This content was created by Girlboss in collaboration with Fora.
POV: You’re the travel-obsessed bestie who knows about the hottest destinations before they go viral on TikTok. You even planned—and booked—your BFF’s bachelorette trip to Tulum and your parents’ Mediterranean cruise too.
What if you could get paid for it? These women do! Anne Travous, Elaine Parker and Meghan Irle are travel advisors with Fora, the modern travel agency that’s shaking up the industry.
“Researching hotels and curating experiences for clients brings me absolute joy. I’d honestly do it for free.”
Who: Anne Travous
Works in: The non-profit sector
Based in: Scottsdale, Arizona
Joined Fora: October 2022
Favorite travel to book: Honeymoons, couples and friends trips in Europe and Central America with a focus on luxury, food and wine, and arts and culture
What led you to join Fora?
“I first discovered Fora through an Instagram post that said, “Do you always plan friends and family travel? Do you want to get paid for it?” I had been doing this for years, and travel is a passion of mine, so it sparked my interest. Fora was new at the time and I’d never heard of it before. It felt too good to be true to get paid to do something I was already doing. But taking the risk was the best decision I could have made for myself!”
How did you approach finding your first few clients and building your business as a Fora Advisor?
“My approach began within my network. I shared what I was doing with friends and family (especially those that I knew traveled regularly) and asked them to take a chance on me! I was able to provide additional value through the perks Fora’s Partners offer clients that they would normally not have access to. Once they saw that value, they began referring me to their friends and family as well!
I began building my presence on social media, posting regularly about travel, hotel opportunities, travel guides, etc. This generated a lot of interest, and slowly, I started receiving inquiries from people I had never met before who had found me on Instagram and were ready to talk about their own travel plans!
I also spent a significant amount of time upfront just putting the building blocks in place before I launched. While I joined in October of 2022, I didn’t book my first client until January 1, 2023. I used my first three months to take as many trainings as I could (Fora’s training offerings and resources are FANTASTIC), orient myself to the industry in general, build up my brand presence online, and put some general business practices in place before really diving in!”
How did Fora support you when you were first starting out? What resources were the most helpful?
“Fora’s training and resources are second to none. As someone who came from a completely different industry, so much of the terminology was a second language to me (so many acronyms!). Using Fora’s building-block training programs (Certified, Advanced and Pro) was incredibly helpful as I began to build my business.
Additionally, there are so many resources offered that are destination or partner-specific. I’m still learning every day, and Fora does a great job of providing ongoing education and support. They offer office hours so you can get questions answered in real-time when you’re working through a booking or learning a new partner.”
Do you have any success stories you’d like to share?
“I have so many! One of the bookings I’m most proud of was a group cruise via Virgin Voyages through the Adriatic. It started as a booking for my mom and myself, but we decided to open it up and see who else might want to join. As I shared the opportunity and the destinations with others (Greece, Croatia and Montenegro!), the interest grew as well. Friends and family began booking, and then friends of friends, and then some random acquaintances, and then complete strangers! By the time we were ready to travel, I had 30 people (16 cabins) booked and had also secured travel through Europe pre and post-cruise for more than half of the group. It ultimately resulted in my largest booking to date, at approximately $80K. We are now planning to make this an annual trip and hope that it continues to grow!”
Have you considered doing travel advising full-time?
“I have considered it! Travel advising is a passion, and as business grows, that option becomes more of a realistic option. But I also enjoy the work that I do at my day job and am in no rush to jump ship there either. I have the best of both worlds and I’m grateful for the opportunity to do both!”
Why is being a Fora Travel Advisor the best 5-9 job?
“I love that the travel industry doesn’t sleep. I can work on client bookings in my own time when I find pockets of availability outside of my regular job and my day-to-day life. Given that most of my clients travel internationally, sometimes that 5-9 window is actually the best time to connect with a hotelier in Italy or a tour operator for a client in Thailand. Researching hotels and curating experiences for clients brings me absolute joy. I’d honestly do it for free, so it’s pretty awesome that I also get paid for it.”
What would you say to someone who’s thinking of becoming a travel advisor with Fora?
“If the passion is there and you truly want to dive in, you should do it! Just like any other business, you get out of it what you put into it. For those who are just looking to help friends and family with booking travel, that opportunity exists and you can slide right into it!
For someone looking to make a living out of it, you do have to put in the work and it does take time—it doesn’t happen overnight. But with that said, even though it takes time, you’re having fun in the process. I’ve also made some dear friends along the way that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. I’d recommend this experience to everyone!”
“The human connection is what travel advising is all about.”
Who: Elaine Parker
Works in: Finance
Based in: New York/New Jersey
Joined Fora: January 2024
Favorite travel to book: Leisure or adventure/bucket-list travel for couples and families visiting New York, California, Portugal and Italy
What led you to join Fora?
“For years, I’ve toyed with the idea of doing something in the travel space. I grew up going on plenty of family trips, whether it be a road trip up to Quebec or upstate New York and the Poconos. Travel was in my blood.
By the time I graduated college, I had already completed two summer internships at a financial investment services group and global investment bank in NYC. I was hired full-time there and the rest is history. If I’m being honest, a career on Wall Street was never on my to-do list, but I pushed forward with it. Little did I know, it opened doors and showed me what was most valuable to me in life: to travel and see the world.
I applied to join Fora on New Year’s Eve 2023-2024. It has been such an amazing ride since.”
How did you approach finding your first few clients and building your business as a Fora Advisor?
“As a newcomer to the industry, I understand it can be difficult getting yourself out there, let alone, sharing details about your new business venture to strangers. Thankfully, I had a solid circle of friends and family who also loved to travel, so I tapped heavily into that.
From there, it was by word of mouth. Referrals are huge and one of the main reasons for our success. I’m a big Instagram person (sorry, I’m not cool enough for TikTok) and it genuinely made me happy to post about all of our travels, so I just kept doing it, with the goal that it would inspire someone to want to reach out and find out how they can work with us. If you build it, they will come, and that’s exactly what we did! ER Getaways now also has a website and we are in the middle of developing an email marketing plan to reach even more potential clients.”
How did Fora support you when you were first starting out? What resources were the most helpful?
“Fora truly makes it impossible to fail! From providing all of the basic training, tools and resources for getting started, to building up your clientele, and eventually, scaling your business, it’s an incredible program. Forum, our community platform, easily connects you with other advisors and is what led me to meet some of my now closest friends. Fora’s in-house booking platform has also been a game-changer. Their tech team is doing big things and I can’t wait to see what they have in store over the next few months! The finance team has also served as an integral part of my business, reconciling payments and chasing suppliers when commissions become overdue.”
How has your career outside of Fora helped with your travel advising?
“As a travel advisor, you are responsible for many aspects of a client’s trip. It can be a very stressful role. Having the right mindset and personality to be able to overcome situations when things go awry is key. Also, just not being afraid to talk to people. I talk to EVERYONE. I’ve had friends ask me, “You know them?” and I’d happily shake my head and then wave anyway. The human connection is what travel advising is all about. It’s something I learned early on and attribute to the years in my 9-5 role.
Why is being a Fora Travel Advisor the best 5-9 job?
“One thing that attracted me most to Fora in my search for a host agency is the flexibility. I’m a mom. Let’s face it, I have other responsibilities outside of my work. The fact there is no minimum quota to meet is also helpful as I can plan travel for clients in my own spare time and choose how busy I want to be depending on my 9-5 work/life schedule.”
What would you say to someone who’s thinking of becoming a travel advisor with Fora?
“It’s not ‘easy’ money. It is hard work. Fora’s resources can only get you so far but you need to be willing to meet them halfway. As long as you go into the application process with that mindset, you will find success!”
“I get to travel and explore the world as part of research and development. Does it get any better?”
Who: Meghan Irle
Works in: Education
Based in: Chicago, Illinois
Joined Fora: March 2023
Favorite travel to book: Honeymoons and group travel in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean
What led you to join Fora?
“A few months before I joined Fora, I decided I was going to dive into the world of entrepreneurship. I got married in Mykonos in 2022 and organized all of the travel logistics for the group, so I figured if I could plan on a scale like that, I could definitely plan family vacations and honeymoons! I did a ton of research on what I needed to be a successful travel advisor because I wanted to make sure everything was in place before I even started marketing myself. I knew that I needed a host agency so that I could begin creating partnerships with suppliers. Fora seemed to align with what I wanted out of my business. I started by watching their destination training videos before I joined and quickly applied after the second training.”
How did you approach finding your first few clients and building your business as a Fora Advisor?
“I am not a salesperson by nature, so approaching potential clients was not an innate trait. I had to push myself wayyy out of my comfort zone to tell my friends about my new endeavor. My first few clients were referrals and friends who took a chance on me or who I had planned trips for before. I also joined a ton of Facebook groups for brides in my area since I was focusing on honeymooners at the time. Any time someone needed a travel-related service, I would message them and try to get a conversation going.
When it came to the business side of travel, I tried to learn as much about the travel world as I could. I attended all of the Fora webinars, went through all of the certifications, and took part in their annual travel conference, Live Forum.
How has your career outside of Fora helped with your travel advising?
“In true middle school teacher fashion, I like organization, but I also like to create and have spent many hours designing lessons to engage my students. It is very much the same on the travel side. I get to design organized, life-changing trips!”
Why is being a Fora Travel Advisor the best 5-9 job?
“I get to travel and explore the world as part of research and development. Does it get any better?”
What would you say to someone who’s thinking of becoming a travel advisor with Fora?
“If you are the planner of your family or friend group, the person everyone comes to for travel advice, and you have a serious case of wanderlust, this is the job for you.”
