Your Stories: Rebecca Bagnoli on switching from being an English teacher to travel agent
The homeworker says she hasn’t looked back since becoming a Personal Travel Consultant in partnership with Blue Bay Travel. Juliet Dennis finds out more
Aliver
The homeworker says she hasn’t looked back since becoming a Personal Travel Consultant in partnership with Blue Bay Travel. Juliet Dennis finds out more
Q. What’s your background in teaching?
A. I always wanted to be a teacher. I qualified in 2003 and started off as a primary school teacher. Later, after my second child was born, I went on to teach English to year seven pupils at a secondary school one day a week, but I wanted a change and to get out of teaching.
Q. What made you switch to travel?
A. I was thinking I should do something different. My friend’s mum Shirley Spooner was a travel agent and used to book our trips. We’ve always gone away a lot, and as a teacher I could travel during the school holidays, plus my husband has his own business so we didn’t have restrictions in terms of taking time off. I would come back from our holidays and tell my friends and then they would do the same trips. Shirley said I should be in sales because I was doing it all the time anyway. The agency she worked in was short-staffed and she asked if I would like to help out and answer the phones, so I said yes.
More: Travel Weekly’s Homeworking Directory
Q. What was your first job in travel like?
A. I was still teaching when I started doing two days a week at Millhouses Travel Worldchoice, just helping out. I really liked it because it was completely different from teaching – I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, but I’ve always been able to talk to people. I had lovely customers coming into the shop and no one was shouting abuse at me! I also loved the ladies I worked with. I handed in my notice at the school and worked up to February half-term in 2020. I went to Ras Al Khaimah with my family, but didn’t mind returning home because I wasn’t anxious about going back to work. By then people were starting to wear masks and the whole Covid situation began. I had sold some holidays, but had to cancel them, and we were furloughed. I thought travel was going to take forever to recover and that I might have to go back to teaching.
I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, but I’ve always been able to talk to people. I had lovely customers coming into the shop and no one was shouting abuse at me!
Q. What did you do during the pandemic?
A. I did some supply teaching to ensure I had money coming in, but started to discuss becoming a homeworker with Bawtry Travel. I set up with them in early 2021 – Shirley and I were working together and sharing the commission. I was doing two days a week as a supply teacher while working as a homeworker. As time went on, travel was taking up more of my hours and it got to the point where I needed to stop teaching. My contract for teaching finished in July so I could then focus on being a homeworker. I did that until September 2022 when I joined Blue Bay Travel.
As time went on, travel was taking up more of my hours and it got to the point where I needed to stop teaching
Q. What made you go it alone with Blue Bay?
A. The company was advertising and Shirley encouraged me, saying I was ready to do the job on my own. I loved it at Bawtry Travel but Blue Bay opened more doors for me. If it’s quiet, Blue Bay offers sales leads, and there is a very big admin team. It’s just a bigger operation and provided another career step for me. I’m self-employed and I wouldn’t say it’s gone crazy, but I am busier than before. From a personal point of view I am not going to be doing a sale a day because I don’t have time – my average is one booking a week. A lot of them are for families and friends. My last few have been around £11,000 to £15,000 so they are generally high-end. I have self-generated leads but I also work on leads from Blue Bay. There are no defined work hours, so not having to be somewhere at a certain time and being able to work when I want is great. My husband also works from home, but we’re not in the same room and we manage between us – I can work anywhere. We have a big Italian family and my kids bring friends home all the time so it can be full-on, which means I can’t focus on work all the time!
From a personal point of view I am not going to be doing a sale a day because I don’t have time – my average is one booking a week
How does travel differ from teaching?
Teaching consumed me completely – it took over my life before my children came along. I was always the first to drop my kids for childcare and the last to collect. Then I’d get home and work all evening. I hated planning lessons and marking books, but liked the actual teaching. Travel is completely different and I enjoy doing it all. I get an adrenaline rush. I love planning someone’s holiday and helping them to have an amazing time. As a homeworker, you get enquiries in the evening and weekends so it can be difficult. I don’t want to lose sales, but equally it doesn’t always fit with my timetable.
Sometimes I need to be better at stopping work but if I were teaching I would not have the flexibility. With teaching, when the bell goes you have to be there. It’s so intense and emotionally exhausting. Being an agent is pressurised and I can get stressed, but there is an admin team to check bookings and I can speak to other PTCs for help. It’s also my choice when I work. If I lose a sale because I’m busy, I lose a sale – it’s my problem. Obviously there is a responsibility for people’s holidays, but the responsibility for children’s education is huge.
