To bring luxury experiences for diverse and deserving people who want to see the world and not skip on quality.
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?
We (Kelvin and Kendra) are the owners and travel designing couple of Younique Ventures, a luxury travel company. Kendra is the founder of Younique Ventures and really didn’t see anyone in the luxury travel space that looked like her and was doing experiences that were truly unforgettable and unique. She thought it was time to bring some special flare to luxury travel.
We curate high quality experiences for busy professionals, business owners or new luxe travelers interested in elevating their travel experiences. With us, you can pay, prepare, pack and go (all with a convenient payment plan – Yes, on luxury trips!)
What bring us the most joy is seeing our travelers experience the world on a different level. Many say they travel different with us. And we would agree. We don’t want anything to feel average or ok about your travel with us. We focus on refreshing retreats, excellent service, delicious cuisine and more for our special curated experiences.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Consistently Investing in our client experience from databases, to payment processors, to rewarding people for referrals and constantly seeking new ways to make the client experience better. So they come back and they continue to refer others.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Seeking help and getting assistance. Stop thinking no one can do it as good as you or better than you.
Many business owners try to do it all and Kendra was one of them. But learning later that to successfully scale and grow you cannot. Also you will be overwhelmed and exhausted. It will interfere with your client experience which you don’t want to happen.
Eventually you will need to seek help from others with a similar or better skill set that can elevate your brand. Or eventually build a team that fits the culture you are creating.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.youniqueventures.com
- Instagram: @youniqueventures
- Facebook: @youniqueventuresllc
Image Credits
Yellow dress picture – Her dress jamaica The main picture with green dress – The oglifestyle