Aug 3, 2026 · 51 min · 14 segments
This week on The Travel Business Unpacked podcast, host Meredith Calloway welcomes back Meghann Bjarnesen, co-owner of Besté Travel Design and Lead Mentor & Programs Manager for Gifted Travel…
Meghann BjarnesenGuestIt definitely seems to be your month, and we are very, very lucky to have you and very happy to have you.
So it's an interesting predicament for us at GTN in terms of it's, it's a huge mission of ours to educate, right? And provide the right kind of business guidance, uh, or meaningful business guidance.
That comes in the form of actual content, but it also comes in the form of coaching, mentoring, accountability, as well as a collaborative community.
The collaborative community is, is really, really important, facilitating the process of people being... feeling very comfortable and willing to share best practices, their own travel wisdom.
And so, yes, that's a great thing that we have built here at GTN, TBU, and it's incredibly...
We have seen our sales grow by leaps and bounds since we actually launched Travel Business University, and we've seen our advisors' earnings grow by leaps and bounds since we launched Travel Business University.
So it's working, but the tricky component to it is finding people to help us run these programs, because you have to have this kind of experience of being a travel advisor to properly guide them [laughs] on being-
So most of the people i- at, in the TBU t- on the TBU team are, have formerly or maybe still do own a travel business.
So when we come across someone like Meg, who shows such a wealth of corporate experience that can be used in the kind of meaningful business guidance that we are offering, and coupled with a real desire to teach and mentor and give back, maybe we pounce on that a little bit.
I, I keep saying, I'm like, this, this is like, this is my dream situation.
So it really was my, my dream situation, to be able to do something like this in a meaningful way, still have one foot, you know, a little bit in my business, so I kinda keep my chops up and I'm able to meaningfully help people.
And, you know, if I could have had this kind of role in my corporate career, who knows? Maybe I woulda never left, but everything-
It definitely seems to be your month, and we are very, very lucky to have you and very happy to have you.
So it's an interesting predicament for us at GTN in terms of it's, it's a huge mission of ours to educate, right? And provide the right kind of business guidance, uh, or meaningful business guidance.
That comes in the form of actual content, but it also comes in the form of coaching, mentoring, accountability, as well as a collaborative community.
The collaborative community is, is really, really important, facilitating the process of people being... feeling very comfortable and willing to share best practices, their own travel wisdom.
And so, yes, that's a great thing that we have built here at GTN, TBU, and it's incredibly...
We have seen our sales grow by leaps and bounds since we actually launched Travel Business University, and we've seen our advisors' earnings grow by leaps and bounds since we launched Travel Business University.
So it's working, but the tricky component to it is finding people to help us run these programs, because you have to have this kind of experience of being a travel advisor to properly guide them [laughs] on being-
So most of the people i- at, in the TBU t- on the TBU team are, have formerly or maybe still do own a travel business.
So when we come across someone like Meg, who shows such a wealth of corporate experience that can be used in the kind of meaningful business guidance that we are offering, and coupled with a real desire to teach and mentor and give back, maybe we pounce on that a little bit.
I, I keep saying, I'm like, this, this is like, this is my dream situation.
So it really was my, my dream situation, to be able to do something like this in a meaningful way, still have one foot, you know, a little bit in my business, so I kinda keep my chops up and I'm able to meaningfully help people.
And, you know, if I could have had this kind of role in my corporate career, who knows? Maybe I woulda never left, but everything-
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