Setting the Stage - Episode 1

Let's get this party started and begin discovering the Power of Play.  In today's episode Amanda & Kelly break the ice and talk about why travel is so important in an entrepreneur's life and the intention it takes to make that happen.

Check out Largay Travel at https://www.pleasegoaway.com/

Connect with Kelly

Email - kelly@theentreprenewer.com
Website - https://www.theentreprenewer.com
Complimentary Free Trip Planning Guide - https://www.theentreprenewer.com/free-resources/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/EntreprenewHer/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/the_entreprenewer/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyclements/

Connect with Amanda

Email - amanda@largaytravel.com
Website - www.pleasegoaway.com
Schedule a complimentary 15-minute Travel Specialist Consultation - www.pleasegoaway.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pleasegoawaytravelcompany/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/virtuosotraveladvisor/?hl=en
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-klimak/ 

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

[inaudible].

Speaker 2: 0:06

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Island of misfit toys. I am your cohost Amanda climax. And this is Kelly Clements. Thanks for having me, Amanda. Yes, we're so excited to have you here today on the power of play. Kelly and I have lots to talk about, but we want to set the stage for our new series. Yes, it is so good to be here and I've been a raving fan of you and Lara gay travel for so long. So when we first started talking about this, starting a podcast together just kind of seemed like the right thing to do. Oh my gosh, totally a good fit. Kelly and I met about 10 years ago when she was working on the return on life with virtuous. So, and that was kind of the beginning of our introduction to one another. And it's funny because we were both speaking at a conference about two years ago, year and a half ago in Hawaii. And we started this conversation and then Kelly came to our company retreat and we were again speaking at a conference in Cabo earlier this year. And amazing things started to happen. Yeah, you know, and it's funny when we really get get into that heart level, like what do we really want to do? What's the difference we really want to make? And you do so much work with vacation planning and planning people's play. And I know you work with a lot of entrepreneurs and obviously the entrepreneurial world is my playground and I really work. So when a lot of time helping entrepreneurs to disconnect from their work and reconnect to their family. So it just seemed like a natural fit that we bring our worlds together to create a resource for entrepreneurs who are really looking to disconnect from work, to reconnect to their lives and to their families and to themselves, which absolutely. And what I find so fun is that a lot of what you help people do on the front end, we help them once they get to that door and they say, I want to go, I want to travel either by myself or with my family or my loved ones. And you know, we're helping them once they get to that moment where they say, time to go, let's go. But what I love is the message that you deliver and the coaching that you do to help them disconnect and help them learn to live in awe again, and embrace that anticipation of travel and embrace free times so that they can re-energize. Yes. And you know, so if you're, you're one of my people and you're, you're joining. I want to introduce Amanda just to give some context. Amanda is the president of Largo travel, otherwise known as the, the Island of misfit toys. And so as a travel advisor, and again, I've been working with the travel industry for so long, I really have a such a big appreciation for what you guys do. I mean, it is an invaluable service. And I would say that that feeling of awe and anticipation. I can remember the first time I went to a travel agency with my mom. We were planning a multi-gene trip. I was just out of college. So we were working on a multi-gene trip with my parents and boyfriends and girlfriends with my brother. And I remember sitting at that desk and thinking like, our vacation is starting now. We didn't know where we're going and like it just being in the conversation of what's possible. Yes, we went in thinking that we were going to do one trip and we ended up on something completely different in Costa Rica. But the, that sense of anticipation started the moment we sat down and started working with a travel advisor, you know, and of course took us all the way through the trip and being able to talk about it afterwards. So I have such an amazing appreciation for what you guys do because it does restore so much awe and it's suspicion. Well and it's fun because we live vicariously through our clients so a lot of times as we're planning these journeys and we're getting to know our clients and understanding their needs and understanding them as people and what they're interested in, we start to like create this masterpiece and it sounds kind of goofy but it really is what we do. We create everything that's fit to them because you know, one of the things we've found is their most valuable non re renewable asset is their free time. You know, if you go on a trip and it goes poorly, you can make the money again, but you can never get that time back. So, you know, it is something where people are making an investment in their free time as well as their money and they want it to go perfect. And so part of that is getting to know them and especially with entrepreneurs, it takes on a whole new level because we do have to find ways that to work with them that allow them to do what they need to do because we know that their businesses are very important to them. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's okay. Yes. And I think sometimes people need permission to be okay that they need to schedule time to work maybe for an hour a day or have that satellite, you know, um, connection. So they have the internet even when they're at the most rural places in the world. Yeah. And especially, I know you do a lot of work with entrepreneurs as well. I know you're a member of EO and you live in the entrepreneurial world as well. Um, and so both of us are in this world. And when you talk about meeting permission to have free time, like that is so real. And if you're going to take time away from your business, it better be worth it. Absolutely. It's so true. And actually it's funny cause a lot of what I learned from you Kelly and even in your book and in the conferences that I've been at, I always, you know, normally when I go to a conference that I'm speaking, I will step out of the room before I speak because you know, I have to prepare and mentally get in the groove. And whenever you're speaking before me, it's so annoying because I want to hear what you have to say because I'm there with my notebook and I'm writing notes and I want to learn because there is so much to learn and especially, you know, we're entrepreneurs. Um, most of our team, we have 140 people, all of which are their own little businesses and you know, running their own travel planning services with their clients. And it is something where we all can learn as we go forward and go through life. But travel is part of our lives that is so important to re re-energize and reconnect and live in awe and feel like a kid again. It's just, it's fun. I love it. Yeah, it is. And it's so necessary and I really realize how necessary it was, particularly for entrepreneurs. Like way back 15 years ago when I first started coaching entrepreneurs and I was fresh out of college, I had my recreation degree and I'm like, this is, you know, fun and play and travel is part of my life. And I remember being in the first workshop at strategic coach and strategic coach is basically college front-runners. It's a, it's a really highly respected training program for entrepreneurs and there, back then when I started working with them, their tagline was work less and make more. And I'm like, sign me up.[inaudible] in my language. So very first workshop, one of the first concepts we teach are, they taught in strategic coach was this concept of free days. And by definition, 24 hours, midnight to midnight, no work-related activity. Right. And so for an entrepreneur that's like, what about my team and my customers and my, I have a business partner and all of these other things that are always competing for our attention. And so, you know, we have this first workshop, we're teaching them how to set up their, their lives and their businesses to have this time away from the business. And they have a whole quarter, 90 days in between workshops to go execute. So when they come back for workshop two, we're like, okay, great. How'd you have free days go? You know, did you get, did you hit your goal? And it's like, did do like no one, don't call on me and ask me about how my joining eye contact. You don't look at me only that. Totally that. Um, and so, you know, he's like, okay, what happened? Why didn't you get your free day? Like did your assistant call no. Oh, your business partner called you and was there like a client crisis? Nope. That didn't happen. Check your email. No. Well what happened? Why didn't you get your free days, Kelly? They sucked. Like as soon as my family found out I was going to be home, it was like, well, I want to take a free day cause I've never had one. Or you run the carpool or you[inaudible] the grass, the honey do lat. Oh my gosh. I always laugh when people tell me that they took a vacation weekend. I'm like, Oh, what did you do? And they're like, Oh, I stayed home and worked on the yard. And not that, that's not a wonderful thing. I love my yard by like, you need to disconnect. Even if it's going camping, I don't care where you go. It's so important to disconnect from your responsibilities and re-embrace what it is to be alive. Think we forget. We forget to do that, right? Because look at how much fun we have at work. I mean, you guys call yourself the Island of misfit toys. Like it is a virtual playground here. Yeah, of course you want to be at work. And the same is true. So many entrepreneurs like we get into this state, just like elite athletes or musicians or artists, we get into a flow state, you know, we get really good results. We get a lot of them. Totally. It's fine. So when we're at home and time at home isn't fun. Like[inaudible] yeah, of course we're going to gravitate back towards work. And so making sure you have that sense of play and fun in your personal life and that your personal life is as much fun as your business life is one of the major topics that I do with my clients and really making sure that they have that sense of play well. And I think that's why we take so much time to get to know our clients because understanding, you know, what is the, the investment that you're comfortable making in your trip? What are the activities that not only you want to do, but everyone in your family want to do, um, or interests and things like that. Because there's nothing worse than when you get on vacation and you're feeling like, Oh my God, I can't believe I spent this much. I couldn't afford it. Or you get on vacation and you're doing an activity and everyone else is like, this sucks. You know, I don't want to do this. And or you have to take time to address phone calls because you do have, you know, be connected for an hour. And so oftentimes what we end up doing is almost being like a therapist to figure out what do you need in order to travel and truly enjoy and embrace your travel. And that may be when you're in Europe, scheduling a time from 6:00 AM to 8:00 AM when you could do conference calls and your family maybe goes on at breakfast, walking tour or you know, something else. So it can be super fun to plan this. And it's when people allow us to do and work the magic that we can work, it's really fun. Oh, I can imagine how rewarding that is. Yeah. So let's talk about the series and what we want to talk to, talk about and accomplish with the power of play. Yes. So there is so much content. Like I said, I've been coaching entrepreneurs for 15 years and so we're going to spend a lot of time at the intersection of everything that happens between work and personal life. And so you've been in my, you've heard me speak before. Absolutely. And one of if one of the topics I talk about is this balanced concept and how I think we've all kind of acknowledged now that balances out the window. Like we've called bull on. Yeah. There is no such thing. Right? Life balance. I don't think so. No. But we can have work life blend. We can't have work life integration. We can't have work life harmony. So we're going to be taught, we're going to be at that station talking about entrepreneurs and how they reconnect personally with their families, with their parents and their children, their spouses, their friends. They'd be salads. Yes, yes, yes, yes. We forget sometimes. And you know, you think if I go on a trip by myself, you know, people think I'm lonely or I'm a loser or whatever it may be. And it's so funny because sometimes that's just not the case alone. Time can be so important as well. Oh my gosh, yes. I went to Asia by myself about three years ago and that was such an experience because I can't like fake it. Like I can't get by in my kind of Spanish. Like I can't even understand the characters on the road signs or read the map. And so here I am and like my bright, you just say Spanish. Yeah like exactly like anywhere else I go, I can get like if they don't speak English I can default to Spanish. I romantic like yes, I don't even kind of know any way to fake it. Yes. So I'm here in my fluorescent pink coat, my white pants walking around. It's like, and I'm like in a sea of maybe in gray tweet and I'm just like sticking out like this. And like it was the greatest adventure of my life, trying to figure out how to get around and like how do I communicate with people and like I could be in a sea of people but like revealed so much about myself. It was awesome. Yeah. Well, and it's, you know what I found, cause we now work with the wanderlust program. Um, and what we've found is planning people's lifetimes of travel, taking their bucket list and actually putting it into a plan. We discover all of these little things where, you know, maybe we have a husband that says, I've always wanted to go to money, Carlo to the grand Prix and we have a wife that says, I've always wanted to go to India and do the eat, pray, love thing. And so, you know, it's fun when you start to like learn and discover and get to know what it is that really excites people and even their children. And I'm finding, I mean there were things I learned about my children that I had no idea. And it just, it's really fun. It's a great way to live in that state of anticipation. And just being a kid again, being excited. I remember growing up, um, my dad was like huge road trippers so we went to Wildwood and we would drive everywhere. I mean, we drove to Florida one time, it was horrible experience in the car, but he, I was his thing. And I remember though, when you'd get somewhere that feeling of excitement and anticipation and just to see something new and be somewhere, it didn't matter what it was, you know, whether it was, um, what's that roadside place when you're driving to Florida? I can't even remember. Like, no, no, no, no, no. It's like a Mexican. Um, uh, I'll think of it. But anyway, and it's just, you know, uh, South of the border, anybody who's ever driven to Florida on 95 knows South of the border, cause literally for a hundred miles you're almost there South of the border, you know, and it goes along and then all of a sudden just past it. And then there's borders, the big billboards. So, um, but that's what, it's so exciting. So I am thrilled that we're going to be doing this together. We're going to be actually kind of connecting not only the, how you embrace your life of play, but then once you take it to, okay, now play is part of my life. What do I do? Um, we're going to be making that connection and I think that's going to be really fun. Absolutely. I can't wait. I know you have special guests. I have special guests, so we have so much content lined up and we are so happy to have you on the Island of misfit twice with us. Absolutely. So we will see you at the next episode, but thank you so much for joining us. We look forward to sharing what we know and learning from you as well. Thanks. Bye. Thanks guys.