Who hosts this thing, anyway?

Welcome to the season three finale of Trade Secrets! This episode, hosts Jamie Biesiada and Emma Weissmann are flipping the tables a bit and interviewing each other. Find out if they’ve always envisioned being writers, how they found the travel industry, who’s a Swiftie, who believes in ghosts and …

How can I find my travel industry mentor?

Julie Patterson, the founder of Wanderfully Planned, attributes a lot of her success in the travel industry to her mentor, Whitney Shindelar, the owner and founder of Undiscovered Sunsets and the host of the Masters in Travel podcast. But asking someone to be your mentor is asking them to commit ti…

Selling the Mouse: Disney Parks pricing, more Mario to come and Travelmation’s Adam Duckworth on creating and growing the agency’s brand

What is Travelmation? Well, it’s a travel agency for starters, but its name is actually a combination of “travel” and “animation.” In this episode of Selling the Mouse, delve into the agency’s name, strong sense of branding and more with president Adam Duckworth. Adam and host Jamie Biesiada will a…

What are the do's and don'ts of working with a BDM?

The travel advisor-business development manager (BDM) relationship can be critical to an advisor’s growth with supplier partners. So, how can advisors go about building strong relationships with BDMs, and how do they leverage that partnership to ensure the success of both parties?  This special ep…

Travel advisors, stop using these phrases right now

This week on Trade Secrets, friend of the podcast Jenn Lee of Travel Planners International returns to talk about the kind of language travel advisors shouldn’t use when talking to clients. Co-hosts Jamie Biesiada and Emma Weissmann perform a sample dialogue for Jenn, and she takes Jamie, posing as…

Selling the Mouse: Disney100, Universal’s new kid-friendly theme park, and Sara Butruff on charging service fees — even for theme park vacations

Sara Butruff, the owner of Travel Leaders - Galaxy Travel in Apple Valley, Minn., does something a little differently than a lot of agency owners: her agencies charge service fees for theme park vacations. Butruff is a major proponent for service fees in general, but is something of a standout in t…

When is it time to leave your host agency and join a consortium?

Many travel advisors get their start in the industry by affiliating with a host agency as an independent contractor. But what happens when they outgrow their host, or want to move in a different direction with their business? One possible avenue is becoming an agency member of a consortium. That’s …

Lessons learned from acquisitions and setting expectations, plus your listener questions

This week on Trade Secrets, we go inside Epperly Travel’s 2021 acquisition of Jetset World Travel, and subsequent rebranding to Jetset, with founder and CEO Lindsey Epperly. She recounts lessons learned — for instance, her business partner and husband Jeremy Sulek’s mantra “silence breeds insecurit…

Encore: Why can the travel advisor-supplier relationship be so fraught?

Trade Secrets is on a brief hiatus for the holidays, but we'll be back with brand new episodes in January. In the mean time, enjoy this encore episode on travel advisor-supplier relationships! The travel advisor-supplier relationship can be key for higher sales on both sides of the coin. It's trul…

Selling the Mouse: Will the Disney Dining Plan return, minions multiplying and Lauren Doyle on why agencies should have Disney specialists

Will Disney bring back the Disney Dining Plan? Travelers sure want to know. Meanwhile, minions are multiplying at Universal Studios Florida, Super Nintendo World is opening at Universal Hollywood and the holidays are in full swing in theme parks. We discuss all that and more on this episode of Sell…