Your Stories: How Travel Counsellors’ Grant Bowles overcame health issues to turn over £1m in three years

You are never alone and never be ashamed to ask for help, the homeworker tells Juliet Dennis after both personal tragedy and mental health issues

Q. Tell us about your early travel career.
A. I started in the early 1990s in central London at Comet Travel, in an administrative role. It gave me an insight into how a travel agency worked. I wanted to see the world so I applied for cabin crew roles and took a job at Air 2000 (First Choice’s airline) out of Gatwick and Birmingham. It was a great experience. I decided to leave London to work for timeshare specialist RCI Europe as a team leader at its Kettering call centre. I then moved to Cork in Ireland to develop a new team for RCI while still overseeing my team in Kettering, travelling between the two.

I started in the early 1990s in central London at Comet Travel, in an administrative role. It gave me an insight into how a travel agency worked

Q. Tragedy struck when your dad died by suicide 20 years ago. How did that affect you?
A. I was traumatised and it affected my mental health. At first I felt like I could only open up to my husband – I’ve only sought professional help in the past 10 years. I felt disappointed my dad never gave me the opportunity to talk to him. We weren’t close, but at the end of the day he was my dad and should have been a role model for me. People say you move on over time, but there is still so much pain. My friends all helped me. Eventually I had psychotherapy, and my feelings and emotions came out. That’s when I started to recover.

I was headhunted by Kuoni for a new store in Milton Keynes and worked there for three years, during which time my sales were extraordinary

Q. Why did you return to working as an agent?
A. I was in Ireland and missed home, and wanted to get back to an agency in the UK. I managed Virgin Holidays’ concession in Tesco, Northampton, for more than five years. I was headhunted by Kuoni for a new store in Milton Keynes and worked there for three years, during which time my sales were extraordinary. I was headhunted again by Virgin for a new concession in House of Fraser in Northampton. After that I worked for Co-op Travel [part of Midcounties] in Market Harborough, but only for about seven months because I got a call from Hays Travel about an assistant manager job at a new store in Banbury. I didn’t think twice. Just over a year later, head office offered me a job giving Hays homeworkers business support. When Covid hit it was awful, but Hays had won the government contract to run a Covid helpline, helping vulnerable people with food deliveries for example. It was the best thing I’ve ever done in terms of helping people.

I liked working from home and my husband suggested I set up on my own. I thought it was a risk because I wouldn’t earn any money in the first year

Q. Why did you become a homeworker?
A. I liked working from home and my husband suggested I set up on my own. I thought it was a risk because I wouldn’t earn any money in the first year. It meant coming out of my comfort zone. However, Andrew said he would invest in my business for the first year because I’d always helped him with his career. He encouraged me to do my research, which I did. A friend who is a fellow travel counsellor said she could refer me so I decided to give it a go.

Q. What have your sales been like since joining Travel Counsellors?
A. I joined in June 2021 and made a small profit in the first six months. I’ve now made more than £1.1 million in sales as an individual travel counsellor – which is more than £350,000 in sales a year. I have a very big client base that has followed me, and it’s all word of mouth. I’m so proud of how it’s gone – my business is in a very healthy position for the rest of the year.

I’ve now made more than £1.1 million in sales as an individual travel counsellor – which is more than £350,000 in sales a year

Q. What’s your secret to success?
A. I never leave a stone unturned! I always call the hotel once my clients have arrived, give them a welcome home call, make sure their flight is okay – all the touches they would not get from a shop. I have a new client who has just booked eight holidays with me and I’ve only known her for five months. I never put anyone under pressure to book, it’s about making sure you have a good trust connection. It takes time. I always hold the client’s hand and, if things go wrong, I will phone up and sort it out for them.

I never put anyone under pressure to book, it’s about making sure you have a good trust connection

What would you say to other industry professionals suffering mental health issues?

Think about what you want to achieve in your job and what you need as support mechanisms. Don’t rush your career. Don’t be afraid to speak about something that has had a detrimental affect on you and never be ashamed to ask for help. The more people talk about their mental health, the stronger they become and the more people can help them on their journey – you are never alone. The sad thing about our society is that people are often scared to talk about mental health, which means they just hide any problems.

I feel very lucky to have a wonderful husband, an amazing home and great friends, but there are people out there who are not as fortunate so it’s important that we all look out for others and make sure we are there for them. If I can help anyone else who is suffering I would like to do that. I would like to reach out to others in the industry to contact me if they think I might be able to give them support or advise them in any way.