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

Kirsten, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I was a substitute teacher for my kids’ school district and we would travel on school holidays using credit card points. I received a lot of questions about how I was able to plan trips with 3 kids in tow. I didn’t know any differently.
There was a local “mom blogger” who was running a successful website so I asked her to sit down and explain to me how it worked. After that meeting, I said “that’s crazy, it’s so much work and I would never want to do that.”
I spent some time thinking about it and then I started researching – how to build a website, how to make money, how to build an audience, etc. I did A LOT of research.
In the beginning it was part-time since I loved substitute teaching, but then jobs started becoming available, along with travel, and I couldn’t do both. I switched to full-time about two years after I started and haven’t looked back. That was 10 years ago.
Major steps – milestones: Building a community was huge. Finding others in this space and sharing tips and tricks. Going to conferences and meeting bigger players. A big turning point was meeting with the representatives for Travelocity which turned into a well paying gig for three years. It also looked good on a resume.
Today’s world is completely different. Knowing what I know now, I don’t think I would change anything, except I would have put more $$ back into the business sooner.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a family travel writer based in DFW, but I’m originally from Phoenix and have lived in San Diego (7 years) and Chicago (14 years). I have 3 boys, ages 22, 20, and 17. As I mentioned previously, I was traveling with my kids frequently when they were younger. We started with a trip to the UK when our oldest was 10 months old. Our first international trip was with 3 kids under the age of 6 and we visited England and Wales. The following year it was France, after that Spain, and so on. At this point, our kids have visited around 35 countries and I’m around 45. I didn’t know a lot of people don’t travel with kids because they think it’s too complicated. I never felt that way.
A couple of years ago I got into creating travel itineraries for different European destinations. These are pre-set 10 day, step-by-step itineraries for families featuring daily activities, accommodation and restaurant recommendations, maps, travel tips, and more. Basically everything you need to help plan your trip. I saw a need in the family travel space, and now offer guides for Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Germany’s Christmas Markets. I have other people I work with who have created different destinations like Japan, Italy, Hawaii, and more. We share and promote one another’s guides across our websites and social media platforms.
This year I also started creating custom itineraries for people. I don’t want to be a travel advisor, but I will lay out every part of your itinerary and you just have to book it. That work is slow and steady, but it’s very time consuming, so I’m ok that it’s not the main part of my work day.
I want potential clients to know that I am walking the walk. I’m giving authentic advise about traveling with children and teens that you won’t find in an AI generated itinerary.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Audience building has changed so much in the past 10 years, so I don’t know if the advice I used then would be the same as now. Then, I did a lot of social engagement (ie. someone comments on my post so I reciprocate), but now it’s more about putting yourself out there and getting people to opt-in to a lead magnet so you can reach them through email.
If you want to grow a social media audience, you need to offer something unique. Be consistent (I’m the worst at this) and post every day (sometimes multiple times a day depending on the platform). Be able to laugh at yourself. I think we are our own worst critics. Don’t be afraid to get in front of the camera (I am, but I’m learning how to get over this), because how are people going to know who you are and what you stand for?

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

In March, Google essentially killed the traffic of all website owners. I lost over 50% of my visitors overnight, as did most content creators I know. Google used everything we created in the past 10-15 years to feed their AI products and basically stole all of our hard work.
After the bitterness wore off (still working on that one), I had to get creative. I had to put efforts elsewhere to promote my content. I’ve gone heavily into email marketing and a little bit more of Pinterest. Switched all my search engines to Bing, started Facebook ads, and promote a lot in my Facebook group, Luxe Family Trips. I am holding steady with traffic, but I would love to get more back.
This has taught me to never rely on anything outside of my control for my livelihood. That traffic decline wiped out over 50% of my income.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kidsareatrip.com and https://groupsareatrip.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/kidsareatrip
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/kidsareatrip
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstensmaxwell/
• Twitter: https://x.com/kidsareatrip
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/kidsareatrip
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@kidsareatrip

Image Credits

Profile photo: Flytographer