Life & Work with Mandy Hinrichs of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mandy Hinrichs.

Hi Mandy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up first in a Marine Corps aviation family and eventually Delta, so travel was part of my life from an early age. My mother was a concert pianist, so I had a marriage of airports, airplanes, and the classical arts that shaped my realization that the world was bigger than my own backyard. That early exposure gave me a curiosity about places, people, and cultures that never really left me.

I went on to study International Affairs and French at Georgia Tech, where immersive semesters in Europe deepened my appreciation for history, culture, language, and what it means to connect with a destination and it’s people.

Before launching MH Curated Travel, I built my career in national sales, marketing, and branding with companies including Coca-Cola, Panera Bread, and Arby’s. That chapter of my career gave me an invaluable business foundation. I learned how to listen closely to clients, think strategically, communicate clearly, and pay attention to the details that shape a larger experience.

Eventually, I realized that the pieces I loved most, relationship-building, thoughtful planning, storytelling, logistics, culture, and creating meaningful experiences, all came together naturally in travel. I opened by travel agency, MH Curated Travel, in 2014 and haven’t looked back. My travel agency began as a second career, but in many ways it felt like the most authentic next step.

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 has been incredibly rewarding, but I would not say it has always been a smooth road.

Starting a business as a second career comes with a unique mix of excitement and humility. I came into travel with a strong background in sales, marketing, and relationship-building, but I still had to learn an entirely new industry from the inside out. There are supplier relationships to build, workflow systems to create, destination knowledge to deepen, client expectations to manage, and countless details behind the scenes that travelers never see.

One of the biggest challenges has been learning how to scale without losing the personal touch that made people trust me in the first place. In the beginning, I was doing everything myself, sales calls, proposals, bookings, client communication, itinerary design, travel documents, troubleshooting in-travel crisis, and post-trip follow-ups. As the business grew, I had to learn when to ask for help, how to build better systems, and how to create a more sustainable structure around the client experience. I now have a client experience manager in a support position and outsourced some of my marketing. As my business grows, so is my team.

There have also been lessons in boundaries. When you care deeply about your clients and their trips, it is easy to want to say yes to everything. Over time, I have learned that part of serving clients well is being clear about how I work, where I add the most value, and what kind of planning process creates the best outcome for everyone.

Travel itself is also unpredictable. Weather, flight delays, changing hotel availability, pricing shifts, and local logistics can all create challenges. But those moments have reinforced why having an experienced advisor and strong in-country partners matters so much. The goal is not to pretend travel is always perfect; it is to make sure clients feel supported when the unexpected happens.

Every challenge has made the business stronger. It has pushed me to refine my process, choose my partners carefully, communicate more clearly, and build a company that is both high-touch and highly organized. The road has not been perfectly smooth, but it has been meaningful, and I am proud of the business that has grown from those lessons.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
MH Curated Travel is a boutique travel advisory specializing in upscale highly customized, experience-rich travel. I work with clients who want more than a trip that looks good on paper, they want the details handled, the logistics to feel seamless, and the experience to feel personal to them.

I specialize in designing custom itineraries for families, couples,, milestone celebrations, and multi-generational travel. Much of my work focuses on Europe, the Caribbean, Latin American, Africa, and other experience-driven destinations, with a strong emphasis on culture, food, history, beautiful hotels, and thoughtful pacing. I love helping clients connect with a place in a deeper way, whether that is through a private guide who brings a city’s history to life, a cooking class in someone’s home, a boat day along the coast or a vineyard visit with the vintner.

I think what I am most known for is taking something that can feel overwhelming and making it feel clear, curated, and manageable. Travel planning today can be incredibly noisy. There is so much information available, but not all of it is accurate, current, or right for a specific client. My role is to cut through that noise, understand who my clients are and how they like to travel, and then design something that fits them, not just something that is popular online.

What sets MH Curated Travel apart is I think through the full experience from start to finish. How will the arrival feel? Is the hotel location right for this family? Is the pace too rushed? Does the room category actually work? Are the transfers, guides, restaurants, and special experiences aligned with the client’s expectations and interests? The details matter.

I am especially proud of building this business as a second career and watching it grow so quickly through referrals, repeat clients, and trust. My first full year in business exceeded what I thought was possible, but what means the most to me is not just the growth itself. It is the messages from clients who return home saying they felt cared for, that the trip exceeded their expectations, or that they never could have created the same experience on their own.

At the heart of my work is the belief that travel should feel both inspiring and well-supported. My goal is for clients to feel excited before they go, confident while they are away, and deeply grateful for the memories they bring home.

What are your plans for the future?
The business has grown quickly, especially for a second career, and that has been both exciting and clarifying. One of my biggest priorities is continuing to refine the planning process so that it feels seamless from the very first conversation through the client’s return home. I am investing more time into systems, preferred partner relationships, and destination knowledge so that the business can grow without losing the thoughtful, high-touch service that defines it. I will also be adding members to my support team to help strengthen the client experience as the business continues to grow.

Europe will always be the majority of my focus and effort. It is where my personal travel story began in many ways, and it remains one of the areas I love, but I’m also excited to continue growing my work in Africa, particularly with safari travel. My partners in Africa are some of the most fun and inspiring people to work with, and the client feedback from those trips is incredible. Safari experiences are deeply rewarding to plan because they are often once-in-a-lifetime memories for travelers.

As for big changes, I think AI is changing the way people approach travel planning, but I do not see it replacing the role of a great travel advisor, but I do see my role evolving.

Travelers can gather ideas, compare destinations, and build rough itineraries faster than ever. That can be incredibly helpful, especially in the early dreaming stage. But information is not the same as expertise. The real value of an advisor is knowing how to interpret information and turn it into something that actually works.

My role is becoming less about “finding options” and more about strategy, curation, relationships, and execution. I believe AI will be a wonderful starting point, but it cannot replace trusted on-the-ground partners, personal relationships with hotels, destination experience, or the human judgment. It also cannot advocate for a client in the same way when flights are delayed, a room is not right, or plans need to shift in real time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mhcuratedtravel.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hinrichsmandy
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHCuratedTravel
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-hinrichs-b9b4328/