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Some people know what they want to be when they grow up, while others stumble into their careers.
Before Marianne DeIulio had children, she worked for an electron microscope company and assisted with their travel needs for exhibitions. She enjoyed her job, but yearned to travel. After leaving the position to become a mom, a friend suggested that she finally chase her travel bug. Today, she is an independent consultant with Just Travelin.'
"Each trip I book I feel that I am learning something new about a resort or a destination," she said. "This is so beneficial when I have a new client who I can suggest a resort based on a past guest's great experience. I especially love when I have a request for an unfamiliar area, as I research and learn as much as I can about it to better serve my client. I love to continue to educate myself so I am constantly taking specialist programs and completing training webinars."
It only took one vacation this year to make ZV English realized that the travel industry was the right place to be. "I was chosen to plan the details of our road trip because I always do the research," said English of ZVE Travels. "I asked an agent friend of mine but she suggested I didn't need her help."
Andrea Kreitner wanted to go into the travel industry since college. "When I was on maternity leave with my son, I realized that I did not want to go back to my job in Hospice," she said. "I walked into the local agency and asked if I could volunteer there one day a week with no pay. The owner at the time said 'yes' as long as when a job opens up that I would be willing to accept it.
Four years later, Krietner is the manager of Muscatine Travel.
Marylin Beard said that her personal love of travel, and experiencing a variety of cultures, lifestyles, religions, foods, art and music, has been the foundation of her travel career. "It is my great pleasure to research and compare offerings for a client based as well on my first-hand knowledge," said Beard of Adore Travel.
When he was in high school, Jared Buker didn't really know what a travel agent did, but he knew that he wanted to be one. "I grew up in a family that traveled a lot," he said. "We took month-long RV trips to Mexico every year, and visited lots of National Parks. I was also always really interested in geography and maps.
When he was 20 years old, he started working for AAA creating TripTiks, and became a travel agent with AAA within two years. "Twenty plus years later I now work from home and am loving life," said Buker of Lincoln Gap Travel.
There's nothing like traveling to make someone become a travel agent. Nicole Thibault has always been a traveler and loved the excitement of seeing new destinations and meeting new people.
"I always thought that when I had kids, I would just bring them along with me," she said.
When her son was diagnosed with Autism, she thought her travel dream was over. "His challenges made traveling seem impossible," said Thibault. "He hated the lines at the airport for security, he screamed on the flights, he didn't like the newness of hotels and the disruption to his routine, but I was determined to figure out a way to accommodate this needs and still travel."
It took time, but she found suitable accommodations to make traveling more agreeable to him, After attending a "Mommy and Me" autism group, and hearing how other parents of children with autism did not want to travel, Thibault wanted to help. "I had learned so much along the way with my own family, and I knew that I could help other families with special needs find the most appropriate accommodations while traveling."
She started with a host agency, booking trips to Walt Disney World, because she knew that destination the best. She branched out slowly to other destinations and, in January, 2015, she launched her own agency, Magical Storybook Travels, specifically tailored to meet the travel needs of families and families with Special Needs. "I'm doing something I love, and I gain such a feeling of accomplishment knowing that I've helped a family, ones that might otherwise travel, make a travel dream come true," she said.
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