Carrie Carter | From Layoffs to Launch - How Carrie built Cow Town Tour Co.

After spending 25 years in the travel and tech industry working with companies like Expedia, Orbitz, Vegas.com, and Sabre, Carrie Carter found herself unexpectedly laid off... twice in three years. 

Instead of giving up, she used reflection, prayer, AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude, and her deep love for Fort Worth to identify a gap in the city: there was no immersive local tour company helping visitors and residents experience Cowtown beyond the stereotypes. 

That realization became Cow Town Tour Co., a mobile experience company offering curated food, brewery, burger, margarita, and private tours throughout Fort Worth.

In this episode, Carrie shares:

•  How layoffs forced her into reinvention 
•  Why resilience matters more than certainty 
•  How AI became a brainstorming partner during transition 
•  What it really feels like to pivot later in life 
•  Why entrepreneurship is about serving people 
•  How creating memories became her business model 
•  The power of word-of-mouth marketing and community 

This conversation is packed with practical insight for founders who are:

•  navigating career transitions 
•  scared to launch 
•  rebuilding after setbacks 
•  exploring AI for business ideation 
•  trying to create purpose-driven businesses

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

For Carrie? You want to jump in the front bed? Sure. Come on in. How are you today? I'm doing very well. Thank you. How are you? I am blessed.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Get your cup in there. So where are you headed to today? What is this place? So I'm just actually coming from an event. Okay. It's a it's a Wednesday morning event and it's called One Million Cups, and it's where entrepreneurs get together and uh people get to talk about their businesses and um their whether they're a new business or whether they're having a pivot in their business, and it's a great way to meet people and lots of wonderful humans in there.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

So you must be an entrepreneur.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

I am an entrepreneur. Tell me about yourself, Carrie. Actually, born and raised in Fort Worth. I love this town. Me too. I just moved here two years ago and I love it. I love it here. Oh my gosh, yes, I me too. I actually have a company um called Cowtown Tour Company. I just launched it over the summer of last year. Okay. And uh we do food and drink tours around Fort Worth in a minibus that has horns on the think like barbecue and breweries. So we I people get on the bus at a certain point. Um and the bus holds 11 people. Okay. And um my goodness! Yeah, I love it. We go all over the city so people can see what Fort Worth is all about because people do come here specifically because they think of Cowtown, right? Yes. Um, but I tell them and show them other places that they may not have even adventured out to see yet. So they get to go all over the city with my tour. So I've got barbecue and breweries, I've got burgers and breweries, margaritas and more. We also have a private tour side where if people have a group, whether it's a business or just a group of friends, they can call me and say, hey, we've got this much time, and here's an idea of what we want to do. So what can we do? Um and uh it's just it's a it's a great time. I meet wonderful people from all over the world. I put itineraries together and then um and then off we go. What led you to start cowtown tours? I actually I was in the tech space in travel for 25 years. I started off at Expedia before it was Expedia. I worked for the company that was called Travelscape, that was the platform that Expedia purchased to grow into what it is today. And it it it kind of led me down a path of I was at Expedia, I was at Orbitz, I was at Vegas.com because I was in Vegas for 12 years, and then I ended up at Sabre for 12 years, and so I had a long career of customer development, client relations, and we did everything from you know revenue management to marketing and digital media. Also, we did just wide range of stuff, yes, and basically I got laid off. Um yeah, yep, I got laid off. I got laid off. As a matter of fact, I got laid off twice in a matter of three years. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Um, so anyway, um But that was hard, right? Trying to trying to figure out and and trying to pivot from that.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

Yes, it was very hard because it you know, you I got laid off, um, and then it took a year to find another job. And it's interesting because you know, you're knocking on doors that you think will open, yes, and then all of a sudden you're like, nope, that's that one's not gonna open. So now what, right? Um so then I found another job, and that was great while it lasted, and I basically, you know, worked my way out of that job because I built and developed things for them, and uh and then I trained everyone to use it, and they were like, Okay, thank you, we're good. And so um I basically was had a had a had some quiet time, you know, and and reflection and um prayer and all of that fun stuff. I came up with the fact that the city of Fort Worth had a gap, and um that gap was that we didn't have a tour company that takes people all around town.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

So um so talk to me about that moment of epiphany, like what what were you doing? Do you remember where you were at? What were you doing when you had that that download?

SPEAKER_00 3:55

You know, it it's funny because um we we all know that AI is here and it's not going anywhere. Nowhere. And so when I hit a wall as to oh my gosh, what am I gonna do next? Yes, I basically went to everybody's new best friend, Chat GPT, and his cousin Claude, and I said, you know, I put in this is what I know, this is what I do, this is what I believe in. Um help me think of something, right? And so I basically in in in the output, I molded the business into what it is now. I love that. I love that. So it wasn't necessarily an epiphany, but rather a a um, there are lots of things to chew on, and you have that soul searching, and then you figure out what resonates. And I'm like, wait a second, I can do this. Yes, and I started talking to my friends about it, and they were like, Oh my gosh, it's perfect for this. And yeah, how long have you been doing this, Carrie? The tour company um I launched officially in September of last year, and my first tours were in September of last year, so um, and we run every day.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

What would you say were your major struggles be before becoming an entrepreneur, before having your startups? What were some of the major struggles that now you're like, I know that was a lesson, I know that was that was part of the learning. What was some of that stuff?

SPEAKER_00 5:14

I've learned resilience is is important, um, and I've also learned that if a door doesn't open, there is a reason. Yes, you know, um, and and it's because there's something else you're supposed to find, and I feel like now I'm I'm on the path that I'm supposed to be. Yes. You know? So it's been it's been it's been a lot of fun and and life is too short to not have fun and to not to not benefit other people around you, and I think that's what I do. Because I like for the tour company, I provide memories for people. Absolutely. I provide experiences that people will never forget. They take pictures, they have they laugh, they yeah, they meet other people. Um because sometimes on the bus there's people from you know three or four different parts of the country or the world. Yeah, and it's just it's it's a lot of things. It's an experience. Yeah, it's an experience. For sure.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

I love that.

SPEAKER_00 6:05

Yes, but it's it's all about kind of leading with a servant's heart, and it's like, how can I make other people's lives better? And so in both of these businesses, I can do that. So, Carrie, tell me a little bit about what your strategy is in terms of growing Cowtown business. So, in terms of Cowtown, right now it's a lot of word of mouth, it's social media, it's you know, everybody please share as much as you can, like my videos, you know, like everyone says with the social media side of things. Carrie, how do people get a hold of you? So, Cowtown Tour Company, um, the website is Cowtown Tour Co.com. I'm also on Instagram and Facebook that's the same, so it's at Cowtown Tour Co. Um, and if you send me a uh direct message, that's the best way to get a hold of me. Come visit us in Fort Worth. It's a wonderful place to be. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Fort Worth is a great city and it's it's a great place to live. We've got a lot of people moving here. We've got the World Cup coming this summer. It's uh it's a good place to be. Um life is life is good, and um going back to you know, one thing to share with the public, I think uh always find the silver lining.

unknown 7:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Talk to me about that uh silver lining for you. Um, you know, even on the bad days, there's good. Um, and then but the tour company is sort of my my passion project, um, and I love it so much because of where I come from. Um, but uh, but yeah, I have two businesses, and so that's why I end up at one million cups every week. Think this is your stop, Miss Carrie. Yes, it is. Um, we can go over that direction. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I love it. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

Thank you, thank you for letting me be your driver. Yes, of course. You're wonderful. To learn more about how to be a guest on the Cowtown Tour Company with Carrie Carter, visit www.cowtown tourco.com.