We recently connected with Sheryl Baker and have shared our conversation below.

Sheryl, appreciate you joining us today. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?

Becoming a Travel Advisor was never my dream. In fact, I never even thought about it until I was in my mid-50s. I had already had a career in Oil & Gas for 12 years and then as a Director of Sales for a book company for 24 years. So, I was getting closer to retiring than starting a new career!

I’ve always been big into networking and I joined BNI (Business Networking International) in 2010 as I was promoting a skincare business that I thought would be my retirement adventure. In BNI, you do a 10-minute presentation several times a year about you and your business. Well, my husband & I were blessed to travel the world so I would always share pictures of travel adventures we had taken. In my BNI was a woman who owned a small travel agency and for over 2 years she would tell me ” I would love for you to join my agency”. But, I didn’t want another job, I wanted to retire!

Finally, in March of 2016, I called her to book a trip for my husband & me and she said, “No, book it for yourself and come and work for me”! So, since I thought we might get some good deals, I decided to see how I liked it. Within 3 months I was hooked! I worked 3 jobs for the rest of 2016 and then quit the other two (my book business and my skincare business) and became a full-time travel advisor in January 2017. I joined a BNI in Pfluggerville, Tx, and started promoting my new travel business.

I worked for her until November 2018 when I decide to start my own agency, Your Passport To Travel. I continued with BNI and my business started growing with referrals and past clients recommending me and my services. One of the biggest things I had to do was educate people on why they needed a travel advisor. Many people didn’t even know that they still existed! I never spent additional money on advertising because BNI was the only advertising I needed.

In December of 2019, we moved to Largo, Florida to be closer to family and the first thing I did was to find another BNI. I found a great one and business was booming until March 2020 when the world shut down. Even though it was hard talking about travel every week in my meetings when no one was traveling, I continued with my BNI membership for the next 2 years. The interesting thing about this was it led to a great change in how BNI did business. Because they couldn’t meet in person, we started Zoom meetings. We did this for 2 years but for the first time ever, BNI started Zoom Only Chapters that stayed online when Covid restrictions were lifted. This was a godsend for me as a travel advisor because one of the requirements with BNI is that you have to attend weekly meetings. But, as a travel advisor, I travel all the time, and sometimes I couldn’t physically attend my meeting. But, after COVID restrictions were lifted, I moved to an online-only chapter and I have been able to “attend” my meetings from Portugal, Ecuador, Alaska, and even Kenya to name a few countries! My fellow members can “see” me out living my adventures. It’s a great way to do business.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

I have always loved to travel and I love learning about other countries and cultures. I wanted to share that with other people. To me, the symbol of travel is the passport. So, I named my company, Your Passport To Travel, because you just need your passport and my company to get you there!

Although I do all travel types, I specialize in Romance Travel & Bucketlist Travel. Romance travel is destination weddings, honeymoons, anniversary trips, and vow renewals. I love helping couples plan their perfect romantic trip. Bucketlist travel can literally be anything someone has wanted to do but within Bucketlist travel, I specialize in Africa. I LOVE Africa and I have been 8 times already. I have walked with lions in Botswana, tracked gorillas in Uganda & Rwanda, floated down the Nile in Egypt, taken a helicopter over Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, jumped with the Masai warriors in Kenya, and been on countless safaris in South Africa. I love taking groups on safari and seeing the wonder on their faces the first time they come close to a massive elephant in the wild. It is priceless.

I am proud of all the certifications I have received as I continue to study my craft. I now have a team of 4 sub-agents and 1 office assistant and our business is exploding right now. My clients have continued to tell their friends about me and we have a 5-star rating on several platforms. We have done this by taking care of our clients and making sure that the adventure they have is the best one for them and they have come back for the next trip and the one after that!

One thing that sets me apart as a travel advisor is that I actually travel! I have been to over 75 countries and 5 continents (soon to be 6 as I just booked my cruise to the Antarctica for November!) and I have great insights that I can share with my clients. I also lead several trips a year for those people who don’t want to “do it on their own” but are comfortable going with an experienced guide. This year I will be doing a Ladies Retreat to Ecuador, an Egypt group tour, a Kenya group tour, and a Luxury South Africa safari. Plus, I have an Alaskan Cruise and a Caribbean cruise I will be taking clients along with me.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I definitely had to pivot during COVID. In January 2020, I was having my best year ever and was selling more that month than I ever had before. Life was good! Then in March, I had to refund all the trips I had booked in January and February. I was devastated but still thought we would be back up and running soon. Well, that didn’t happen and I literally made $7,000 in 2020.

But, to keep in front of my clients, I started making “travel videos” about places I had been and sharing them with my database. I also started doing Travel Talks for organizations over Zoom. I also stayed in BNI so that I could talk about traveling again one day.

When 2021 hit and we were still locked down, it was hard but again, I kept in touch with my clients and reached out to others through Zoom. I also traveled all around the world in 2021 to show my clients it could be done. I went to Turks & Caicos, Jamaica, Egypt, Kenya, Portugal, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and Ecuador. Of course, I did it safely and I was fully vaccinated and boosted. But, I traveled because that is what I do!

2022 has been a complete reversal and my business has exploded as people are getting back out and traveling again and I am so glad I kept going during this time when many companies and advisors went out of business.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

My best source of new clients has been referrals from past clients and also Facebook. My past clients are great for sending me new business and also for posting reviews on both Yelp, Facebook, and my business account page. I try to make sure that all my clients are taken care of before, during, and after their trip. I take pride in staying in contact with them when they are traveling to make sure everything is going as they planned.

On Facebook, I post lots of my travel pictures and people want to know where I am going next. I book trips from my travel posts because people want to do what I do and go where I’ve gone.

For my Romance Travel business I do 2-3 Wedding shows a year where I have the chance to talk to people planning their wedding or honeymoon. Those are a lot of fun!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.yourpassporttotravel.com
• Instagram: @yourpassporttotravel
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YourPassportToTravelBucketList

Image Credits
Sheryl Baker