Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylor Murray.
Hi Taylor, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I am a travel agency owner. I have always had a love for travel and learning about new places around the world. Even as a child and as a baby boomer my parents would take us on summer road trips. I enjoyed them so much even though I was the one always asking “are we there yet?”.
My background includes mostly jobs in the travel and airline industry because that’s what I like to do. I have worked jobs as a corporate reservations agent, ticket agent, airline technical support agent, airline gate agent, international flight agent and now travel agency owner.
I am originally from St. Louis and moved to Atlanta with a travel job promotion in 1995 to work with an airline company.
I moved to Atlanta with my young daughter who was going to start kindergarten that year.
After two years in my new job, I was offered a great opportunity with Delta Airlines.
I come from a very large family and this made it easy to get my first customers. They trusted me to book everything from flights and hotels, to cruises. I also hosted several large family reunions in different cities.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It was very difficult being a single mother, with no family and a young child in a new city. Atlanta is a lot different from the midwest where I grew up. It’s different then and it’s different now.
The cost of living and everything that goes with it is a lot more expensive in Atlanta.
The travel and airline industry has changed a lot. At one time travel agent jobs were on the low end of pay.
I decided to update my skills to increase my income.
I enrolled in a local program to get my Microsoft A+ certification. This was a great help and allowed me to get higher-paying jobs in the technical field.
But my heart was in travel and not tech support. I did some research and found another program at Gwinnett Technical College. I enrolled and learned more about the business, marketing, and the money side of the hospitality industry and event planning.
When the pandemic hit, travel came to a halt. I made this downtime an opportunity for me to take a hard look at my business and see what I need to do when travel opens back up.
I needed to do things like cleaning up an old, outdated client database (some of the people on my list were dead!) and getting a better invoice and accounting system for my business.
I believe in teamwork and mentorship. I hired one of the best travel business coaches in the industry, Sandra McLemore of Travel Marketing & Media. This was a game-changer for me. My sales have increased, I have a more defined clientele and I am no longer spinning my wheels on things that are a waste of my precious time.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in celebration travel like anniversaries, birthdays, vow renewals, and groups.
Co-creating with the traveler to design journeys that celebrate life’s milestones. Giving special attention to the fine details so that they can have the perfect experience.
I organize the really complex trips and details that go into a group vacation .
In a world where many people book their travel with online websites, I take the fear and stress out of sending your hard-earned money into cyberspace.
I’m good at what I do because I’m engrossed in the travel industry every day.
I love to travel, it’s a part of my job.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Sandra McLemore of Travel Marketing & Media – Business Coach and Mentor
Courtney Taylor of Peachtree Tax Professionals – Financial Advisor and Accountant
Contact Info:
- Website: www.taylormadejourneys.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylormadejourneys/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TaylorMadeJourneys
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TaylorMadeRandR
- Other: https://www.sandals.com/?referral=101204&agentid=TAYMUR404
