Did you know The Joy of Travel began in a beautiful little two traffic light town in Eastern Oklahoma? That’s right. My hometown of Eufaula, Oklahoma was also the birthplace of The Joy of Travel. I had a storefront agency, what we now call a “brick and mortar”, from 2005-2008.

In July 2008 due to your incredible support, I was working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day, and still had 97 unanswered voicemails on my phone inbox. 97. It was a run-away train.

So, I moved the agency into the detached mother-in-law apartment at my home, 7 miles outside of town. I thought cutting out the walk-in traffic would allow me to manage the phone call customers and provide better response time and service.

Thank the Lord I did that because we all remember the financial crisis of late 2008. Due to that move, I had no overhead to speak of at all. I survived.

By 2012 as the financial recovery continued, I was back in that situation where I couldn’t keep up. My customer Kassey Weaver was not only booking her own vacations with me, but sending me a consistent stream of new customers as well. I finally convinced her to resign her position at a local hospital and join me in the agency. It wasn’t long after that, as the agency continued to grow beyond our wildest dreams, that Lori Curtis, Erica Shaw, and Shawnda McAlester came onboard.

I had literally known all these ladies since opening as a store front agency. In fact, Erica Shaw and I go back so far, I knew her before she was born. I went to elementary school in Perkins, Oklahoma with her Uncle Roger. She and her husband were one of my first customers. I planned their honeymoon. They have a daughter graduating from High School this year. My how time flies.

Lori used to come sit in my brick-and-mortar agency and plan end of year get-aways with her co-workers (Lori teaches at Eufaula High School and is the cheerleading coach). We had an instant connection.

Shawnda and her husband planned several Mexican vacations (5 times to one great resort in particular) and become great friends as well.

Who better to ask to join you than people who have been customers? They know how you treated them, and therefore how you want them to treat others. They had become friends. Who are we kidding? They had become family.

As the years went by, I met other great people who were an excellent fit for our team.

Joslyn White was a customer who went with me and Doug on one of our Mexican Anniversary trips. I just fell in love with her and finally convinced her to join the agency.

I met Doreen Kyle on the same anniversary trip. She was the only team member who wasn’t a customer first. But after spending three full days with her and her husband in the pool and on the beach (you know how girls talk), I knew she’d be a great addition to our team. It took me a full year to convince her, but here she is, and in 2022 was our top producer.

Meredith Carrell was also a customer first. And after talking over this industry with her, Meredith spent a year training and preparing herself to launch her travel career. She’s another superstar.

Our latest addition to the team is Tara Friend. I have been using Tara as my hair stylist for the past two years. I watched her. I saw how smart she was, how kind she was to customers. I knew she’d be great at The Joy of Travel, but it did take a little convincing, especially on the tail-end of covid. Ha ha

Then there’s my daughter, Leigh Ann. She was moving into Administration within the public school system. She asked me if I thought it was a good move for her. I said “let me toss out another opportunity” and the rest is history. She’s running the business now, allowing me to concentrate on creating itineraries for my amazing customers. I love to plan trips, it’s as simple as that. She loves to organize and keep things moving smoothly. I am a big picture person, she’s a perfectionist. We are both very happy in our current roles.

Our story is a fairytale. I pinch myself every single day and give thanks for the incredible success and blessing The Joy of Travel has been.

Grateful beyond measure,
Joy

The Joy of Travel, Our Story