Growing up, I never thought I'd have the opportunity to be a part of two of the best industries on the planet - the hospitality and travel sectors. I have my grandmother to thank who, with a trip to Hawaii when I was 10 years old, instilled in me the curious desire about cultures, people and food outside of my every day life. Fast forward to many years later and I've had the good fortune to travel to nearly all corners of the world while collecting professional and personal experiences I'd never trade.My first "real" job outside of school was working for Marriott in a variety of positions, starting at an entry level bellman role. After several years working onsite at a California Marriott hotel, I moved into a variety of above-property positions, ending my time with Marriott in the Global Sales Organization where I led the Global relationship for some of the highest valued Leisure Tour/Wholesale segment clients. Shortly thereafter, I found myself enticed by the tour segment side of the industry and joined G Adventures where I led the U.S. sales efforts. This was a challenging and exciting position where I lead two sales teams simultaneously (inside and outside sales) - all the while being keenly focused on increasing overall business levels & travel partner satisfaction and loyalty.Asia has always had a special hold on my heart after my first trip to Vietnam and Indonesia in the early 2000's. With that in mind, it was an easy decision to then transition into my next position, leading North American outbound sales for the Asian DMC, EXO Travel. In this capacity, I traveled extensively in North America & many corners throughout Asia - this was a great job, working for a fantastic & dynamic company. After traversing throughout Asia during this time, I decided to take the leap so in 2015 and without a job, I departed EXO & moved to Bali, Indonesia. This was one of the best decisions I could have made! Shortly there after I joined with one a long-time industry colleague/friend to help expand her DMC representation business which ran successfully until early 2020. Working as an small business entrepreneur with DMC's throughout the world was fantastic but with Covid, like many businesses, ours went into hibernation. I've recently moved back to Chicago and have joined TCS World Travel, an incredible company with wonderful colleagues. I'm excited to be back in the U.S. and look forward to furthering relationships within the travel advisor community. Please connect with me here - I look forward to remaining in touch!