Having a professional community makes you and your business stronger
Written By: Jackie Friedman, President – Nexion Travel Group
Managing a business is hard work – that should go without saying for those of us in the travel industry. But hard work alone is no guarantee of success. Here’s how I like to think about it.
Imagine being stranded on an island all by yourself. You can build shelter and forage for food, but carrying out those tasks all alone will take up most of your time and energy. At the end of the day, you’ll find yourself exhausted, having expended all your strength just to secure your most basic needs.
Now imagine that you have a handful of other people with you. Suddenly, the herculean effort of one person can be divided up among several, meaning a task that might have otherwise taken all day can now be accomplished in a fraction of the time. Furthermore, different people are sure to have different ideas and insights about how to accomplish tasks more efficiently, meaning that it will become progressively easier to reach your shared goals as the process gets refined.
Now imagine that several of those people on the island with you are survival experts whose sole purpose is to help you flourish. Pretty soon, you’re no longer just surviving, you’re thriving. This is the value you get when you join a host agency.
Here at Nexion Travel Group, “community” means multiple things to us. Whether it’s our community of advisors, supplier partners, or our hard-working staff, each make up an integral part of our professional community.
A community isn’t just a group of other people. It’s a group of people who share your goals and your passion, who can empathize with whatever challenges you might be facing. Being part of a community in travel industry creates a sense of belonging that on some level, we all desire. As great as you feel when you accomplish something on your own, that sense of accomplishment is magnified exponentially when your efforts are a part of something greater than yourself.
One of the best things about being part of a host agency like Nexion is knowing that you’ll never have to go it alone. Communities support each other during difficult times and share in your joy when the good times cycle back. We all experienced this during the pandemic. As challenging as it was, our solidarity allowed us to pull through and get to where we are now, with the health and vitality of our industry looking better than ever.
Diversity is another factor that makes communities stronger and more resilient. In my experience, I’ve found that being surrounded by a variety of perspectives and personalities creates an environment ripe for innovation. No matter how smart you are, there is always something you can learn from someone else whose lived experience has been unlike your own.
Gaining a sense of community in travel industry is just one of the many advantages to joining a host agency, but I believe it’s one of the most meaningful. There’s a reason why it’s less common to see travelers taking solo vacations – half the joy is just getting to spend time with others and share new experiences with people who understand you. Having those meaningful connections in your professional life can be almost as valuable as the personal ones. That’s the standard we should all be aiming for.