Business Innovators Radio - Interview with Lindsay Blain & Kim Downs Owners of Castle Explorers Discussing Creating a Life You Love Through Travel

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

Castle Explorers is more than just a travel agency—it’s a community built on passion, connection, and opportunity. Founded by Lindsay and Kim—two moms, business owners, and travel enthusiasts—our mission is to help families and travelers create unforgettable experiences while empowering travel agents to build successful, flexible businesses they love.With industry-leading training, mentorship, and exclusive vendor partnerships, we equip our agents with the tools, support, and confidence to thrive in the travel industry. Whether you’re booking dream vacations or growing your own business, Castle Explorers is where passion meets purpose.Learn more: http://www.castleexplorerstravel.com/Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-with-lindsay-blain-kim-downs-owners-of-castle-explorers-discussing-creating-a-life-you-love-through-travel

Welcome to influential entrepreneurs, bringing you interviews with elite business leaders and experts, sharing tips and strategies for elevating your business to the next level. Here's your host, Mike Saunders. Hello and welcome to this episode of Influential Entrepreneurs. This is Mike Saunders, the authority positioning coach. Today we have back with this Lindsay Blaine and Kim Downs, who are owners of Castle Explorers, and we'll be talking about creating a life you love through travel. on your own terms. Ladies, welcome back to the program. We are so excited to be here. Hey, Mike. Hey, I love even just the intro, the title of what we want to cover today. How do you create a life you love through travel and dot, dot, dot, dot on your own terms?

Because I feel like sometimes when you get that opportunity of, oh, that would be so awesome. And then you get bogged down into the details of, oh, man, now it's just this big, huge, you know, cumbersome thing. We're talking about things that you can talk to your agents about and they're actually able to design a career that fits their life. What are some of the biggest draws of becoming that travel agent that can create a life they love through travel? You know, when I was becoming a travel agent myself, I was very pregnant with our second child, our daughter and she is almost seven now, which is crazy. But I wanted, I was in our upstairs room and we had an Etsy shop and we were making

T-shirts because we loved Disney. And so they were Disney and theme park T-shirts. So they were universal too. And we were creating, we had grown this business to be huge. And I think at that point, it was working me. We were exhausted. My husband would come on from work and we'd be working like pressing. T-shirts. We call it now our sweatsi shop, because that's what it felt like.

The sweatshop, Etsy shop. And I was like, I need something that'll get me out of this. And while, yes, it was great and successful and we were really proud that we built it so great, it was like taking over our lives. And so I wanted something that felt a lot more flexible. And I really didn't want to be pressing shirts when I had this little new baby girl that was on her way. And so that is why I found out, and at the time I found out about being a travel agent, and I started doing all of the training and stuff. But that was the reason. And I would record videos and do quotes for clients once she was born during nap times and night times. And it has become even more and is now my full time thing.

But it started out very much at the beginning a way to supplement income so I could give. out of what I was trying to do. Yeah. Yeah, that makes total sense. And Kim has, Kim, oh, go ahead. No, I was just, you know, keep going with that thought. Yeah, Kim had a totally different story with corporate America.

And now she's able to be at all the sporting events, huh Kim? Yeah, I mean, I missed, I feel like I missed so much of my kids' lives in the 15 years I worked there because I had to leave and have a 45-minute commute to work. So I was often gone before my kids were even up. And then coming home and it's like dinner, okay, a little bit of playtime, now you're going to bed. Versus now I get to go to the field trips. I get to drive them to school. I'm here when they get off the bus.

It's like I got all this time back with my kids. And one of our agents just shared a quote recently about how by the time your child is 12, you've already spent 75% of the time you have with them. That, like, blows my mind to think of like, oh, my gosh, I'm so grateful now for this extra time that I'm getting with them. Oh, and Mike, your kids are older, so I know you get that. You know, I literally, just the other night, we were talking to one of our daughters who was expecting their first baby, and we were saying, you know, oh, yeah, you're a school teacher now. So you might want to pull back and either teach part-time or zero because you will never get that time back. You know, their first words, their first steps.

So I want to talk up, that brings me to then my next question for you, you guys, because freedom and flexibility is huge, personally and professionally. What are some of the different ways that you teach your agents to build their business so that their career brings this flexibility and freedom we're talking about? Well, so many part-time things have the tendency to become more than that and take over your life. And so at the core of who we are, we talk about family first, which is why we don't have sales requirements for our agents, which is crazy in this industry. But Kim and I decided at the beginning that our families are the most important things to us.

And our agents' families are second to that. We want to build a life. We want to build a life with our families. And if this is taking away from your family, then we're not doing it the right way. And so, yes, some sacrifice is great to be able to have the life that you love. But as we are working through decisions, because those family connections come first for us, we do things like we're really big on automating things and steps and emails that you would do over and over again to give you more time with your family. So we take care of the family first.

And if there is something that's happening in an agent's life, like for instance, personally, my, um, baby my son just had surgery last year at like 11 months old just had major mouth surgery and when those things happen in our lives those are real life things number one we're going to be supportive for all those things but number two what a blessing this business is that I could take time off and be able to do what I needed to do and really be there for my son for as long as it took for him to heal this major life event and that is what we're building here. And our agents, the families of our agents are just as important to us. And so everything is family driven and family first.

Yeah. You know, I think that that is spectacular. And I've often in business gone to seminars where they say, listen, block off time on your calendar as non-negotiables for your family first and then fit your business around it. And that's exactly what you're describing there. Absolutely. And it's cool that our kids and families get to be so much a part of this business. So my, like I said before, like my kids have been so many cool places. My husband and I just went on a trip, just he and I for our agency retreat.

And that was fantastic. And so we got this retreat that we just went to in January. We invited spouses this year. And it was so fun to be able to see everybody's support person. So it was all the husbands that are there. And it was so great. Kim and I love that because our husbands are very involved in this business and help us with marketing. and financial things.

And so it was really great to see those people and to bring them in and get to know them a little bit better too. So family's at the heart of everything we do. That's awesome. You know, I think the travel industry probably is like many industries where it's constantly changing and improving and, you know, new things to learn, new things to be aware of. At Castle Explorers, talk a little bit about what you're helping your agents do to continue you stay on top of that to develop not only their expertise or certifications, but to kind of be

aware of all of the nuances so that they are providing the best experience for their clients. This is really where we have to shout out our amazing training team. That is those experienced travel agents that have a lot of them have been with us from the start, but there's a few of them that actually have only been with us, not even maybe six months, and they just have a passion for what they're selling and are willing to help others sell as well. But it's really that training team that helps Lindsay and I and our agency manager make sure that we have up-to-date resources for all of our agents, not only so that they can learn, but also resources that they can then provide their clients. We every month have different vendors come in and provide a training on what's new

with, you know, the cruise ships or what's new at the theme parks. We also offer where they can take different trainings through those vendors to learn even more in depth than what we are able to offer. And then our favorite, obviously, is just we are always encouraging travel. We know that that is really the best way to gain experience. It's also fun. You're able to make connections if you're traveling with other travel agents. That's Lindsay and my favorite thing to do is get to travel and meet them and build that connection. But we know when your clients are watching you travel and seeing the amazing experiences and fun that you're having, it creates this fomo of now they want to go do that same thing.

So we absolutely encourage travel as much as they are able to. Yeah. And what's really great is fam trips is something that's known in our industry. And it's short for familiarization trips. And so through one of the cool things is Kim has been amazing. guiding and leading the training team. And she is killing it on that side. And one of the things that I love to do are continue and build on our relationships with

our vendors. And it's so fun to be able to talk to them and get exclusive perks for just our agents and build on those relationships. But that's where those fam trips come to be is because of our relationships that just us as owners have built with these companies. They get and ask our agents to be a part of all sorts of things. So this past year, I think we did eight fam trips and we went to Disneyland and Disney World and we did St. Lucia and Jamaica and Cancun.

And we have been to Porto Vallarta, all these different places and it's opportunities that I have never had to do that and opportunities that we extend to our agents. And what is really fun is as we have grown this business, what's really great is anybody coming in this year because of the hard work that we've done and hitting goals and things with those vendors that we talk about. We have a lot of agent perks that we have established lately. And in the industry, there are a lot of people that are looking for those perks. And so there are some vendors that we actually get a higher commission than any other agency, most agencies out there because of our relationships. And so we're an earmarked agency, which is a huge

deal with Disney. You preferred with Universal, preferred with sandals. And that means higher commissions and more perks for our clients, which is what we love. Yes. People love the extras. In fact, sometimes they kind of get so enamored with that extra that that that's the selling thing, not just the travel package. It's like, oh, I'm going to get that perk. Yeah. Right. And Exactly. You know, we've been talking about, you know, starting in the business and learning the ropes and getting through applications and doing the business. Talk a little bit about if there were any specific, like, aha moments that you guys realized that you could take your business from just striving to then moving past that into thriving. I think for me, starting out as a travel agent and now helping teach that to our agents at Castle Explorers.

the aha for me that I try to share with them is it is all about that connection and relationship that you build with your client. Your first year is going to be difficult. You are trying to build your book of business and find those clients. And you only have so many, you know, friends and family that are going to book beyond then now. You need to keep reaching and finding more and more business. And it all goes back to if you build that connection with your client, build that relationship, nurture that relationship, they will continue to come back to you. And they are then going to start sharing your name with every other person that they know that wants to go on a vacation. And soon it's going to be just this easy, oh, you know,

someone email me today. Someone email me, you know, the next day. It's really just, it's the same. thing that we want to have with our agents. We build that connection and that support. You have to do that same thing. You're treating your clients the same way as if it were your own trip that you're building. Yeah. neat. And then it's not about building, it's not about getting as many clients as you want. Because if you're really truly building a business, there are so many places out there that are like one and done, find as many clients. We want to nurture that relationship. So it's not just one thing. It's all right, let's build this relationship with this client and put in quality time and love to them that they're going to continue to use us for every trip that they go on

from here on out. Well, I want to even go deeper on that because in the business world, relationship marketing is massive and huge. You should treat people right anyway. You should treat people wonderfully because it's good customer service. But also from a business perspective, the better you treat people, then you get that repeat and referral business. So I would suspect, and I know nothing about your industry, but I would suspect that if you help a couple celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary and they go on this big trip and you get that package put together, I'll bet you that they have some kids that might go, oh, well, we need to go on our 10th wedding anniversary or our whatever.

So talk a little bit about how some of that has kind of amplified from treating one family member well to getting, you know, multiple referrals and working with their family because of the relationship you're building. Absolutely. It's all about working smarter versus working harder, right? So we teach our agents to cultivate that relationship. It's at the heart of what we do. And you know, as that happens, those are the referrals and the repeat clients that we are talking about. That business, one person could lead to 50 people and 50 clients if you just treat people. You're well. And so in this world right now where AI is like taking over the world, right? It's these robots that are that are taking over things and getting rid of tasks for us. We have fully

embraced AI and actually teach our agents how to do that. But it should never replace the relationship and the connection you have with people. And so it's important to embrace things like that that make planning travel and doing all of that. But it's also so important to get to know what your clients love and to talk to them, having a real conversation about how to make things magical and how to make this trip be something that your kids are going to remember forever. And that is the whole reason why we're doing this. Yes.

Yeah, that's just spectacular. Let's think about some of the things that have been super rewarding. as like some of the agents that you're hearing like, oh my word, this has been so amazing because, like, what are some of the highlights of some of the journeys that they have been experiencing that would be, that stand out to you? For me, I know this business has brought joy back into my career. It feels like, you know, before I was working for somebody else and giving all my time and, yeah, I'm building results for them, but what's in it for me?

I'm just getting a lack of time with my family. So for me, it's the joy back, the time with my kids. But not only that, I had no idea going into this business with Lindsay. So I built a friendship with Lindsay, but I had no idea going into this business that it would become a second family. And it's because of the community that we have built and offering that support and being there for each other and cheering each other on. I now love that I have friends all over the United States. We even have agents that are outside of the United States. And it's just amazing to me to have this additional support and family that I never had before.

And I feel like we, what I didn't expect, I expected when I started as a travel agent to make money. I expected to have a side hustle. I expected to maybe go on more trips, right? Because our agents do all of that. What I did not expect is to meet people that I will, that will be in my life for the rest of my life. It is things that I have watched our agents and I'm thinking of one in particular. There have been several connections that have happened like this where they reach out about something personal. Like they're needing some help.

And one example I'm, I'm thinking of is that one of our agents, her dad is in the hospital and our other agents is an occupant. an occupational therapist. And so they were able to reach out to each other and talk about it because we're building one of our chats is a personal connection. So they can talk about anything on there. And they reached out to each other. And now these two agents talk every day all day long on Marco Polo back and forth and are literally their families are traveling together. Their kids are friends. And I just, those connections have happened over and over and over again. And when I see that happen, that gives me more joy and more purpose in what we're doing than anything else. And I feel like whether you're dreaming about being a travel agent or just looking for a place where you will feel

supported and valued, that is what we are building and looking for and watching our agents grow and travel and build careers are what we're here for. It's given us purpose in our lives for sure. Awesome. Well, let's wrap up with this question. Do you have a a dream project or future vision for Castle Explorers that you're excited about? That is a fantastic question. We have a ton of huge visions that we have for Castle Explorers, and it's different aspects in our lives. And as we're growing, we want to grow our agency so we can build more of a family and do all of those things. But we want to also continue to keep that connection always throughout the whole process. Kim, what is what do you think about that?

I agree. You know, when Lindsay and I started this agency, we really focused on what we knew as travel agents, which was theme parks. And in such a short amount of time, we haven't even been in business a full three years yet. And we now send clients literally all over the world. And that not only has built my mind that we now have expanded and offered. that, but now Lindsay and I are traveling all over the world, which is just such an incredible experience. And now we're able to start taking our children as well, which I didn't get, I didn't get opportunities like that with my family growing up. And I just love that we, we're getting to do it, but also our agents are getting to do that. And they're getting to take

their families to places they never would have imagined prior to doing this either. So we're wanting to take our agents all over the world. We're wanting to build this business. We want our team of agents to grow their careers and maybe make this full time if that's what they want. And so helping other people is the way to do it. We have a very abundant mindset at Castle Explorers. And if we give as much good as we can, we know that that is what's going to happen in return. So we want to help and be able to touch as many lives as we can. Well, Lindsay and Kim, it's just been spectacular hearing your.

crusade you're on, your vision, your mission, and the passion that you have for it. So if someone is interested in learning more and coming on board and joining your team, what's the best way they can do that? Yeah, we would love to talk to you. You can reach out to us on social media. We're on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn. You just search at Castle Explorers. And then you can also find us at our website, Castle Explorers Travel.com. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming back on. It's been a real pleasure chatting with you. Thanks so much, Mike. Thank you. You've been listening to Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saunders.

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