Today we’d like to introduce you to Ysolina Lastra.
Hi Ysolina, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
The first time I created a Travel Agency was in high school. I had to create a company for one of my classes and the first idea that came to my mind was a travel agency. I love to travel, my first trip alone was when I was 15 years old, I lived in Europe for one year when I was 17 years old. As you can notice I really like to travel, but what I like the most of traveling is to meet new people, to learn about the cultures and of course to try the food. I never knew what I truly wanted to study at university, so years passed and I never knew. One day the place where I was working as a marketing analyst had some problems and they had to cut off some employees, I was on that “cut off” list. With the money that they paid me for the time I worked there and my own savings, I decided to found my travel agency, it was all I had, I took the risk and I can say it was worth it.
My travel agency was founded on June 29th, 2019, just a few months before the pandemic begins. I got my first clients, I was the graphic designer, the travel agent, the accounter, the director, I had to do everything on my own because I had no money to pay anyone to help me. My office was the half of our dining table. Today I have an office in my home but with a special place to receive my travelers, I have five travel agents working for me, I have a graphic designers, I can pay to the accounter and all of this I make it with hard work, a lot of patience, constancy, resilience and love for what I do because I really love to help people to discover the world. And I also own and run a Hotel now.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t been smooth. First it was the money, I didn’t had enough. I didn’t had a true office place to work and then it was the pandemic situation that leave us without sales for months.
But the most difficult part is that as a single mom with no help (no grandparents to take care of my kid) I can´t travel to the conventions and travel agents events because you can´t take your kids to those events. So I have to travel on my own with my daughter to discover new places to offer to our travelers, it is awesome to travel with her but it´s not the same, because you need to be a part of those events to get to know other people in this industry and to learn.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am the CEO and founder of my own travel agency. I´m in charge to make new contacts, new agreements and to know everything about tourism and what’s going on in this industry. I’m in charge to pay commissions and to pay to our providers.
I specialize in all-inclusive hotels, theme parks and cruises, mostly luxury experiences, but on my travel agency every agent has an expertise area and destination. I work with my agents to teach them how to work, how to treat our travelers, what to post, where to find information, I teach them about destinations and everything they need to know to be the best travel agents.
I´m known for being proactive, creative and resilience. I never give up, I’m always trying to help my colleagues to learn more, to be informed, to be a nice community of travel agents. And I´m known for some travel agents as “the one with the contacts” (hahaha), I like to have the phone number or email of everybody in this industry so if you need to contact with a tour operator, I have the contact (hahaha)
I am proud of my creativity and resilience, even in the hardest times when I didn´t know if the travel industry will still be working for me, I was learning, preparing, taking every webinar possible, making contacts, investigating, I just never give up.
What sets me apart from others is my creativity to design travel experiences and my ability to investigate. But also, I think, my capability to help others to grow in this industry and to feel proud of them when they reach their goals.
I believe tourism is the most beautiful industry, the one that can save countries economy and to bring opportunities for people if I help others to grow is because I believe there is a place for everyone in this industry to shine.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I was creative, a good leader and an extrovert. I am always making new friends, talking all the time.
Contact Info:
- Email: yso.lastra18@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/lamamadelatribu
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lamamadelatribu
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFdcwus0MQ9OK0pVtBEIqwQ
