It Starts With Heart
It Starts With Heart is a relatable straight talking podcast, brought to you by Mindset Mastery Online Founder Rebecca Sonuga.
Rebecca is on a mission to empower women to be the best version of themselves, for them to know their worth and to have the self-belief that they can be and do whatever they wish.
Anytime you feel inspired, share this with your friends and tag @rebeccasonuga on social media!
It Starts With Heart
I want to quit my job and travel the world! - Interview with Andrea
Travel industry leaders Jill and Rebecca share raw insights about building successful businesses, finding the right team support, and creating financial freedom while helping others do the same.
• Different leadership styles produce dramatically different results in the travel business
• Focusing on your own journey rather than comparing yourself to others accelerates success
• Finding the right team and leadership is more important than joining friends in business
• Guest Andrea built a successful travel business while working full-time by maximising "pockets of time"
• Using early mornings, lunch breaks, and time between activities creates business-building opportunities
• The business blueprint and support system gives confidence that success is achievable
• Financial and location freedom motivates long-term vision - working from anywhere while supporting family
• Corporate escapees now enjoy freedom from alarm clocks and rigid schedules
• The business ultimately shifts from money motivation to helping others achieve freedom
• Global expansion creates exciting opportunities for teams with international connections
To learn more about building a travel business on your own terms, DM rebecca on IG @rebeccasonuga
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Rebecca xx
I was just about to edify you, Jill, but we kept on going, ah, ah, ah. You do me and I'll do you next.
Speaker 1:Yeah because I feel like you always do me first, so I feel like I need to introduce the amazing Jill Hollins first. Hi, claire, by the way. Yeah, so, guys, if you do not know who this woman is, where the hell have you been Get to know her immediately? She's a frigging firecracker. So hell, have you been get to know her? Immediately? She's a freaking firecracker, so inspiring. This is director jill hollins. She's a two-star director within our company. She has a team of well over 300 people. She is one of the core leaders within my personal organization, always leading from the front every single day, not only getting her her own stars, but also helping her team get theirs as well. She's always sharing value, even to the wider team, and I am so privileged to always be hosting this amazing live and isn't it is an amazing live, isn't jill with um, this lovely lady, every single week, ah thank you, darling, and just a little warning here we're ever so sassy, we are sassier, as the weeks go on, don't we?
Speaker 2:yeah, if you want real talk, then you want to tune in every tuesday at 1 30 uk time, because we just say it as it is, but our team.
Speaker 1:Our jill's got a cheeky head on her today because she can't stop smiling. She's thinking something.
Speaker 2:She's thinking something, guys, oh well, anyway, before we go into today's topic and introduce our guest speaker, I just have to edify you, my darling. So for those who do not know who rebecca is, where the hell have you been and why don't you know who she is? She's absolutely who Rebecca is. Where the hell have you been and why don't you know who she is? She's absolutely amazing in this travel business. She's everything jet set. She's a lady that introduced me. She's always leader from the front. She's two stars, very fastly approaching a three star director.
Speaker 2:When I say leading from the front, it's not just leading your team, you're leading thousands and you lead by example and honestly, I don't think I know anybody who puts themselves out there and first as much as you do for really leading from the front. So I feel very privileged and honoured and it came to my realisation. I've always known how lucky I am that we work so closely together. But it was a massive wake up call to me having one of the other ladies who is already in the travel business but she just doesn't have somebody, the support and somebody leading her that she was working closely with and it just makes you realize just how lucky we are closely with and it just makes you realize just how lucky we are, and anybody who joins our team is lucky actually, because we are freaking hands-on with you guys.
Speaker 1:We're talking to one of our teamers about this today were we were talking to tash about it, and tash is also like another phenomenal person who we definitely need to get on one of these lives one week and she was sharing how is it normal for your team not to want to do as much as you do? Yes, it's normal.
Speaker 1:We've been having this conversation with ourselves for years, um, but yeah, and she was like I just don't see why they don't want to me to lead them I'm a great leader and I was like we know you're a great leader, tasha, we're great leaders, but we want to find the people who value that as well, because, at the end of the day, yeah, until you get in there and you are partnered up with a team that isn't supportive, or you're left to your own devices and you've not got all of the resources that we provide within our organization, until you you do that, then yeah, you, sometimes just people, just people, just turn the wrong people, don't they? I actually Jill before I know I'm like going off on a bit of a tangent. I actually had someone who I personally brought into the business. This was like a couple of years ago now. I personally brought into the business all of a sudden, just one day cancelled and I was like what the hell messaged her and and she was like because obviously she did the rude thing where they don't let you know, and I'm like what the hell? Anyway, um messaged her. I was like everything, okay, she was like what's she gonna say? And anyway, she joined. She joined another team, she joined a local team and she's like right, I just want to feel like I joined, bearing in mind at the time I was living in Manchester and she was about an hour away, so technically still local. But whatever, I was like whatever floats your boat, hun.
Speaker 1:What's happened now? Constantly in my messages, constantly watching all of my stuff, constantly trying to get into our secure private Facebook page or Facebook page, instagram page that is invite only trying to get all of our nuggets chill. And it's like you. You left, you joined a different freaking team that's not doing anything. Yeah, like hello. Like I always say, don't join your friends, join the people who are actually going to get you through the business. You might not necessarily be a bad person. They might be really trying, but they're not getting the results. They're not getting the results. So it just blows my mind a little bit and people always regret it. So what I'm saying is she can't leave now. She's tied in with her friend. She's never going to leave her friend, but really she wishes she was still with us what a shame.
Speaker 2:Boo, boo, you lose, you snooze, your friggin lose. Yeah well, do you know what? And it amazes me and I know it does you, because we've had this conversation before the amount of other leaders and directors in the organization, but not in the jet set organization, that are constantly grilling us and asking us for how do you do this and how do you do that, and how are you getting the results you get? It's like, come on, it's like giving somebody the secret ingredients to mama's sauce.
Speaker 2:You're not going to do it Honestly, sometimes you just have to be able to.
Speaker 1:We do help people, but at the same time it's in our interest to keep our little secret ingredients up our sleeve, because it's ours and we work freaking hard another thing as well at once, if I can share for anyone like that and anyone in our team as well, um is that and this is obviously being a bit more serious now this is a serious tip the more you look at other people and you compare yourself against other people, the less you're going to do, because you're just going to be spending all of your time watching other people's stuff and thinking, oh, I want to do what they're doing, or what is it that they're doing. Just get your head down and focus on you and what you're doing. One of my friends in the business she had a conversation with me like years ago and she was like I'm not bothered what anyone else is doing. I think I think I'd asked her about something.
Speaker 1:I think I must have messaged her and said, oh, like such a body's done blah blah. And she's like how would I know that? I'm not interested in what anyone else is doing? I've just been focusing on myself for the past three years and that was just a massive light bulb and I thought you know what? That is what I need to be doing as well, and ever since then, I've stopped looking at people's stuff, like there's nothing that irritates me more when someone goes oh, did you see such a body's post about blah blah, blah, blah blah?
Speaker 1:and I'm like no, I didn't, because I don't look at anyone else's shit. I'm doing my own stuff, so make a money yeah just like focus on your own thing. Like, even if you are in a team that isn't the best, yeah, and you are looking at people getting a bit of foam or thinking, oh, what is it that they're doing? What's their secret sauce? Like? The secret is, we're just focused and we're not getting distracted by what everyone else is doing. It's this isn't it?
Speaker 1:you roll your sleeves up and get your hands dirty that's what it is and just doing the grind Like we've worked out our blueprint from grinding it out first.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we're always improving. Yeah, we're always improving and I'm looking forward to our plan. Do review. Oh Tash, speak of the devil. Oh Tash, you've got your ears burning. Is that right, darling? You've jumped on? Oh theyash, speak of the devil. Oh Tash, was your ears burning? Is that why, darling, you've jumped on?
Speaker 1:Oh, they were red hot love. You missed it. We're not saying you're a dick we weren't really.
Speaker 2:You'll have to play it back to see what we really were saying we love you. Why is that not working? Oh, oh, oh, it is is. Anyway. We have a guest speaker today. Um, I'm going to introduce her. She's somebody that joined my business a while ago. Um, in fact, I'll let her share her story, so let me just, in fact, yeah, I don't pretend to be a thunder jill. No, no, I wanted to say that here she is.
Speaker 3:Hello, hi, ladies. Can you hear me?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, yes, over to you, andrea. Nice to see you, darling.
Speaker 3:I feel so honored. I love you guys. It was I love. I love how raw your your talk is. That's one thing I love in Jetson that you know the real talks like people need to hear the real things. So, oh, they're so honored.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much oh listen, um, I know who you are. I know everything about you. We've become like business besties as well, so it's not like I don't know who you are and Rebecca knows who you are, but there'll be a lot of people that are going to watch this that don't might not know who you are darling. So would you mind just introducing yourself and just giving us a little lowdown on how long you've been in the business, etc.
Speaker 3:Yeah, of course. Thank you so much. Um, yeah, so my name is Andrea. Uh, I've been in the business I think in April now it's coming up to two years um, but we do say there is a date that you join the business and join the business um, so I work full-time in a corporate world. Um, it is basically um, I'm on the road most of the time. As you guys can see, I'm in my car at the moment on my lunch break. Um, but yeah, I've been um, I've been working full time. Um.
Speaker 3:However, travel has been a part of my life. I think if you guys speak to any of my friends or people that I know and mention my name, the first thing that pops in their mind is travel. Like, where is Andrea traveling now? Where is she now? Like, like it's all around travel, and so I used to um, I went to uni and studied travel and I also used to work as a tour operator, um, for about four years.
Speaker 3:So deadly covid happened and then I lost my job. So, um, that was kind of a wake-up call. I loved it. I. I used to travel a lot. I've seen loads of um beautiful countries around, uh, but that was the first wake-up call for me to um, think about doing something additionally. So, um, I'm also from Hungary, so I don't have a family living here in the UK, and that point. I literally had nothing to fall back on. So, um, I knew that I had to do something for myself, something extra, even if it's just a couple of hundred pounds, but something to fall back on. Um, and then Jill, by the end of my DMs, thank god, I thank every single day for her um and um. Yeah, first I was like, yeah, I don't know how it works, I tried last time.
Speaker 2:Well, that looks like a bloody crab, darling. What are you doing?
Speaker 3:Oh my God, you're right, you can work on it. You can work on it.
Speaker 1:I work on it.
Speaker 3:Oh, there we go um, yeah, um, but I was one of those.
Speaker 3:I was so overrun with work so, um, I kind of put it aside and of course, I was watching Jill um what she was doing, um, so after a couple of months I think I said, okay, tell me more.
Speaker 3:To be honest, I jumped on an opportunity call and once I saw the list of preferred partners that we we have, that's pretty much sold the business for me, because I came from the industry, so I knew most of those big brands, um, and used to work with them. So I thought to myself they wouldn't associate with a company that are not legit or anything like that, because of course, the first thing I did is I Googled jet sets and everything. So that pretty much sold the business. I joined purely for the travel side, but once I got exposed to the marketing side of the business, I quickly become and realised that that's going to be potentially my plan a um, so there is so many opportunities for this business, um, that is incredible. Um, so I've learned so much um, my mindset's like improved so much during these, um, last couple of months. I would say um, so forever grateful.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thanks, jill, yeah that's my name, sorry, what?
Speaker 3:would you?
Speaker 1:what would you, what would you say, has been like the biggest learning that you've had since you've been in the business. Have you had any like? What was your biggest light bulbs? I feel like you get, we get a lot of light bulbs, don't we?
Speaker 3:yeah, yeah, um.
Speaker 3:I think when I started to get exposed, um the marketing side, to the business and seeing where this business potentially can take us if we put the, the work in, because it's not working.
Speaker 3:If you're dipping in and out which I've been doing it for you know I've done it for many, many months uh, you need to be consistent um and see the, see the long-term vision. Um, otherwise, if you just, here and there, you guys talked about on one of your lives and I think I touched base as well on another with another lady that because the startup is so low, um, it might not push you that hard if you would have invested for so much um. So definitely the the exposure to the marketing side, seeing that people younger than me um working full-time, um traveling the world, making incredible money and just have the options. So for me that's the biggest thing. It's not around the money but having options and the opportunity to actually educate people that there is another way of making. You know it could be a part-time income, full-time income or life-changing income. You decide, yeah, love that me too.
Speaker 2:I was going to say well, andrea, you do a lot of bookings. I know you do a lot of traveling. We're going to the most incredible holidays very soon, in the next couple of weeks. In fact, I'm going to book my flight at this afternoon. Um, how would you say to anybody who's listening to this, who's not in the business, and they're just thinking I just don't have the time, you're busy, I know this, and you still manage to do the travel bookings. Build a team, help your team, um, and do your holidays as well. What would you say to somebody? What was your top tip on that? Trying to do all of that and succeed in this business, yeah, um I mean the business generally is so, so flexible.
Speaker 3:All you need is your phone and internet connection and you can easily do it in a pocket of your time, like, for example, I do wake up in the morning, 4 or 6 am at IMV, so I do a couple of hours before I actually start my normal job, so usually six to six to seven, eight o'clock, um, where I try to get as much as I possibly can do. And during the day, you know, when I'm walking from one client to the other, again it's on my phone so I can just quickly send a message, quickly send a voice note. We have loads of things that we can do on our phone as well, like different apps and et cetera. So that's also super, super flexible. Um, I think it's just to maximize your time.
Speaker 3:Uh, that little time that you have, like, um, if you got, you know, lunch time, half an hour, an hour again, I'm in my car having my lunch, I don't know, listen to an imv, listening to a video from you guys. While I drive, I listen, listen to a podcast, or maybe, if I miss the call. So it's just utilising those little times that you have. It's absolutely doable around the full time job, and that's one of the things I absolutely love it that it works so flexible.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. And where is it? It like vicky's making me laugh in the comments? I want to come. There's something coming, okay, um, that we've got up our sleeve, no one knows, do the no?
Speaker 2:so anyway, um I think she said I've got a secret for you. And I went oh my god, you're pregnant again. She went no, don't say that in front of Mark.
Speaker 1:So yeah, and what was I gonna say? Yeah, so sorry, andrea. Back to you, I got just highly distracted. That was really made me laugh. Um, long-term vision one of the things I feel like we don't talk about enough on these lives, do we? Or do we not? Not so much on these interviews? Anyway, what? Where do you see it going? Where do you see yourself going in the next five years? What does that look like? And tell us like what gives you that faith that's going to happen for me, it's complete financial and location freedom.
Speaker 3:Um, my plan is to just travel and to work from wherever I can. Um the fact also that I can go and see my family wherever, whenever I can, I can spend the months there, I can spend a year there. That's very important, very important to be flexible, because my parents are not really young anymore. So you know I have to think ahead. So, for me, the location and financial freedom to be able to spend with my family and create a financial help for them, if that makes sense, um, especially for my mom. She's given me so much so I want to give her back um, which could be by traveling, buying a holiday home somewhere sunny. So for me, it's, um, it's the freedom of location and be able to give back to my family.
Speaker 1:Um, those two um the biggest ones yeah, I know it's really powerful, and what gives you the confidence that that's happening?
Speaker 3:I mean you guys and the blueprint that we have is absolutely amazing, like the support that we get day in, day out in the business. There are so much training. There's so many mindsets, videos and everything that we can tap into Like it's literally endless. There's so many opportunities for us to learn and we've got the blueprint that already you guys and people before us, leah and everyone in the business tested and it worked. So all the success stories that I see and people in the business see that for me, especially the events when I see all those people and what they achieve for me that is just see the results, that it's working yeah, yeah, we always say that sorry.
Speaker 2:We always say documentation beats conversation and we've got lots of people. Now you've got a team in the uk. Sure, you've got a team in america as well, haven't you? Yeah, um, I bet you're so excited because, obviously, with us launching across europe over the next 24 months, um, how is? That that's gonna blow your business up, isn't it? With all your connections?
Speaker 3:yeah, well, if you're going to like eastern europe, for sure I would say that would be absolutely amazing, that would be wow, uh, but even in dubai, or, or you know, I know a couple of people in dubai. So, um, even if the far, far east would be, will be absolutely incredible. I mean, we're just getting started. We, you know we are only 25 countries. Ladies, correct me if I'm wrong, but there are so many opportunities, so many countries.
Speaker 1:That is coming so super exciting time yeah, really, really exciting, and I think the key thing that I that I took from what you just said, then it's the blueprint, it's the success method. You're confident in where you're going because, because you know what to do, you've got a plan and you've got the support and it's not the blind leading the blind anymore and it's like we'd always say, stick and stay and get your pay. But stick and stay, do the work, get your pay. And that's exactly what you're doing and you're seeing the results and your's growing every, every single month, and that's the main thing. Not only that, you're smashing out your bookings as well, and, yeah, that's why we all know you you're going away and as well, for somebody who loves travel as much as you, that you are not meant to be sat in that car right now, are you? Let's?
Speaker 1:be honest so you are meant to be car free. You're meant to be in an exotic country, somewhere on your laptop, on your phone and just like living your best life in the sun, and that's why I'm so excited, for it's just like. I just can't wait. I can't wait to see all the content when you start doing that yeah, but you know where you're going because you've got the plan and the success method. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2:It's amazing, it's so exciting.
Speaker 1:And this is just one life. Jill, this is just one person out of our team of hundreds how exciting is that? And just one person out of like Andrea's team as well, and you'll have these stories in your organization. You'll have people with their own dreams and desires and their own vision, who are plugged in and implementing things every day, and you'll see them change their lives and it's just so freaking amazing very nice thing. You get paid loads of money for helping other people make loads of money. I don't know, there's nowhere, is uh?
Speaker 1:not from this amazing industry that way anyway it's amazing feeling.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I I mean I'm gonna. Everybody knows that I literally came into this business because I wanted to book travel and make money booking travel and then when I saw the other side of the business that there was a thing called residual, which I didn't know what meant. But obviously now I know you do the work once and you get paid over and over um for me, once I saw that all those dollar signs were going ka-ching ka and I just went all in just thinking about the money, money. And we are still always chasing the money because we chase the rank ups, because with the rank ups comes all the additional bonuses. But it changes.
Speaker 2:And one of the other directors said this you get to the stage where you're thinking actually it's not about the money. You get to the stage where you're thinking actually it's not about the money, it's about helping you say goodbye to your boss and living your best life on your own terms. And, rebecca, you did exactly that. I mean, I made the decision at the beginning not to get a job and put my all into this so that I didn't have to ever find a job and work for someone again. And it's paid off handsomely. Three and a half years. Well, I could have quit anyway any job like a couple of years ago, but you did that, didn't you? You had a really big corporate role, you were on a big income, and now you've replaced it, living life on your terms, yeah, I became allergic.
Speaker 1:Jill, like you say, you're allergic to your alarm clock. I was allergic to my job and you know what? I've not actually set an alarm now for about a week. Yeah, technically I do have an alarm because I've got a baby, so she still gets me up, but I've not set an alarm because I just like you know what.
Speaker 1:I'm just gonna take a page out of Jill's book. Why am I setting an alarm when I've got a job? So, yeah, that's what I do now. I just wake up when I wake up, usually just naturally early anyway and, like I said, my little one wakes up early anyway. But it's just nice not to actually set it every night. I was just, it was still ingrained in me from from corporate, for being in 13 years in a corporate job, and yeah, I've stopped doing it and I will never set it again unless I'm getting on a flight it's a small little pleasures like that not having to have an alarm clock not yeah, not ever having that feeling on a Sunday night that, oh my god, yeah, and it wasn't just one.
Speaker 1:I used to set about eight because I used to be so paranoid about sleeping. So I'd set one and then I'd set another for like two minutes later. Then I'd set another one for like three minutes later. Then I set another one and I set like loads of alarms because I just in my head I'd be thinking, oh my god, like I need to make sure that I get up. So it's like I, my fear, used to be hit my alarm and then not wake up.
Speaker 1:Um, but now I'm just like you know what my beautiful baby will wake me up in the morning instead of she sleeps and I'll sleep in unapologetically, and I'm not even stressed about school runs or anything anymore. They're all. I think that ever since I stopped stressing about being up at a certain time and trying to be really, really regimented with, like, my morning routine which does work, of course, as well, but sometimes it's not ideal with two like crazy kids ever since I started being a bit more relaxed in the morning, I just feel so much more productive. Anyway, I'm getting more done in the morning. We're never late, very rarely on the last minute. Anyway. My kids are calmer, I'm calmer. It's just a nice place to be in the morning instead of rushing. So, yeah, it's something I took from Jill and I finally implemented it and it's been a game changer, which I did ages ago now.
Speaker 2:No no, Amazing Andrea. I know you're on your lunch break um make sure that you do nice practicing. She's got one of the drones ready for when we're at this most incredible villa yeah, oh, my gosh right.
Speaker 1:I need to get on this drone vibe because it just takes your content to another level. That doesn't it? There's someone in our team who's got one isn't there and um in the wider team and I looked at one of her reels yesterday I was like that content's just hit another level with that drone. Yeah yeah, that's your job everywhere we go, we bring in that yeah, yeah, just bring me because of the drone, I don't mind.
Speaker 1:Use me, abuse me no, obviously, just having you there is just amazing anyway. But thank you so much for I don't mind, use me, abuse me. No, obviously, just having you there is just amazing anyway. But thank you so much for jumping on, we'll let you get back to work.
Speaker 2:Enjoy the rest of your day. You too, ladies, you too Bye.
Speaker 3:Love you. Bye everyone.
