Today we’d like to introduce you to Marie Richards.
Hi Marie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I am a person who loves change! When I went to college, I had no idea what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go, so I changed my major four times and ended up with a degree in Interior Architecture and Design. I honestly think this is where my love of travel began. While visiting many cities in my early 20’s and always admiring the architecture anywhere I went, this made me want to explore more! And then not only how buildings were built in different parts of the world, but how they were used and maintained over centuries. Then to be able to engage with the people around them to experience other cultures, bonus! Fast forward some time and I made the move from Buffalo, NY where I was born and raised, to Texas to be closer to my brother. Huge culture change for this NY girl! Got a new job with a design firm, met my husband and the wedding planning began. I went to only one bridal show looking for a photographer specifically and ended up finding a travel agent. A honeymoon is a pretty big deal so why not get some help? I had never used one before and they are educated and trained in what they do, so why not? It was a great experience. We were given options we would have never found on our own, especially with our tiny budget (which seemed huge to us at the time). Off we go! When we return, we decide to use our travel agent again for a few more trips.
This time, I put a little effort in myself as I became more curious about the travel world and what was out there. This research on my own turns into a job offer which turns into training and then leads to us opening our own “Personal Travel Concierge” business now known as Rugged Luggage Travel (huge kudos to my husband for pushing me as he saw something in me in owning a business I did not know I had, forever thankful for his support!). We are now eight years in this beautiful adventure that I never knew I loved or needed. We have assisted so many travelers with so many different types of trips. From honeymoons to destination weddings, babymoons to graduation trips, corporate celebration reward vacations to family travel, solo travelers to group travel. And more! Every itinerary we design is custom to our client and we strive to ensure each one feels just as special as the one before. So for me, with change being such a big part of what I love, assisting people with their travels, every day is different. There is never one day that is like the other nor one client that will be like a past client. It’s ever evolving (Thank you COVID…) and there is always something new to learn. Change is a part of my everyday life!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not one bit! This is a very hard industry to work your way into. People laughed at me all the time always saying “A travel agent still exists?”. Lots of nonbelievers out there who thought it was a dying industry. And sometimes it felt like that for me as well. We put in the work and just kept putting ourselves out there. We networked like CRAZY. Can’t have any shame in self-promotion when you’re starting a business right? And then we traveled as much as we could. “Build it and they will come” was our motto, ha! We began inviting people on group trips to keep getting the word out. Pretty soon, our annual group trip went from four people to 18. It was about year four where things really started to build and I was not giving up! We are very fortunate that all of our business since has come from referrals. All that self-promotion and then delivering really paid off!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We like to call ourselves a Personal Travel Concierge rather than a Travel Agency. We really do focus on our client’s needs and wants over anything else. We follow our client’s travel from start to finish. Here with you from the beginning to the end! We go through a series of questions to start our process to get to know our clients more. And this could be questions about past travels, why they are traveling, if any special accommodations are needed due to medical reasons or health concerns, etc. We really dig deep so that we can ensure the investment they are making in their travels is beyond their expectations. We understand people work very hard to save for a vacation. We want to make that budget go as far as it can while giving them an experience to remember for a lifetime.
I am really most proud of how we were able to help so many clients during COVID last year. It was a devastating year for so many people and in so many industries. We are still facing many challenges in travel, but we continue to support and stand behind our clients to help them gain the best outcome possible for a terrible situation. We have spent countless hours on the phone with vendors to help with refunds or travel credits. All time that we will never be paid for as we work on commission only. We choose not to charge a fee to our clients whatsoever. Our customer service and attention to detail is what we think sets us apart. Relationships are such a big part of what we do and we want to grow those over time. We have one family where we have helped each one of their kids with their honeymoons. How cool is that! Maybe one day I can help with their grandkids?
Contact Info:
- Email: marie@ruggedluggagetravel.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruggedluggagetravel/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ruggedluggagetravel
