From Homeworking Myths to a 44,000-Advisor Empire | Tricia Handley-Hughes, InteleTravel MD

0:01Treat others how you expect to be treated all the time, every single day. And you know that there'll be irritations and we all get hacked off, we all get very angry. But experience helps that you can just calm down, tame yourself, listen, take stop before you open the map.

0:30Welcome to Brave Bold Brilliant. I am here today with the one and only, what can I say? It is Tricia Handley-Hughes. That's correct. Handley-Hughes, two H's, double barrel. That makes you very, very posh, Tricia. But you are the MD of UK, Ireland, UAE for IntelliTravel. Nice to see you. Correct. And thank you so much for having me, Jeanette. It's a pleasure to be here. oh well trisha it is great actually because you and i have both been in the travel industry for many many years and we're not going to say how many years no exactly exactly but we're you know we're both wearing well i think so you know i'm going to give us i'm going to give us girls a shout out but listen i mean trisha you have been in the industry for four decades in lots of interesting roles and so I'm just really interested in from your own leadership perspective and we're going to get into the career and the different twists and turns and the different businesses that you've been responsible for but when you think about your leadership what are some of the kind of pivotal leadership lessons that you've kind of you know worked on yourself over those years or discovered about yourself shall we say?

1:51Yeah you know Jeanette I come from a very middle class family my parents couldn't afford to send me to university I really did not know what I wanted to do and I had an older sister of five years who was the absolute angel of the family she did everything I did she loves to study she went to a convent she was in bed by eight o 'clock every night and then came the rebel of the family who didn't have a clue what she wanted to do so um I my first career was actually a three-year apprenticeship in retail and fashion law and it was with a very traditional department store called Grant's of Croydon and if you can align that to a Grace Brothers in RUV you said it was very much like that and I remember Alec Grant walking in and walking the floor every morning in his bow tie greeting everyone um and I had the most amazing buyer at the time and I was only 16 and he seemed ancient he wasn't of course on reflection um but he was very experienced and I learned so much from him um I learned respect I learned how you treat others and of course product I mean I can tell you how to make a towel and a sheet I spent so much time on textiles so that was really my very first introduction into dealing with a public and consumer and then I had a cousin who influenced me and she's having a ball with British Caledonian and I thought oh I want some of this So having finished my apprenticeship, I applied to British Caledonian and I worked with them over a number of years rising through the ranks.

3:45And again, that stood me in good stead, especially for the travel industry, because if you think about the questions that you get asked about airports, checking, ticketing and travelling in general, And without bragging, I tend to have those answers because I've risen from the bottom. So I know the operation and I commercially know how an airline operates. And then, of course, it progressed into airports. And I thought I knew it all because I've been in the airline. Yes, I can do this job. And I was head of marketing at London City Airport. That was a real eye-opener for me, working with a business that was losing money.

4:28about the soul uh launched the first jet center and again i had a fabulous see who CEO sadly who's no longer alive uh Richard Goodman and um he always said to me Tricia I pay you for one thing I pay you to party you need to party well well as it stands I was in the right industry Jeanette and then it progressed and I suppose the other pinnacle in my career was mother care I got married I moved out of the industry and I worked for mother care for a number of years I started off as a store manager but then became a regional training manager I then started training new managers. And I think that taught me a lot about leadership.

5:22It taught me to listen. It taught me analytical skills. So I think I learned an awful lot from mother care. And I think probably it was a combination of all things, but I think mother care probably and their style of mentoring and leadership changed my life and the way that I lead today. Yeah, I mean, it's interesting as you're talking there, Trisha, I was thinking, you know, a huge amount from, you know, customer airlines, airports, retail, you know, a huge amount, different brands, different experiences. And then you obviously jump back into travel and we're going to talk about IntelliTravel in a bit more detail.

6:04But, you know, what do you think has changed over the time in terms of leadership? and what do you think has maybe stayed the same you know we talk about leadership and good leaders and there's a lot more these days about you know growth mindset and all of these kind of topics and d and i was never like you know really a term that you know so leadership i think has changed quite a lot what it means to lead today is something quite different but there are some foundational elements of leadership that have also been consistent so i'm just interested with all of your different experience and knowledge what do you think has stayed the same when it comes to leadership and is pretty consistent and what do you think has actually changed and shifted as leaders today over that time um one thing that hasn't changed at all uh you just call it different you might call it by a different name it's all about communication to me leadership is about communication.

7:04It's how you communicate, who you communicate to, the style that you communicate with, your tone and your voice. I don't think that's changed at all. You just adapt to the different environment that you're in. So I think every time I face a challenge or I'm thrown a problem, I will often say, look, we can solve the problem, but it's in the communication. It's how you communicate to your listener um so i think that's pretty consistent throughout leadership um when i was running a business which i did not um touch upon but i ran my own business for a while and i think being entrepreneurial has its own challenges and that's why i think i i'm i'm quite sympathetic to some homeworking businesses because you do tend to feel very remote and remoteness means that you're you know it's reassuring people you're not alone but that's where communication is absolutely key when you've got somebody sitting there on their own we forget if we're in a corporate environment and we're surrounded by colleagues we can bounce things off each other but when you are alone running your own business you rely on that communication so it does have to be really effective

8:28But before we continue, I want to speak directly to those of you who are listening and thinking, I know I'm capable of more, but I need structure. I need some help. Because here's what I've actually learned after, gosh, more than three decades in business. You know, ambition without clarity creates frustration. And motivation, without structure, it really does fade very, very fast. So that's exactly why we created Rise Academy. And Rise Academy is not theory. It isn't fluffy motivation, although you will be motivated. And it certainly isn't another online course that you never finish. It's actually a fully structured growth environment for ambitious entrepreneurs, leaders, and founders who absolutely are ready to do all of these things, sharpen their strategy, elevate their leadership, increase revenue with intention, and build businesses that actually support the life that they want.

9:35And inside Rise Academy, we focus on the foundations most people skip, leading yourself, leading your teams, and leading the business. It's about clarity, standards, decision making, commercial intelligence and execution. Because scaling, it really isn't about doing more. It's actually about doing the right things and doing the things right consistently. So if you're serious about stepping up into your next level of your leadership, your business life, and not just consuming content, but actually implementing it, then Rise Academy was absolutely built for you. So you can find all the details on our website.

10:16Go to www.brave-bold-brilliant.com. And now let's get back to the show.

10:27People are people at the end of the day, you know, and we'll talk a little bit about tech and about AI and how that's really shifting, not just the industry and in tele-travel, but what kind of multiple industries in a positive way, but there's also some fear around all of that. But I think human to human communication, relationships, all of this stuff. And of course our industry is incredibly based on relationships, you know, whether it's relationships with your competitors sometimes and the industry people you see around or relationships with a supplier, you know, it comes down to that human to human connection.

11:02And you make a very interesting point actually around entrepreneurship, And again, I see both sides of the coin. I was 25 years in corporate. And of course, now I've got a portfolio of my own businesses. So it is different and it can be incredibly lonely. And I think what's interesting about your business, Tricia, and the, you know, in tele-travel is you've got 170 ,000 employees, home workers, if you like, that are actually not really employees as such, you know, that they're entrepreneurs, aren't they? They are running their own little business. So you've got this interesting, I think, bridge, if you like, between being part of a larger organization like IntelliTravel, but at the same time, you know, being independent and driving their own client book, etc.

11:50as an entrepreneur. So I think you in your role is really critical because you do understand both sides of that jigsaw. So when it comes to IntelliTravel, Tricia, and I know you've got some exciting developments we're going to talk about in terms of geographical expansion. But what do you explain the model to people? I think, first of all, in the business and then explain why you're so passionate about it and why you think it's such a great business model. that not only serves the clients, but also, you know, makes profit for the business and allows those entrepreneurs who are working from home as a home worker to kind of create their own future, if you like, with what they do.

12:34So yeah, just explain to us a little bit about the model, because I think a lot of people won't be aware of just quite how unique it is. Yes, it is quite unique. And I will just say, Jeanette, that the 170 is the global figure, but here in the UK it's 42 ,000 and there's 2 ,000 in Ireland. The business model is really based about giving people opportunity to run a business at an affordable cost without any financial burden. So the price to entry is low and the commissions are generous but of course it's like anything you get out of it what you put into it so the advisors will pay a low monthly fee and for that they will be provided all the tools the platform the operational licenses the bonding to enable them to run their business and in addition to make that work we then provide all the contracting with the suppliers we have um over 100 preferred partners we have a booking engine with about three million plus products whether that's airlines hotel ancillaries um and then we provide all the training and the um the training and education the information and the intelligence that is needed to enable them to run that business on top of all of that basic information we We also teach them about attracting customers, retaining customers.

14:13We teach them about brand portrayal, being yourself, but remaining compliant. I mean, the business model starts from the very basic level, new to entry into the travel industry, right through to those in advance. And we are launching some new initiatives which will address those, not that just are new to travel, but are further along in their journey. And then throughout this whole journey, and this goes back to communication, we recognise every single level achievement. So when an advisor reaches their first£1 ,000 commission, that's a big thing for them. um we recognize them and then we recognize them again at their 5 000 and then again at their 10 000 so we are nurturing that talent and we make them feel part of our community back to communication yeah so so you've got you've almost created a community of entrepreneurs that are home workers travel travel agents homework and travel agents if you like but they are they're in control they're control of their own business essentially they drive the leads but they have the the support and the infrastructure that intelli travel brings um and and what about where does the who owns the not owns that's the wrong word who who has the direct relationship with the customer so are they booking an intelli travel holiday or business travel if they're traveling for business or is it with the individual intelli travel home worker how does the brand fit into this trisha because i think that's a very important point to clarify as well and so people can understand sure the um the customer is owned by the travel advisor they are an independent contractor and there is a contract between the advisor and intelli travel but the customer is really communicating dealing with being taken care of by the independent travel advisor the independent travel advisor is an affiliate of intelli travel and acts under our brand we are what we call the host agency we provide all the platforms and the opportunities but the travel advisor takes ownership of the customer yeah so it's a little bit different to say a travel counselors or maybe a designer travel they're sort of a competitor but slightly different because their brand tends to be more b2c and whereas what you're talking about is a whole ecosystem that actually but the customer is the direct relationship is with the individual travel travel agent yeah and home worker and it's successful i mean for me it's unique and if you look at the mix of our travel advisors part of our success is that we guide them but some of to some of them this comes naturally they mix in such different environments I mean we have solo travel specialists and one of our top advisors deals with yachts women and boat builders we have people that own a dog kennel and they're actually selling to customers who are walking in to leave their dogs while they go on holiday.

17:40You know, there's all these little niches and we have lawyers, we have accountants. And you do think I've often thought before I really got into the business, why are these people almost wanting to veer away from these corporate, very successful and well-paid environments to enter into the travel industry? because it's not an easy industry to work in it's so regulated um but I think people are attracted by travel and they see themselves as always getting out of that corporate rat race and finding their own feet um and I guess you know their own um I think their own path to feeling perhaps more appreciated in life yeah yeah it's interesting because I've never thought of this actually this way but I think in a way what you do within tele-travel is you de-risk the entrepreneurial jump out of from a job to becoming your own boss you know as you're talking I was thinking actually yeah you you take a lot of those barriers a lot of that you know the infrastructure that you need if you were just purely on your own with no support and no no connectivity that's a riskier move whereas actually because you provide that for those home workers that it allows them to have confidence moving into their entrepreneurial journey, I think.

19:02Yes, you're absolutely right. We do try to protect them. And you're right. We do everything that we can. Yet, we do have to understand that, you know, they have to grow their business, and they will own that customer. We can do so much for them. But we do try and protect where possible. Yeah. So let's talk a little bit, Trisha, about culture. Because I'm always very interesting it's a funny word isn't it culture what does it what the hell does culture mean it means different things to different people doesn't it different businesses but you know you've got this community of like-minded individuals that are all building their businesses as home workers in the travel space so and and that the the advantage of that is what we just spoke about now the disadvantage is that it's you know it's fragmented you've got people working from their own home environments or wherever they choose to work from and how do you still within tele-travel create a culture where they they have a connection to the parent to the parent to to the brand of intelli travel and feel part of something and not isolated you know and again you talked about communication being really important as a general part of leadership and i agree fully but yeah how do you actually marry that culture piece so that they do feel part of something bigger than just their own little you know little world that they're in well I think that goes back to you're right we talk about communication again but in different forms and it's really about I think it's our educational piece it's collaboration so we take every opportunity to bring our community together whether that's virtually or whether that's in person and I don't know if you're hearing this around the rest of the industry Jeanette but obviously in days of Covid we were one of the first to jump straight into virtual you know we have our own virtual platform we had a large community and we never stopped communicating through Covid but then as everybody else started jumping on that bandwagon suddenly virtual became very impersonal and and And it still is.

21:15It's accepted. And of course, we're all, as you say, working around the country. We cannot just at the drop of a hat go and meet somebody. However, for us, what we have learned and our survey has told us this is that our advisors are now reverting back to wanting that those in-person events. They want to meet people. They want to personally build a relationship. So this year we stepped up our program. so we still provide that virtual contact pretty much most days of the week so we'll do our Facebooks we'll do our teaching sessions virtually Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday it's pretty much every day of the week but on top of that we will have in-person events probably once every two months and they'll be in different regions of the country we have themed events whether that's luxury, whether it's cruise, different areas of the country at different times.

22:15And then, of course, we've got conference where we'll have four or five hundred plus in one location. So we really do as much as our resource will allow. We take every opportunity of bringing those people together so they do feel part of the community. But more important, they learn from each other. They learn from each other about best practice. It's we, you know, we can't teach everything. It's great that you've got a vast audience of different experiences where they can all discuss, learn and then take away and put into practice. And then, of course, they connect and then they get to meet up again afterwards.

22:56And so this relationship starts. And that's before they even start building these relationships with the customer, sorry, with the supplier, which is another reason why we do so well because we give so much opportunity to build that relationship with a supplier there was real mutual there is mutual respect there yeah i love that i love that it's that combination isn't it between digital tech and and in person you know i mean that really resonates with me trisha as you were talking because with brave ball brilliant which is obviously the name of our podcast but it's also the proud brand of our business and we do everything to do with business strategy and leadership development and what we find is that you know every lots of our clients love our rise academy right because it's digital it's fully online it's scalable it's global it's self-serve people go at their own pace deep content but actually what they also really like is our rise plus program where they get four live sessions where we're bouncing ideas around we're doing group mentoring we're actually taking the tools and saying, hey, this is how I applied it in my business or whatever it may be.

24:02And I think that combination is so important. And we have, I think we've been a little bit starved of human connection. And it is so great to be back in the room with people. You know, I, call me old fashioned, but I love seeing people face to face. I think that's where you get the best sort of rapport. You build the trust, you bounce ideas around that maybe were never sort of on the agenda. so I think you've got a really great combination there Tricia and it's obviously been very successful for you which is fantastic but let me just touch on another point because you've had a very successful career in the industry 40 years as we said in lots of very interesting roles not just in the industry as you said mother care your own business you know so you really bring with you a great dynamic I think of a variety of experience deep experience and you were talking about the connections that people make at conference or when they have these in-person sessions.

24:58When you look back through your career, how important has networking been for you? And when you say the word networking, some people just absolutely, you know, recoil, don't they? It sounds very transactional and, oh, I'm networking, you know. And obviously, that's not the way I look at networking. I think of networking as building really deep relationships with people leading with value first and you know kind of not just what's in it for me approach to networking so it is different but when you look back through your career how important has your network been in building a business opening doors being able to add value you know and some tips around that Trisha that have worked for you because I think it's so important in in today's world where we're craving relationships I mean my even my current CEO is a wonderful wonderful man and mentor to me James Ferrara he knows how important networking is he also knows how much business I get out of my networking but networking is hard and it's not easy and I'm going to go back to my experiences when I was I got my first business card and I was told to go out and network And guess what?

26:13Everybody stood in their little huddles and, you know, and you feel very insecure. You don't want to interrupt somebody's conversation and you really don't feel included. And it takes a lot of guts to actually go and interrupt somebody's conversation and introduce yourself. But then I and that's why we teach about networking. It's about finding that common ground. It may be nothing to do with the business. It's just about the first hurdle is introducing yourself. And then the second one might be finding that common ground. And once you've done that, conversations can lead to totally unrelated matters to the business.

27:01but that's how you build relationships you suddenly find that common ground and guess what the next time you meet up at an event you've got somebody that you've met and guess what you know them you've you're not isolated anymore and this goes on and on and you start building that network so I think continuity taking yourself out of the comfort zone and continuity is really important you've just got to keep on and on and on and that's how you grow it and I think that we are quite right to teach you how to network sounds really basic to those who have been in the industry but I have never forgotten what it's like to walk into that room for the first few months years as an outsider and when I go to events now whether it's conference and I see somebody standing on their own, I actually go up to them.

27:59I haven't got a clue who they are. I go up to them and I just introduce myself and I say, are you on your own? And, you know, again, I find that common ground immediately and we just start talking. Yeah, yeah. No, it's really valuable advice. And I think sometimes it's the simple things that work the best, you know, and we overcomplicate it, don't we? But actually, I think staying curious. And the other thing I would say, which I think I'd love to get your perspective, on Tricia is you know you never know who's going to be in a room right you never know and very often as human beings we we make judgments don't we we look at someone's clothes the way they speak whatever it might be and we're judging we are we're all judging and very often we're actually focusing on the superficial what we see here rather than actually it could often be the guy in the corner with a scruffy pair of trainers on that's actually the multi-billionaire who's the most interesting person in that room but often we write people off because we make a judgment about you know how they physically look or how they speak um so i want to talk about personal brand right because especially for your business in tele travel these are business owners that are part of the community they're very much linked in with intelli travel and all the great things you do but their business is also very closely linked to them as an entrepreneur and And more so probably than you see in a corporate setting where the brand, you know, I was at TUI for many years.

29:29I would always get a meeting because I'm from TUI. The brand opens the door for you. But when you don't have the big brand, it's your personal brand, right, that's really, which is linked to networking and the relationship piece. so what would you what words of advice would you give trisha about whether it's consciously or subconsciously building a personal brand and and uh as again it can feel quite awkward and a bit weird and oh isn't this a bit braggy and a bit ego driven which is not it's about who you are so and how you show up so trisha tips on personal brand if you don't mind oh um i think you have to learn to be comfortable with yourself that's the first thing uh there is absolutely no point in walking into a room uh as you say it's a bit egotistical to start talking about big brands when you are not that brand so i think be comfortable with yourself and don't be afraid to talk about what you do and stay humble and actually good people will appreciate that I'm Tricia yes I work in travel the fact that I've got 40 years but you've got a lot of people who will respect the fact that you are a small business owner you're there to listen and well aren't we lucky that we are in an industry that everybody wants to know about because we all love to travel don't have to be in travel to love travel everybody wants to travel So as soon as you mention that magic word, that's almost your common ground in perhaps an external audience.

31:13So I just and again, I go back to our training. We teach people to accept to be yourself, but how to pick on some key values, which might be it might be longevity. because yes I am a small business but I'm supported by um the original home working agency for over 35 years you know these are key messages that we want people to portray so you've got longevity um you've got success stories that you can relate to and I'm part of that um yeah and I and I think that's really important is just being who you are learning what your key messages are that can almost tie your humbleness and your small business to a brand that is trustworthy and and I think it's taken a while and we you know every day is a school day it still is for me now but our advisors are starting to learn that yeah it's so important and I think that's it you know you've got to love yourself before you can love anyone else really you know and and it is that self-awareness i always say you know whenever whatever business you're in whatever profession you're in it's always down to three things leading yourself leading the teams leading the business you know and you might be a team of one so you might be one and the same for a period of time and that's fine as well or your team might be a virtual team or your team might be a little bit of outsource support with you know whatever it is but it's always those three things and i think it's it's an inside job always it has to start with you and and actually knowing who you are what you stand for what you don't stand for and i think also having the confidence to say no you know and this is something that i've you know i i never used to be very comfortable with i'm a people pleaser you know and i'd say yes to everything and then i'd get overwhelmed and and i wouldn't be able to deliver what i wanted to and you know etc so i think knowing yourself and accepting that you're not everyone's cup of tea and i'm i'm good with that now i go listen I'm not I'm not for everyone and that's all right you know I'm okay with that so I think as you get more mature you do get that confidence to to know who you are don't you over time and I think that there are advisors that are still on that journey yes because they're not experienced in travel of course they want to please everybody they want to sell as much as they can to anyone so we we have to teach them to be able to say no and have that confidence because in these days of price parity for instance or lack of it in some cases we know that that customer is playing the advisor um off you know one against the other uh but the advisor doesn't necessarily know that because they haven't been in the industry long enough so that's another communication and education piece that we we do teach yeah I mean you're you're very passionate you can you can see Trish you know one you love the business I mean you you got you joined in 2018 right and you got promoted to MD in 2022 I think that that was the sort of time frame was it um yes that's about well actually it's been early in that but it it doesn't matter I came in as a consultant I came in as a consultant actually because I didn't want to work for anybody else when you've run your own business it's really hard to be employable.

34:36But actually, yes, I did fall in love with the business that overtook my life. And I thought this is ridiculous. So yes, I did step up as the MD. Yeah, was it was that? And was that a big adjustment, Trisha? Or was it just a natural evolution for you? It was a natural evolution. But it took me a while to learn the hard way, because I'm running my business, and I'm paying accountants, but I'm not really delivering, You know, I go through all of these emotions thinking, what am I doing? I'm not getting any younger and I'm flogging myself to death with two businesses. And in the end, I realised that as I got to know IntelliTravel, I became very passionate and I could understand why, because this is a huge giant.

35:25but let me tell you if you can equate it is still run very personally it's owned by one man and it is run almost like a family business and there are lots of family members in the business but it comes from the top and I've mentioned James before James Ferrara but Joe Traynor who owns the business and his daughter Tara his son they're all in very senior leadership roles in the business and I think that whole family ethic has you know really um come through the business and I think that's why I am so in love with the business because it still feels very personal yeah no that is it's interesting because there aren't that many still family-owned 100 % privately family-owned businesses that have got that scale of it as you say 170 ,000 and continuing to grow globally.

36:19And, you know, and I mean, the UK and Ireland is not small, Trisha, you know, you said 42 ,000 that you've got there, and also the expansion into UAE, which is very exciting. So that's a new initiative, isn't it? So, Trisha, why the UAE? And why now? Well, we've always been on the expansion trail, looking for new opportunities. That's the entrepreneurial spirit of the IntelliTravel family. And with the UAE, I think it's one of these cultures where it's not too far from home. That's the first thing. It's a culturally curious community. And you've got a culture where people have a very defined culture, but they also want a bit of the westernized culture and we've seen that with the growth of dubai abu dhabi where certain behaviors and have been adopted into society um it's in a lot of it is english speaking or they do speak english very well um so there's all these little tick boxes that made it a natural gravitation towards there's a huge expat community that loves to travel for whatever reason there's domestic travel there's international travel so yes it we just evaluated it and of course the ironic thing is we were preparing for this well before conflict yes so we knew it was to happen then conflict um erupted and we just we didn't stop planning we just put the launch on hold but we felt that um we knew when the time would be right and we think the time was right one week ago because yes is it absolutely perfect no but first of all we are confident that it will come back and we wanted to show that confidence to the society in the UAE and already we feel that it's getting better and better by the day and even though we've only launched one week ago we are already seeing sales happening in the UAE so we think it was the right choice.

38:37Yeah no that's great and congratulations I mean it's not easy to go into a new market I remember very well from my Too many days of being MD of the emerging markets and going into China and India and all these crazy, crazy things that we did back in the day. But it isn't easy. It isn't easy to do it. But huge congratulations. And you made a you made a really pertinent point, I thought, where you were saying it wasn't perfect. Well, perfection never exists anyway, does it? So that's OK. But, you know, you you don't. What's the saying? you don't have to be great to start but you have to start to be great and I'm getting that sense of that entrepreneurial spirit is let's get going we've done as much planning as we can if we can't have a data analysis paralysis let's get going at the time that's right or as right as it can be despite some of the you know the challenges that are in the region at the moment and then let's let's build let's build from there and i think that is a great lesson for people because if you overthink it and especially as an entrepreneur sometimes we're going to overthink things and actually what we're at what we're really doing is proactive procrastination right we're kidding ourselves we're kidding ourselves we're planning i'm planning i'm planning do make a start go go go and then figure out the details later sometimes have enough to start and i love that approach yeah that's that's great and trisha listen you mentioned you mentioned the conflict in the middle east and of course you know we're not through that unfortunately we've still got a way to go i believe but as an industry you and i've been around long enough to know how difficult it can be you know global shocks 9-11 ash cloud covid pandemic you name it you name it we've been through bird flu you know all sorts and then of course you know from my perspective when i was in particular i was product director at first choice you know operationally you would have deaths in a destination you would have to repatriate people things happen that you know aren't always in our control so it's while we love the industry and we love travel and we love holidays and all of the things that positive things stuff happens stuff happens um that isn't glamorous that isn't nice that has to be dealt with it's a tough industry and we have to deal with a lot so i want to understand from your point of view as a leader how do you confidently lead through those difficult times where there is uncertainty you don't have all the answers and there's a lot of pressure the spotlight is on right because you've got to make some calls how do you manage to navigate that because I think a lot of people might not right now listening to this or watching this maybe thinking god where do I start how do I deal with this there's so much uncertainty so much change I don't have all the answers or a crisis has happened and I've not got a blueprint for it I've not been through this before what are some of the leadership lessons in terms of confidently leading when you don't have all the answers oh dear i i think transparency and honesty i still don't have all the answers but that's not wrong you know you've just got to make sure that people know that so that you're setting expectations uh but if you can build that trust and relationship and your customer or your audience has got the trust in you they will follow you they'll believe in you and I actually would like to think that that's what's happened with IntelliTravel has it been perfect no have we all learned from it yes has it been tough oh my god one of the toughest few years of my life yeah but I have had that trust from um not just my team but of course all my colleagues overseas who have believed in me they've trusted me and um I've been transparent and honest throughout our entire relationship from day one um fortunately as you say you know we've been in there long enough so we can tell it as it is with confidence um and here we are on the most successful year of our incredible history yeah exactly and and continuing to grow in an area that you know a lot of people would say you must be mad you must be mad going into the UAE right now but you know I think to be brave is important in business I mean obviously it's one of my favorite words but I genuinely believe we have to push out of our comfort zone you know if we're staying in our comfort zone then and you're not failing then you're not trying hard enough you're not pushing out you know because that's where we learn and and Tricia from your point of view I know you know you've had a huge amount of success but there will have been lots of highs and lows and we like to kind of keep it real around some of the challenges and some of the things that maybe haven't gone so well career-wise or personally or you know because life happens right but it's the messy bits isn't it the messy bits which which actually we learn the most from I think or we grow the most so what are some of the messy bits Trisha in the last 40 years for you that haven't been you know they're all gone so well or so swimmingly as one would like i've got two standout topics one is going back to my british caledonian days now a lot of people won't know this at all um i am trotting down to the gate in my little kilt and my hat and my uniform and uh we have customers passengers boarding a flight and the flight departs and all goes off on time and I got trotting back to the gate to find that I put somebody on the wrong flight and they were going to Edinburgh instead of Amsterdam and I was immediately suspended and I was only young at the time and oh my goodness the confidence and the shame that I felt was just so embarrassing I felt it I felt very difficult to face anybody I think I went back and I cried and I cried and I thought, what am I going to do this?

44:59That was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. The other one is probably over the last few years and having to deal with the ferociousness and the negativity of the PR surrounding entirely travel, which, you know, So I suppose having the experience to deal with it helps, but it has not been easy because for me, one of the things that I learned very early from my days, Mr. Mapley, this elderly bi, was always treat others how you expect to be treated. And there's a lot of time when you do not see that. And it's sad. It really is sad. And the reason it happens is because people, it's fear.

45:48People don't understand the business model, so they make assumptions. They fear that it's going to affect their business. But actually, there's plenty out there for everyone because our advisors deal with very, very different audiences. They don't tread on toes. That isn't our ethic to go and steal customers or steal advisors away from other brands. so I think dealing with the PR has been really really challenging and sometimes yep lots of lost sleep over it if I'm absolutely honest but then you have to find ways of overcoming it you've got to confront it one thing I've learned is you can't go into a shell and hope it will go away you've just got to confront it and think of how you can get what are the key messages that you're going to need to deliver to that audience to overcome this challenge and really that's how how it's got me through um and then the other thing is just keep very focused on delivery because at the end of the day you cannot argue with the results take the emotion out of it but you cannot um you can't argue with the results that you produce yeah it is hard isn't it because when if something plays out in the public arena everyone has an opinion um not everything that gets reported is accurate necessarily and there has been quite a lot of public scrutiny i guess around the model hasn't there and and kind of you know and being able to respond to that and deal with that criticism but in a way that you're responding but not necessarily defensively but educating through the communication in the right way is yeah difficult and and what we have found through all of this is that of course our if you talk to the suppliers our partners they are so full of praise not just of the performance but of the behavior of our travel advisors so I think that the behavior is changing I mean we always knew that we we set out to change perception.

47:58It was never going to be a five minute job. It was going to be a long task. But I would say, well, on that journey quite well now. And you go back to the networking, it's really important for our advisors to be included in that networking, because they mix with other advisors, again, they get to talk about their story. And suddenly, there's an acceptance that all, this isn't a dragon with two heads suddenly this is a human person and actually i can see the qualities of why she or he may be an advisor so that networking is really helping the brand too yeah and it's linked to back to personal brand reputation all of those kind of things isn't it so so just just in a very short way before i move to some final questions um tricia what what are some of the the myths that we need to bust so so just a two or three of the the kind of the criticism of the model if you like and in tele-travel and then how you're how you're busting those myths with with a response that actually educates people um because i think that's quite important for us just to to cover off so there's absolute clarity on that because it's uh it is it is important i think yeah i think um busting the myths well first of all i think we were challenged with the fact that we were we were bringing lots of new people into the industry I see that as a leader and we've now got lots of followers because guess what a few years down the line how many people now are trying to attract new people into the industry and you know the the positive signs of that are new sales pipelines so the advisors get to earn they're talking to new audiences the suppliers get to um earn more on their you know balance sheet so i think bringing new people into the industry there's nothing wrong with that i think that um there's nothing wrong with being a part-time part-time has existed for as long as i can remember we just call it all different types of things part-time is fine you you know you're setting your own goals you're working in your flexible way that's why people want part-time doesn't mean that they're less passionate about the business doesn't mean that they don't enjoy travel and I would say well everybody knows that a lot of our advisors are part-time but the interesting thing is as they have entered and progressed their aim now is to work towards making travel their full-time role it's our job to help them on that journey so I think busting myths is really important and I will still continue to do this but I think it's becoming less and less of an issue you will have those diehards that you know they're not going to change they're traditional this is where I've always done it this is what travel is end of story but things change behaviors change lifestyles change and I think they said and I really know that by the year 2030 and I hate using this term I really hate it but I'm going to say through gritted teeth by the year 2030 70 % of the younger population will have a side hustle and that's a fact so I think we've just got to accept that is behavior and you move on and you either sit in your rut there or you adapt and move with the times and I would like to think that we are pretty entrepreneurial we've taken the stance we've led the way and now we've got followers in our shadows yeah no absolutely 100 % Trisha and I don't see any negatives in any of that we we've got all industries have got to fight for talent and to bring people in that are going to be future leaders that are going to be the future MD CEOs whether it's within IntelliTravel or within some of the large corporate businesses who knows that's a good thing 100 % And quite frankly, part time, some people that do part time probably deliver more in the part time hours than a lot of people that are supposedly full time.

52:10So let's stop the judgment. Let's just actually think about the world is changing. And also, quite frankly, AI, AI is disrupting everything. And if your business is not anyone listening, if your business is not on the front foot of AI, don't worry about the fear. stop the perception of it's going to take jobs away and all of that it's going to change things it's going to change things but it also breaks down barriers it allows businesses to go further faster it allows resources to be allocated to the value-added tasks that can really make a difference in particular service um so you know i just think sometimes our industry as much as i love the industry and you love the industry it sometimes we can be like a bunch of old dinosaurs bitching and moaning a bit of an old boys club in the corner and it's time we stop that and actually we move forward positively with excitement for this industry we're 10 percent of global GDP we are huge but we will only continue to contribute if we have a growth mindset and we're actually embracing all of these things so well said Trisha I love it

53:18excellent that's what we want oh amazing so so trisha um what do you feel is the thing you're most proud of do you think from from your career and then i want to ask about your best piece of advice that you've had because you've given us loads of great food for thought today but when you think about what are you most proud of and it might not be work it might be a personal thing you know whatever but when i say what are you really proud of trisha you know with with kind and what you've achieved what stands out for you I started off by saying that I'm a very humble person and and that has not changed if I'm really honest I'm not sure that even I recognize what I have achieved even now um and um I am being reminded by others of that so I don't quite think I can get over that and I think that I should be proud but I guess because I am what I am it's just head down and focus on what what I'm what I want to do what I love doing and yes if I'm achieving that makes me very very happy I think that when we embarked certainly on IntelliTravel it was about changing perception changing perception keeping focus delivering and I suppose that's what I am quite proud of I mean what's it two years ago when we won our first award that was a big thing for me to actually win an award as recognition of the brand and since then we've won a few other awards so um yeah I think changing recognition building the brand and delivering for everyone advisors um our suppliers and of course our shareholders yeah yeah no that's it there's there's a lot to be proud we often don't stop and reflect do we and kind of give ourselves credit for what we've achieved i think if you're an ambitious person which i can see you are and i am myself i'm always on to the next thing and actually you need a good reminder now and then to just stop acknowledge what you've achieved you know enjoy the moment before we rush on to the next thing and i think it's great i mean congratulations trisha on everything you've achieved and i do think you know that whole change in perception thing that you talked about and the communication and all the things are all interwoven.

55:35I feel like you're exactly where you're meant to be. It feels like that to me. Thank you. Thank you. So, Trisha, last couple of questions, if you'll indulge me. What's the best piece of advice that you've been given, would you say? Oh, I'll go back to my Mr. Mopley. Without doubt, treat others how you expect to be treated all the time every single day and you know that uh there'll be irritations and we all get hacked off we all get very angry but it experience helps that you can just calm down tame yourself listen take stock before you open the mouth yeah and i think there's a few people yet to learn that if I'm absolutely honest yeah yeah absolutely so anyone listening take notes great advice there from Mr Mappley and now played forward by Trisha so wonderful and and and Trisha you know this year if you could describe this year in one word what would it be and why um I think success it's just success Jeanette it's success because we've overachieved we've over delivered we've grown we've launched into the uae and um i'm just excited about what's to come and we're already in discussion this year about that and that'll be about new regions it will be about technology so uh yeah that's the one word success i feel we've made our mark yeah great well what a word a powerful word and you're owning it i love that confidence yeah amazing And Tricia, we have a playlist.

57:20What song are we going to add from you onto our wonderful Brave Bob Brilliant playlist? Well, I'm going to give you a song that 90 % of our audience won't even know. And it was the very first song. And I can see myself now. I had this pink little taffeta Annette dress on. I was knee high to the boot and I was dancing in a little circle with adults around me to chubby checkers. Let's twist again. Oh, we've not had that. Perfect. Have you still got the tutu? No, but I've still got the little 45 record. It's still I haven't got anything to play it on, but it still sits on a shelf. wow that's incredible probably worth a bubble to that trisha it probably is oh amazing and listen the last question i have for you is what does brave bold brilliant mean to you confident hold your head up high and don't be afraid to talk about your success which the third element i'm only just learning about oh great i love that trisha well listen i've so enjoyed our conversation so thank you very much it's been an absolute joy chatting with you oh thank you Jeanette and uh I hope I haven't bored your audience too much but uh as I say I am what I am and thank you so much if we're even being interested and wanting to talk to me great no thank you Tricia I appreciate it you've certainly not been boring I really hope you've enjoyed this episode of Brave Bold Brilliant remember check out our new website www.brave-bold-brilliant.com you're going to find loads of resources on there that's going to help you with your leadership journey and with the businesses that you're trying to scale up and grow so take care everyone and remember there are no limits to your growth but it is by being brave and bold that you're going to unlock your brilliant