What inspired you to pursue a career in travel and tourism? Was there a defining moment?
I grew up as a pilot’s daughter… my dad flew for the Navy and then American Airlines… so travel was never something exotic in our house. It was just how our family moved through the world. I spent my early career as a fine art photographer, which taught me to pay attention to the small moments people miss.
Can you share a moment in your career when you realized, “This is exactly what I’m meant to do”?
It’s rarely the big reveal moments… it’s the quiet ones. A mom texting me from a theme park to say her son made it through the whole day because we’d mapped out the quiet spaces ahead of time. A family who hadn’t traveled together in years booking a second trip before they’d even unpacked from the first.
There was one moment in particular…when a mom sent me photos of her son the happiest he had ever been. That’s when it clicked. I’m not selling vacations. I’m handing families back something they thought they’d lost.
How has your journey evolved since graduating from The Travel Institute?
Earning my CTA gave me a professional foundation under what had been mostly instinct and lived experience. It changed how I talk about my work … with clients, with suppliers, and with myself.
What’s evolved most is my confidence in the position I hold. I plan travel for every kind of traveler… couples, luxury clients, multigenerational groups, aging travelers. The depth I bring from the accessibility side makes me better for all of them. Anticipating needs before anyone has to ask is just good advising.
What’s your favorite part about helping others experience the world through travel?
The photographs. The ones my clients send me before they leave, afterward, or while traveling. I spent years behind a camera learning that the moments worth keeping are usually the unplanned ones: the kid asleep on a parent’s shoulder, the grandmother laughing at something nobody else caught.
When a family sends me those photos, I know the trip worked. Not because the flights were on time, but because they were present enough to notice each other. My whole business runs on a simple idea: memories over things. Always. Getting to build those memories for other people is the best job I’ve ever had.
What skills from The Travel Institute have made the biggest impact in your career?
The professional standards piece mattered more than I expected. Supplier relationships, ethics, knowing my value and pricing accordingly. I came into this from fine art photography and years of planning travel for my own family, so I had instinct and lived experience but no framework. The Travel Institute gave me the framework… and once I had it, I could take on more complex work with confidence: multigenerational groups, luxury clients, accessibility needs layered on top of a tight itinerary.
What advice would you give to someone just starting their travel industry journey?
Get specific, and get certified in whatever that specific thing is. When I started, the advice everywhere was “don’t niche down, you’ll lose business.” I found the opposite to be true. The deeper I went into accessible and neurodivergent-friendly travel, the more I became the obvious choice… not just for those families, but for everyone, because the anticipation and detail work that a sensory-sensitive traveler requires makes you better for a honeymoon couple too.
The other thing: your own life is your credential. Whatever you’ve already lived through… that’s your starting point. Then go earn the training that lets people trust it.
And be patient with the money. It takes longer than anyone tells you. Keep showing up anyway.
How do you stay motivated and inspired in an industry that’s constantly changing?
Two things keep me steady.
The first is the client work itself. Every family that comes to me is a new puzzle, and the stakes feel real … for a lot of them, this is the first trip they’ve attempted in years. That’s not a job you get bored of.
The second is that I treat continuing education as part of the work, not extra credit. Certifications, supplier trainings, ship inspections, FAM trips.
The industry changing is the point. Ships launch, parks add new systems, accessibility offerings improve. If I stopped learning, I’d stop being useful. Staying curious isn’t discipline for me … it’s the part I enjoy most!!
Are there any mentors or peers in the industry who’ve deeply influenced your path?
Absolutely. My team at Dream Come True Vacations has been the most supportive group I could ever ask for, and I don’t think I’d have gotten off the ground without that support early on.
If you could only pack 3 items for a trip around the world, what would they be?
My camera. Once a photographer, always a photographer … I’d rather come home with the pictures than the souvenirs.
Noise-cancelling earbuds. That’s not just a comfort item for me; it’s the thing I recommend to almost every family I work with, and I don’t travel without my own.
And a good pair of walking shoes. Unglamorous, but I’ve never once regretted them, and I’ve definitely regretted the alternative.
What’s one place on your travel bucket list that you haven’t crossed off yet?
Norway. I want to sail the fjords under the northern lights…. the whole experience. The cold air, the quiet, the light doing something you can’t photograph properly no matter how hard you try. It’s the trip I’ve been describing to my husband for years.
