Today we’d like to introduce you to Simone Hunter.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Simone. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My story is simple… I absolutely love travelling and experiencing new places and cultures. I loved it so much that it evolved into a hobby of mine. I was always going somewhere. Whether it was for pleasure or business, I would be sure to carve out time to see the sites, emerge myself in the city, and take back plenty of pictures and memories. Well because I was the wanderlust, a lot of my family and friends came to me to arrange the group vacations. I would search for the best accommodations within budget, compare prices, and even figure out how to arrange a payment plan, if possible. I did this for years and loved it!
I did it so much that one day after college graduation my sister said to me: “Why don’t you become a travel agent part-time?” I briefly thought about it. However, I thought that I would have to take years worth of training that would cost more money than I could afford at the time. So without even doing much research on it, I dropped the notion and continued as normal. In 2015, for the first time ever, I lost my job. I was still making travel plans for folks as I had been doing for years, but this time I had become aware of a travel company that allowed you to enroll as a new agent for less than $200, train for free, earn commissions, receive unlimited travel benefits for yourself, operate as your own independent business owner, and do it all from the comfort of your couch! Being a certified travel agent was something obtainable now. I did all the research I could and became super ecstatic as the days went on. My dad offered to make the initial investment on my behalf, and he also helped name my business… thus the birth of Jonee’ Journeys.
It took years of positioning, but in the end, like I said, my story is simple, I turned my passion into my paycheck and now I have the best of both!
Has it been a smooth road?
With all great things come even greater responsibility; with that responsibility, there are many tests. Some of my challenges are still challenges today, but I have now learned how to navigate them.
When I started Jonee’ Journeys, I was a multi-degreed, jobless wife, and mother. My son and I had just relocated half-way across the country to be with my newly-wed husband and family. I was a full-time travel agent with little to no clients. I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, yet most family and friends were hesitant to accept my services and strangers just disregarded me altogether. It really saddened me to the point of quitting. I would be so thrilled when I received a travel request that I would spend hours on hours trying to make sure I addressed every single detail. No matter the time, I was “Johnny-on-the-spot” for every single client call or text. Needless to say, a game of tug-of-war quickly began to form between my former liberal accessibility to all the needs/wants of the household versus my undivided attention to sharpening my newly certified craft.
A few years later, my son and I relocated back to our original State, where I was able to secure a full-time position within my degree field. So now, a two-parent household with full-time travel agency hours became a divorced, single-parent household with part-time travel agency hours. As you can imagine, I found myself overwhelmed with balancing being a single mom, working full-time, managing travel clientele and training fellow agents, having an adult social life, and so on. I became so stressed that my body began to shut down on me. I knew something had to shift.
In the five years that Jonee’ Journeys has been operating, I have overcome no retained clients to now a healthy clientele base that continues to grow. Identifying my niche and learning how to market to those individuals tremendously increased my monthly revenue. I’ve always been regarded as a very nice, sweet person, but customer service requires more than just kindness. Every time I connect with my clients (new or loyal), I always put myself in their shoes (i.e., financially, emotionally, mentally) and provide travel advice and assistance in the best manner that I would even for myself. This is how you maintain clientele retention; through building relationships. Lastly, but most importantly, I’ve learned that balancing my personal needs first (i.e. scheduling self-care appointments) while keeping my home and professional needs priority (i.e. spending quality time with loved ones, establishing work hours and business policies) are the absolute key to having a successful business. When you are centered, you can help others more effectively.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into Jonee’ Journeys story. Tell us more about the business.
My specialty is all things travel. Whether it’s domestic or international, local city or across state, plane or train, bus or ship, I can help make all of those arrangements for you. Jonee’ Journeys has a slogan that we adopted very early on: “Turning Dream Vacations into Lifetime Experiences”. This is what sets us apart. We don’t just make travel arrangements, we help cultivate lifetime memories.
The common misconception about travel agencies is that we are travel’s clearance outlet. While we may have access to some pretty awesome rates compared to the general public, “cheap” is not what we offer and it’s surely not our branding. Our craft is about giving the people the best quality vacation at the best value possible while providing personalized service. There are times when I have beat competitor pricing and other times when I have offered price matching, but one thing is for sure… while DIY’ers are searching those traditional online travel agencies, they’re not receiving the same personal concierge experience that you would receive from a personal travel agent like Jonee’ Journeys.
What do you feel are the biggest barriers today to female leadership, in your industry or generally?
This is a very fitting question being that this past month, March, is recognized as Women’s History Month. Unfortunately, the barriers females face are not industry biased. I will say, however, as years have passed, more and more women have escalated to levels never thought of before, breaking glass ceilings and tearing down walls.
During my tenure in the travel industry, both as a consumer and stakeholder, I have had the pleasure of seeing an increase of more female leadership. There are plenty of success stories where women are owning airline companies, obtaining first pilot positions, establishing all female-flight crews, even being named CEO, CIO, or COO of Fortune 500 travel suppliers.
It’s been a long time coming since the Women’s Suffrage Movement, and there’s still more that can be done, but right now in this day and time, women all around the world are speaking up in male-dominant offices, taking their seats at the oval table, even grasping attention at the front of the room. I’m privileged to be among them, likewise just as honored to be one as well.
Pricing:
- Budget Travel – Less than $1,000 per person per trip
- Moderate Travel – $1,000 – $5,000 per person per trip
- Luxury Travel – Over $5,000 per person per trip
Contact Info:
- Website: www.joneejourneys.com
- Phone: 713-487-9286
- Email: joneejourneys@gmail.com
- Instagram: @joneejourneys
- Facebook: @joneejourneys
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