Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Gordon.
Ashley, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Going to Walt Disney World has been a huge part of my family since the early ’90s. That’s where we would take our family vacations since my grandparents lived in Daytona Beach. These trips meant a lot to me. It’s the only time where we felt like we could shut the world off and really enjoy time all together as a family. Once I had my first daughter, we continued this tradition. Then the world shut down and it became a dark place. Our light through it all was Disney, it is what makes us happy. When the world started opening up again, I just had my second child. I had to find something to do from home. One day I was on Facebook and saw an ad for a Travel Company that specializes in Disney Vacations. I thought… I do this for my friends already, why not make a career out of it?! Sending families, couples, and everyone to my Happy Place, now this sounds like my cup of tea. I started researching different companies and I found 2 I really gravitated towards and spoke to both. I am so happy I went with my Gut! Working with 407 and Beyond Vacations has been the most rewarding job of my life. I get to work for a company that has such compassion planning vacations and to top it all off, I help create long-lasting core memories. That is the best reward of them all!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
At first, I thought this was going to be a piece of cake. Not realizing you need to take accountability of yourself. You have to balance work and home life. We all know being at home your family doesn’t understand that all the time. Being able to set those boundaries with my littles was very hard at times. They get it now, well MOST of the time! But the hardest part was our life completely uprooted this past year. We moved from Long Island, NY to South Carolina. With the emotions of everything: the selling of our first house, looking for a new house in a new state, my boyfriend’s job letting him go a week before we left was A LOT. Plus, we ended up having to pull out of our accepted offer (new house) and find an apartment quickly. We were almost homeless with our 2 little kids. Through it all, I kept going even when I felt like I was drowning. No matter what life throws at you, your clients or future clients are still going to go on vacation.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
When it comes to vacation planning, I always act as if this is going to be my family on vacation. I put a lot of thought and heart into planning. I want you to go on vacation and think wow this was the best time of my life. I want to hear that this vacation was totally worth it. Traveling nowadays can be a lot of money and some families can only go once every couple of years. I don’t want anyone to ever feel disappointed. Vacations are a way we pamper ourselves and everyone needs to feel special.
If you are ever looking to travel, I would love to help from cruises, theme parks, all-inclusive, and travel abroad. These are the travel destinations I specialize in: Disney World & Disneyland, Universal Orlando & Hollywood, Disney Cruiseline, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Adventures by Disney, Sandals & Beaches Resorts, and Marriott.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
My favorite podcasts to listen to and recommend to anyone who will be traveling to Disney World are Spill the D! and Magical Meg. They stay up to date with what’s going on in the parks and talk about fun topics. A year ago Magical Meg moved to Orlando, she is always in the parks keeping you up to date!
Contact Info:
- Website: 407vacations.com/ashleygordon
- Instagram: @Magical_Vacays
- Facebook: @AshleyGordonVacationPlanner
- Other: linktr.ee/magical_Vacays
Image Credits
Disney PhotoPass
