Born and bred in the Russian port city of Kaliningrad, Nadia Jastrjembskaia was enthralled with ships since early childhood. "My dad worked as a truck driver and delivered goods to the ships," said Jastrjembskaia, owner of Aurora Cruises & Travel in Port St. Lucie, Fla. "At that time security was not as tight as it is now and he often took me with him."
She was even able to sail on a handful of cruises in the 1980s from Russia, then the Soviet Union. But Jastrjembskaia's love of cruising was put on the backburner while she pursued another passion: Rhythmic Sportive Gymnastics (RSG), from which she carved out a career as a gymnast and later as a gymnastics coach.
Jastrjembskaia, who co-authored a book on RSG, was also busy pursuing a PhD from the Lesgaft Academy of Physical Education and Sports in St. Petersburg, and in 1989 successfully defended her dissertation on training young gymnasts in RSG.
In 1993 Jastrjembskaia and her family left for Malaysia, where she spent five years working for the National Sports Council of Malaysia as the chief coordinator for the Commonwealth Games.
It was at the end of her tenure in that position, in 1997, that Jastrjembskaia's passion for cruising was reignited when she received a three-night cruise as a farewell gift from her students. "I loved it, and I started taking cruises at every opportunity," she said.
Those opportunities to cruise became more frequent when she moved to the U.S. at the end of 1997. "My husband and I decided not to return back to Russia after we spent almost five years in Malaysia," she said. "We wanted to start a new life here."
In the U.S., Jastrjembskaia took up teaching again but eventually found that her career in the field was no longer reaping the rich rewards it once had.
"I started thinking of what made me happy, and what I knew most about," she said, adding that, after much reflection, travel and cruising seemed to fit that bill.
In 2008, she opened Aurora Cruises & Travel. "I started as a home-based agent at zero but every year I've multiplied my growth," Jastrjembskaia said.
In short order, she not only became a high producer for Royal Caribbean International, which accounts for more than 90 percent of her business, but also developed - serendipitously - a specialty in selling suite accommodations.
"When I started my first website I created pages for each stateroom category on Royal Caribbean's Oasis-class ships," Jastrjembskaia said. "I finished the suites pages and didn't have time to complete the pages for balconies and below because of the new inquiries coming in, so it was by chance."
Slowly but surely, and with the help of her Royal Caribbean team, Jastrjembskaia began attracting increasing numbers of travelers by promoting the value-added benefits and services that Aurora - and suites - provides.
"I work with people who lead very stressful lives because they own their own businesses or they have high level corporate positions," she said. "They need pampering and they need very relaxing vacations. They need more space, more amenities and more attention."
Jastrjembskaia, who has earned her Elite Cruise Counsellor designation from CLIA and is a Royal Caribbean International Expert Plus agent, said her host agency, Travel Professionals International (TPI) has played a significant role in the evolution of her business. "I was at TPI's Extravaganza conference in October, and was reminded how far I've come along since my days of keeping their incredible staff far past their business hours with my endless questions," she said. "I wanted to know everything about the business. They have helped me in so many ways."
Jastrjembskaia's enthusiasm about the travel business shines through in other ways. In August, she flew to Germany to attend Royal Caribbean's unveiling of Quantum of the Seas as one of five agents who won a Royal Caribbean essay contest from a field of more than 500.
Although Jastrjembskaia said the details of what she wrote in her essay are now a blur, she added that her thoughts were based on heartfelt sentiments about the cruise line. "My fingers completely took over the keyboard," she said. "I became overwhelmed with thinking of the people that helped me start my business."
Along with TPI, Jastrjembskaia credits the Royal Caribbean sales team in playing played an arguably pivotal role in her success. "There is a face and a name to each level of management and better yet, the guidance and advice is always heartfelt," she said. "With those types of relationships, I am compelled to speak of the brand to anyone asking for a cruise, because I know should any questions arise, I have a team standing behind me."
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