You can listen directly here. 

When life smacks you in the face, how do you respond? Overwhelm, setbacks, road blocks, Imposter Syndrome - I know you have been there too. Today I am here to say I am sorry I have not been present, but also Thank you to a few of you that have reached out and really helped me get out of a rut. 

When life goes a little pear shaped, I want you to know that you have support. You are able to get through it and with challenges can also come new opportunities and a new direction or clarity for the path you are on. You guys have given me the clarity and for that I am grateful. 

Finding balance… finding time, these are the things we are often questioning ourselves with. How can we do better. I know for me, I sometimes struggle with blocking the time to dedicate to one project. This episode is for you. If you are struggling, not sure about what’s next or need some clarity, know I have been there too and am here for you. 

Reach out and let me know where you are stuck, let’s work together to work through it. 

You’ve got this… 

Show Transcription: 

Announcer: Welcome to Travel Agent Achievers! The place to learn how to grow your travel business and have fun with it. Join Roslyn and her guests as they walk you through proven steps to a fulfilling and profitable business. 

Roslyn Ranse: Hey guys welcome back to another episode of travel agent achievers the podcast. 

This week I am talking about when life goes a little bit pear-shaped. 

You may or may not have noticed we have been missing some episodes over the last few weeks. 

First up. I want to apologise. 

I am sorry. 

One thing has hit me pretty hard over the last few days and I think it is the universe giving me a swift little kick. Not only am I sorry to you guys for not being present, but I also want to say Thank you. 

Thank you first of all to Leslie McCracken from the USA, who left me a beautiful review this week on iTunes. This is what she said. 

“Roslyn is a voice that is elevating the travel agent industry and I am so grateful I have found this podcast. With years of experience, interesting guests, and topics to meet agents wherever they are in their travel business, this podcast is one of my absolute favourites.” 

Leslie - THANK YOU. Your words touched my heart as what you have said is exactly what I set out to achieve when I started this podcast. I want to empower and encourage travel agents globally, whatever stage of their journey they are on to build the business of their dreams. To get your message and iTunes review meant so much to me. 

For those of you listening and those that have reached out, I want to say thank you. 

To Cristi Kimmel, you are also one of the reasons I love this industry. 

Your message on Facebook:

“Hi, I really enjoy your podcast, but you haven’t posted anything since October. I hope everything is ok and I look forward to your podcast coming back. Thank you.”  Cristi. 

THANK YOU… That meant the world to me as well. 

As I said first up, I honestly think the universe is giving me a swift little kick. There have been a few things over the last couple of months that have happened which have stopped me in my tracks however this is why life is so important and why I started Travel Agent Achievers, not to get complacent or slack off. It was to help others. 

Guys, we only have one life. A very good friend of mine, Tina Tower just launched a book with this exact name: One Life. I can’t wait to interview her about it. 

Please make the most of it. If it is arranging travel for your clients, being a better person, traveling yourself to faraway places yourself and sharing your dreams, I say Go for it. Don’t wait for the right time, we all know there will never be a right time. If you are here to grow and build and have a legacy you can pass on, or are known for, then I am your biggest fan and cheer, squad. You can do it and I am honored to be able to be here to support you where I can. 

So the last couple of months have been a roller coaster. I was at a conference recently and heard Rachel Hollis speak. If you haven’t heard of her, check out her book “Girl, go wash your face”. She is straight up and real. I didn’t know though whether I would love her message, even though I love her books.  Alas - I did. 

And a HUGE Takeaway I got was a story from the bible, I don’t know the exact wording, but the story is about walking through the valley of death… That in life we will be thrown obstacles, challenges, things will be good, but things will also get tough. If you are setting a goal to climb a mountain then be assured when you put it out there that you will be challenged along the way. There is no certainty as to whether you will achieve that goal, but you will be questioned, challenged and pushed along the way.  

The saying is to walk THROUGH the valley of death. Not go get stuck in the valley of death when things get hard. 

The moral of the story - if you set a goal, work with others and know what the heart of that goal is so you can get out there and achieve it. 

Make this world a better place and when you leave this earth, you will know you have done everything you ever wanted to. We only have one life, so make it count. 

For me, the last couple of months has been a roller coaster. Thank goodness I have my health and those around me. 

I have questioned myself and suffered imposter syndrome when it came to clients booking huge groups with me and asking for my ‘commercials’. Commercial Agreements. 

You know, how much do I want to be paid in addition to commission or any hotel/supplier agreements. This was huge for me. Clients were valuing ME!! They were valuing me, my experience, my know-how, the way I can put together things together. My tenacity. How I come with agreements and hotel contracts. 

However, I haven’t valued myself. I have had people in my life also reiterate this to me. Clients as well. So I believe the ‘story’. 

Not me valuing myself.

Our family has also moved interstate and into a new house. New daycare, new friends, new jobs for my husband. Settling into a completely new environment. W couldn’t be happier we made the change. 

To have clients come and value me, this isn’t a new concept - just one that when you get knocked over or someone whom you admire or respect don’t want to pay you for your service, set me back. This now, where people I don’t know as well are wanting to pay me. That’s really fed my soul and made me realise to also value myself. You may be thinking… Ros, you should know this by now, and YES I should. However, we have all had a past where things haven’t exactly been what they ‘should’ and therefore throw a curveball at the strangest of times. You get it. 

I’m the kind of person that loves a challenge however when there are too many things going on, 

I can suffer from overwhelm and then freeze. I know I shouldn't, but it's a natural response for me. I completely get that somethings just have to take a break and unfortunately, in this case, it was the podcast.  

I can’t stress enough guys about being organised and also have systems in your business. 

My travel business runs pretty smoothly these days due to systems. This podcast however still needs a little work - Haha... 

There have been other things happening in my business., but I will talk about those later. Just know - I am back. 

In the last month, I've also traveled to the USA  - to San Diego for the Amy Porterfield ‘Entrepreneur experience’ conference. Huge shout out to anybody that was over there as well. This was my second year attending the event. It was amazing to be back in the room with so many like-minded business people, a number whom I also call my close friends now.  to be surrounded by others with lots of thought-provoking conversations and interesting discussions came up. It was awesome. 

The other thing that was great, was that people were real. People struggle, and I am like you guys. I also have times of struggle, but I know how to get through them. 

Learning and growing have always been something I am into. Personal development, motivation, you name it, I love it. 

From my late teens, I was into business books. The mindset and sales books. Whenever I traveled it was like a reward to buy myself a new one and I traveled a lot in my corporate days. Attending the Entrepreneur Experience is not only good for business learning but also for my soul. That fills me up. Being around like-minded people, with energy, excitement, enthusiasm, and possibilities. Its also about the real and rawness of when time is tough and stuff is just going on that you are stuck in, being able to work with people and help them get out of it. That is my JAM. I absolutely love that. 

Whilst there, I caught up with a number of people that are all in business that I am lucky to call my friends now too. From conversations there and also back in Australia where I do business mentoring for a number of business owners, accountability has come up time and again. 

One thing that I'm going to talk about in the next couple of weeks is accountability but also having business friendships.  I believe it's really important to be able to reach out to other people in our industry and also that have their own business, but also those with other businesses around us because it is and it can be a real challenge being a solopreneur. By having these relationships and accountability and the closeness of business coaching and mentoring, you WILL move faster and also have the opportunity to be supported by other people that are on the same journey that you are on. 

Just understanding or having people in your corner that know what it's like it can make a huge difference in your day and business. One thing though is that  I think it also comes down to just humans and connecting with others that know what we're going through and business owners in general. 

Being in the travel industry that everybody understands what we're up to, I want to foster this for us as well. There is enough business to go around and when you do good, you stand out and you work hard for what you have got, you don’t need to worry about a client going to the store down the road or the competition of another consultant. Trust me, you don’t want those clients. You want to look after and nurture what you have and whom you want to work with. 

Coming back from the conference and also a couple of very short trips to Fiji I was hit smack bang to earth. Do you ever get this as I do? I've had clients and friends and even family say to me “how was your holiday?” 

I know full well I have been full-on working and networking. I was building my business. I was in Fiji twice in October. For 2 scoping trips for different clients of mine. I did not stop the whole time I was there. This is Fiji guys,  I didn't even go for a swim. I was there to be visiting hotels connecting meeting with people going from one then you to another and ensuring that my clients get the most up-to-date information and also the best deal whenever their traveling.  

You may have seen the facebook live post I did whilst there, I also got a ton of photos and video footage. These are long days. 

This is a simple example and another one of the reasons I think it's really important for us in the travel industry to be able to reach out and connect with others. 

Do you guys ever like this or get these comments? If you do, please connect with me on Social Media and let me know. Send me a DM. Hopefully I am not alone. I don’t think I am, but can you let me know how you go with this? 

I set up the Travel Agent Achievers Accountability group on facebook to foster this sort of community and environment. I want a community where we can support one another. Encourage each other. Celebrate the wins and share in the losses and help each other get through. 

If you want to be a part of something very special and an environment that is full of support, log onto Facebook and join the Achievers in Travel Accountability group. 

Guys, this is a super short episode I just wanted to say  Thank you for being here, thank you for your patience, thank you for being on this crazy life journey. Know that together we can do great things. 

Whatever your dream is for your travel business, let's ensure you keep working towards it. 

I know I have already started working on my 2020 plans and I can’t wait to share the process with you. 

Make sure you hit subscribe, leave me a review or come over to facebook or Instagram and send me a DM and don’t forget to like and join our Facebook group. 

I can’t wait to keep the journey going with you. I appreciate all of your emails and messages. It means the world to me, thank you so much, I will talk with you soon

Announcer: Welcome to Travel Agent Achievers! The place to learn how to grow your travel business and have fun with it. Join Roslyn and her guests as they walk you through proven steps to a fulfilling and profitable business.