Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamie Rumph.
Hi Jamie , can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
In 2015 I started writing a blog about Disney. Friends and family were repeatedly asking me the same questions about planning and I decided it was time to minimize the time it took to rewrite the same info. At that time, my aunt, who owns a travel agency in Dallas, Tx asked me to join her agency to service her Disney clients as Disney vacation planning is complex and she was not familiar with the details. I reluctantly agreed. At the time I was a full time interior designer in Denver, Co and had two small children. Pretty simultaneously I also turned my husbands resume into Disney and they hired him and moved us across the country. I like to think now it was all working in tandem, a greater plan that I could even dream of. I quit my design job, moved to Winter Garden and broadened my knowledge of Disney from a travel advisors perspective. A short 4 months later I opened my own agency and set out on the path of becoming an Authorized Disney Vacation Travel Agency (Earmarked). That was my original “why” to starting Love of the Magic Vacations. We celebrate 10 years next April and this is more than just a little local travel agency at this point. We’re a growing team of more than 100 award winning agents helping our clients travel the globe. In addition to my leadership role at the agency I also serve or several travel industry boards and speak at travel related conferences to help encourage others to grow a successful business.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh gosh no. Nothing worth having is easy. There are always bumps along the way. The biggest we’ve encountered in a name trademark issue, management changes and internal growth/system updates. Nothing we can’t handle but growth is not always comfortable!
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 a creative at heart. I love to create and grow things from crafty projects, which help to get my brain to relax, right down to crafting the next step in my travel agency. From an outside perspective it can appear that a business just starts and then some are lucky to be successful. The truth is that you try things and some things fail and others need tweaking to become what they are. You can’t quit or think you don’t know how because every idea doesn’t take off. Find mentors and peers that you can ask how they’re doing thing successfully and then tweak your ideas to something that works for your organization.
My travel agency is a product of a life I love. I love to bring people together and create lifelong friendships (the team) while helping families explore the world. There’s so much more to travel than a “vacation “. There’s an education in history and cultures that changes who you are as a human being. It takes “weird” (so people say) differences and makes them understandable. I love people and their cultures and this is all because of travel. Something the world needs a little more of right now is understanding and acceptance. Travel creates that! PLUS family memories! It’s a win, win in my book.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Anytime you set out to do something new there’s a risk. Both financially and to our personal wellbeing! I am naturally a risk taker and often say, it will either work or it won’t. I’m comfortable with both. I took a bit of a financial risk opening a business. with my husbands steady paycheck it was more comfortable but a risk nonetheless. I continue to take risks daily both in financial investments and brining new agents to the team. I am fiercely protective of my team culture and anytime you bring in someone new, you risk that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.loveofthemagicvacations.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loveofthemagic?igsh=bzUwbnE0dHBidmxw&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loveofthemagic/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-rumph-6386bab1?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@loveofthemagicvacations3263
- Other: https://Www.loveofthemagic.com
