Today we’d like to introduce you to Erica Whitmore.
Hi Erica, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I had a friend invite me to a women’s travel group to be able to travel at a discount. When I joined about a week later they started promoting an ad trying to recruit agents.
The ad said, “Sign up to be your own boss as a travel agent for $99 TODAY ONLY!”. I decided to sign up because I love to travel, I love customer service and I definitely love discounts.
When I first joined this particular host agency it was great at first. I felt like I had support as an independent travel agent. So I signed up and my first travel business was born Royal Empire Supreme Travels, a private travel management partner, providing curated and bespoke services to sophisticated trendsetters.
Building my travel agency, I fell in love with the business. During my first year of being an independent travel agent, I made close to $30K. I started educating myself on different niches I was interested in to figure out what clients I wanted to serve. After doing that, I stumbled across a 12-week free Business Bootcamp at my local library hosted by the Brown’s Agency.
While taking that boot camp, I learned so many steps that were important in starting a business that I had no idea that I had to do such as registering with the state or getting a business account. Being legal with a business is important and I didn’t know that. For me, I thought that the way my host at the time broadcasted to the agents that basically you pay them and they set your account up and you are ready to start booking travel. But they missed that you need to be legal and insured as well.
After I got the knowledge from webinars, training, and Bootcamp, I began to share the knowledge of things I found out with other agents within our group. I remember reaching out to an admin within the host network asking if we as agents needed anything else to operate legally as a travel agent and the answer was no just sign up and pay yearly dues and increase knowledge by paying them for training and courses.
I even went as far as asking what kind of tools we need as travel agents to run our business successfully. I figured they knew because they made it known it was a 7 figure business. And I wanted to learn from the best but again they had no answer so I began to research and came across a platform called Zoho One. I introduced this to two of my friends that were also independent travel agents as well.
I and my two friends (Chloe O, and Vonda D.) would stay up hours learning the platform to be able to tell and help other struggling agents with the platform. Once we learned we made a post in the group recommending the platform and also had help sessions that way we all can brainstorm and help each other.
The host admins were ok with it at first but then started not approving our post and messaging us telling us, that couldn’t share any of the knowledge we had because we weren’t a trainer. We explained that we were not training anyone but simply sharing knowledge. At that time, I knew they were not supportive of their independent agents other than getting money from us.
So the more I learned about the business and learned about being an entrepreneur I learned really quick that the agency I was with was not very supportive of their independent agents. In the groups, I saw so much bickering and blocking of individuals for speaking their true experiences with the host that it was ridiculous. With that being said, I started researching topics on how to become a host agency for travel.
Initially, this company was a partnership between a friend and me. Our vision was to provide agents with more than access but the support, we didn’t get from the host we were with. But after almost a year in business, I became the only owner and the vision stayed the same. My friend and I came up with the name together Royal Dream Enterprises (RDE) (it’s the combination of my business and her business name). RDE was born because of a horrible experience with a host agency.
RDE became an extension of my travel agency Royal Empire Supreme Travels. As I expanded my travel brand, I wanted to add more offerings for my client’s experience so I learned how to make custom apparel and gifts (Birthrite).
Now four years later, I have a successful travel agency, a growing hosting agency, and a custom apparel and gifts store.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
With Royal Empire Supreme Travels, I had struggles trying to figure out the type of client I wanted to work with and how to cater to their needs.
With RDE, I wouldn’t say there are struggles starting the company I would say that because I am so passionate about what I do that sometimes I get overwhelmed or frustrated. I only feel that way when I see so much potential in some of my agents that are not putting their all into themselves.
With Birthrite, there hadn’t been any struggles.
As you know, we’re big fans of Royal Dream Enterprises. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Royal Dream Enterprises is the sister company to Royal Empire Supreme Travels.
We provide independent travel agents with the vendor access, support, and training they need to jump-start their business with little to no cost up front to start. Right now, you can sign up FREE to be a travel agent if you sign up on the diamond plan.
Royal Empire Supreme Travels is a private travel management partner, providing curated and bespoke services to sophisticated trendsetters. We specialize in offering luxurious authentically curated experiences worldwide! What sets us apart from others is we provide memorious experiences not just an ordinary vacation package.
Our packages are not one size fits all, all our packages are curated based on the client’s needs.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
There are a ton of people who deserve credit for helping me reach the level of success that I have now My mother Brenda Burnett, aunt Jewel Foster, and cousin Shirley Butler ALWAYS support whatever business I have they definitely are my number one cheerleaders I would say.
My mentors when it came to the knowledge of business and entrepreneurship started with MJ Glover and continued on with Jerrika Brown of the Brown’s Agency and Jazmine Pente’ of Grit and Glory.
My teammates & advocates would be Kandris Deshazier of S&B Kreations for the knowledge she gave me on custom designs, Vonda DeGree, Temeke Butler, LaKeenya Owens, Candace Ficklin, and Chloe Orange these ladies helped me build RDE from how to automate it to bringing new and fresh ideas to the table.
They also help me manage the other agents within RDE.
I would like to also thank Terrance Whitmore for helping me financially during the beginning stages of my business and lastly my son Landon Cooper for always being the key to pushing me to reach my goals.
Pricing:
- -Silver Plan $99 Yearly
- -Diamond Plan $45 Monthly
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rde.agency
- Other: www.royalestravels.com
Image Credits
RDE Creations & Collaborations
