Sue Hills tell of her experience as a Travel Counsellor franchisee
Sue Hills, based in Kent, was one of the first to join The Travel Academy. Over the past year Sue has built a successful travel business, enjoys a work life balance she never thought possible, and is now celebrating her success as one of the first Associates to graduate as a Travel Counsellor.
“It got to a point in my life where I needed my own business,” says Sue. “I have always worked for other people and grown their businesses for them whilst remaining on a salary and feeling unrewarded for my hard work. I have always had a passion for travel and love sharing my knowledge of different destinations with others. I also always wanted to work from home so that I could have a better lifestyle and the freedom to do things my own way. When I found out about the Travel academy it really was like a dream come true.”
Previous to joining the Academy Sue had worked with her sister helping to run a self storage business, but knew this wasn’t for her. After suffering from a spout of ill health following a kidney transplant ten years earlier, Sue’s partner Bob decided to treat her to a trip to Hawaii. It was then that Sue realised that she needed to make a change and follow her dream.
“We booked the holiday through our Travel Counsellor, Jessica Taylor. I helped to plan many of the things we did on the trip and kept thinking ‘I would love to do what Jessica does’ so Bob just turned around to me and said ‘why don’t you?’. It was then Jessica told me about the Travel Academy, which enables people with no previous travel experience to join this unique franchise programme and run their own travel businesses from home.”
Sue was set up with all the equipment and technology to enable her to tailor make her customer’s holidays as an independent travel agent. She is also supported by over 200 staff at the company’s head office in Bolton, and is able to keep in constant contact with them and her fellow colleagues at Travel Counsellors using the innovative communication technology provided by the company including intranet message boards and webcams.
“On arriving home after the initial two week training course, laptop in hand, I did panic a little as I have always been a bit of a techno phobic! However I need not have worried because there is a great IT team at head office that are always there to help. The whole team at head office support me in everything I do, including training, marketing and admin, so that I can concentrate on promoting my business and delivering an exceptional service to my customers.”
“Looking back it has been the most incredible year – my feet have hardly touched the ground! It feels amazing to be one of the first franchisees to graduate from the Travel Academy. I am now doing a job a love, working my own hours and have met what feels like a whole new family that keeps me going everyday. I have also been able to travel to an array of destinations since joining the Academy and am learning new things everyday. I can honestly say I have never looked back.”
And Sue’s hopes for the future? She adds; “Looking forward I would like to see my partner retire from his business within the next five years and my growing business to continue to support us. I feel like I am helping to build a future for us and have already built a business that I am truly proud of.”
If you would like to join Sue, and over One hundred other female franchisees of the Travel Acadamy, click the 'Request Information' button below to find out more.
