Masters in Travel

This month’s Shop Talk starts with an AI bootcamp neither host fully loved and ends with both of them rethinking how their businesses are built. Brianna and Whitney trade notes on “simplify to scale,” why profit matters more than revenue, and what happened when Claude mined years of emails to build client profiles and map 23 past Africa trips. Brianna also walks us through her self-funded team fam to Tokyo, Hakone, and Kyoto. Whitney is off to Sicily.

An AI that agrees with everything you say isn't a thinking partner, it's autocomplete. Brianna walks through her recent switch from ChatGPT to Claude, not as a platform comparison, but as a case study in what happens when pricing and property suggestions sound polished but don't hold up against real numbers. She breaks down the five-part skill structure her team now runs on, from call prep to quality assurance, and why the standard has to live in a document instead of her head. The framework matters more than the tool.

Thousands of travel advisors research the same facts every day, and Whitney Shindelar sees that as a structural problem. The owner of Undiscovered Sunsets and creator of The Hive separates fact research from execution and explains why the judgment behind every hotel and routing choice has never had a home. Three habits change that. If your brain feels too full to show up fully, this one is for you.

You can hand someone a task, but you can’t hand them an instinct. In the second of a three-part series, Whitney breaks down the three layers of knowledge in a travel advisor’s head (facts, experiences, and reasoning) across destination, supplier, business, and client intel. The reasoning layer is why you stay the bottleneck. She closes with three habits she’s building herself: record everything, voice-note your thoughts right after, and explain your reasoning out loud after every proposal.

A better CRM won’t fix a full head. Whitney opens a three-part solo series with the day she spent in the Atlas Mountains outside Marrakech, laptop braced on her knees, building a last-minute Japan invoice instead of enjoying the view she’d requested. She explains the two ceilings in a travel business, chaos and fullness, and why organized, efficient travel advisors still end up as the bottleneck. Start noticing where your own business follows you.

Handing off tasks is easy. Handing off judgment is where most travel advisors get stuck. In this Shop Talk, Whitney and Brianna debrief their first PURE Life Experiences in Marrakech, from wrangling appointment requests to the hotel meetings that actually stuck. Then they get into the harder part: Brianna's biweekly meetings to transfer her thinking to her team member, and Whitney's $2,000-a-night Milan hotel quote that nobody stopped to question.

The restructure fails when judgment never transfers. In part two of this two-part series, Brianna introduces what she calls the baton pass: organizing a team around the phases of the client journey instead of around who's on the roster. She walks through her own four-person structure, from intake to concierge execution, and uses a Michelin-star dining mishap to show why transferring judgment, not just tasks, is what actually lets travel advisors step back.

Hiring help doesn't get you out of the middle of your business. Brianna breaks down the quality control trap, where a team member does the work, you check it, and the standard never leaves your head. She shares how she stopped double-checking final itinerary reviews and gave her client experience manager full ownership of arrival amenities. Then she asks three questions to find out whether your team owns outcomes or just completes tasks, with the fix coming in part two.

Most travel advisors have never read their own host agreement fine print. That gap can cost real money. Brianna sits down with Gunes Hopson, founder of GFH Law PLC and owner of Luxe Travel by Gunes, to break down real contract disputes she has handled, including hidden exclusivity clauses and non-competes that trap advisors mid-transition. Gunes also explains why AI cannot replace a lawyer's review of a legal document, and what actually happens when an LLC exists on paper but not in practice.

In this month's Shop Talk, Whitney and Brianna reconnect after five months apart and compare notes on what shifted. Whitney shares the delegation ceiling she hit this summer, from moving her team onto a shared inbox to splitting her support roles at inquiry-to-deposit and pre-departure. Brianna talks through taking June and July mostly off in Portugal and Spain, then coming home to a 50-person corporate offsite in Italy that fell in her lap. Together they get into what a $500,000 group program really costs in hours, why corporate planning committees move so slowly, and whether staying in your lane beats chasing a bigger number. The conversation wraps with both of them prepping for PURE in Marrakech, including conference nerves and the 72-out-of-700 appointment scramble.

In this conversation on DMCs, Whitney flips the script and chats with Hicham Mhammedi Alaoui, co-founder of Experience Morocco and The Travel Collection, to shine a light on the DMC side of working with travel advisors. They unpack how DMCs can create unique and memorable experiences without breaking the bank, how global expansion works behind the scenes, and what travel advisors should know to build successful partnerships. Hicham shares candid advice on communication, budgets, and the ever-evolving landscape of destination management, offering invaluable insights for both new and seasoned travel entrepreneurs.

For the next several weeks, enjoy this replay of a listener favorite episode. We'll be back soon with new content!

How can travel advisors create partnerships with DMCs that feel more like collaborations and less like transactions? Joining Whitney for Part 2 of a two-part convo are seasoned travel advisor Kate Sullivan and newer advisor Anna Tretter to explore the intricacies of working with DMCs. They talk about the role DMCs play in the travel industry, especially in crafting experiences that go beyond the traditional "greatest hits." And they share tips on effective communication with DMCs, the benefits of using technology and collaborative platforms,. and pursuing transparency that builds trust with both the DMC partner and clients.

For the next several weeks, enjoy this replay of a listener favorite episode. We'll be back soon with new content!

Sometimes you love them, sometimes they drive you crazy...this week, we're talking all about Destination Management Companies (DMCs)! Seasoned advisor Kate Sullivan and newer advisor Anna Tretter join Whitney to share their personal experiences, frustrations, and strategies when working with DMCs. Plus, they talk about the importance of transparency, effective communication, and how to build strong partnerships with DMCs to enhance client experiences. This is Part 1 of a two part conversation!

For the next several weeks, enjoy this replay of a listener favorite episode. We'll be back soon with new content!

When a new inquiry comes in, how do you approach it? In today's episode, Jeremy Sulek of Jetset World Travel shares his less conventional approach to handling every inquiry and effectively booking clients. If you cautiously vet potential clients when inquiries come in, expecting them to prove that they are worth your time and energy, Jeremy will challenge your mindset. Learn how to maintain a positive outward posture, even with potentially unsuitable clients. Plus, learn strategies for restructuring qualification processes and approaching your travel business with a business mindset.

For the next several weeks, enjoy this replay of a listener favorite episode. We'll be back soon with new content!

We asked listeners on our Instagram what topics you want to hear on the podcast, and the topic of "incentive travel" was one. So today, Brittney Tromanhauser of Avery Travel Group shares about her journey as a corporate incentive travel specialist. She discusses the transition from leisure travel to focusing on corporate group travel and the ins and outs of that sector.

For the next several weeks, enjoy this replay of a listener favorite episode. We'll be back soon with new content!

How to pitch the media is a topic our guest on today's episode knows inside and out. Listen in as Jenn Lee, now President and CMO of Travel Planners International, lays out an easy-to-follow formula for reaching out to different media sources. Pitching the media, when done right, can help legitimize you, your business, and the business of travel advisors everywhere.

For the next several weeks, enjoy this replay of a listener favorite episode. We'll be back soon with new content!

Join Brianna and guest Erica Carr for a conversation on their innovative approaches to scaling a travel business with an employee model, from implementing unique incentive programs to understanding the evolving roles within a travel agency. They delve into the significance of hiring ahead of growth, the shift in industry norms post-Covid, and the vital role of technology in adapting to change. Plus, they share their personal experiences in assembling teams that complement their strengths and drive business success, highlighting the balance between independent contractors and employees, the value of understanding employee motivations, and strategic hiring decisions that prioritize team dynamics and client satisfaction.

For the next several weeks, enjoy this replay of a listener favorite episode. We'll be back soon with new content!

Love travel and planning it, but hate the sales part? In this episode, Brianna and guest Glenda from The Art of Selling Travel delve into the art of sales and client relations. Glenda shares her seasoned approach to pricing negotiations and reframing rejection, all while maintaining an authentic human connection. She provides invaluable insights on asking the right questions and building rapport that help build connections with clients. Through this candid discussion and personal stories, they unravel the complexities of selling travel experiences, advocating the power of conversation over assumption.

For the next several weeks, enjoy this replay of a listener favorite episode. We'll be back soon with new content!

Mindset is a topic that we hear about in our personal lives and in our professional lives. It is a topic that lingers behind all decisions that we make, especially as an entrepreneur. If we asked ten people, or ten advisors, what mindset means to them we would get 10 different answers. On today’s episode of Masters in Travel, Whitney is joined by Lina Sutton and Danielle Gaerte. Three travel advisors talking about their experiences and their challenges in running a travel business and their mindset related to being an entrepreneur.

For the next several weeks, enjoy this replay of a listener favorite episode. We'll be back soon with new content!

In this solo episode, Brianna closes the loop on her recent AmaWaterways Soulful Experience sailing through Portugal’s Douro River and reflects on what the trip taught her as both a traveler and a travel advisor. After previously sharing how to turn fam trips and personal travel into a marketing engine, she now pulls back the curtain on what actually worked, what surprised her, and how the experience shaped the way she thinks about river cruising. Brianna is clear that one sailing does not make someone a river cruise expert, but it can reveal where deeper product knowledge needs to grow. She shares why river cruise itineraries require more nuance than simply choosing a ship or destination, especially when the river itself shapes the pace, access, views, and traveler experience. She also offers a thoughtful firsthand perspective on AmaWaterways’ Soulful Experience, including the sense of community, cultural storytelling, and emotional resonance that made this sailing feel so meaningful. For travel advisors, this conversation is a reminder that strong product fit is about more than destination alone, it is about understanding the traveler, the itinerary, the community, and the story being told.