We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Victoria Fricke. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Victoria below.

Victoria, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Success can be defined by a number of things. The amount of money in the bank, the list of clients in your database, a sales goal being hit… you name it. For me, it took a bit more than that. It took seeing success in my employees. It wasn’t about me, it was about the team I was so focused on building.

When you hit a certain volume in travel it becomes unmanageable on your own. I had an assistant, but even so I could tell I was getting close to capacity. I opted to hire two former clients of mine who I saw to be very opposite and both with qualities I didn’t have. I paused my business on all new leads for a month (insane I know) and focused all my efforts into training both girls. I wanted to teach them everything I knew, and gradually help them learn how to sell travel.

For me, success came about a year later when they were both fully on their own: absolutely destroying any type of vision/goals I had for them. Success for me was watching a success story unfold in front of me. It was knowing that my vision and my ability to pause allowed two women the opportunity to launch careers alongside me.

So if you ask for my definition of success I’d tell you it’s in the team you create and the vision you allow to grow.

Victoria, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hi! I’m Vic, owner of Vic’s Vacations. A luxury travel agency with a focus on Caribbean and European travel. We take the planning out of your hands giving you the freedom to decide on what type of trip you want to take, when you want to take it, the budget and the rest is on us! We curate the perfect trip with all components planned then you can eliminate the stress of planning and just go on the trip!

I’d say this was an intended hobby that accidentally turned into a career. I was a high school English teacher out on maternity leave with my second child. I intended to take a full summer and semester off then return to the classroom. During my break from school I started researching for our first trip to Disney and quickly became overwhelmed. I knew a travel agent who specialized in Disney World and decided to work with her. Very quickly I could see the value she added in her knowledge, and knew she was getting compensated with commission from my trip. Then I took it a step further and thought… I could do this.

I began researching everything there was to know about Disney. Where to eat, what rides to go on, how to navigate the parks. I became so focused to learn everything there was and decided I too would become a travel agent and help families go to Disney. By this point I had decided to stay home full time and knew I’d be bored to tears without a job.

I applied and was accepted to join a travel agency with a focus on Disney and began learning the ins and outs of the travel space. I quickly realized I had a knack for helping people plan and wanted to start planning trips beyond Disney. I also realized I was absolutely in the wrong travel agency and needed to find a new one.

I moved agencies and really began focusing on turning the hobby I had began into a career. I had a goal of 5 years to become a full time travel agent (making a salary that matched/beat my teacher salary). I did it in two.

After 6 amazing years working with my former agency I finally decided I had what it took to fully go out on my own and launched my agency, Vic’s Vacations. My team and I haven’t looked back and are blown away by what we’ve done since.

If asked about our agency and what I’d want people to know about us I’d say I want you to know we’re driven. We do a happy dance with every inquiry we get. A trip to the Caribbean- we’re excited. A trip to Europe- we’re excited. A destination wedding- we’re excited. We all love what we do, and it really is evident in our daily email response, our calls with clients and the service we provide.

I’m so proud of the passion we all share for our jobs and the unwavering commitment to our clients.

Any advice for managing a team?

Without a good team, I’d be nowhere. I am where I am because of my team… and I recognize that whole heartedly.

It’s really simple. I tell them that I appreciate them and I try to show them I appreciate them. I know, a mind blowing strategy…. but it really is that simple. I say thank you. I share congratulations. I tell them that I’m proud of them. I take time to listen to their frustrations. I stop what I’m doing to walk them through problems in real time. I mentor them. I care.

Without my assistants my organization and processes would be garbage.
Without my accountant I’d never successfully get a payment out the door.
Without my agents I’d be stressed and anxious beyond belief and would never have a work life balance.

Without my team, Vic’s Vacations would crumble. If my one job is to be kind, supportive and to mentor to keep that from happening… I’d say that’s a simple task.

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

Our reputation has been defined by previous clients. People often ask how we gain clients through social media. Simple: we ask. All of our clients who travel, we ask for them to share their trips on social media and to tag us while they travel. Something so simple truly has a huge impact.

The goal is simple. Allow our current clients to share their experiences with their friends/followers. Loop our agency into those photos/videos in hopes of their friends thinking that we can help them as well curate their vacations! Look what Vic’s Vacations planned for me, they can do the same for you is the subliminal message… and it works!

Along with the ask to tag on social media, we ask for them to leave us Google reviews and do a quarterly drawing for all who do and give them a travel voucher! I never thought Google would be a source for people to find us, but more and more as our reviews climb we are.

Our current and former clients are the absolute reason for our continued success building our reputation and we are so appreciative for every review and mention that has allowed us to grow!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vicsvacations.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vicsvacations/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vicsvacations

Image Credits

Photography by Karolina