Become an Auria Travel Partner

Auria Travel Partners Andrea Hill and Serena Edwards in conversation with an interviewer about their work with Auria.

This transcript reflects the conversation as recorded; team numbers may have changed since filming.

Interviewer: Hello Andrea and Serena, it’s lovely to chat with you. We know you’re both Travel Partners at Auria Travel. Andrea, if you can start by just telling us a little bit about yourself and your background in travel.

Andrea Hill: Okay. I’ve been in travel for 31 years now. I started as a YTS straight out of school, in the high street, and then when I was 21 I moved into homeworking, and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.

Interviewer: Amazing. Same to you, Serena.

Serena Edwards: I’ve only been in travel 18 months. I decided it was time to follow a bit of a passion and move into travel, as I’ve travelled a lot throughout my life, and 18 months ago seemed like the right time to do it.

Interviewer: Okay, so you’re both at very different points in your travel career at the moment. How long have each of you actually worked in the travel industry?

Andrea Hill: So I’ve been 31 years in total, and I’ve been homeworking 25 years now.

Serena Edwards: And I’m literally 18 months, 19 months, so very, very young.

Interviewer: Andrea, what originally drew you into travel?

Andrea Hill: When I was at school, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. We needed to do work experience for a fortnight, and my dad came up with the idea of me going into a travel agency. I don’t know why, because I’d never been abroad at that point, but it was an idea. I did it, loved it, and then I knew exactly what I wanted to do. A week after leaving school, I started my YTS scheme.

Interviewer: That’s brilliant. Serena, what originally drew you into travel?

Serena Edwards: I travelled about two and a half years ago to Africa with my daughter, and travelled to Spain regularly, and decided that the time had come for me to really follow a passion and to travel a bit more, because I hadn’t been travelling. So I decided that I was going to have a change of career and move into travel, and that’s exactly what I did. I thought I could inspire others to travel, as I enjoy travelling around the world.

Interviewer: Andrea, you mentioned that you’ve been doing homeworking now for around 25 years. What was it that made you want something different to the traditional travel retail?

Andrea Hill: As much as I loved working in the high street, I wanted to do something for myself. I wanted to be my own boss. I’m not very good at being told what to do, so I didn’t want the targets. I do set myself targets, and I’m really hard on myself, actually, but I just didn’t want that. I wanted to be working from home. I’m quite happy in my own company, so that just suited me. I was quite young for doing it at the time, but it’s worked.

Interviewer: Yeah, clearly. Serena, you’re quite new to Auria Travel. What was it about Auria that stood out to you?

Serena Edwards: Well, I’d actually been with a larger organisation, which really was just too corporate for me. A bit like Andrea, I’m not really keen on targets and sort of being pushy sales, because that’s just not the way I am. I’ve been in sales on and off many times throughout my life, and that just didn’t really suit me. I really liked the idea, with Auria Travel, of working with the owner: having the support of the owner, and all the training that was offered. So Auria just ticked all the boxes that I was looking for: that more boutique feel that I like.

Interviewer: Have you noticed that big difference, Andrea? Because obviously you’ve been in travel for the longest. Have you noticed those big differences since joining Auria?

Andrea Hill: Yeah, because I’ve only been with Auria since January myself. I also used to work for a big company. Well, I work for myself, but part of a big company. I was there for 14 years, and it changed, in my opinion, and I like the family feel. So when things start to feel too corporate, that’s when I decided to leave. I came to Auria Travel, and that’s when I found it’s a smaller team, it’s friendlier, you can speak to Markus, the owner, whenever you want if you need him, and it just works well. It suits me.

Interviewer: It sounds like it’s a really good support, and it’s a good culture to be with him.

Andrea Hill: Yeah, definitely.

Serena Edwards: Yeah, very much so.

Interviewer: So what does the day-to-day life look like for each of you?

Andrea Hill: There’s no set day. There’s no set day at all. Today has been doing lots of people’s tickets, ready for the next few weeks of departures, doing a couple of enquiries, and just general admin, and coming on this call. This isn’t a normal day! There’s no two days the same, I don’t think, in this industry at all.

Serena Edwards: No, I’d agree with that. There’s also lots of events that you can go to, to improve your knowledge. There’s lots of webinars that you can do. I’ve also been, like Andrea, booking people in for travel tomorrow. So it just changes day by day. Never the same, which is what I like about it.

Andrea Hill: Yeah, me too.

Interviewer: That’s amazing. Despite you being very busy on a day-to-day basis, do you find that this role still gives you an element of freedom?

Andrea Hill: Yeah, definitely. When my son was younger, I could go to school assembly, sports days. My husband used to finish work early on a Friday, so we could nip out and have lunch together, and it just made it that we could do that. But both of them are well aware that if something comes up work-wise and it’s urgent, I need to be there as well. So it works well with family life, in my opinion.

Serena Edwards: I love it for the flexibility that it gives me, in that I do a few other things. I belong to a local group that’s quite a philanthropic group, and I enjoy having the time to go and do that. I also have the time to go networking, so I’m not always sat at my desk; I do get out quite a lot. I also have dogs, so I can walk the dogs when I need to. So it’s great: you have that flexibility to work the hours that you want to work. If you have to work till midnight, you work till midnight, but most of the time you never do that, because you just manage your day accordingly.

Interviewer: Brilliant. So Auria Travel are really well known for their tailor-made experiences. What is it like creating those for your clients?

Serena Edwards: Oh, I love it. That’s the exciting part: doing the research, looking for hotels, looking for flights, looking for excursions, looking for something that they want. Not for you, but their holiday. And that’s how I talk to people. It’s all about them, not about me, and to give them what they’re looking for, so that when they go away they’ve got a big smile on their face, and when they come back they’ve got a big smile on their face. They’ve made memories. It’s all about them. That’s what I love about bespoke travel.

Andrea Hill: Yeah, me too. It’s nice that it’s something that’s not just off the shelf. While we can do off-the-shelf stuff, we thrive in doing the tailor-made things, and you can build it as much or as little as the client wants. And it’s lovely, like Serena says, to see their reaction. I love seeing people’s holiday photos on Facebook. That makes my day, that does. I love that bit. But it’s perfect to be able to do that, and know that we can give them the luxury and the holiday that they deserve.

Interviewer: It sounds like it’s really easy to build great, strong relationships with the people you’re building holidays for.

Andrea Hill: Very much so, yeah. A lot of my clients I class as friends now; I’ve known them that long. You have to get to know them to be able to build the right holiday for them. So it’s about asking the right questions and building rapport. But if you’re the right type of person, it comes easily anyway.

Serena Edwards: Yeah. I mean, I’m still fairly young into that, but I do always have a series of questions I ask, and I find that as I go along I’m always asking a hell of a lot more, because all of a sudden they’ll say something and you’ll think, “Oh, you didn’t mention that before.” So you just tuck that one, a little nugget, away, and then change or do what you can to improve their holiday plans.

Interviewer: Customer service is a really important role within your job. What would you say to somebody that’s working in a customer service role elsewhere and is considering entering the travel sector?

Andrea Hill: There’s lots of transferable skills. As long as you’re a good communicator, I think that’s the biggest part. It helps if you’ve travelled a bit yourself, so that you’ve got something to talk about if you’ve not been in travel before. If you’ve travelled yourself, it gives you a starting point. But, like I said, good communication skills, and just generally being able to listen to people, good organisational skills: it’s all important. So I would say to anybody that’s thinking of it: give it a go.

Serena Edwards: Absolutely. Well, I did, and I love it. I love it, I really do. And they are all transferable, because it’s just about learning the industry, but the other parts you already have, so you can just apply them to what you’re doing.

Interviewer: So, you can only pick one thing here: what is the most rewarding part of what you do now?

Andrea Hill: Definitely seeing memories. Seeing people’s holiday photos. I love it.

Serena Edwards: Yeah. Creating memories for them.

Interviewer: And that leads me on nicely. So how does it feel helping clients create those important life memories?

Andrea Hill: Fantastic. It’s really good, it’s really rewarding. It’s a happy industry to be in. There’s not many industries that are a happy industry, but the majority of the time you are sending people on holidays that they’ve wanted to go on for ages, spending time with their families and all the rest of it. So it is really, really rewarding.

Serena Edwards: Yeah, Andrea said it; I don’t need to say any more. It’s just lovely to see them having a good time and coming back with a smile on their face, and then hopefully repeating a booking with you for the next holiday, because they’ve enjoyed the one they’ve just been on.

Interviewer: Now, we know both of you are thriving here at Auria. What type of people do you think would thrive in this role?

Andrea Hill: Just anybody that’s good at communication. Communication, relationship building: a people person. You’ve got to be a people person. Anybody that’s worked in some kind of sales environment, just likes to chat to people. That’s the main thing, I think: just being a people person.

Serena Edwards: Yeah, and communication, as you say, is key, is absolutely key. But I do think you need to be chatty. I mean, the one thing I would say is that the industry is extremely giving, and really sort of gives you hugs and brings you in, and everybody’s willing to help. It’s a great industry to be in, to be honest. I think it is, just from my perspective. And I love all the support that I get, and we, as the colleagues that we are, we all support each other, which I think is brilliant. Nobody’s ever too busy to help anybody, and everybody’s willing to help everybody wherever they can.

Interviewer: If somebody’s watching this and they are thinking, “Well, do you know what, I’m that kind of person. I really don’t like the job I’m in at the moment,” what would you say to them?

Andrea Hill: I would say: give Markus a call. Talk to him, ask him all the questions. If it feels right, you’ll know. It’s like buying a house. I rang other homeworking companies before I came to this one, when I was looking to move from my last one. I asked them all the same questions. Auria Travel felt right. You’ll know if it’s right for you. Just ask all the questions, as many as you need to, and you’ll get a feel for it.

Serena Edwards: Yeah, exactly. It’s all about asking the questions, and is it something you really want to do. And if it is, Andrea’s right: it’s like a glove, it’ll fit.

Andrea Hill: Yeah. Not all homeworking companies are the same.

Serena Edwards: Not all equal. No, no, no.

Interviewer: Which is an interesting one, isn’t it, where people have tried this before and they’ve not been given the adequate support. Yet, you know, it’s very different at Auria.

Serena Edwards: Oh, very. Yeah, it’s brilliant, honestly. I mean, Markus is lovely, and the business is founded on that sort of ethic and ethos, and it’s really a lovely working environment from that perspective. Nothing’s ever too much trouble. They go out of their way to provide support, to provide all that you need to be able to do the job, and that’s all you can ask really: that you’ve got that behind you. And you can’t buy that as such; that’s just the way people are.

Andrea Hill: Yeah, they are. And we as a team, the Travel Partners, we’ve got a group chat, and we will all help one another as well. So it works well for that. So you’re not left on your own.

Interviewer: Because sometimes you might think, working from home, “I’m going to be so lonely, I’m going to be stuck when I have a problem,” yet hearing how supportive everyone is, you’ve still got the benefits of an office, without the hassle of having to be in one.

Andrea Hill: Yeah, there’s no office politics, which is brilliant.

Serena Edwards: Yeah, love that, love that. None of that. No bureaucracy.

Interviewer: No delayed trains, no stuck on the M6.

Serena Edwards: No. It’s lovely. It works for me. I guess it works for Andrea and the other, you know, eight of us that are currently Travel Partners. And it’ll work for someone else, and it will, because it’ll be the right fit and what they’re looking for. Have a lovely weekend, everyone.