Episode 168 - Kelly Kimple, Adventures in Good Company
In this episode of Soul of Travel, Season 5: Women's Wisdom + Mindful Travel, presented by @journeywoman_original, Christine hosts a soulful conversation with Kelly Kimple.
Kelly assumed the reigns of Adventures in Good Company in 2020, successfully leading the company through the industry’s biggest crisis and returning it to pre-pandemic levels. Her vision is to build a business that makes a difference in the world, that inspires women and builds community, and to be the world’s most trusted tour operator.
Founded in 1999 by Marian Marbury, Adventures in Good Company is a pioneer in the world of women’s adventure travel. AGC believes everyone needs adventure in their lives and is committed to providing the highest quality trips that introduce women to some of the world’s most wonderful places. They also believe that the most fulfilling challenges are the ones we choose for ourselves and strive to create group experiences where each individual's desires and needs are met. From handling all the logistics to helping people prepare, AGC aims to ensure that travelers can fully relax and embrace the excitement of their adventure.
Traveling with Adventures in Good Company in 2024 means traveling with a pioneer in women’s adventure while helping to sow seeds for a stronger planet. This year, they began partnering with One Tree Planted to plant five trees for every traveler.
Launching into New Roles: Business Leadership
Based on a nonprofit called Woodswoman that utilized guide leadership workshops to create guided experiences by women for women, Marion purchased their mailing list in the nineties and reestablished the company as In Good Company.
Kelly came into Adventures In Good Company as a program manager, having worked in youth travel with a focus on educational and transformative travel. After asking Marion what the future of the company looked like, Kelly learned that Marion was considering her exit strategy. Kelly then took the reigns of In Good Company–three months before the start of our shared global crisis in 2020.
When Kelly was working at Colorado State University, her work checked all the boxes she thought were most important–and began to realize that there was more to living according to her passion.
Previously, she worked with the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies in Fort Collins, CO, considering that to be her “dream job.” But the nonprofit world can come with many changes, and Kelly found herself switching careers to begin working in tourism as a program manager at No Boundaries. She knew the impact that travel could have on young people and loved her work, although she felt a spark of interest when a friend sent her the job listing for Adventures In Good Company.
Finding Community and Support During Crisis
Shortly after Kelly acquired AGC, she faced the same global crisis that rocked every level of the tourism world. She turned to the people closest to her for support and perseverance, leaning on her husband and leaning into the community of other travel company owners she had found. Kelly learned the power of vulnerability in leadership, balancing positivity with honesty in a way that would prove successful as AGC was able to withstand the challenging years that Kelly and her team never could have anticipated.
Business Ownership as a Small Team–and Avoiding Burnout
Kelly suggests finding a collaborative group, such as Vistage, to find accountability and create a structure and container for leadership development and learning how to construct a life of balance.
Kelly also developed a strategic plan with the support of coach Casey Hanisko, homing in on her vision, mission, and plan for creating the life and business that would work for her.
Christine also shares the importance of putting on your CEO hat–and learning when to take it off, too.
When it comes to remote work, Christine and Kelly both share that the transition to the new hybrid workplace has been another layer of complexity. Finding and adjusting systems became key; Kelly also hired HR professionals in her first year to establish a handbook, job description, and remote work policies, along with goal-setting and evaluations.
She has also found it important to establish an in-person space at her Fort Collins office, welcoming in-person conversations as a break from remote fatigue. The impromptu conversations she shares are valuable and important to expanding focus and creating connection.
Growth and Scale in Business
Kelly shares that focusing on developing her team, laying out her strategic plan, and attuning to her mission and values have been crucial components of scaling Adventures in Good Company. She holds that being a good employer is paramount to her, especially as a mom; as she has been hiring over the last season, she is energized by the passion of young women coming out of the MA in Tourism at CSU and looks forward to where tourism is headed.
She focuses on slow, sustainable growth, ensuring that all the valuations and ratings coming in continue to stay high–and improve. She is focused on building stronger experiences and relationships with host communities while building out her team and providing ways to learn and grow.
“Getting a good team together that is also excited to be here, excited about the mission, wants to be there to support our travelers, support each other–I think that’s one of the things I’ve learned is having the team and giving them the tools and the resources they need to be successful in their roles so that I can have more space in my life, and be a better leader because of it.”
Soul of Travel Episode 168 At a Glance
In this conversation, Christine and Kelly discuss:
Kelly’s unexpected journey into the travel industry and being a business owner
What it was like to take over a well-established business during a time of global crisis in the industry
Growth and scale, and finding support from other business owners and travel colleagues
Carrying on an established travel and corporate culture
Join Christine now for this soulful conversation with Kelly Kimple.
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Related UN Sustainable Development Goals
Sustainable Development Goal #3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
Sustainable Development Goal #5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Sustainable Development Goal #8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
Sustainable Development Goal #10: Reduce inequality within and among countries.
Sustainable Development Goal #12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
Resources & Links Mentioned in the Episode
Visit the Adventures in Good Company website to find your next adventure.
Follow Kelly and Adventures in Good Company on your favorite social media network: Instagram / Facebook / LinkedIn.
About the Soul Of Travel Podcast
Soul of Travel honors the passion and dedication of people making a positive impact in the tourism industry. In each episode, you’ll hear the stories of women who are industry professionals, seasoned travelers, and community leaders. Our expert guests represent social impact organizations, adventure-based community organizations, travel photography and videography, and entrepreneurs who know that travel is an opportunity for personal awareness and a vehicle for global change.
Join us to become a more educated and intentional traveler as you learn about new destinations, sustainable and regenerative travel, and community-based tourism. Industry professionals and those curious about a career in travel will also find value and purpose in our conversations.
We are thought leaders, action-takers, and heart-centered change-makers who inspire and create community. Join host Christine Winebrenner Irick for these soulful conversations with our global community of travelers exploring the heart, the mind, and the globe.
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Credits. Christine Winebrenner Irick (Host, creator, editor). Kelly Kimple (Guest). Original music by Clark Adams. Editing, production, and content writing by Carly Oduardo.
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WE WON A BESSIE AWARD! The Bessie Awards recognize the achievements of women and gender-diverse people making an impact in the travel industry. To view the complete list of 2022’s winners, visit bessieawards.org.
Soul of Travel Episode 168 Transcript
Women’s travel, transformational travel, sustainable travel, women leaders in travel, social entrepreneurship
Christine: Welcome to the Soul of Travel podcast. I'm Christine Winebrenner Irick, the founder of Lotus Sojourns, a book lover, Yogi mom of three girls and your guide On this journey. We are here to discover why women who are seasoned travelers, industry professionals, and global community leaders fall in love with the people and places of this planet. Join me to explore how travel has inspired our guests to change the world. We seek to understand the driving force, unending curiosity and wanderlust that can best be described as the soul of Travel. Soul of Travel Podcast is a proud member of the Journey, woman Family, where we work to create powerful forums for women to share their wisdom and inspire meaningful change in travel. In each soulful conversation, you'll hear compelling travel stories alongside tales of what it takes to bring our creative vision to life as we're living life with purpose, chasing dreams and building businesses to make the world a better place. But the real treasure here is the story of the journey as we reflect on who we were, who we are, and who we're becoming. We are travelers, thought leaders and heart-centered change makers, and this is the Soul of Travel.
Christine: As the CEO and owner of Adventures and Good company, Kelly Kimple leads the charge in empowering women through expertly guided small group trips in the US and around the world. Founded in 1999 by Marian Marbury, A GC is a pioneer in the world of women's adventure travel. Kelly assumed the reigns in January of 2020 and successfully led the company through the industry's biggest crisis and returned it to pre pandemic levels. Her vision is clear to build a business that makes a difference in the world, that inspires women and builds community and to be the world's most trusted tour operator. In our conversation, Kelly shares her unexpected journey into the travel industry and being a business owner, she talks about what it was like to take over this well-established business. Just as the Covid pandemic began, she shares about growth and scale, finding support from other business owners and travel colleagues, and carrying on an established travel and corporate culture. I loved how willing Kelly is to all she's learned and how honest she is about the challenges she's faced. We can all relate to so many parts of her story. Join me now for my soulful conversation with Kelly Kimmel.
Christine: Welcome to Soul of Travel podcast. I'm your host, Christine, and I'm very excited today to be joined by Kelly Kimple, who is the CEO of Adventures in Good Company. And we have had the privilege of traveling together and really sharing what it's like outside of this conversation of running our businesses and creating space for women in adventure travel. And I'm so excited to bring that conversation actually here in this platform into the podcast today. So thank you so much for being here and welcome Kelly.
Kelly: Yeah, thank you, Christine. It's a pleasure.
Christine: Thank you. We were really lucky to, a few years ago now have traveled together to Switzerland, and it was so fun because I had heard about you so much and people kept saying, do you know who Kelly is? Do you know who Kelly is? Right in a row, probably five or six times in a row. And then I signed up for my adventure for the Adventure Travel World Summit, and I saw your name and I was like, finally the universe has decided that it's time for us to meet. And I was so grateful for that experience and to travel with.
Kelly: It was fun to meet you beforehand too, when we were trying to navigate the railroads and how to get there.
Christine: Yeah, yeah. It was so good. We landed in the airport and our first hurdle was finding each other from the airport to the train station, which were connected and yeah, it was great. And we got to go in the middle of the night trying to find our hotel in the pouring train. Yes, in the rain. Yeah. So we got to get right into Adventures together, but as we start the conversation, I would love to just turn it over to you, Kelly, to introduce yourself and tell our listeners a little bit more about who you are and about Adventures in Good Company.
Kelly: Thank you. So I am the CEO and owner of Adventures in Good Company. I did not found the company, so the company was founded in 1999 by Marian Marberry, and she based the company on her experience with a nonprofit called Woods Woman. So Woods Woman was a first of its kind to offer outdoor adventure experiences for women led by women, and they had these guide leadership workshops. So Marian actually had a PhD in epidemiology and she was working for the Minnesota Department of Health, but she started guiding, it was really her passion in her free time working in the office. And then when they closed their doors in 1999, she bought the mailing list and she reestablished it as Adventures in Good Company. I came into the picture in 2018, right around the 20th anniversary of the company as a program manager. I'd been working in the industry for a few years in the youth travel space, youth travel, really educational and transformative travel.
And I was really interested in just what this would look like for women to do something similar for women, small group travel, active travel for women, and interviewed and was intrigued by it. And at that time I asked Marian, what's the future of the company? Where do you see it in five years? And she was very candid that she was probably going to be selling it. She wasn't quite sure, but she was considering her exit strategy at that point. She was coming up on 70. And so fast forward a little bit to 2020, we closed on the sale of the business in January of 2020, and I took the reins three months before the pandemic. So we can probably talk about that a little bit. But it was challenging. And yeah, it was very hard at the time. I really didn't know the industry very well, and I didn't know the people in industry. So it is funny to hear you say that people had asked if you knew of me and met me, and honestly, I didn't know many people in the industry, so I was just kind of learning as I went. So I took over for a very established company, and it's been a privilege. It's been hard, but it's been a privilege to get here.
Christine: Yeah, thank you so much for sharing that. And I think one of the things for me that I have found that's really special, especially in the adventure travel space, and then if you even narrow that down further to the women's travel space, is I feel like that it feels like a community. And so probably people that knew both of us would recognize that we had a lot of alignment or that there might be ways that we could support one another or just bounce ideas off or have someone else that that's on a similar path. And I think I always love when someone else I know and trust sees a synergy between me and somebody else that I'm like, okay, I will take that on good standing and good faith that there's a reason to connect. And I also think that people can be depending on where you're at, very supportive of trying to find you the next space to go or the next person to turn to. So I have really appreciated that.
Well, you kind of alluded to this, but so many of the guests on the podcast, you didn't necessarily start by imagining yourself with a career in travel and had a moment where you were really realizing that the job that you had really gave you a lot of stability and safety, but you didn't really see yourself flourishing in that, and you started looking for change, which you mentioned. But can you share a little bit more about that transition and why you felt really felt it was really important to lean into that awareness that you weren't in a space that felt so good to you that you wanted to look for something different?
Kelly: Yeah, so I was at Colorado State University. I'd been there a little over six years, and I liked the people, but just wasn't feeling very passion driven. I didn't know where it would go. It was stable. I had two young kids at the time, good benefits. So it was filling all of those needs in terms of a job, but not filling me up to think about getting excited. And I worked in a very passion driven industry before that where I was a biologist, a conservation biologist. I moved to Fort Collins to work for the Birth Conservancy of the Rockies at the time. I considered it to be my dream job. A number of things happened in those three years, went through three executive directors, nonprofit world as can be volatile, got married and just kind of took a career change, took a leap of faith to try something new.
But yeah, I decided to give my notice. It was really scary at CSU and see what was out there. And I was lucky to find, I don't know if it's Fort Collins, Colorado. We have Colorado State here, and we have the master's in tourism program, and I think it does support this industry more so than maybe other areas. And we also have semester at CE is based here. So I had two offers around the same time. One with Semester at Sea and one with nonprofit cultural barriers. I don't really even remember why I chose No Barriers, but I did, and I took that job offer doing something really similar to what it was at what it is at Ventures and good company for a program manager. And it's the program management organizing trips for youth and realized during that time that I loved this industry.
It was really exciting. I loved being able to support people to have these transformative experiences, especially youth. I had kind of transformative experience around that same age, late middle school, high school, and I know the impact it can have, but it was a nonprofit and it was pretty volatile again. So someone sent me the posting for adventures and Good company who had gone to Prescott College and a GC has kind of this history with Prescott College, and we just applied kind of on a whim, like, oh, let's see where this goes. And that led me here into the industry, and it really does feel like a lot of things came together in terms of a lot of things just lined up. It's providence, it's luck, it's also determination and continuing to take the lessons in each phase and stage of your life. And also trying to take the time to consider what do I want, which is hard to do as a woman and as a mother, and when you're also just trying to pay the bills and make sure your kids are getting to school and getting fed and staying healthy and all the things.
Christine: Yeah. Oh my goodness. There's probably a million little parts of that that we could pull apart and talk about. But I think the one thing that I kept hearing through the first position you had that moved you to Fort Collins, and then the next is the volatility of things and working for nonprofits and then working in these different places that have inherent volatility. And then you mentioned that you applied as a program manager, eventually took over with Adventures in Good Company in 2020, and we all now know that a lot of volatility followed that moment. So I'm wondering in yourself, do you think that we can talk about some of the specific hurdles and challenges and transitions of moving from being at the right place at the right time to take on this role to all of a sudden being at the right place at the wrong time? Kind of what that transition was like for you and what that really felt like to kind of immediately hit a rollercoaster that you wouldn't have anticipated?
Kelly: Yeah. Yeah. I think, well, I was so excited in January, 2020. It was so exciting to be given this opportunity, and it was amazing, and I felt supported in that. It was a great team. Marian was still there, consulting and helping and just looking forward to, I think we had about a hundred trips on the schedule for the year, getting to know the partners and the guides more. And then of course, it was very quick in terms of the world changing so rapidly. And I remember I had hired an attorney prior to owning the company to help me work on some risks and release agreements and booking terms and things just to just what I felt like were helping to protect me in the business going forward. And I remember calling her and talking to her as we were trying to get these agreements in place and thinking about, okay, well now what do we do with this?
Do we want to incorporate some language around Covid and talking about how, oh, it'll never affect the United States and our trips to the United States. And then of course, everything shut down. We all know the story there. And it was really, really challenging. I know how mean there were so many tears and so many long days and I just didn't want to give up before I felt like I even started and I was determined. I think that's one of the things I have is just a lot of grit and a lot of determination when I start something that I'm going to figure it out and stick with it. So I also had a supportive husband. I still have a supportive husband who had been in the banking industry, and he'd done work for the Small Business administration. And so he helped me connect pretty early on with getting access to some SBA funding, an idle loan, and be able to keep things going because in all honesty, the business was, it looked like it was heading towards bankruptcy.
There was really just no way around it. It's a small business. It wasn't like I came in with a bunch of capital or investors. I invested our own funds into buying the business, and it's an owner carry. So I was making payments to Marian and also had payroll to meet, and cashflow was really non-existent, and I was just refunding and refunding. It was a lot of money. It was close to a million dollars and still trying to watch the bank account go really low was very scary. So a lot of anxiety, a lot of stress. I really tried not to lay people off and to keep things going. I had a lot of support from the guides who've been guiding with us for a long time, and they believed in the company and they helped me see that. And they showed up for me and for our travelers to continue to offer trips.
We started running trips again that fall in the United States, which was really scary looking back. But our travelers wanted to travel. They trusted us to do so, and we were able to bring things back slowly. And of course in 2021, we didn't run any international trips. I think maybe we ran one at the end of 2021 and then started to pick up again in 2022. But it was very volatile still. There were a lot of things to contend with and a lot of challenges every day. But we got cashflow going again. I leaned on the loans, but it was not easy. A lot of tears, a lot of trying to find help and support where,
Christine: Yeah, I definitely can relate to that. Although for me, and as you were talking, I was just thinking there's different tiers of businesses in the industry and there's these huge brands that probably have the support of attorneys and all this other support built into their business. And then there's where your business is at this medium level, and then I'm here at a pretty small level with my business. So while it was really scary for me, I could kind of more easily pull back and get myself into this just stagnant state. It was easy for me to just cancel my trips and kind of shelter
Kelly: I
Christine: Didn't have as people relying on me where I did have people, I had trips lined up in Guatemala and Peru. I decided to work with them to, I ended up creating a T-shirt brand where I sold T-shirts that had empowering messages, and that money was donated to the nonprofits that I would've been traveling to. And that was the only thing I could in that moment think of to support the small amount of people relying on me. But you think about where you were, it's like you didn't have maybe the excess capital that you could think. You might wait it out, figure out how to maybe cut some people here and there to loosen up funds. You were already both at growth and streamline at the same time. It's kind of a spot to be in, and I'm sure you could speak to that, but that culture and that community of people that was already created were really the things that kept you going. And I think I saw this with so many people in your position, it's like you have the loyal travelers that understand what you're going through, and they're just waiting for you to be ready to come back. And you have also guides that are also loyal to you and different employees. So while everybody was taking a hit in some ways, they were also willing to ban together. For you being new into that space, what did it feel like to witness that and maybe receive some of that gratitude and that loyalty around your business?
Kelly: Yeah, yeah, I mean, it was great. It kept me going for sure. I needed that. And I think if I hadn't been hearing that, I would've probably not thought that there was something really meaningful, really special here that was worth fighting for and putting our resources and time and energy into keep going. So yeah, I think if I hadn't seen that and seen the support of the team, the travelers, I couldn't have wanted to, it was like there were so many challenges. That was what kept me going.
Christine: And I know also kind of hitting that space as well, that you came into the business and where many people, again myself could maybe hunker down and reflect, or even for them maybe it felt like a little bit of a break because you're so busy running your business all the time, you're not looking back and seeing what you've created and what you want to intentionally create moving forward. So I feel like a lot of people I've spoken to said this was the moment where they got to do that, but you didn't really get that moment. So I'm wondering, do you think there were benefits to you being really headlong into that or were there more drawbacks in that moment to just being head down and pushing to get through that period?
Kelly: Yeah, I think there were benefits in that if I had been in it a long time, I probably would have just scaled it way down to make my life, I probably would've made different decisions because it was so challenging for me personally and professionally to get through it. And thinking back, I don't know if I could do it again, I wouldn't want to do it again. To be honest, I was working a lot day and night and a lot of weekends, and my husband had to step in and help raise our kids a lot more than I was able to be present with them. But I think the benefit of it was that, yeah, I was so determined to get us going again and get things back that I just pushed. I pushed myself maybe a little too hard that someone else wouldn't have done because they would've seen the opportunity there in terms of time and that it'll come back. But I was just in a different space where I really didn't know what that would look like, how to do that. I only knew how to get things going again, and that's what I could think about. I just didn't really think about anything else, any other options at that point. Just I was going to get it going again and I was going to figure a way through.
Christine: Yeah. And you mentioned earlier too, being newer into the industry, not really knowing exactly how things worked or who to connect with. How did you find community to support you and to move you through this transition? And was it just in the tourism sense or was it also kind of growing into the role of a CEO and a business owner, which were also spaces that were new to you professionally?
Kelly: Yeah, I would say it was mainly just the team. I was really just leaned on the team a lot and established monthly guide meetings, was setting up meetings with our staff on a regular basis. We were talking to each other a lot and the travelers just really getting to know them more. But in terms, I did hit a point where I was like, really, this is so hard and running a business is so hard. I felt you feel alone in leadership a lot. You want to talk to your staff, you want to be open and vulnerable, but you need to also really understand what's appropriate to share and what's not. And there's a lot of fear. You don't want to make them worried either. And so I did look into some business groups and ended up joining our local chapter of Vistage. It's a national organization for business owners.
And that was really helpful for me. I think it gave me a place to come to where I could think about the business, think about what it takes operationally to run a successful business, that the challenges I had were not unique to me or to my industry. That's just kind of like what it is to have a business and to have a small business. And it was also interesting because I work with all women and there were a lot of men in the group. It was a CEO group. And to see them come in and be vulnerable and a lot of men cried in these meetings and to know that, okay, I'm not alone and we can lean on each other a little bit to do this, and I haven't been in it since I've joined a different group that's more industry specific, but it was really valuable for me for that year and a half to help me understand that a lot of people have been here before and there's lessons that they can share that will be really valuable for me to grow as a leader and a business owner.
Christine: Yeah, I think what you mentioned too about seeing the vulnerability of other leaders, I think that's so powerful. I know for me, I was in other spaces at that time as well, and I would think, well, of course me just being my one person business, of course I'm vulnerable and emotional and I'm super attached to my company and I must be the only one going through this emotional rollercoaster. But then you would see people who are leading large teams and large companies having that same vulnerability and that same roller coaster, and then you felt so much pressure release that you weren't the only person having a human experience in your business.
And I think it was a very humanizing time. I think it was, I hope, a catalyst of understanding that people are actually in business and not run as this robotic system and things we experience become a part of the way a business works. As kind of leaning into that a little bit, I know something you and I have talked about is when there's just one leader or a small team, and like I said in my case, no team, how do you find time to work on the business versus in the business? Is there a strategy that you've found that was successful or things that you put into place to find that balance? Because again, when it is a one person or small team, you are constantly looking at where the benefit is to put your energy
Kelly: And to not burn yourself out. Because I'd listen to podcasts every time I'd go try to get a walk or workout and reading books at night and it burns yourself out. So joining Vistage helped because it holds you accountable to that time. There were monthly in-person meetings, and I chose Vistage because it was an in-person group where I could get together with people and talk. And so that was once a month, like a half day. So we'd get, I think we meet at like seven 30 and then we'd stay until after lunch and then we would have some kind of homework we'd do together, and it was all working on the business and thinking about business challenges. So that held me accountable to working on the business and thinking more strategically going forward. I also started to do more calendar blocking over the last few years where I will put focus time, intentional focus time on my calendar to make sure I'm not having meetings and even a half day CEO day, that's my time where I really want to try to do the things to think about about the business and where we're going.
I also worked with Casey Ko, who many of your listeners probably know, she's been in the industry for quite a while to help me last year work in a strategic plan. So that was another way to hold me accountable to working on the business. We spent several months together where she was asking questions about vision, mission, values, and digging into the data a bit more to drive strategy for the business. So all of those things I think really have helped me carve out and think bigger about what it is and what I want it to be.
Christine: Yeah, I think it's really helpful for that side of the business to have that kind of accountability and community as well because it forces you to get into that head space and get out of trying to manage all the smaller details or all of the constant details of travel that you'll all of a sudden found that you've spent eight hours doing this thing and you're like, oh, I didn't ever put my CEO hat on today or this week. And if you don't set that aside, you kind of find yourself caught up in the wave of the things that execute all of the travel. And again, for me, I know that's hard. I have to do both things, but I think it's so important. And then the thing that I love that you mentioned, especially in a growth phase, is you're consuming so much information. And I would do the same thing. I'd be walking and listening to a podcast and they'd stop and then type notes in my phone and then back and listen to a book on table. I was making dinner. And you just oversaturate yourself. There's no way you can even discern what is good information anymore.
Kelly: Yeah. And to just lean on other people who've been here before and to help you, it's almost almost like signing up for a gym membership. It just kind of held me accountable to taking the time to work on the business. Right.
Christine: Yeah, I agree. I think it's so valuable to think about that. One of the things that you and I talked about that I hadn't really thought about before, but I can definitely see within the industry is thinking about working remotely and how much that has impacted your business. We can think about it in terms of other businesses in this industry as well, but the people don't necessarily want to come back to being in person. And how do you combat that? I think especially in this industry, once travelers got the freedom of working, living where they want to be or being location independent as they work, I'd love to hear from you what that process has been. And I know it also adds a lot of complexity to running and operating and managing your business. So I'd love to talk about that too because I don't have staff. I hadn't thought about this, but I think it's such a really valuable thing if people are looking at offering remote opportunities to their staff, what that has meant for you.
Kelly: Yeah. Well, when I took over the business, everyone was already working remotely and they had been for quite a while. The business was based in Maryland because that's where Marian was living, so I had to reestablish it in Colorado. But at that time, there were staff in, oh gosh, Rhode Island and Michigan and excuse me. And then I had hired a few people here in Colorado. So in terms of the systems, the systems were there in some way. I did switch us over to some more streamlined systems with G-Suite to facilitate remote work, but I had to build quite a bit too. There really wasn't anything in place in terms of policy or nothing. No one had a job description or an employee handbook, and so it was pretty loose around what people were doing. And then what I discovered was there's, each state has its own unique labor laws and payroll and processing payroll and different states and workers' comp and all of those things add layers of complication.
And when you're a small business, you just kind of do it all. You learn it all. There's not like an HR department I go to. I am the HR department in the payroll department, so kind of figuring that out. I did hire HR professionals to help me in that first year, get a handbook in place and think about some remote work policies, get job descriptions in place for people, start to work on performance reviews. And so we have some goal setting within each person's role, and I continue to work on that. So it's like every year you kind of learn and do better, you know better, you do better. One of the things I did initially too was move us over to Gusto for payroll. And they have some tools within that help, especially when you have people in various states that help me understand as laws change how to do that.
But this last fall, I had the opportunity to move into an office space here in Fort Collins. So there's another tour operator here that I met. I hadn't even met them in Fort Collins. I met them at Adventure Travel Trade Association events, and I said, we really should get together for lunch or something in Fort Collins since Mariana and me is based here. So we had lunch and she was, they'd always been in an office, all their staff were, and then the pandemic hits, and then they switched to remote work, and then they were bringing people back into the office and they were outgrowing it. So I said, I don't know if I'm ready for a large office. There's only a few of us here in Fort Collins, but I would sublease a small portion. And so that was this fall we moved in. And I have to say I've loved it.
I love having a space to go to where I can meet with people. It energizes me to be around people to really get to know not only the staff with adventures and good company, but the other people in the industry. We just had someone from the South Korean Tourism Board come to Fort Collins and ask to meet with us. And it's great to be able to have people come in and just have conversations in person. I've had remote zoom fatigue probably like everyone else, and I love just being able to grab a cup of coffee or go to lunch and just have those impromptu conversations that don't happen as naturally through remote work.
Christine: Yeah, I think that's so valuable, and I know I miss it myself, is just having the culture of an office and having other people around you, like you said, it helps you focus when you're at home. It's really hard not to slip into things that you might also need to do at home, especially if you're already stretched thin. So then you find yourself kind of moving between things as much as you want to be focused, other things can take your attention away. So I think it's really helpful to have that space. And then also, like you said, to have another business that's similar that you can kind of collaborate and work together to work through issues as well. I think I could see the real value in that. When you're thinking about balancing self and business, how do find ways to re-energize yourself, and create boundaries?
I think we talked a little bit before I mentioned we are people first, which also sometimes means we're parents first and then in this industry, workloads vary and then they can vary greatly. If you have a staffing change that all of a sudden you have to absorb the workload. So how do you figure out how that flow looks? And then how do you set a boundary and be like, okay, there's all this to do, but this has to be a priority for family, or there's all this with family, but work has to be a priority.
Kelly: Well, I would say I'm not great at it. I'm getting better at it. So the first couple years through the pandemic, I definitely overdid it and worked a lot and that just to keep, it's like it was having another child, it was having a newborn that I had to keep alive, and I was just trying to keep them alive for those first few years, and I'm getting better at it. Over the last year or so, I've gotten better where I really do try to carve out time for myself and not wake up and immediately dive into work, which has been my habit. I was getting up very early and checking things, and a lot of it was because trips were in the field, issues kept coming up. Covid was still part of our lives for a while. And when you're in the travel industry, there are a lot of things.
It's a very exciting industry. Some days a lot of things can just reservation gets missed, or a flight gets missed or someone, a guide can't make it at the last minute, or a guide has to leave at the last minute or who knows what it's, you name it. There's lots of things that can happen. So because we're a small team, I was the one who was on call a lot of the time for a lot of that. And so one of the ways I'm working on helping that is just getting a good team together that was also excited to be here, excited about the mission, wants to be there to support our travelers, support each other. And so building that team is so critical. I think that's one of the things I've learned is having the team there and giving them the tools and the resources they need to be successful in their roles and so that I can have more space in my life and be a better leader because of it.
Christine: Yeah, I think sometimes people, when they are lured by the magic of the industry and the idea of travel and the idea of adventure and outdoors, you have maybe a mindset of freedom when you enter the industry and then you get in it and you realize that it's actually just 24 7 that things are, and you can't really just close your doors. And I think that's a huge shock in general, but especially for people who are drawn to this space with the idea of freedom. I don't know if you've seen that as well.
Kelly: Yeah, I think so. I think there's kind of a romanticized view sometimes of what the job is and oh, you get to travel a lot and I really don't. I am getting to a space where I can, and I'm trying to get to that space to be able to travel more. I love getting out and meeting with partners and meeting with our travelers when I have that time, but I have two kids, which is a challenge to travel too much. Right.
Christine: Yeah. I think it's always interesting if people are like, I love travel. What part of the industry should I get into? And I was like, well, maybe not travel. You actually love tourism and creating it one thing, but if you love doing it, it's ironically not often the place. And don't get me wrong, I've had really beautiful travel benefits and experiences. So not that it doesn't happen, but I think that reality check for some people is sometimes quite a disconnect from what they expected and what they stepped into. Well, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about growth and scale. This is something I talk with a lot of people here on the podcast, especially thinking about how big you want to grow and that the mindset around growth is usually as big and as fast as possible is the only way to be truly successful. And again, I think maybe there's a mindset shift away from that level of growth, but you really stepped into this solid business. You didn't have to necessarily reinvent the wheel in terms of what you were offering. How do you start to think about scale and growth while keeping consistency and momentum happening?
Kelly: Yeah, I think doing the strategic plan was really helpful to look at it from different angles of what does that mean to grow and scale? It's not just numbers in terms of revenue, it's also about product and what our clients travelers are looking for. And then our team, the team is essential so that I'm not experiencing repetitive burnout and staying energized by the work to be able to think big picture. So the strategic plan was helpful in terms of starting to lay out the business growth in terms of different areas of business, product development, developing the team was another part of it, including our guides and then developing the team in terms of what benefits we offer. And to be a great employer. That's really one of my, it's really important to me as a business owner and as a mom and having been working most of my life and knowing the unique challenges that women face in the workforce to be able to provide a great place that people are coming in energized and excited. I see it now as I've been hiring over the winter and there are so many people eager to get into this industry, and I love that. I love being able to see young women come out of the master's in tourism program and find a place to grow their careers and to give them opportunities to get real world experience in the industry.
So in terms of growth, I would say slow growth is where I'm looking right now. And my focus for this year is really on making sure that our trips are, we have really good reviews, we have great ratings, and that's part of our goal is to make sure our evaluations continue to stay high and improve. And that's including for the trips and then for the guides to think more about the partnerships and what we're doing on our trips to build stronger, to make it a better experience, not for our travelers, but also to the places we visit and the team building the team up to give them opportunities to learn about the industry and grow in the industry.
Christine: And you mentioned new students coming in. There's a great master's in tourism program here in Colorado. So I think in terms of staffing, it's amazing to have a really well educated workforce because I think for a long time in tourism, I know the master's program I did was kind of a newer program focusing really on tourism administration and not really, and sustainability and ethics and values and tourism as opposed to being a travel agent, which before there wasn't this space for, I guess cultivating being. You had to learn it on the go. You come into it educated, you just had to come in and figure it out. So I think that's great, but how much do you think you attract other women into working with you because they're looking for mentors or they really want to be working in a company that is surrounded by women versus, for me, in most of my positions, it was like maybe one or two women and the rest were men surrounding me in this industry.
Kelly: I think it's a combination. When I posted for two positions this fall, we had a lot of applicants, like over a hundred for each position for program manager and program coordinator, and quite a few people who have been in the industry and then others who really, but were just kind of curious about it. And then in terms of wanting to work with all women, I would say quite a few are really interested and driven by the mission, and that's what I was looking for in hiring. Are they driven by the mission? Do they see themselves being here in this career and wanting to grow and asking questions and being curious about it. So I see that a lot from the interviews, but also just from students and other people in the industry just emailing us on a regular basis. I have someone on staff who's really been leading that in terms of following up with students and meeting with them and answering questions about what we do in the industry, which has been great to be a resource for people.
Christine: Yeah, I think it's good because like you said, it sometimes is a hard space to break into and especially if you are very new, to just even figure out what you might like or what different people are doing and why one space might be a better fit for you as an employee in the future, and to be able to cultivate that dialogue that feels really special, even if you're not necessarily finding your own employees, even helping them to find a great fit is I think something really valuable. I wanted to talk just a little bit about the overall culture and where you are and where you're going. I know that spaces for women in travel, both professionally and as travelers is so important. It's definitely something that we're fortunate to see growing and growing. What do you think is unique to this space for
Kelly: Yeah, so we've kind of had a core of trips that we've offered, and there are a lot of hiking trips, multi-sport trips, and we have our set of guides who've been guiding with us forever, so our own philosophies around creating a safe space emotionally for people as well as physically for people to come and enjoy these experiences and get to know themselves, have some challenge, but it's challenge by choice and then feel empowered out of that experience. And I love that. I think that's really continuing to be what we'll offer and what we do. And one of the directions though I see us shifting is really a lot more interest in the wellness space and slower travel. So starting to look at our trips that we already offer and that we've offered for many years and how can we maybe be more intentional about the experience design to weave that in for people and to make it more transformational.
Christine: I feel like what I've seen is that women when they're gathering are kind of bringing that energy to the space already right now, especially I feel like people just need to heal from the past few years. And so as women gather, I think they're seeking that from one another. And so then if you can kind of plant moments for that along a larger journey, it becomes even more powerful for them.
Kelly: And it varies because some of our trips, they each have ratings, they are active travel, so level one, it's more leisurely. Level five is, it's a pretty good physical challenge, and that can be Mont Blanc or the W Trek in Patagonia or even here. A lot of our trips on the Appalachian Trail are pretty intense, multi-day, hiking long distances, day after day. So that how can you weave in sometimes to just give people permission to be more present in the moment and also have it be more restorative for them, even if they're signing up because they want to have that challenge. But then certainly in our wellness style trips to make sure that's a core part of the experience.
Christine: Yeah. Well, I would love to just hear from you a little bit about, I know you're always in the middle of things, but you don't always take a moment to really reflect if there was one thing through your experience that you would want to share with other people listening, like, here's the lessons that I have learned, and if you're new to the industry, new to creating a business, this is my major takeaways of what you need to really succeed professionally and personally.
Kelly: You need a strong support system, so don't be afraid to ask for help when you're struggling, when you need help, when you know it, they're there. The helpers are there, the people are there. There's a lot of people who have gone through similar experiences who can help you and don't struggle alone for too long. Take time to reach out and other experiences and takeaways. It's still a great industry and don't be afraid to take a leap of faith and to take a risk. I think the reward is often in the risk as hard as it is, just keep going.
Christine: Yeah, I agree with all those things, and I think especially reaching out and like you said, not, I think that it's just inherent when you start a business too, to just think you have to just forge your own path and you have to tackle everything by yourself or otherwise you're discrediting your own ability or something, and I just don't think it needs to be that way. And there's so many great organizations, especially for women in travel, to find that connection and support, and I also think we want to help and encourage each other, so asking for people for help, you might feel like they're just going to give you the No, but I, it's true. I don't know. In your experience if you've felt that it's been a really willing exchange.
Kelly: It has. I've been really, really happy to start to learn more about the people in the industry. And on that note for you too, Christine, and appreciative of the conversations you're facilitating through this podcast, I think they've been really valuable to me and I'm sure to many other people, many other women in the industry.
Christine: Thank you. Thank you. That means a lot to me to hear that because I do think it's important to share and learn from one another and just we never know what part of our journey is going to resonate with somebody else, and that when they hear that, it kind of gives them what they need to either solve the next challenge or give themself permission for growth or jumping at something that is exciting but scary to them in their journey. Well, before we end the conversation, I want to just give you a moment if there's anything else last thing that you would love to share, and then we will jump into our rapid fire ish questions to wrap up our conversation.
Kelly: I don't think so. Yeah, let's do the rapid fire questions.
Christine: Okay, perfect. Let me get into those. The first one is what are you reading right now?
Kelly: Oh, okay. It's actually really good. It's a leadership book. It's called Leaders Eat Last. It's by Simon Sinek, and I am only about halfway through it right now, but it's really hitting home for me a lot of the things that he's bringing up about team building and leading.
Christine: Yeah, thank you. What is always in your suitcase or your backpack when you're traveling?
Kelly: I would have to say headphones. I have my earbuds. I like one. I can get overstimulated, especially in airports, it's really loud, so I'll put the earbuds in for some noise canceling, but also I have apps like the Insight Timer app for some calming and some meditation and some grieving just to help me chill out and when I'm traveling to or in a new place, I'll have my headphones at night to also do a wind down meditation.
Christine: Yeah, I have loved, actually, I feel like I've seen that a lot amongst my colleagues traveling when we get to travel in groups especially, and people like, oh yeah, I'll be ready for that, but I'm going to meditate first, or I'm, I need to go to my room and listen to my mindfulness app or something. I think it's really important, especially when you're traveling, because while it's very exciting, like you said, it can be very overstimulating, and so to just realize that you need to find those moments of quiet, even when you're really excited about where you are to sojourn, is to travel somewhere as if you live there for a short time where someplace that you would still love to sojourn.
Kelly: I'm going to have to say England, I've never been there, and we are going to London with my kids for spring break, and I've been watching The Crown and getting into the history. Listen to your podcast about unseen tours, and pretty excited to schedule that. And then a book I read a few years ago is called The Salt Path, and I'm really never been, and there's so much history and to explore there in the countryside. It just seems beautiful. The trails, the parks,
Christine: Yeah. I went, but only for a very short time for the International Women in Travel and Tourism Forum last year, and I would love to spend more time, I feel like. Yeah, I didn't even get to acknowledge an ounce of what exists. What do you eat that immediately connects you to a place that you've been,
Kelly: Yeah, I was thinking about this one. So I'd have to say Octopus. When I was in Portugal last year, on the plane over, I watched the Empty Bourdain about Lisbon and him going out to Fish for Octopus, which is, it's still pretty artisanal the way they do it there. It's pretty local. So when we went to a restaurant, it was one of the specials, and I got a whole octopus, which I was a little conflicted about because I also watched the documentary, my Octopus Teacher, but it was really good. And yeah, just anytime I see Octopus on a menu, I think it'll not be like what I had in Portugal.
Christine: Who was a person that inspired or encouraged you to set out an explorer in the world? I
Kelly: Have to say my grandmother, she just passed away a few years ago, and I grew up with her in New Hampshire. She was a big part of my life. She was just had so much love of life and curiosity, raised four kids, she got her degree later in life and social work. She led tours, which I didn't even know about until I got into this industry, and she loved to come visit me. I moved out west when I was 18, and it was so exciting for her. She would hop on a plane after my grandfather died and come see me. Even when I moved to Fort Collins, thinking about this recently, she must've been in her late seventies, and she flew out here and she just kept herself busy and entertained, and I come home from work at night and she would just say, oh, I found this concert. I found this thing for us to go to tonight. And she loved to travel. She loved it. I was just so curious. Love of life. Thank you.
Christine: Thank you for sharing that. I try to keep a mental toll, but I definitely think grandmas have been highly influential person in many of the guests lives. If you could take an adventure with one person, fictional or real, alive or past, who would it be?
Kelly: I have to say my mom. She moved here. She retired here about five years ago, which has been great because like I said, I lived out west most of my adult life while they have stayed back east and she moved here right before I bought the business, and I've been very busy. I haven't spent a lot of time with her, so I think it would help me just have that time with her to get away. And she also hasn't really traveled much, so hasn't been abroad really at all, so I'd love to take a trip with her.
Christine: Well, the last question, the Soul of Travel is a space for recognizing women that inspire us in the industry. Who is someone you admire and would like to acknowledge here in this conversation?
Kelly: Yeah, I mentioned her earlier, so Casey Hanisko, so she came in last year. I hired her to help with a strategic plan for the business, and I've continued to work with her since then. And I'm part of the women travel leaders, and she facilitates a mastermind group that I'm in with some other women in the industry and really appreciate her insight, the way she leads with compassion and the way she connects people too, the industry.
Christine: Yeah, thank you. Thank you for mentioning both Casey, whose episode, I'll link in our show notes so people can listen and hear from her and Women Travel Leaders, which is a really great organization and they're one of our ally organizations with the podcast. And I think such a really valuable space for women working in this industry to, like I said, have that space to just connect and really tackle challenges as a community and individually. And so I appreciate you bringing them into the conversation, and I also appreciate you being here, Kelly. It's so fun to get to learn a little bit more about your journey with your business and to share all of your wisdom and the growth that you've experienced through the past few years. So thank you for me.
Kelly: Thank you. Thank you. It was lovely to be here. I appreciate you sharing the stories, my story included.
Christine: Thank you.
Thank you for listening to Soul of Travel, presented by Journey Woman. I hope you enjoyed the journey. If you loved this conversation, I encourage you to subscribe and rate the podcast. Please share episodes that inspire you with others because this is how we extend the impact of this show. Learn more about each of my guests by reading our episode blogs, which are more than your average show notes. I think you'll love the connection. Find our episode blogs at www.souloftravelpodcast.com. I'm so proud of the way these conversations are bringing together people from around the world. If this sounds like your community, welcome, I'm so happy you are here. I am all about community and would love to connect. You can find me on Facebook at Soul of Travel podcast or follow me on Instagram, either at she Sojourns or at Soul of Travel podcast. Stay up to date by joining the Soul of Travel podcast mailing list. You'll also want to explore the Journey Woman community and its resources for women travelers over 50. I'd also like to share a quick thank you to my podcast producer and content magician, Carly Eduardo, CEO of Conte. I look forward to getting to know you and hopefully hear your story.
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