Celebrating the beginning of 2012 meant more to me then bringing in the New Year. For me, it was the beginning of a new focus for my home based business and re-evaluating my career goals after a slight detour that took me into another direction.
I started my career in the travel industry full of excitement but with no experience outside of a background in Executive Support and a Travel Management course at my Community College. I had a vague idea of what I wanted my niche to be but no clear idea on how to articulate it.
Through contacts made through TRO, I decided on a niche in honeymoons and destination weddings. I started my career in travel as a franchisee with a solid organization, with a great reputation and proven results. The beauty of the franchise model is you can open your business quickly; the marketing materials have already been designed and printed. In some instances you have access to customer leads, recognition with suppliers, training and peer support. All the tools that provide you with a better opportunity to succeed are typically included. For a newbie fresh out of travel school, it seemed like a win-win for me.
But after a year of feeling like a teen with no identity, I soon realized that this was not only the wrong business model for me but also the wrong niche. Don’t get me wrong. The brand itself was and will continue to be successful. The right person can definitely build a successful business selling honeymoons and destination weddings. It wasn’t easy for me to admit that I wasn’t that person. What I envisioned my career to be three years ago was not my reality today. I couldn’t shake the feeling that mine was a dream deferred. It became obvious that I needed to make a change. One that would bring back that initial feeling of enthusiasm that I was quickly losing.
To initiate that change it meant finding the courage to admit that I was following the wrong career path. I had to identify the type of client I knew I could effectively and successfully service and build a strategy and create my niche around that. I have plenty of work to do as I create my road map for success but I am incredibly excited to start 2012 with a new name; a new focus on my business and this notion that I just may conquer the world and become one of those success stories people love to read about. Wishful thinking? Maybe, but you never know until you try.
Tracy Kidd is the owner and agent of The Traveling Kidd in Central New Jersey. She specializes in planning travel for couples, friend getaways, and groups. She is a member of NACTA and entered the industry in 2010. Yo can contact Tracy at www.travelingkidd.com or by email at tracy@travelingkidd.com
One thought on “The Travling Kidd–A new year, a new me”
I hope this year will be “it” for you!!!