Your Stories: Travel Counsellors’ Gillian Stewart on striking ‘Gold’

The Travel Counsellors agent tells Samantha Mayling about moving into homeworking and hitting the agency’s top-selling ‘Gold’ level

Q. How did your career develop?
I studied accountancy at Glasgow University then did a masters in IT. My first contract was Y2K testing for an energy supplier. After realising IT was not for me, I returned to my hometown Ayr to work for my father, Willie Stewart, at Stewart Travel as a stopgap doing admin. After a few months, I gave selling a go. My first booking was a Royal Caribbean cruise. I was delighted; there was no turning back. Travel has been in my blood since I was a baby. My father sold Stewart Travel in 2012 and my role changed – there was more potential to work for myself as a homeworker.

Q. How has your business grown?
It grew from clients who knew me, Holidaysplease leads and recommendations. People began to refer me, and my reputation grew.

Things really clicked when I met an associate who’d spoken at a Holidaysplease conference and we worked on a business development strategy, increasing my visibility and focusing on my branding.

I promoted myself in online groups and contacted organisations that had a good synergy. Becoming more proactive and going outside my comfort zone boosted business and my personal growth.

Q. How did you cope during the pandemic?
After the intensity of getting people home and with so much uncertainty, I decided to do something productive.

I worked with Minty Highway, a business development consultancy, to create a bespoke website focused on personal content and connecting with clients. A group of five of us worked this way. Supporting each other through dark times while creating something special was positive and inspiring. My hard work provided a great platform to hit the ground running after Covid.

Q. How do you find clients?
Investing in my own content and personal style is key.

I have a great relationship with clients and keeping them engaged is invaluable. I still work with Minty Highway to maintain a style that reflects me and my service. This helps clients to refer me, and new people to find me.

I keep my website fresh, my social posting is purposeful and my quarterly newsletter generates good engagement. I produce my own marketing materials, while blogs written by me and my clients are helpful when selling – they’re authentic and people feel that.

It’s great to provide clients with a tangible memory to inspire others, and my blogs showcase my experiences and increase interest. I’m based in Edinburgh but clients are from across the country. I have some from the south via the Holidaysplease pool and several are Edinburgh and Ayrshire-based. People are still travelling and adjusting to higher costs – their holidays are important to them but I feel the cost of living will catch up with us all at some point. People are a bit more adventurous, with multicentres and destinations such as Japan, South America and Costa Rica.

I’ve been lucky to have visited lots of places, so I like to go to somewhere I’ve never been before. My trip to Japan last year was incredible and I’m trying to do more short breaks – I capture them all on my blog. I prefer fam trips about culture and experiences as well as the hotels. If someone is going to invest in me and I invest the time to visit, it’s important to do the best I can, to produce results and provide value.

Q. What are your future plans?
I’ll continue to be proactive and grow, always looking for where I can enhance relationships with clients and suppliers. I have lots of ideas, including more client events and building my visibility locally. The TC platform enables me to join specific teams to increase opportunities in new areas. I say: “Have the courage to try new things, always learn and be consistent with what you do.” I never thought I’d have the courage to publish photos of myself and make videos, but I learnt that clients like to see and hear me. They respect my knowledge and experience, and it helps them make decisions – I guess I’m an influencer in my own wee way.