We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shayla Northcutt a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Shayla, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

Northcutt Travel Agency is a small business. It is so amazing to see others support our small business, but it is all about educating the public about what our agency does. We are not like a lot of other agencies.

We give Personalized Service

We don’t Charge Agency Fees

We don’t keep you on hold for 2 hours

We CARE about your travels and vacations – you are not just a “booking” to us

We can try to price match and you get so much more personal attention than just booking online

We Ask Questions

The reason our services are so valuable is that with answering our questions, we can help to curate the perfect place you have been searching all over the internet for… WHY? Because we have been there. We want to know all the details from what you love to what you don’t want. We want to ask all the hard questions up front so that you are our client for life, not for just one trip.

Our expertise spans across a team of 35 agents who have truly travelled the entire world. We have seen over 400 resorts Domestic and International, all of the inclusive destinations, cruise lines from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean, Disney and Universal Our partnerships with hotels makes us one of the leading Destination Wedding Travel Agencies in the USA.

Why We Don’t Charge a Fee

We don’t charge a fee because we don’t want to. You will find that we are highly skilled and qualified and licensed to do what we do the minute you start to work with us. We get paid a commission when you book your vacation or your wedding with us. We don’t believe in overcharging you for our services because we want you as clients for life – not a one time trip. Now with that being said – we are a small business so communication is key – if you have used us for all of our info and go to book online.. you are probably going to miss something special we have put in our package. Be as open and honest with us as we are with you.

We truly care about you and want your experience to be
everything you’ve dreamed of and more!

Have you ever seen a deal on Expedia and wondered if it’s too good to be true? Send us a screenshot and we will match the price and even beat it.

Do you want to be able to make payments for a vacation in the future? We have many options!

Shayla, 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?

I had just had my second child in 2015 and had left the accounting world that I was a part of for over 12 years. I needed to work and my husband suggested being a travel agent, since it is something I was passionate about. I joined a big online host agency and in 3 months quickly rose to their top 10, but I did not get the support being one out of 10,000 agents. I asked my husband to invest in me in March of 2017 and I slowly gathered my team and built my business. I dove into education and learning all I could about travel and became a world traveler myself. Since 2017 I have been to over 40 countries, multiple cruise lines, seen over 400 resorts and hotels. I have built my travel team to be 35 agents from coast to coast and we are always learning and growing. Our 2022 year is our most successful year as we have succeeded at not only being one of the highest revenue generating Travel Agencies in Houston, but now in the USA. I am honored to be asked to speak at travel conventions all over the world on running a business and marketing in the travel industry.

I would have to say the thing I am most proud of is my team, we have hit a lot of trials and tribulations over the past 5 years, especially with how hard Covid hit our industry. The resilience and unwavering support that they have given to our company, our team, and every one of our clients makes me believe we can accomplish anything!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Heart. My number one lesson in business is customer service. If you chase the money, you will never be successful. If you keep faith and always do the right things by the customer and care about them, then other clients by referral and word of mouth will expand your business more than ever.

I am a business woman and have a business degree, so I knew that I had to set up my company for success and have all the processes and procedures in place in order to grow and be successful. Without the right foundation, all things will crumble. I knew that being a customer centric focused business we had to excel.

Our number one question is “Why should we book with you when we can do it online?”

We are experts in our field, there are a lot of pretty pictures on the internet, we know because we have been. When the going gets tough, the flights are delayed, and you are trying to figure it all out, we are here for you and truly care, not some operator that is going to ask you for your reservation 10 times and put you on hold.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

It takes all kinds of kinds.

You have to be willing to work with all kinds of people and personalities. Not every personality fits every customer or clientele, but as a mentor you have to be willing to work with everyone.

I always try and give my team support, and always try to accessible to their wants and needs. Communication is everything. The best way to manage a team is put your team’s strengths out there in order for them to rely on each other as well.

You have to have references and trainings in place in order to create a place for the team to discover their own answers. During Covid, I knew that i had to build a reference guide in order to grow my team more. I created a internal website that is searchable with all of our vendors info, training videos, and so much more!

Keeping morale high, means checking in. You have to have a monthly check in with your team. I try to post in our team group daily something to keep them together or updated about the industry!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.northcutttravelagency.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shaylatravelnta/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shayla.northcutt
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shayla-northcutt-288a933/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NorthcuttTravelAgency1
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/northcutt-travel-agency-houston