Cath’s path to growing her confidence and earning back her joining fee

Cath Reese’s journey back into the travel industry is one shaped by resilience and determination. After years working in different industries and caring for family following the loss of her husband, she decided it was time to build something for herself again. Within her first year as a Travel Counsellor, Cath reached a milestone many newcomers aspire to: earning back her joining fee.

Cath joined Travel Counsellors through the Academy programme, designed for people with little or no previous travel industry experience. Our online training guides newcomers through every stage of building a travel business. Academy Travel Counsellors pay a joining fee of £5,000 plus VAT, which can be earned back if their business reaches a set gross profit milestone within the first year. For Cath, reaching that point felt like recognition of the work she had put into rebuilding her career.

Rediscovering a career she loved

Cath first entered the travel industry as an apprentice and quickly discovered it was where she felt most at home. “I loved being a travel agent,” she says. “Travel was and always would be my passion.” However, over time, Cath moved into management roles in other industries, eventually becoming the business manager for a private dental clinic. Then life took an unexpected turn when her husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer and Cath became guardian to her two-year-old grandson, Noah.

Her focus shifted completely to caring for her family. But as life slowly settled into a new rhythm, she began thinking about rebuilding her own identity and career. “I always felt something was missing,” she explains. Discovering that it was possible to run a home-based travel business changed everything. “That’s when the spark was born.”

Rediscovering confidence through technology

As Cath began building her business, technology quickly became one of the tools that helped her stand out. Using Phenix, the Travel Counsellors booking platform, she was able to present holiday itineraries either as traditional documents or interactively through the myTC app, helping customers to see all the information clearly and easily “The system allows quotes to look professional and deliberate,” she explains.

Tools such as TC Co-Pilot have also helped enhance the way she communicates with customers. “It delivers the key details with the heart and soul of someone who really cares,” she says. “The feedback from customers when I use it is excellent and my conversions are much higher.”

Rediscovering what she could achieve

Unlike many new Travel Counsellors, Cath was not focused on the earn-back milestone when she started. “I didn’t actually realise until I received the email saying I’d achieved it,” she says. For her, the joining fee had always been an investment in creating something meaningful and sustainable for her family. “I saw the joining fee as an investment to build something long term,” she says. And as bookings began to grow and income started to arrive more consistently, her confidence in the business she was building also continued to strengthen. “The success of my business will be a direct reflection of the care, effort and attention that I give it,” she says. “It’s a bit like growing a rose.”

Ready to explore the Academy pathway?

If you’re curious about building a travel business but have little or no previous industry experience, the Travel Counsellors Academy programme is designed to guide you step by step. Join one of our Discovery Days to learn more about how you could build a business of your own.