Katie Kapel, Mode Travel. (Source: Katie Kapel)
Success Stories focus on veteran travel advisors and how they achieved success. Here’s a look at Katie Kapel, owner of Mode Travel Fargo, ND.
How did you get your start as a travel advisor?
It all started 25 years ago, right out of high school. I applied for a position as a corporate travel agent in 1998, and I’ve been in the industry ever since. Of course, there have been many changes since my start, including 9/11, multiple world events, the Internet and the pandemic. I switched over to the leisure side in 2005. It has been a blessing to assist travelers who want to travel instead of having to travel – so I’m very glad to be on the leisure side of things. As a child I used to study maps and atlases for our family road trips, help my parents make hotel reservations and contact the local travel agent in our small town to book airline tickets.
How did you build your business over the years?
Slow and steady. When I branched out on my own in 2012, I did it by myself. Soon after, I hired an assistant/another agent as my business grew. After a lot of thought, adding an independent contractor as well as another employee seemed to be the way to go. I wanted to keep the agency intimate and special for anyone working with me and have co-workers who would learn from each other – each with their own strengths. We slowly grew with an agent or two a year, and we are now at 22 advisors, including seven employees and 14 ICs.
We are a hybrid online agency with a mix of Mode Travel-branded ICs, independently branded ICs and Mode Travel employees – but we all work together as a team. It has worked out beautifully as we have really focused on our culture and team bonding.
What characteristics make you a successful advisor?
I believe empathy is one of my best characteristics. You have to be able to put yourself in others’ shoes. We aren’t just order-takers. We create experiences – sometimes for once-in-a-lifetime trips. Also, to be able to have co-workers to bounce ideas off of without judgment is a huge part of having a team.
What have been your greatest challenges?
By far, the pandemic was the biggest challenge, but we were able to keep all of our staff and agents. We kept moving forward, as hard as it was some days. Having each other (our team), weekly calls and virtual happy hours got us through!
Juggling travel and family time was difficult for a while, but I have learned to find the best balance that I could.
What have your greatest accomplishments been?
I am proud of my team. It is a daily work in progress, and with the help of all of the agents, we continue to thrive and grow in the industry with integrity – always keeping our client’s interests front and center and making sure we still have some flexibility for family time.
What tips can you provide advisors new to the industry?
You won’t learn everything at once. In fact, I’m still learning every day 25 years in. Once you think you know it all, the industry changes. So, keep an open mind and realize you will be multi-tasking and wearing many hats. You have to see a whole booking through the process – qualifying, quoting, booking, customizing, documents and traveling –before completely understanding how rewarding this industry is.
Create meaningful relationships and be kind. Sometimes, you have to fake it until you make it, so having a mentor is huge to make sure you are doing things correctly. These are big purchases that your clients are counting on you for. One of the hardest things is that we are creating experiences that we don’t have full control over. We can’t control Mother Nature, airline schedule changes, the Internet going down at the worst times, website errors, etc. Never promise things that you can’t guarantee. What you can promise is your service level and that you will do your best. Confidence and kindness go a long way.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
