Interview By Ke’aira Reeder:
Vacationaire offers traveling information and vacation essentials. Being an avid traveler herself, Tiara uses her personal experiences and research to find fitting travel accommodations and activities for her clients.
Tiara has always loved traveling since taking family road trips to Alabama as a young girl. From flying to Vegas solo for birthday fun to flying with friends on a girls trip near or far; the CEO is and was always down for a vacation. It seemed only fitting to make a career of something she loved! As a teenager Tiara wanted to own her own hair salon. This motivated her to complete a Cosmetology course and obtain her state board license. She would always do hair for her friends and family. It would keep her busy and help her earn extra money. She enjoyed the grind and hustle it took to make money and making it for herself on the side was all she needed to spark the passion and future goal of going into business for herself. Even though her current career is far from the hair industry she used that same tenacity and drive towards hard work. Now that she is a Certified Travel Agent she takes pride in being able to create vacation packages and custom itineraries for her clients(both available via her website).
When asked how she originally funded her business Tiara found it amusing that so many people have the misconception that you need loans and a ton of money to start a business. With a dependable job, budgeting, and research Tiara says you can start a business within a month! However, she doesn't leave out that passion hard work and dedication are essentials in successfully doing so. This business owner says with these things as well as staying educated and informed in all the necessary areas anyone can do it ! As a reminder she adds "Everything does cost, so I'm not gonna say it's easy, but it's not hard or complicated either".
When it comes to capital and costs Tiara says budgeting and research are her two best friends. She has found that using the two has helped her with finding "like" or similar items for cheaper in many instances instead of cashing out and making frivolous purchases on the first thing she sees.
In the beginning Tiara says she really limited herself to providing one service ; offering vacation packages and getting a percentage per package and per traveler. Now she has expanded her website to offer an array of various items relevant to traveling. This way she generates revenue by creating a one stop shop for customers. From swimwear, to sunglasses, and passport holders Vacationaire helps prepare for the ultimate vacation with less hassle and searching. There are even discounts on currency for travelers going out of the country!
Much of marketing originally and currently is done online. Social media sort of runs the world today, it's the best place to get noticed and gain a following for a customer base.
Unfortunately, Tiara feels compared to most people in this day and age she suffers from social media incompetence. Facing this challenge she feels if she could master the art of "posting" and constantly interacting with people, being more sociable online could help her thrive more.
When asked the worst part of owning a business the spunky goal getter says Nothing! She compares it to giving birth and refers to the business as "the baby". As the "baby" grows and takes new strides everyday she uses everything as a learning and teaching experience. With the ups and downs she simply gets back up, dusts herself off and tries again; each day finding new techniques and other ways to make things work. She describes seeing the "baby" growing and blossoming at the end of the day as an amazing feeling. Seeing the progression of her business (the baby) is something she says she'll never regret, it just makes her want more!
Tough times are to be expected when starting a business. Tiara says her journey has been a "tough and rocky roller coaster", but she gets through because she doesn't give up. She is always resilient and doesn't let road blocks stop her travel. When the unexpected happens she simply finds a new route to accomplish her goals. She takes a step back to reflect, re evaluate and tackles whatever comes her way.
Unlike most business owners Tiara sees trust as a huge reward from being an entrepreneur. Where most people take advantage of trust from consumers she understands its value. Rightfully, people are always skeptical when spending their money but you have to TRUST the actual person behind the .com when you give out just about ALL your information. You want to trust that your full name, address and bank information are safe, and trust that you'll receive your product in a reasonable time as well. For Tiara she takes it personally that someone she doesn't know trusts her enough to handle all their information as she delivers her product and service to them. That, she says - is truly rewarding.
To someone staring a business today Tiara advises and seriously stresses the word RESEARCH as she shyly laughs. Getting back to her serious face she encourages all new business owners to Go the extra mile it takes to obtain gainful information. Take classes, attend seminars, grind hard for what you're passionate about it and LOVE it. " In 10 years if you can see yourself doing this same thing day in and day out, Go for it !"
Graduating from a school based in Georgia while living in Michigan really limited Tiara from utilizing a lot of resources that may have been available to students who attended the school in Georgia. However, that lack of support is filled by an amazing support system from family and friends, clients and social media followers. The local support offers help with sales, promotions, future customers vendor connections.
Tiara paid out of pocket to complete an online course for her certification within a year, all while working multiple jobs and maintaining a home as a full time mother. Her start up wasn't formal at all and her business plan was non conventional to say the least. A few times a week she would write a " to do " list on the back of receipt paper while at work. Her lists would include what to do, budgeting details for products and inventory , marketing tools etc. By the end of the month she had over a dozen receipts with "Major Goals"( she said smiling). She would read and reread them to herself constantly to keep her focused and determined to complete them. She says it kept her organized but she laughed jokingly and said " I have a notebook now" immediately after.
Tiara says she hasn't done an annual review yet, but she has reviewed her website and inventory for necessary improvements or adjustments to products, designs ,and marketing. She hopes to gain new clientele in 2020 . Her unofficial board of directors is her sisters. They serve as her advisory panel in all aspects of her business; from event planning, flyer designs, financial advice to moral support- it all goes through them first.
When asked if she would do it all over again she replied :"Every business I've started, every dime I've invested, customer I've gained , event I have hosted, website I've built, domain, inventory, logo designs, and business card purchase I have developed has brought me nothing but pure JOY!! I will never stop being an entrepreneur and grinding hard to success, I truly enjoy it !"
For me this entrepreneur is successful because I personally know her and know where she came from. I have watched her progressively grow and elevate each year. When it got challenging instead of giving up she bounced back. Watching her business grow first hand from her website , to sold out tickets at events , and seeing people on social media post positive reviews is only the beginning of her success. I am a part of her support system and I will always root for her to win!
Www.Vacationaire.us