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

Alright, Paris thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents did a lot of things right that impacted my life and career. For instance, my parents became full time entrepreneurs when I was just 7 or 8 years old. They own a janitorial service – Superior Cleaning Corporation, based in Ypsilanti, MI.

When I was a teenager, I started working at the family company. This taught me work ethic, dedication, and the importance of working for yourself, on your own terms. I was inspired by them to create my own business, and I knew that I could trust in their guidance with any questions of how to start it.

I love to travel and would find myself always planning trips for other – FOR FREE. My mom hinted to the idea of me charging people for my time, and after a few months of researching, and speaking to them about business plans, etc., I decided to take the leap of faith and open, iTravel2Getaway, LLC in March 2016.

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?

I’m Paris Allen, a wife and a boy mom of 1. I am original from Ypsilanti, MI, currently residing in Miami, FL. I’m a Pisces. I love hanging out with my family; and, I’m a first generation college graduate. I hold a bachelor’s degree in Geography from Arizona State University, and a master’s degree in Geographic Information Systems from the University of Washington Seattle.

One thing everyone knows about me is that I love to travel! Like, I’m obsessed with it! In Geography class in high school and into college, I loved learning about different cultures, and one day wished that I could visit places that I would see in textbooks or on movies – in real life. It didn’t seem possible back then because, I never really traveled outside of the US growing up (we drove over the bridge to Canada a few times, and we took a family vacation to the Bahamas when I was in 7th grade – but, that was really it.). In 2009, I saw an ad at my alma mater, Arizona State University, for a study abroad program in Australia and Fiji, and I just had to do it. And, I did! It was the best decision ever! And, ever since then I’ve been traveling around the world.

After seeing my travels on social media, people would ask me to plan their trips for them, and I would… for free. My mom mentioned to me that I should start charging people to plan their trips because it is taking time out of my day to do this – and, time is money! That is what sparked the idea of opening up a travel agency. I had a blog up for a while, named, iTravel2Getaway, and I thought it would be great to shift it from just a blog to a full service travel agency. I’ve used travel agencies in the past – but, I wanted mines to be different. I wanted mine to feel like we are here every step of the way with you from start to finish. In March 2016, I opened iTravel2Getaway, LLC and never looked back!

iTravel2Getaway, LLC is a boutique travel agency, that provides luxury vacations at economical prices. We host several domestic and international group trips throughout the year to various places. Additionally, if a client wants a personalized trip, we curate and book those too. We are able to book everything the client will need-airfare, accommodations, tour passes, theme park tickets, etc.

I am proud to be able to have a company that gives people full confidence to travel around the world and trust that we are here – every step of the way. Clients love how professional, hands-on, accessible, and personable we are. I think what sets us aside from other travel companies is that we are so accessible and hands – on… and, we do full trip (airfare included) giveaways, as raffles on a couple of our group trips.

Since opening, we have served over 2,000 clients to go on trips all over the world – from Greece, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the Maldives, Panama, Brazil, Jamaica and more!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Hosting group travel. Many people love to travel – but, don’t want to do it alone. I started to notice a quick jump in sales once I held my first group trip. Therefore, we will continue to have group trips. Also, hiring a social media manager has been a great way of gaining new clientele. I’m not a savvy person when it comes to social media and it was a daunting task to post. Having my social media manager onboard has been a lifesaver! We have gained many new organic followers and in turn has had more bookings referencing they found us online.

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

The pandemic – COVID 19 as everyone knows, was horrific for everyone and every thing. Owning a travel agency during the pandemic seemed like a business death sentence. So many cancellations, loss of income, angry customers, long wait times, country restrictions, and the unknown, seemed like every reason to shut down. God would not let me do that. I knew that this would end, just didn’t know when. I knew I had created something great and it had to stay. So, I had to scale down my entire business, and rethink how I was going to rebuild from all of this. I took a moment to just be – through Praying and thinking. Then I developed a plan to help us get back on our feet.

We reached out to every one of our clients who had a trip in the near future booked with us about what their options were. Many were very understanding and wanted us to hold their funds to transfer to another trip in the future. Others, rightfully so, wanted a refund, and was granted that. We hired a business lawyer to draft up iron clad contracts for everyone going forward. And, we started offering travel insurance to clients.

Slowly, but surely, we were able to rebuild our company back and now feel confident in our business processes should another pandemic or worldwide closure occur again.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.itravel2getaway.com
• Instagram: itravel2getaway

Image Credits
iTravel2Getaway, LLC