My varied career within small businesses and start up environments has helped influence and contribute to my decision to become a home based agent. I have also travelled to over 35 countries, starting with family vacations and graduating to many solo adventures all over the world, fostering and maintaining a love of travel.
My first real job after I left college was in my own business as a complimentary wellness consultant, providing therapeutic and sports massage, essential oil therapy for respiratory and muscular conditions, as well as energy balancing through chinese acupressure. I got to work with customers one on one which I loved and was able to learn many skills of a solo entrepreneur.
After 5 years of running my own business, I decided to go travelling for a year, something that has been a mainstay throughout my life. I closed my business, said goodbye to my wonderful clients, sold all my possessions, and bought a 1973 VW van. I spent the next year living out of the van, driving through France, Spain, Portugal and Morocco, spending time on the south coast of Portugal working for a sailing company. Travelling for a year, with very few possessions, helped me to learn about what is important to me, foster my love for exploring and enjoy a slower pace of life.
At the end of the year, I moved to Canada with my husband and started a family. We had 2 children and after my son was 18 months old I went to work for an environmentally focused energy management company, ecobee Inc. in the start up phase of their business. I joined them in their finance department, helping to put in place the systems and processes needed to facilitate the daily operations of the business. I managed their e-commerce platform, daily finance operations, and implemented and managed their inventory system and logistics. I was also the main point of contact for our external sales teams and finance contact for business and consumer customers. Once we got bigger, I put together an inside sales team that could manage the growing needs of our north american sales teams and North American customers.
After a few years of growing the team, I moved over to our business development team where I managed our larger North American partners, from multi-retail restaurants, U.S. utility companies and retail energy providers. I helped implement statewide energy management savings programs, maintained and helped grow accounts to increase revenue.
Working for ecobee taught me a lot about environmental issues and what is currently being done to conserve our valuable resources. I wanted to find a way to contribute more positively to my surroundings and the world. I started to think about how I could develop my own business, do more of what I am passionate about, which was travelling, and actively contribute to the conservation of the planet's resources.
After 6 years I decided it was time to move on but I knew I still had some learning to do before I could launch my own business. With that in mind, I left ecobee to join another startup business, PostBeyond, specialising in social media marketing, and employee engagement and advocacy, with the express intention of learning about social media for business. I strategized with global marketing teams of high profile companies, including within the travel industry, on their digital marketing strategies and helped them to engage their employees and create advocacy within their company to increase their social media presence.
In April 2016, I launched Round House Adventures, an adventure travel consulting business, providing wilderness, cultural and activity based small group and customized tours. The tour operators I work with actively contribute to the sustainable future of the communities and environments they visit, so that travellers can have amazing adventures, have meaningful experiences, create lifelong memories, and feel confident that they are not only minimizing their environmental impact but are also contributing to indigenous communities and landscapes in a positive way.
In the first month of my new business I went to hear Jane Goodall speak in Toronto. During her talk she said that sustainable tourism is the best way to save the planet. It alleviates poverty which is the number one issue preventing communities from protecting their environments. By bringing tourists to these destinations in a responsible and sustainable way, these communities can feed their families and be able to start looking after their communities and surroundings. This was great validation for me as I started my business.
For more information about The Travel Agent Next Door please visit www.thetravelagentnextdoor.com
My first real job after I left college was in my own business as a complimentary wellness consultant, providing therapeutic and sports massage, essential oil therapy for respiratory and muscular conditions, as well as energy balancing through chinese acupressure. I got to work with customers one on one which I loved and was able to learn many skills of a solo entrepreneur.
After 5 years of running my own business, I decided to go travelling for a year, something that has been a mainstay throughout my life. I closed my business, said goodbye to my wonderful clients, sold all my possessions, and bought a 1973 VW van. I spent the next year living out of the van, driving through France, Spain, Portugal and Morocco, spending time on the south coast of Portugal working for a sailing company. Travelling for a year, with very few possessions, helped me to learn about what is important to me, foster my love for exploring and enjoy a slower pace of life.
At the end of the year, I moved to Canada with my husband and started a family. We had 2 children and after my son was 18 months old I went to work for an environmentally focused energy management company, ecobee Inc. in the start up phase of their business. I joined them in their finance department, helping to put in place the systems and processes needed to facilitate the daily operations of the business. I managed their e-commerce platform, daily finance operations, and implemented and managed their inventory system and logistics. I was also the main point of contact for our external sales teams and finance contact for business and consumer customers. Once we got bigger, I put together an inside sales team that could manage the growing needs of our north american sales teams and North American customers. After a few years of growing the team, I moved over to our business development team where I managed our larger North American partners, from multi-retail restaurants, U.S. utility companies and retail energy providers. I helped implement statewide energy management savings programs, maintained and helped grow accounts to increase revenue.
Working for ecobee taught me a lot about environmental issues and what is currently being done to conserve our valuable resources. I wanted to find a way to contribute more positively to my surroundings and the world. I started to think about how I could develop my own business, do more of what I am passionate about, which was travelling, and actively contribute to the conservation of the planet's resources.
After 6 years I decided it was time to move on but I knew I still had some learning to do before I could launch my own business. With that in mind, I left ecobee to join another startup business, PostBeyond, specialising in social media marketing, and employee engagement and advocacy, with the express intention of learning about social media for business. I strategized with global marketing teams of high profile companies, including within the travel industry, on their digital marketing strategies and helped them to engage their employees and create advocacy within their company to increase their social media presence.
In April 2016, I launched Round House Adventures, an adventure travel consulting business, providing wilderness, cultural and activity based small group and customized tours. The tour operators I work with actively contribute to the sustainable future of the communities and environments they visit, so that travellers can have amazing adventures, have meaningful experiences, create lifelong memories, and feel confident that they are not only minimizing their environmental impact but are also contributing to indigenous communities and landscapes in a positive way.
In the first month of my new business I went to hear Jane Goodall speak in Toronto. During her talk she said that sustainable tourism is the best way to save the planet. It alleviates poverty which is the number one issue preventing communities from protecting their environments. By bringing tourists to these destinations in a responsible and sustainable way, these communities can feed their families and be able to start looking after their communities and surroundings. This was great validation for me as I started my business.
For more information about The Travel Agent Next Door please visit www.thetravelagentnextdoor.com
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