Kendra Motley shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Kendra, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: Who are you learning from right now?
I’m learning a ton from myself right now! This has been a challenging few months in the travel industry. The owner of the agency I worked for stopped paying her contractors. I made the choice to never rely on anyone else in this business as much as I relied on the resources from that agency. These past two months I’ve learned so much about myself as a business owner, and I’m so proud of how far I’ve come so far on the other side of that!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi! I’m Kendra: wife, mom of 3, high school math teacher, and travel agent. Travel has always been a passion of mine, and when I couldn’t stop planning trips, I knew it was time for me to take the leap into the business. Since my last magazine interview, so much has changed with my business. I’m actually easing into a huge dream come true, which is to open my own agency. The idea is still in infancy, but it’s something that has been on my heart for awhile and I’m so excited to see where it goes!
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who taught you the most about work?
My parents 100% are the ones who taught me to work hard. They both worked really hard while my sister and I were growing up to make sure we had everything we needed and wanted. I’m also an enneagram 3, so I’m very driven by success and tend to work more than I should.
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
Oddly enough, this interview came at a pretty interesting time in my career. I mentioned earlier the owner of our agency not paying us. That has been a really big deal. I had just been named a leader of a rather large Facebook community group on the agency, that generated dozens of leads for me each week. I had just won 2 trips on the past few months. I had 4 assistants. I had a team of incredible women surrounding me, and then it all crumbled within about a week’s time. I’m owed thousands of dollars from this agency, and I’ll likely never see any of it, because she’s openly stated that she does not intend to pay anyone who does not intend to stay at her agency. Having to pivot into doing this on my own has been a huge challenge for me, but I’ve found that I still have that incredible team surrounding me, even though we may all be at different agencies now. Working to rebuild my business and recover my bookings has helped the situation.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
Absolutely, I’m going to be the same Kendra no matter who I’m talking to. My high school students get the same version of me that you see on social media, or that you see in the grocery store.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What are you doing today that won’t pay off for 7–10 years?
Well, I hope it pays off sooner than later, but building my own agency will be a long-haul game. My family is also building a house, so once we get that done, I plan to dive into agency ownership. I know it won’t be an easy road, but it will ensure that I never face another horrific agency owner like I’ve had to deal with this year.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://traveljoy.com/webforms/y8EnANrxTYvKNMhvhQ2xoyDr/forms/9Nxj1tEyqpP8BRwmJtuVCyRk/link
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/motleycrewdoesdisney
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BjKrvxZ3V/?mibextid=wwXIfr
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