The No BS Travel Advisor™️

Marcie Muensterman

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www.thetraveladvisormarcie.com/courses

Join Maximize Your TA Business FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/maximizeyourtravelagentbusiness

Most travel advisors got into this industry because they love travel, planning, and helping people, not because they dreamed of funnels, CRMs, consults, and closing calls.

And then reality really hits: this is a sales and marketing business and NOT for what you think you are selling… and most host training barely touches that part.

In this episode, Marcie breaks down the truth: you’re not selling the resort, the itinerary, or the “deal.” You’re selling you! You have to clearly demonstrate your energy, personality, process, boundaries, expertise, and the experience only you can provide. She shares her iconic “Red Wagon of Tomatoes” story (and how her first VIP client taught her demand, positioning, and value at age seven), plus why oversharing your personality (not your supplier secrets) is the fastest way to build trust and stop getting ghosted.

You’ll also hear how Marcie thinks about “like/know/trust,” why “quote me in the DMs” is killing your conversions, and how to build a sales process that actually works with your brain, especially if you need help fully understanding your own processes.

Deal alert: use PODCAST11 to save 11%. And from Feb 1–28, all courses are automatically 14% off at www.thetraveladvisormarcie.com/courses.

Episode chapters (with timestamps)

00:00 Welcome + Florida is freezing (rude)
02:10 The truth: you’re in sales… but not selling what you think
05:15 “You’re selling YOU” and why most TA training skips this
08:10 Why advisors join: excitement, helping, travel obsession — not marketing
12:45 Host websites + the fantasy of “beach laptop life” (please stop)
16:10 Why you’re overwhelmed: no one explained the whole job
18:40 Like/Know/Trust isn’t outdated — and it’s your real job
20:30 Furniture store story: why personality sells more than product
27:00 Oversharing, politics, and filtering for aligned clients
31:50 Deal-chasers and why your marketing attracts what you tolerate
35:20 Wagon of tomatoes story: your first VIP client + value lesson
43:45 The real sale: experience, connection, reliability, trust
47:10 Stop proving your expertise and start being a real human
50:30 Why “kick them out if they didn’t book with you” is broke energy
54:00 Why consistency builds trust (and post-and-ghost kills it)
56:40 Closing: show up as YOU, ask for review, final truth bomb

SEO keywords

travel advisor sales

travel agent sales training

travel advisor marketing

how to get travel clients

how to sell travel services

sell yourself as a travel advisor

travel advisor consultation process

stop sending quotes in DMs

travel advisor lead generation

travel advisor personal brand

like know trust travel industry

how to attract aligned clients

travel advisor boundaries

travel advisor content strategy

Facebook group marketing for travel agents

social selling for travel advisors

ADHD systems for travel advisors

travel advisor workflow

sales process for travel agents

how to stop being ghosted by travel clients

SEO Phrases:

“why travel advisors don’t make money”

“travel agent marketing is hard”

“how to stop tire kickers as a travel advisor”

“how to charge fees as a travel advisor”

“what travel advisors are really selling”
________________________________________________________________

You are in sales — pretending you aren’t doesn’t change that

You’re not selling travel: you’re selling your process + your energy + your expertise

Most advisors join the industry because they love travel… and then get blindsided by marketing

Hosts teach backend + suppliers teach products but most don’t teach how to close travel deals.

Like/Know/Trust still runs the entire damn game

Why quoting in DMs attracts deal shoppers and ghosters

Why personality creates faster trust than “look at this resort” posts

The wagon of tomatoes story: demand, VIP clients, and pricing confidence

Alignment matters: deal-chasers refer deal-chasers

Consistency builds reliability → reliability builds trust → trust builds sales

Marcie Muensterman

PODCAST11 saves you 11% on ALL signature courses

www.thetraveladvisormarcie.com/courses

Join Maximize Your TA Business FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/maximizeyourtravelagentbusiness

On this episode of the No BS Travel Advisor Podcast, Marcie Muensterman delivers big-sister tough love to travel advisors who say they want growth, freedom, and scale but refuse to slow down long enough to actually take the time to make it happen.

Marcie shares what she sees constantly in her DMs: advisors who want to hire, onboard more revenue, travel laptop-free, spend more time with family, or start a second business — yet have no plan, no systems, and no follow-through.

Courses sit unopened. Coaching goes unimplemented. Conferences inspire… nothing.

This episode is a candid conversation about taking personal responsibility, why trying to build a business in the “nooks and crannies” never works, and how refusing to pause is the fastest way to stay stuck.

Marcie also shares a real-time example from her own business, where she has intentionally closed her travel calendar and said no to short-term money in order to focus on long-term sustainability, support, and growth.

If you feel busy, overwhelmed, behind, or frustrated that “nothing ever changes,” this episode will help you understand why and what needs to change first.

This episode is for you if:

You feel like your business controls you, rather than the other way around.

You’ve invested in courses or coaching but haven’t implemented.

You want more time, flexibility, or freedom, but don’t know how to create it.

You’re stuck reacting instead of leading.

You know something has to change, but you haven’t chosen what yet.

Key Takeaways:

Why you can’t build a scalable business in leftover time

How constant urgency destroys long-term growth

Why boundaries are a leadership skill, not a personality flaw

The importance of choosing ONE priority at a time

How slowing down now creates freedom later

This is coaching through care, but it’s also a wake-up call.

Feeling overwhelmed, busy, and stuck in your travel business? In this Thoughtful Thursday episode, Marcie Muensterman breaks down why travel advisors who want growth, freedom, and scale often stay trapped in reaction mode — and what it really takes to change that. This episode covers boundaries, systems, responsibility, and why you can’t build a business in the “nooks and crannies” of your life.

🧠 SEO KEYWORDS / PHRASES

travel advisor burnout

travel advisor business growth

travel advisor coaching

scaling a travel business

travel advisor boundaries

overwhelmed travel agent

systems for travel advisors

travel advisor workflows

hiring a VA travel business

running a travel agency

travel advisor mindset

business planning for travel advisors

⏱️ CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS (GREAT FOR SEO + CLIPS)

00:00 – Why This Episode Matters
04:30 – The Pattern Showing Up in Advisor DMs
10:15 – Wanting Growth Without a Plan
17:40 – The Lie of “Nooks and Crannies”
25:10 – Radical Responsibility in Business
32:20 – Why This Isn’t a Host or Client Problem
38:00 – Choosing Patience Over Immediate Money
45:10 – One Priority at a Time Framework
53:30 – Why Nothing Changes If You Don’t

Marcie Muensterman

Facebook Groups Course: https://thetraveladvisormarcie.com/fb-group-course

Podcast11 saves 11%

Maximize Your Travel Advisor Business: https://www.facebook.com/groups/maximizeyourtravelagentbusiness

In this deeply personal episode of the No BS Travel Advisor Podcast, Marcie Muensterman pulls back the curtain on something most travel advisors quietly struggle with: loneliness in the independent travel industry.

As she celebrates three years of building the Maximize Your Travel Advisor Business Facebook community and her coaching business, Marcie shares the unfiltered story of how imposter syndrome almost stopped her from creating the space that thousands of advisors now call home. She talks openly about building community from scratch, putting people over profit, and why your host agency was never meant to meet your emotional, relational, or growth needs.

This episode is not anti-host but it is pro-connection. And, sometimes, you have to create community outside of where you are contracted.

Marcie explores why isolation is so common in the travel industry, how the shift to independent contracting changed everything, and why real growth doesn’t come from courses, training and product knowledge. It does come from relationships, peer support, and honest conversations. She explains how to find (or become) a travel advisor bestie, how to create your own mastermind or accountability group, and why leadership starts with being brave enough to reach out first.

Packed with real-life stories, from leaving agencies, losing “friendships,” building new ones, moving across the country, and finding connections again, this episode is a powerful reminder that you don’t have to do this alone.

If you’ve ever felt like a satellite floating through this business by yourself, this episode is your permission slip to build the room you wish existed.

🔑 SEO KEYWORDS

travel advisor community
travel advisor loneliness
independent travel advisor support
travel advisor networking
travel advisor mastermind
travel advisor bestie
building a travel advisor community
Facebook groups for travel advisors
travel industry isolation
Marcie Muensterman
No BS Travel Advisor Podcast
travel advisor accountability group
collaboration in the travel industry

🎧 UPDATED PODCAST CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Welcome + Three Years of Building Community
03:12 – Why Maximize Exists and the Standards Behind It
06:45 – Imposter Syndrome and Starting Before Feeling Ready
11:40 – Why So Many Travel Advisors Feel Lonely
16:55 – The Shift to Independent Contracting and Isolation
21:30 – Your Host Is Not Your Community (And That’s Not a Diss)
27:10 – Finding or Creating a Travel Advisor Bestie
32:20 – Peer, Stretch, and Connector Relationships Explained
38:05 – Creating Your Own Mastermind or Accountability Group
44:10 – Moving, Starting Over, and Building Community from Scratch
52:30 – Losing Relationships When You Leave an Agency
58:40 – Why Collaboration Beats Competition
1:05:15 – Real-Life Examples of Community in Action
1:11:45 – Vulnerability, Confidence, and Being Seen
1:17:20 – Final Permission Slip: Build the Room Yourself

Let’s Talk About Community (The Real Kind)

Marcie Muensterman

Use PODCAST11 to save 11% on my Signature Courses

_______________________________________________________________________________

Motherhood and Travel Business Ownership: You Don’t Have Certainty

Content Note: Mentions pregnancy loss, infertility, and special-needs parenting. If that’s not for you today, skip to the business sections.

Summary
In this No BS episode, Marcie connects parenting and entrepreneurship, especially the parts no one warns you about. From pregnancy loss to raising two very different teens and navigating special-needs realities, she shows how those muscles, including advocacy, logistics, pivots, and patience, are the same ones that make a durable travel business.

You’ll learn why results are lagging indicators, how to operate without certainty, how to turn lived experience into a legitimate niche, what inputs actually move revenue, and why breaks are strategy (not failure). If you’ve felt “behind,” you’ll hear how you’re in the middle, and that’s exactly where growth happens.

What you’ll learn (bullets for players/podcast apps):

Why are results in both parenting and business lagging indicators

How to operate when you never have all the answers

“Your niche might choose you”: turning real life into legitimate expertise

The difference between preparation and certainty (and why the latter never arrives on time)

How to take strategic breaks without burning your business to the ground

Links & Resources:

Join my free FB group: Maximize Your Travel Advisor Business
→ [https://www.facebook.com/groups/maximizeyourtravelagentbusiness]

Programs & courses
→ [https://thetraveladvisormarcie.com/courses]

Say hi on IG
→ [https://www.instagram.com/nobstraveladvisormarcie/]

Share this episode with a travel bestie
→ [https://thetraveladvisormarcie.com/no-bs-travel-advisor-podcast]

Podcast11 to save on Signature Courses

Chapters / Timestamps

Use these as chapter markers in your host platform. They’ll match a ~42–48 min read at a natural pace.

00:00 Trigger warning (loss, infertility, child-lessness, special-needs)

02:00 Dad’s line & thesis: results are lagging indicators

05:00 My two pregnancy losses, and the messy beginning

09:00 Two pregnancies, two different kids, same house—different parents (why comparison is useless)

12:30 Special-needs reality: structure, advocacy, pivots—aka entrepreneurship training

16:30 Coming back to travel, starting over at zero, hiring a coach

20:00 Preparation vs certainty; why “done and dusted” doesn’t exist

24:00 Business parallels: inputs that compound, outputs that lag

28:00 Breaks as a strategy

31:30 Boundaries, people-pleasing, and owning your decisions

35:00 The niche that chooses you (accessible, multi-gen, complex FITs)

38:00 Mantras for the hard days + the “decide now, learn later” CTA

41:00 Close & love note to late bloomers

Keywords / Tags:

travel advisor coach, travel agent business, entrepreneurship for moms, special-needs parenting, accessible travel niche, group travel coach, travel business mindset, consistency over perfection, inputs vs outputs, business without certainty, parenting and business, burnout recovery, Facebook group marketing for travel agents

Marcie Muensterman

Use PODCAST11 to save 11% on my Signature Courses

_______________________________________________________________________________

Be Obsessed or Be Overlooked: Authentic, Savage Honesty in the Travel Industry

Be Obsessed or you’ll be overlooked…

This one’s for the advisors still tiptoeing around other people’s opinions. I’m done apologizing for telling you to show up more, sell yourself harder, and build the private Facebook group that actually converts. We unpack why “being obsessed” isn't a toxic hustle. Instead, it’s devotion, discipline, and the decision that your business matters more than the people in the cheap seats. We talk about content that actually sells (not checkbox posts), firing tire-kickers in the DMs, blocking the noise, raising your minimums, and getting unapologetically serious about money in 2026. If you needed permission to go all-in, you just got it. Being your most authentic, savagely honest self.

You’ll learn:

The difference between obsession and burnout, and how to stay in the healthy zone.

Why your content feels bland (and how to make it savagely honest + specific).

How to stop managing other people’s opinions and start managing your pipeline.

What to do with tire-kickers, haters, and “too much” comments.

Why your commission split is capping you and the math that proves it.

What to post, how often, and why “being annoying” is a myth.

Links & resources:

Join my free FB group: Maximize Your Travel Advisor Business: https://www.facebook.com/groups/maximizeyourtravelagentbusiness

First Class Community™ (my Facebook Groups course) + January content calendar. Get the course here: https://thetraveladvisormarcie.com/fb-group-course

“Judgy-Face” post challenge prompt (mentioned in the episode).

Henry Cloud book I referenced regarding “losing your awesome”: Necessary Endings: The Employees, Businesses, and Relationships That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Move Forward

CTA: Listen, screenshot, tag me, and tell me one thing you’ll obsess over for the next 30 days. Then go block someone who’s stealing your focus.

Chapters with Timestamps

00:00 – Cold open: Why “obsession” is the unlock
02:05 – First Class Community audits: what you’re doing right… and what’s missing
05:18 – Checkbox marketing vs. authentic, sales-driving content
08:40 – Obsession ≠ toxic hustle; devotion, discipline, and focus
11:22 – Stop apologizing: block, ban, bless, and move on
14:10 – You’re the expert (even if you’re new) — bring your past skills
16:25 – Social media reality: pick one platform and go all-in
19:03 – Share your face, tell the truth, and quit over-editing
22:11 – Fire the tire-kickers (scripts + boundaries)
25:36 – Post with a spine: unpopular opinions, judgy-face challenge
28:14 – Haters as content fuel; take a stance (airlines, resorts, etc.)
31:02 – Money talk: minimum spends, newsletters, and frequency that actually works
34:15 – Commission splits: why 60/40 will strangle your income
37:08 – Hosts, community, and creating your own support system
39:30 – Your 2026 mandate: obsess over the work that moves money
41:20 – Wrap: pick your obsession and execute (then block the rest)

SEO Keywords

travel advisor coaching, travel agent marketing, private Facebook group strategy, Facebook groups for travel advisors, First Class Community course, travel advisor content ideas, travel advisor mindset, sales mindset for travel agents, how to fire tire kickers, niche marketing for travel agents, commission split 90/10 vs 60/40, travel host agency advice, how often to post in Facebook groups, travel advisor fees, raise minimum spend travel agent, travel advisor email newsletter frequency, authentic marketing for travel agents, blocking haters in business, obsession vs burnout, build a profitable travel business