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The Next Stage of Your Travel Business Requires a Different Version of You

Ros: Hi, everybody. Welcome back to the Travel Agent Achievers podcast. It's Ros here, your host, of course. And I am currently in Vancouver, Canada, in between two speaking events, Travel Agent Forum and Travel, sorry, Travelify Live. My gosh, I'm mumbling my words already. And also Asta down in San Diego next week.

I really feel like the last couple of months have been a whirlwind and over the last week, so in between the two big events, I've been thinking and reflecting a lot about the last few months and it brought me back to our international travel agent achievers retreat in Cebu and just how precious it was. Now, honestly, there's something that really stayed.

you know, with me after being in that room full of travel business owners. One thing that came up, no matter where anyone was at and also over the last few weeks as well. So I have been, was speaking in March, just backtracking a little bit, in March in New Zealand. And then I held my international travel agent achievers retreat in Cebu in the Philippines.

followed straight away. Like I literally got on the plane on the Saturday, arriving into Fiji on the Sunday from the Philippines to Fiji via Australia due to all the connections and ran an international event as part of my travel business for 250 Australian and New Zealand business owners for one of my clients. And it was one of the most calmest

international events that I have ever run, put together, curated for my client. It was magical. And I was very grateful to have one of my team members, Hannah, fly in from the Philippines as well. So she met me in Cebu. I mean, the, she met me in Fiji. See, I'm mumbling again. So from Cebu to Fiji, ran that international event. I flew home for just over a week.

Roslyn Ranse (02:21.932)
was in Sydney for ClearLive and then I flew out to the USA. So it feels like the last few months have gone by in a blur. My phone is absolutely full of photos and videos and a whole lot of content that I haven't been able to get to because it's just all been back to back. And one of the things that has kept coming up over and over

not just from the very first conference that I spoke at in New Zealand or the International Travel Agent Achievers Retreat or even speaking at Travel agent forum last week is the word busy. Noah, I have heard this for years and I am sure that you have potentially said it yourself as well that

What we do as travel business owners is not just one thing. We are not only doing all the fun stuff that we love by curating experiences for our clients, booking them, planning them, executing them, working with all of our suppliers, connecting with our clients, dreaming and...

I consider all of that sort of stuff fun because I absolutely love it. It's my natural default to move into that space. But behind the scenes, we are also managing the administration, negotiations, contracts, supplier phone calls, all the payments, the bookkeeping in addition to that. And then the the working stuff, the busy stuff, where also then

trying to be visible. We are trying to market our business, stay at the forefront, think about what's coming next, the forward projections and the forward planning. So when I was at the international retreat in Cebu, one thing that was really important that came up over those few days was how there was the opportunity set up.

Roslyn Ranse (04:35.608)
for us to step away from the day to day, to slow down long enough to think and breathe, to have honest conversations, real reflections on what was actually going on in the world and in our lives, to find the clarity, actually return to our thoughts. Now, one of the most important things and the most powerful things that I found about stepping away from the business

is that we get the opportunity to create space to think. We're not reacting, we're not chasing emails, we're not solving problems all day, but we're actually thinking and breathing. And the pattern that I noticed and what I continue to see is that everybody is working incredibly hard. Everyone is carrying a lot in life, in their business. And it's not just...

business to be busy and do the work, but we're also carrying things in our personal lives as well. Now as advisors and travel business owners, we're juggling lots of different parts. We're constantly reacting. And the interesting thing was that I realized that often I was doing exactly the same thing. I was being busy. I was defaulting into my natural

you know, form of excitement with the clients. And this is something that comes up. Right. I, as a business owner, like you guys, as a travel business owner, I, I fall into the same trap. I am human. I am just like you. And there is the side of me that as the travel advisor and the travel business owner,

I get really excited with my clients and I will naturally wake up in the morning. There are times that I will just open my emails. First thing I react immediately to what needs to be done. The inbox becomes the priority. Now, before I even consciously decide what matters most times in those moments is that I pick up that I've already handed.

Roslyn Ranse (07:02.06)
control of my time and my energy to everybody else. Now, this is something that I see not just me doing, but a lot of other advisors as well. So I know that I'm not alone in sharing this with you. And this is one of the things that I see between the difference of being a travel advisor and a travel business owner, right, or even just a business owner in general.

Because as a travel advisor, we're booking the travel, we're solving problems, we're responding to requests, we're managing all the moving parts, we're handling the day to day, right? We're getting busy in the being busy. A business owner creates the direction, it protects the priorities. They think strategically, they build sustainability, right? They lead the growth of the business.

and they design the business intentionally. Now this isn't about caring less or being less hands on. I certainly believe that it's about understanding that leadership and being a business owner just requires a different way of thinking because even

me catching myself in those moments of being busy and my natural default, which goes into being the business owner. There are also the flip side where I will look at it and say, hang on a second, I need to protect this time. I need to have the boundaries in place to ensure that I am working on the business in order to move it forward, which is why it's so important to me to take time away.

And I have had the opportunity and I'm so grateful to Clint, my husband and my family, because when I spoke about these speaking events in the US, I said to him, look, I'll fly home in between. So I'll do travel, fly live or do travel agent forum. Then I'll fly home. I'll spend the week at home, turn around and then come back to the US to speak in San Diego and.

Roslyn Ranse (09:18.1)
That for me was a natural default to be home, be really present with my family. I miss my son incredibly. I miss Clint, like our home life. And he said to me, don't be silly, Roz, you actually need to spend the time to take some time for yourself. You've been flat out. There's been the big group. There's been your retreat. There's been all of these things. You need to take some time for yourself.

But you also, that'd be silly to fly home, to fly back. And that for me, coming from Australia to the US, that would take out three days, four days, right? So I would physically be home, but then turn around to come back. And in that physically home, I'd be jet lagged. I would be tired. I wouldn't be my best self. And so he said to me, thank you very much, Clint. Stay away. Do what needs to get done so that when you come back, then.

It's all systems go. And so I took this time to lose that busy identity, which I really believe has become part of our industry, like the industry identity. I hear it all the time when you talk to somebody and say, how are things going? You know, what's going on in your world? And the response is, I'm so busy. I'm so busy doing this, this, this, this, this.

And then the natural reflection back from another party is, yeah, I'm so busy too. But we're just being busy and being the busy, like I don't get that. And so I'm very intentional. Sometimes I feel as though it's almost that we need that proof that we're working hard, proof that we care, proof that we're needed. But busy doesn't necessarily mean profitable. Busy doesn't necessarily mean sustainable. And

busy, being busy certainly doesn't guarantee growth. So when I think about how we were in Cebu, the intention that I set for everybody in that intimate environment was really to take a step back. It was something that I did as well. And being part of a community and being part of an experience like that where

Roslyn Ranse (11:44.322)
you intentionally set the boundaries to say, am taking this time away. I am going to do this for myself. Because if we end up staying in that reactive cycle in that being busy, we're not actually going to step into being the CEO that I know so many travel business owners want to be. They're caught in that reactive moment. They wake up and they're already behind.

They feel as though they've got to check their emails constantly. They're told that being in the travel industry is such a responsive thing that if you don't respond immediately, then you're going to be left behind. That there's that reactiveness in chasing suppliers, fixing issues, handling urgent requests. And we often finish the day exhausted. But we get up and we repeat the same thing tomorrow, right? So how can we

change this up and even though we're working incredibly hard, how can we actually move the business forward? And so in thinking about this and where I have been in that busy phase because it's been that moment, I know the CEO word can feel a little strange in our industry and this certainly isn't about titles.

It's about the mindset and it's about setting the intention to say, I'm not always going to be reactive. I actually need to be thinking about the future. And there are many conversations that I have had in the last few weeks with business owners and travel industry professionals where they're thinking about what's next. And even a conversation I had with somebody the other day was, I don't know how long I can do this for.

What is the path for me? Have I got another two years? I'd love to do this for another two years, but I don't know what it looks like for me to step away and being the CEO in their business when they might be a solopreneur in this industry. How do we protect what we have? How do we pass that on? What's the mindset that I need to bring somebody in or do I sell? There's just so many questions.

Roslyn Ranse (14:10.38)
Right. But it feels a little bit strange for a lot of either solo printers or travel business owners that have been working by themselves or they may have, you know, an assistant in administration or something to be thinking about being the CEO. It's about that mindset shifting from being busy and reactive and thinking right all the time to

being the CEO that asks, you know, instead of what do need to get done today to asking what actually matters today? What's going to move the business forward? What can I only do and where is my time best spent? What needs support? What can be systemized? What are all the things there? And that's a really powerful question to have for yourself, often to say, what

actually matters today. And when I was on stage last week in Las Vegas, there was a question that came up and the feedback that I gave, the information that I gave back is something that I will often say to myself. It's often what I will say inside the achievers mastermind. It's what I will say to people when they ask me this question. I will say, what's one thing that you can do today?

that somebody else isn't so that tomorrow you can do what others can't. What's one thing like what actually matters today to help you move the business forward instead of being busy with the busy that we naturally can fall into because it's our default. It's what we know. It's what we've always done. What actually matters. What is going to move the business forward if I take action on it today. And so that's a really

powerful question that I want you to be able to ask yourself. And what I saw in Cebu at our international retreat that was when advisors and travel business owners step away from the noise, step away from the have to be on and always doing, they start seeing their business really differently. It's where we get that

Roslyn Ranse (16:33.614)
clarity because we're quiet. It's where the bigger thinking comes into place. It's where honest conversations happen. It's recognizing burnout and how we're feeling right now. It's where we get the opportunity to reconnect with what is it that we want? What is that vision? And I really feel that there comes a point in business that we're working harder is no longer the answer.

because the next stage requires us to think differently. So think about it, if you're busy being busy, you're in the doing all the time, you're reacting to the emails, you're always on, you feel as though there's so much pressure to perform and do the thing for your clients, otherwise you could potentially lose them.

then this is going to be something that will keep you there. But it requires, if you want to do things differently, if you want to step into that CEO level, if you want to be the business owner that other people look up to, if you want to be the travel business owner that has the community and the team around you to support you, then we need to be thinking differently. And we need to be thinking about leadership. What is the leader that

Who is the leader that you want to become or who you are? What are the boundaries that you need to put in place to protect your time, protect your energy? What are the systems? Systems are really important because if everything stays stored in your head, then nobody else can help you or support you. So what are the systems that need to be built that somebody else can step in and they can take over or that they can take ownership of? And ownership is a big word that I've been

you know, working through myself, even over the last 12 months, allowing somebody else to take ownership of a project or a task or a system that takes a lot of trust. And as a leader, who is that person that you want to be? What sort of support do you need? Is there, you know, a way that you can protect your energy? Burnout is something that

Roslyn Ranse (18:55.628)
you know, lot of people are talking about right now. I feel as though there's been ebbs and flows in the discussion of it and giving people the opportunity to, you know, take a break or saying we just need to do this. And I even had my neurologist, I suffer from migraines, but I have a neurologist that said to me, Rose, I know how important your business is to you. I know.

how you run at a pace that many others don't. I know how your brain is often thinking of these different things all the time and you are constantly on. If I told you to go and meditate for half an hour, you would probably say, yeah, yeah, yeah, and not do it. And she said to me, you know, I know that you go and get your coffee every day. And I said, yep, that is my one thing. I step outside, I go for a five minute walk, I grab my coffee, talk to people there, and then I go back into my office. And she said, what would it look like if you

grabbed your coffee, you walked down to the beach, you had a look at the ocean, and then you went back to the office. For me, that was achievable, right? So when I'm thinking about protecting my own energy, protecting burnout, protecting my own state of mind and having some time for myself, that's really important for me to recognize, but it's the start. It's the start of something to just breathe.

But as a CEO, I also want to be thinking about intentional growth. I want to be thinking about what is ahead. And the next level of business will often require you to become a different version of yourself as well. And so that's where our international retreats and the community that we have in the achievers is so precious to me and I know to everybody that's a part of it because

You're surrounding yourself with like-minded people. You are learning and intentionally thinking what's next. Now, if we're in a place that we don't know what's next, that's also okay. But there is a reason why you started your travel business in the first place. And that's what I want you to come back to today. I want you to be thinking, why did you start your travel business in the first place? Was it so that...

Roslyn Ranse (21:22.754)
You could take the family on a holiday. Was it so that you could get excited about curating experiences for other people? Like, why, why did you start it? Was it so that you could start a million dollar business? Was it so that you could replace an income on a job that you had? Did you create your business so that that was the job that you had? In doing that, often,

It'll require a different version of yourself to move to that next phase. And you took a leap of faith to start your travel business, to become that solopreneur, to do the thing that you love doing, I know, day in and day out. But if you want to get to that next level, if you want to be the CEO of your business and actually not have it control you all the time, it's going to require you to be a different version of you. And that is challenging. It is hard.

We put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We often create that pressure as well because we fear that we might disappoint people. We might disappoint our clients. We feel that the pressure is there that we need to be constantly available. There's this internal urgency that we often create that also has unrealistic expectations. And the expectations that we place on ourselves are often

far greater than the expectations that others actually have of us. Inside our achievers mastermind, I had my beautiful friend, Claire Cope, who is a clinical psychologist, but she's also a mindset expert as well. And she comes to us with these golden nuggets at different times than I say. And one of the things that she shared with us was around expectations. The expectation that we have of ourselves,

the expectation that our clients have of us and the expectations that we think that our clients have of us as well. Like there's this whole triangle, there's this whole wish-washy thing that often we don't express those expectations and they can become really unrealistic and we then beat ourselves up. I mean, there's so many things that I can go to here and I can absolutely go down a rabbit hole in.

Roslyn Ranse (23:45.822)
The purpose of this podcast is really to say, are you at right now? What is it that is going to move you forward? What's draining you most right now? What do you feel as though you're reacting to or are you leading the business? What kind of business owner do you want to become? And through the conversations that I've had over the last few months,

There are so many different versions. It's what version is going to be right for you. So come back to your vision. Come back to why you actually started your travel business in the first place and think, what is it that I want next?

Do you want to be remaining, you know, in where that busyness is? Or is it that you want to become the CEO of your business? Because I know that you started this business for a reason. Was it for freedom? Was it for flexibility? Was it for purpose? Whatever your reason was, remember, come back to that. I know what mine was. It was that I wanted to return home.

I wanted to be present. I wanted to be available. I knew that if I wanted to start a family, I wanted to be there for the moments. I wanted to be there when I could. I wanted to pick my child up from school, drop them off. I wanted to have the flexibility in order to create the lifestyle that I wanted. I knew the things that I felt as though I missed out on as a child, or I knew that there were things that

would show up for me that my upbringing and I wanted to do things differently. So whatever your reason was, I want you to come back to that. Now, if I think about today, somewhere along the way, myself and many advisors have become trapped inside the constant cycle of doing that, my friend.

Roslyn Ranse (25:59.788)
Maybe the next stage of business for you isn't about, it's not about doing more. Maybe, maybe it's about leading differently. It's about thinking differently.

Honestly, these conversations that I have, that I have inside the Achievers Mastermind, even on our accountability calls the other day that I ran here from Canada through the international retreat that I had, these, and even speaking, I spent 25 minutes talking to advisors after my talk at Travel Agent Forum, and it's those conversations.

that are exactly the kind of conversations that I love to have because it helps each and every one of us. I walk beside you. I am doing the same thing, but I am also showing up to give you the information of things that I have learnt that I know from past experience. And I still get tripped up. I'm normal, right? But I want to share with you the journey to say, all right, well, what's next? How can we improve? Because it's not just

about the bookings, it's not just about the marketing, but about how we actually build businesses that support us long term. And my goal, and I say it as well, is that my whole vision, my goal with Travel Agent Achievers is to increase the level of business acumen and business knowledge that the travel industry and travel business owners, solopreneurs work from home.

mobile home-based, small business owners that if we can increase our level of business acumen, the whole industry gets stronger. We all rise together.

Roslyn Ranse (27:56.374)
Remember that busy is not a strategy. Leadership and being the CEO requires space. And you are 100 % allowed to operate in a way that works for you. You're allowed to operate differently to other people. You get to design the business that you want to build because it is your business. And nobody has ever said being a business owner is easy. There's going to be the ups and downs. There's going to be...

things that come up, but not everything urgent is important. I want you to build the business that you want. I want it to support your life, not consume it. And working harder is not always going to take you to the next level. It is around that mindset. It is around that different way of thinking. I want for you to be the CEO of your business if that's what you want.

If you want to be the CEO of your business, then I encourage you to reach out to me. Send me an email and connect with me on social media. Say hi because I am walking with you. I will encourage you and support you. I will call you out when you might need it as well, as I know that my team, also call me out too. This is life. Life is short. We're seeing that more and more now as we get older. So.

Let's do it with love, compassion, leadership, all the things that we want, I want for you. So thanks for listening today. I'm going to continue to share what's been going on and I look forward to catching up with you all very, soon, whether it is live and in person at an event or whether it is through social media, DMs, whatever. I look forward to catching up with you. Take care. Bye for now.