Veronica Gonzalez spent years promoting tourism in McAllen, Texas, and working in her father's pharmacy before she let herself build a business around what she loved most: planning travel. In this episode, Veronica joins Meredith Calloway to talk about how Delighted Designs grew from a destination event business into a luxury travel practice that does both. That growth started with a villa owner in Turks and Caicos who asked why she wasn't already doing this for a living, and continued with a referral from another host agency that led her to GTN's Travel MBA program in the October 2022 cohort.

Almost four years in, Veronica is honest about a growth curve that was anything but linear, including losing both of her parents a year apart and learning to give herself grace while running a business. She and Meredith talk about the emotional fitness that came out of that season, why this year is when everything opened up, and how GTN's community and partners gave her the confidence to book her first African safari. Veronica also shares her knack for knowing what clients want before they say it, why she always asks partners what they can do to surprise her travelers, and why she tells families not to wait on the trips that matter most.

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📖 Free Chapter: https://tinyurl.com/GTN-Chap7

🎓 Travel Business University: https://tinyurl.com/Learn-More-TBU

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🖥️ Delighted Designs: https://delighted-designs.com/

Sylvia Sulkes knew for years that her work wasn't fulfilling her anymore, but it took a climb up Mount Kilimanjaro with her husband to make the decision clear. A month after coming down the mountain, she joined GTN's Travel MBA program and launched Sol Kiss Escapes, a luxury travel business built around soul-stirring journeys that give clients what they actually need, whether that's rest, a reset, or more time with family. Before even finishing her first year in the program, she crossed seven figures in sales.In this episode, Sylvia joins Meredith to talk about how she got there. She shares the story behind the name Sol Kiss Escapes, the last-minute festive request that became her first big booking, and how GTN's Circle community helped her land the perfect stay at Cap Juluca in Anguilla. She explains why a fast response and a thoughtful, visual proposal won the client over, how that one trip turned into a year-long retainer, and why she's choosing to keep her client book small. She and Meredith also get into the mindset that keeps her steady during slower stretches, her first National Geographic expedition cruise, and the role her husband plays in the business she's building.

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📖 Free Chapter: https://tinyurl.com/GTN-Chap7

🎓 Travel Business University: https://tinyurl.com/Learn-More-TBU

-🖥️ Sol Kiss Escapes: https://solkissescapes.com/

👤 Sylvia's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sylviasulkes

This week on The Travel Business Unpacked podcast, Meredith Calloway is joined by Laura Gonzalez, founder of Vacation Artisans Travel Agency, to talk about knowing when it's time for a change and starting fresh after a decade in the industry.

Laura shares her journey from nonprofit event planning to ten years as a travel advisor, including the slump that made her decide whether to recommit to her business or step away. She talks about choosing to double down, what told her she had outgrown her previous host, and why she approached her search for a new one like an interview on both sides. Meredith and Laura also discuss the tradeoffs between large hosts and smaller boutique agencies, why being part of a Virtuoso agency mattered to her, and what it was like joining the Gifted Travel Network community.

Throughout the conversation, Laura offers an honest look at building a business while raising a family, from working during nap times when she first started to making the most of the time her son spends at extracurricular activities. She explains why she's comfortable passing on clients who aren't the right fit, and how asking clients why they're traveling shapes every trip she plans. Laura also shares why she loves the challenge of planning for multigenerational families and how she's encouraging her cruise clients to arrive a few days early and explore beyond their cruise itinerary.

📖 Free Chapter: https://tinyurl.com/GTN-Chap7

🎓 Travel Business University: https://tinyurl.com/Learn-More-TBU

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🖥️ Vacation Artisans Travel Agency: https://vacationartisans.com/

👤 Laura's LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/4fkkt2ka

Julie and Alex Ott are the mother-son team behind Triple Play Vacations. In this episode, they join Meredith Calloway to talk about what it looks like to build a business together while specializing in one of travel's fastest-growing niches: sporting events.

Julie's path into travel started during the pandemic, right after wrapping up 25 years in the apparel and footwear industry, including years living abroad in Hong Kong, Switzerland, and France with her family. She went through GTN's Travel MBA program in 2020, and Alex followed a year later in 2021 before eventually leaving his corporate job as a credit analyst to join her full time.

They open up about how they divide and conquer, with Julie focused on cruise, river cruise, and adventure travel, and Alex leading the charge on sporting event trips, from fan bases and stadium culture to how the name Triple Play came to be. They also talk candidly about what it's really like working as mother and son, staying close while living in different cities, and how they've leaned on the right partners to help pull off major event trips like the US Open.

📖 Free Chapter: https://tinyurl.com/GTN-Chap7

🎓 Travel Business University: https://tinyurl.com/Learn-More-TBU

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🖥️ Triple Play Vacations Website: https://tripleplayvacations.com/

👤 Julie's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-ott

👤 Alex's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexjott

Lucie McLaughlin spent over two decades as what she calls the "family CEO," and when her kids grew up and life took an unexpected turn, she found herself searching for a new sense of purpose. In this episode, Lucie joins host Meredith Calloway to talk about trading the family-planner role for a career as a luxury travel advisor, and how a conversation with her mother-in-law led her to research host agencies and ultimately choose Gifted Travel Network.Lucie opens up about the emotional side of building her brand, Lucie's Luxury Travel, and how the process brought her back to childhood memories of her family's wine business and cross-country road trips. She and Meredith also dig into her Travel MBA cohort's tight-knit support system, her first Collette tour experience in Portugal's Douro Valley, and the unexpected way an Instagram connection turned into a recurring women's group-travel business, taking her from Charleston to Italy to a planned trip to Greece.📖 Free Chapter: https://tinyurl.com/GTN-Chap7🎓 Travel Business University: https://tinyurl.com/Learn-More-TBU🖥️ Lucie's Luxury Travel Website: https://lluxurytravel.com/👤 Lucie's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucie-mclaughlin-1698a7340

Nicholas Dintelmann spent over a decade in corporate retail before he let himself pursue the international, travel-focused career he'd wanted since childhood. In this episode, Nicholas joins Meredith to talk about the deliberate process of unraveling his corporate life before joining GTN's Travel MBA program in the February 2026 cohort and launching CARTE ATLAS, his luxury travel business built for servant leaders who've built full lives but haven't made space to explore them.Nicholas is honest about what those first few months in the program actually look like: building a brand from scratch, navigating the gap between booking travel and getting paid for it, and learning to trust himself when the certainty of a corporate paycheck disappears. He and Meredith dig into the emotional fitness required to run a business, where the name CARTE ATLAS came from, his FAM trip to Grace Bay Resorts in Turks and Caicos, which was his first time traveling internationally for work, and the honeymoon trip where he circumnavigated the world in two and a half weeks.📖 Free Chapter: https://tinyurl.com/GTN-Chap7🎓 Travel Business University: https://tinyurl.com/Learn-More-TBU🖥️ CARTE ATLAS Website: https://CARTEATLAS.com/👤 Nicholas' LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-dintelmann

This week on The Travel Business Unpacked podcast, host Meredith Calloway is joined by Pam Smithgall, owner of South Shore Travel and a longtime Gifted Travel Network member.Pam began her career as a music teacher before discovering a way to turn her love of travel into a business. Today, she brings the same attention to detail, sequencing, and storytelling that she learned through music into the way she designs travel experiences for her clients. She shares how she creates meaningful moments clients never knew to ask for, builds trusted relationships with travel partners, and has learned to see marketing as an opportunity to connect people with something genuinely valuable.Meredith and Pam also talk about the evolution of her business, from figuring everything out on her own to finding the education, community, and partnerships that helped her grow. Pam shares how her weekly newsletter, carefully curated website, and in-person travel events have helped her stay connected to both existing and potential clients, while reminding us that building a successful travel business takes patience, consistency, and a willingness to keep learning.Pam’s story is a reminder that the skills and passions you already have can become some of your greatest assets as a travel entrepreneur, especially when you learn how to bring them into your business in your own way.📖 Free Chapter: https://tinyurl.com/GTN-Chap7🎓 Travel Business University: https://tinyurl.com/Learn-More-TBU🎓 Travel MBA Program: https://tinyurl.com/TravelMBA-🖥️ South Shore Travel Website: https://www.southshore-travel.com/👤 Pam's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pam-smithgall-80430743

Shawn Lamphear and Jon Malpass of LM Authentic Travel went from corporate careers to a seven-figure producing, six-figure-earning travel business in under two years. In this episode, Shawn and Jon join Meredith Calloway to break down exactly how they did it: why referrals (not cold outreach) drove every client they've landed, how their software backgrounds shaped the systems and workflows behind their business, and where AI is filling in the gaps as they scale.Shawn and Jon also get real about what surprised them most, including how much more "sales" the job turned out to be, and share the biggest challenges they've faced around social media, marketing consistency, and educating clients on the true cost of luxury travel. Plus, hear their favorite "pinch me" moments from the past two years, including one unforgettable stay at the Mandarin Oriental, London.Tune in for practical takeaways from Shawn Lamphear and Jon Malpass on building momentum from day one, leveraging your network, and what it really takes to grow a seven-figure travel business.-📖 Free Chapter: https://tinyurl.com/GTN-Chap7🎓 Travel Business University: https://tinyurl.com/Learn-More-TBU-🖥️ LM Authentic Travel Website: https://lmatravel.com/👤 Shawn's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnhitspace/👤 Jon's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmalpass/