Rebecca Smiley quit her job as a college admissions counselor to become a travel agent in 2021. She quickly found success, booking over $860,000 in travel in 2024 and earning over $77,000. Smiley's journey highlights the lucrative potential of the travel industry and the growing demand for personalized travel planning.
Rebecca Smiley quit her job as a college admissions counselor to become a travel agent . She booked over $800K in trips in 2024.Rebecca Smiley's career change came from an unlikely place: In July 2021, she was at a wedding and started talking to someone who works as a travel agent .
By the end of January 2025, Smiley had already booked $640,000 in travel for the rest of the year and, as long as everyone goes on the trips they've booked, will take home at least $75,000. Smiley quit her job in November 2021 and gave herself a goal: If she could replace her $37,000 college admissions salary within a year working as a travel agent, she'd keep at it.
She plans a range of trips: One client booked a Disney weekend cruise for their entire family to celebrate an 85th birthday and spent $21,000 for a long weekend; other clients need help planning a $1,000 trip to Las Vegas.As it turns out, people of all ages are exhausted by information overload online.
She says it's important that she stays up to date on how AI can streamline the travel-planning process, whether it's sketching out itineraries or assessing reviews of a certain place. But sometimes the technology falls short in ways only humans can address. Other times, it's part of the job when suppliers send her on trips they hope to sell to their clients. One of Smiley's favorite "familiarization trips" was touring eight different properties in the Dominican Republic so she could then share firsthand experiences with clients.
Careers Travel TRAVEL AGENT CAREER CHANGE SUCCESS STORY VACATION PLANNING TECHNOLOGY
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