Virtuoso Travel

I recently returned from Virtuoso Week, an annual luxury travel conference where the best of the best in the tourism and hospitality industry come together to exchange information. Every year Virtuoso has incredible speakers at the opening ceremonies and this year I listened to Patrick Lencioni, author of “Getting Naked…A Business Fable:”. He was truly inspirational to me. I did not study business in university nor did I ever see myself in a “sales” position. My passion is health and wellness and I want to help people, not sell them things. In the last 3 years as I have transitioned from the life of a university student to a builder of my own personal Wellness Travel brand under Renshaw Travel my interest in “business” has completely shifted. Whether one is a farmer, a yoga teacher, a doctor, a psychologist, a car salesman, a realtor or a travel advisor something is being sold. This something may be a service, product, a life changing experience or a necessity such as food and therefore business is involved.

I am a luxury travel advisor so I sell the product of luxury travel (facilitator). This is something that I am so incredibly passionate about and look forward to educating people on the unbelievable life changing experiences that come from further exploring this world. What the “customer” comes home with are memories from life enriching experiences of human interaction, personal thrill and finally stepping outside one’s comfort zone (as we all know that life begins at the end of our comfort zone). So what was so inspirational to me about Patrick’s speech was that he redefined how we do business. It is not about putting up a personal shield and becoming a robot just spitting out the facts of a companies values or mission statement that you aren’t personally invested in. It is about being completely open and honouring your true self, hence the title of the book “Getting Naked”. One may think that being vulnerable in business may be uncomfortable, counter intuitive or counter productive but for me it is natural. I am building my own brand and therefore I am my business and my business is me. These two concepts are intertwined and therefore I am always inspired by the work that I am doing as I believe it represents my true self. Goodbye retirement, Hello a fulfilling life of work-life balance!

Patrick Lencioni’s book, “Getting Naked” was the inspiration for all of Virtuoso Week and therefore I sat down with two of my favourite “suppliers”, owners of luxury hotel properties with a core value of wellness.  The first interview was with Sue and Alex Glasscock, owners of The Ranch at Live Oak and the second interview was with Andy Thesen, owner of Hermitage Bay. During both interviews Carly (my sister and business partner) and I shared some tears. Both The Glasscock’s and Andy were completely open and raw with the information they shared with us and it was completely refreshing. It is important for Carly and I’s philosophy to align with the “hotel’s” (I put hotel in quotations as these propeties are much more than just a place to rest your head for the night) philosophy because it allows us to feel extremely confident that our client’s are going to be taken care of. Stay tuned for the release of these interviews.