Meet Jeannine

When travel advisor Jeannine Pendleton set out to find a new host agency in 2021, she had one specific requirement:

“I wanted to be around people who could lift me up,” she said.

After taking a virtual three-day workshop with Gifted Travel Network—a Virtuoso member, Jeannine felt something shift.

“I knew immediately,” she said. “I knew where I belonged.”  

A boost of confidence

Shortly after the workshop, Jeannine enrolled in Gifted Travel Network’s award-winning Travel MBA program. The 12-month curriculum is designed to help new-to-industry and some experienced travel advisors, like Jeannine, launch and grow successful luxury travel businesses. The program focuses on entrepreneurial topics and industry-specific knowledge—both of which Jeannine felt she needed to learn more about to stop toiling in her business.

“I was a hobbyist, not a professional,” Jeannine said. “I know a lot about a lot of things, but I didn’t know how to be an entrepreneur.”

The Travel MBA program gave her the support she needed to start thriving as a luxury travel advisor and owner of Amazing Adventure Travel Design.

Since graduating from the Travel MBA program, Jeannine has transitioned into Accelerate, the next professional development step for experienced travel advisors who are hosted with Gifted Travel Network. Accelerate provides coaching and mentoring from Gifted Travel Network staff and top-producing advisors in the network, in addition to on-demand and live training on a variety of entrepreneurial and industry topics.

“There are so many people at Gifted Travel Network with much more experience than me,” Jeannine said. “They do a lot more business than I do, but they bring me up to their level. That’s what I needed, and that’s helped give me so much confidence.”

Exponential growth

Jeannine now feels comfortable seizing opportunities she shied away from in the past. For example, she has started to partner with wineries near her home in Northern California to plan wine-themed river cruises with Amawaterways. The group trips have been highly successful. More than 80 people have signed up for some of them—winemakers, wine club members, customers, and others who want to travel alongside others with a shared passion.

As a result, Amazing Adventure Travel Design has experienced exponential growth. Between 2022 and 2023, Jeannine’s sales have blossomed 686%.

“Jeannine’s growth is truly inspiring, and she is a perfect example of what happens when you embrace entrepreneurship and find a collaborative community of peers and mentors. Jeannine embraced proven strategies we teach at Gifted Travel Network, and it has been a true honor watching her success unfold. She is a bright light in Gifted Travel Network and serves as an example of what is possible for those looking to build a fulfilling and profitable travel business,” said Vanessa McGovern, Gifted Travel Network Chief Sales and Marketing Officer and Co-Founder.

Jeannine’s confidence and flourishing business, combined with the things she’s learned since joining Gifted Travel Network, have created shifts in her personal life, too.

“I used to kind of be a negative Nelly,” Jeannine said. “That’s in my rearview mirror.”

It’s a change that others have noticed.

After Virtuoso Travel Week in 2023—a major industry event that brings together thousands of luxury travel professionals and suppliers from around the world in Las Vegas every year—Vanessa told Jeannine:  

“If there was an award for the person who smiled the most at Virtuoso Travel Week and looked like they were going to jump out of their skin because they were so excited, you would have won.”

The comment stopped Jeannine in her tracks, especially because she had considered canceling her ticket.

“I was so nervous,” Jeannine said. “I didn’t think I could do it and was doubting whether I should go.”

Still, she went—with a smile, with enthusiasm, with passion.

“There’s so much personal and professional growth that happens at Gifted Travel Network,” Jeannine said. “In the last couple years, I’ve been given a lot of courage. I’ve been given a lot of self-confidence. I feel more prepared to approach new opportunities and be open to them.”

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