Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Laura Ryan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Laura thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later
I wish I had not let fear stop me from pursuing my career as a travel agent sooner. I’ve successfully opened 2 pet care businesses and had dreamed of helping people travel as a business not just a hobby for years.
I was new to Florida and the pandemic started as a result I began to pursue my dream and began training. The plus side is during the beginning of Covid I had so much down time to focus on my training, the downside was it was a slow process to gain clients with all the restrictions.
Definitely a catch 22 had I started sooner I would’ve had so many emotional challenges with everything closing down, not starting sooner has had its challenges because so many families were anxious about traveling. I guess the answer is I started exactly when I was supposed to.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m a mom, grandmother, fur mom who’s successfully opened 4 businesses in the past 7 years. I own a pet care/dog walking business in 3 states. I got into the travel industry because I love to travel and loved helping friends and family plan vacations (lots of Disney) I knew that by opening my travel business I could fulfill all my desires to help families plan vacations and support my love for travel. Discipline is huge, I’ve continued to run my pet care businesses and feel extremely grateful for the teams I have in place. Though even with a great team I still handle all the back end (not fun part) of Pup Patrol which means I need to dedicate specific times each day to my travel agency, marketing, building relationships, training and ad often as possible traveling myself.
I love that the vendors I work with pay me a fee for booking so when my clients book with me they’re paying exactly what is listed on a quote, I don’t charge planning fees.
My agency is Goldearmarked with Disney, has relationships with resorts/hotels/cruise lines/tour operators all over the world.
These relationships allow me to be your one stop for anywhere you dream of traveling too.
I’m extremely proud of who I am as a person, I listen to what people are saying, if they tell me they have X amount for a budget I don’t push people to spend more. I grew up in a middle/lower income family and travel wasn’t ever something we could do, as a result I love that I can help families with any budget get to travel together. Making memories is my motto for life.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
Funding my business wasn’t easy at all! I 100% self funded all of my businesses. I’ve not sought any funding which for me has plus of no loans to pay back, downside was limited my ability to participate in trade shows or taking advantage of agency invited resort training due to cost of flights or needing to not be available for my other business that while building my client base was paying the bills.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I’ve built my social media presence by showing myself, not just sharing generic photos or posts but actually showing myself traveling. Examples would be people ask often if a child is too young for Disney, rather than just answering the question I actually show them myself at Disney with infants, toddlers & teens. Real life examples. I find being my true self who’s had times in life that were really good and times that were really bad shows the human side of me vs just being a sales person.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @lauraryanmousemadesimple
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauramousemadesimple?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Other: TikTok travelplanner77