Why ‘Yes’ Can Create Unforgettable Memories: Insights from Sarah Reuter’s Journey

[00:00:00] Entertainment Insights Don't take life too seriously. Welcome to Brainsky Unleashed.

[00:00:09] Today's guest is fun, energetic, inspiring. She's unafraid of just about anything when it comes to making sure that she enjoys life and lives life to the fullest.

[00:00:19] She's a savvy businesswoman. She's successful. She's overcome adversity. And she's got plans for herself and the world that are pretty damn epic.

[00:00:27] On the program today is Sarah Reuter. Welcome to the program, Sarah.

[00:00:32] Thank you, Tom.

[00:00:33] So just to be clear, and that way all of our listeners today know, we've known each other a very long time.

[00:00:40] We go back to working together at America's greatest airline, ATA Airlines, formerly known as American Transair, now known as Bankrupt.

[00:00:50] And we work together on charters. And you have recently created a charter service, sort of more of a travel concierge service.

[00:01:02] And after learning about that on LinkedIn, I had to have you on the program so we can kind of go over that and, you know, see what you've been up to because you've always been very creative.

[00:01:12] So again, welcome.

[00:01:13] Thank you.

[00:01:14] Go ahead. Yeah. So, I mean, you should be happy to be here. And I interrupted you. And that's terrible. Bad host. Bad. I've got to get better. I can do better.

[00:01:24] We all can do better, right? That should be my life motto. I can do better. We all can do better.

[00:01:29] Absolutely. So what is Elevate? Can you kind of go over that?

[00:01:33] Yeah, I'd love to. So Elevate, you know, I'm getting more grounded in the name of my company and what that word really means, right? To uplift, to inspire.

[00:01:44] And that is at the root of what we do at Elevate. But it really branched from my love of experiences and travel that began at American Trans Air at ATA, where we worked together.

[00:01:56] And after the bankruptcy, I went and worked for another company where I continued to do this line of work, which was creating experiences for groups of people, a.k.a. companies, more B2B, to experience.

[00:02:11] And I had my one and only son, Carson, who's now 15. And I always blame it on him. I'm like, you know, something went whack after I had my baby.

[00:02:21] And I decided to jump the corporate America ship, jump from it and continue doing what I loved.

[00:02:26] And that was back in 2000. And I don't know if you were in business for yourself, Tom, back in 2000.

[00:02:32] That was a great year. I mean, everything was wonderful.

[00:02:37] It was an incredible time to start a business, let me tell you. And you know what?

[00:02:40] I say that as a joke, but actually it really was for me.

[00:02:45] And I astonishingly, if that's even the right word, but I think I even astonished myself at that point in my life.

[00:02:52] I had a newborn baby, single mom, had two business partners, both former ATA execs and operations people.

[00:03:01] And we did. We just knocked it out of the park.

[00:03:04] And I went on an eight year run with that company and we went from zero to 2.5 million.

[00:03:10] And it's not even a numbers game. Really, it was more of a, you know, we grew our relationships and we partnered with companies that kind of grew with us starting in that recession back in 08.

[00:03:23] Right. And then life happened and my gut intuition, which is one of my, I say my kind of secret, secret superpowers is my intuition.

[00:03:32] I knew it was time for something different.

[00:03:35] I knew it was time for me to make a different choice in life.

[00:03:38] And so in 15, 2015, I sold my shares of the, of that company.

[00:03:44] And lo and behold, my mother got sick and I was in a place to care for her for a couple of years while I just took some time away from the day-to-day and travel and business ownership.

[00:03:56] And, uh, got to focus on my mom and get her back to, you know, healthy, healthy, living a healthy lifestyle.

[00:04:03] And so grateful that I got to do that. And then, you know, teen comes along, 2018 comes along and I knew it was time to get back into travel.

[00:04:12] And I launched Elevate and we'll be celebrating five years, um, this year, actually.

[00:04:17] Five years of Elevate. Congratulations. And, and if you, if, if you look at your title there, you are CEO, but what does that mean?

[00:04:25] I am the chief experience officer really of that. Love that. Yeah.

[00:04:31] So that's kind of your history, but what is it that, you know, I, I'm, I'm Joe Schmo. I've never seen an airplane before we meet in an elevator.

[00:04:41] I'm giving you this opportunity to attempt a horrendous elevator pitch. What, what does, what, what could Elevate do for me?

[00:04:50] Ah, well, first we got to get out this elevator.

[00:04:53] Actually, if I pass gas, that would be terrible.

[00:04:55] I was, I was just on a program with, with a company. They customer service is really important to them, right?

[00:05:04] Relationships are important to them and they reward their customers with a trip every year.

[00:05:08] And so we were at, in Orlando, Walt Disney World, the customer got to bring their, you know, entire family, kids as well, and had this magical experience.

[00:05:18] And literally I'm, I'm greeting people. So I'm kind of, you know, onsite face to face.

[00:05:23] As soon as somebody walks off the airplane and or into the hotel room, boom, they see someone from Elevate, right?

[00:05:30] And we are there to greet them with open arms and excitement and acceptance and help them on their journey from start to finish.

[00:05:40] And so we're very high touch, high service.

[00:05:43] And so back to this story about the elevator, I walk this family to the elevator and I had done it probably 15 times that day already.

[00:05:50] And this elevator started to not work and function and the doors closed and we weren't going anywhere.

[00:05:57] And I was like, Hey guys, we're going to step off this elevator here for a minute.

[00:06:01] And we're going to take another, another elevator.

[00:06:05] So chief elevator operator.

[00:06:08] I love it.

[00:06:09] Operator.

[00:06:10] I mean, you know, we wear so many hats, right?

[00:06:12] In business and in life.

[00:06:14] It's what makes it fun.

[00:06:15] But yeah, I mean, we really, you know, the thing I think Tom that I'm learning really sets us apart from, you know, a lot of people consider us a travel agency, but we really technically are not an agency.

[00:06:28] You kind of have to think about event meeting planner meets travel consultant.

[00:06:33] And so we don't work off of commission because we really want to drive our clients brand to the appropriate brands, be it the charter airline they, they end up going with or the scheduled service carrier they end up partnering with or the hotel brand.

[00:06:49] We love to really dive in to your company culture, understand what your message and your vision is.

[00:06:57] And we become an extension of your team.

[00:07:00] You know, we really dive into understanding, you know, your culture, your needs so that we can help you execute that vision.

[00:07:05] So it truly is a partnership.

[00:07:07] So in other words, what you're not is your typical travel agent.

[00:07:12] You're not your typical, I guess, charter broker.

[00:07:16] You're more or less an experienced cultivator.

[00:07:18] You get down to the very nitty gritty details of, say, an event planning style, but doing this on a global scale.

[00:07:28] Right.

[00:07:28] Yeah.

[00:07:30] It's pretty cool.

[00:07:30] I have to say that I love the work I get to do and the experiences we get to co-create with our partners, be it on the planning side, right?

[00:07:42] The airline world, our hotel partners, and also forward facing from the customer side.

[00:07:48] So it's really exciting and it's a lot of fun and it's a lot of stress.

[00:07:52] But yet you're so happy because you love what you do.

[00:07:54] So that's one of those good stresses.

[00:07:56] It's a good stress.

[00:07:57] It's definitely a good stress.

[00:07:58] Yes.

[00:07:58] We had, you know, I just flew home from this program yesterday and there were delays, right?

[00:08:03] I mean, we had several, several different airlines we partnered with and there were, there were many delays.

[00:08:09] And yet we do, I think we, we do our best to, I think communication is so important, right?

[00:08:14] To pick up the phone and actually call someone and say, Hey, I see you guys are delayed.

[00:08:18] We're watching it.

[00:08:19] We're here.

[00:08:20] If you need us, you know, we'll, we'll, we'll follow you all the way home.

[00:08:23] You know, just that extra little touch in today's world of text and no communication in some ways.

[00:08:30] I think it really goes along.

[00:08:31] I mean, listen, I travel a lot.

[00:08:33] And, and personally, I would love the elevated level of service.

[00:08:37] See where I went with that.

[00:08:38] Is that cool?

[00:08:39] You dig that?

[00:08:39] Well, I dig it.

[00:08:41] I dig it.

[00:08:42] I was working on that one just for you.

[00:08:44] Thank you.

[00:08:44] I love it.

[00:08:45] I love it.

[00:08:46] You know, what else is kind of fun that the, and I think travel is such a beautiful compliment to this, but you know, our senses are such a big part of our experience when we really do anything, but especially with travel and coming off Disney, boy, do they know how to elevate your senses, right?

[00:09:04] The sensory experience.

[00:09:06] A hundred percent.

[00:09:06] And, you know, my company's goal is to, to match that and to have that sort of five senses.

[00:09:14] And I even say six senses because I'm big into mindset, meditation, and, and really just mindfulness in general.

[00:09:21] And so I think it's important that we, we, we really try to tap into that with our customers from a branding perspective too, right?

[00:09:30] Like think about hotels you've walked in where you, you can, they all have their own signature scent.

[00:09:36] Some of them, right?

[00:09:37] Weston baby all day long.

[00:09:39] There you go.

[00:09:39] Love that Weston smell.

[00:09:41] And, and our, our sense of smell is the most powerful of our five senses.

[00:09:46] And so it can take you back to a moment in time standing in that lobby of the Weston and, you know, you get to share the story, right?

[00:09:55] And you get to share it.

[00:09:56] It's all branding is storytelling.

[00:09:58] And so we really, we really love to do that with our customers and really get into this five or six senses experience.

[00:10:06] So I think you basically answered what would have been my next question, which is what makes you different?

[00:10:13] And I think you probably answered that one very clearly without me even asking.

[00:10:17] I don't think there's a lot of, I don't think there's a lot of services that are exactly like you.

[00:10:21] I think there's probably a lot of similar services out there, but to the level of which you go for, to deliver that kind of quality once in a lifetime style experience.

[00:10:31] I don't, I don't know.

[00:10:33] I mean, how, how, how chaotic is that market?

[00:10:36] Or are you kind of sitting up there at the top?

[00:10:38] Yeah.

[00:10:39] Well, you know, just like, you know, in business in general, we're not for everyone.

[00:10:44] Right.

[00:10:44] And it's a big world out there.

[00:10:47] You hear people say all the time, it's a small world.

[00:10:50] I, you know, we hear that, but really the smallness is, is our connection.

[00:10:54] So, you know, yeah.

[00:10:56] So, you know, it's your network and, but gosh, it's a, it's a big world out there.

[00:11:00] And, you know, there are times where people will come to me for, you know, potential partnership and I can confidently say, Hey, this is not in our wheelhouse.

[00:11:09] You know I'm going to refer you to someone I think that can really do this exceptionally.

[00:11:15] And so I'm really just big on transparency, knowing what we're really good at, knowing what we're not good at and, and really helping people find the right fit.

[00:11:25] We, we are, we're transparent in how we work.

[00:11:28] We're transparent on how we charge.

[00:11:29] We're fee-based again, not commission-based, which for some people, that is a hard concept, Tom, for them to write their, wrap their brain around.

[00:11:37] Right.

[00:11:38] Because think of fiduciaries or think of financial services.

[00:11:42] Right.

[00:11:43] And how some are commission-based and some are fee-based and it's, it's a different conversation.

[00:11:48] Oh, completely.

[00:11:49] With that, what would you say, because you, you and I have been in the travel industry a long time.

[00:11:54] You've been working very, you know, customer centric even longer than I have.

[00:11:58] What would you say is some of the biggest mistakes that companies make when they try and set up a trip or set up an experience for their employees?

[00:12:08] Like there's got to be some mistakes out there that, you know, oh my gosh, you know, they shouldn't do this.

[00:12:12] Like, can you, can you name a few of them?

[00:12:14] Any of them?

[00:12:14] Well, I think the first thing is thinking we can handle this in-house and we, we know what we're doing.

[00:12:19] We have it all figured out.

[00:12:20] You know, a lot of times, I mean, I've been the executive assistant for executives at companies and, and a lot of times company travel and experiences fall on the lap.

[00:12:30] They, it just does.

[00:12:31] Or the admin assistant or the HR team or the HR assistant.

[00:12:34] And it's really, you know, it's such a, just like, you know, you go to study any, anything and get a specialty certificate with travel and how it's ever changing.

[00:12:46] There's so much money left on the table that I see clients, you know, just because they're not, it's not their day to day.

[00:12:52] It's not in their wheelhouse to understand that the contract they receive from an airline or hotel is meant to be negotiated.

[00:13:00] Right. And is meant to serve them in the best way to add that value.

[00:13:05] And so I see that a lot with just, you know, a lot of teams thinking, well, we can't hire outside.

[00:13:10] We can't source this out because we need to keep this in-house because of a, of a financial standpoint, but really elevates able to help leverage a lot of those, you know, assets for them so that they get the value that they're really needing and they're not leaving money on the table.

[00:13:27] Okay. I agree with that completely.

[00:13:29] Absolutely. I think far too many people will look at, you know, getting a good lawyer or a good accountant and go, well, I can't afford that.

[00:13:36] And it's like, how do you afford not to, when you think about it?

[00:13:40] I mean, that you're really making a mistake when you go cheap on, on some things.

[00:13:45] I mean, I suppose it could be debated as far as travel goes, but then again, if, if, if the executive office of a company says we want to do X and you blunder it, well, nice job.

[00:13:56] So I can see where this does make a lot of sense.

[00:13:59] It does. And, you know, our partners in, in travel and, and in hospitality, you know, they're also out there doing their jobs to, you know, close a deal and, and get, you know, sales on the books.

[00:14:12] And so it's, it's, it's really understanding just from a sales perspective and also a cultural perspective.

[00:14:20] Like, I can't tell you, Tom, how many times I've really helped my clients in the best manner because I understood the company, the country's culture that I was in.

[00:14:32] Right. And what their expectation level was instead of kind of coming in and forcing.

[00:14:37] Oh, certain way.

[00:14:38] When you're talking international travel. Oh my gosh.

[00:14:41] I mean, I think people who, who don't generally leave the United States or, or, or maybe leave the United States every once in a while, or maybe just simply take a cruise ship somewhere.

[00:14:49] They really do not understand what you just said.

[00:14:53] The, the, the culture component of where you're going is huge.

[00:14:59] Some places are very quasi similar to the United States.

[00:15:02] Others are completely and totally different.

[00:15:05] And, oh man, I agree with you there.

[00:15:07] Some people just walk in there thinking, you know, Hey, this is just like me going to, you know, New York.

[00:15:11] Like, no, no, it's not.

[00:15:12] It's really not.

[00:15:13] I've, I've learned a lot of lessons over the years.

[00:15:15] And one day I'll write a book about all the incredible things that we've been faced with that we've, you know, worked through.

[00:15:22] And, and it goes back to, always goes back to connection, the relationship you have with whomever you're dealing with.

[00:15:30] Right. You know, wherever you are in the world, it really, truly goes back to that.

[00:15:34] And how you can kind of make it a win-win for everybody involved.

[00:15:37] So that's a big deal.

[00:15:38] Oh, it's huge.

[00:15:39] Yeah.

[00:15:40] The other thing I wanted to mention too, I see this a lot with, with, you know, new clients we're starting to work with is, you know, they'll go to build a budget.

[00:15:48] Everyone, everyone wants to know, Hey, what's it going to cost?

[00:15:50] Right.

[00:15:51] How much?

[00:15:51] One of the first questions.

[00:15:52] And, you know, with experiences and travel, we're not, you know, we're service-based.

[00:15:56] So we don't have a set package.

[00:15:58] We don't have a widget that we're selling.

[00:16:00] And so we're literally creating something from, from scratch.

[00:16:04] And so one of the things we started doing was we started to explain to our, you know, prospects and partners that, Hey, this, the proposal process is the creative process.

[00:16:16] And it's probably 50% of, you know, the time involved just to find out where you're going and how much you're going to spend.

[00:16:23] Right.

[00:16:24] And so a lot of companies will come to us and they have a budget.

[00:16:28] They've got their number and it's because they've done some of the initial steps of calling and getting some price quotes.

[00:16:34] Right.

[00:16:34] But that deep dive into that price quote of, you know, okay, well, what's the tax?

[00:16:40] What's the service?

[00:16:41] What's the fuel surcharge?

[00:16:42] What's all of those little additional things that are not presented in that first round is where the transparency and, and so much kind of comes through on, on us helping our partners get a realistic picture of here's your real cost.

[00:16:58] Right.

[00:16:58] This is, this is the budget you should build for this type of experience.

[00:17:02] And then how can we, you know, make it all work?

[00:17:05] How often are those numbers?

[00:17:07] How often are the final numbers radically different from your proposed budget?

[00:17:11] Well, they're actually pretty close to where we start.

[00:17:16] You know, we, that's where we work really hard in the initial proposal phase.

[00:17:20] Oh, you mean from what my client's budget is?

[00:17:23] I mean, no, no.

[00:17:23] I mean, that's kind of two questions.

[00:17:25] So we'll start with one.

[00:17:26] Let's look at, you know, your clients come to you and they say, I want to go to Tahiti and I want to take, you know, a hundred of my favorite employees or whatever.

[00:17:34] And you go, okay, well here is, and you've, you've done your deep dive.

[00:17:38] You've got it all figured out.

[00:17:40] You know, sign on the dotted line, pay for my service.

[00:17:43] Sarah's happy.

[00:17:44] Client's happy.

[00:17:45] Trip takes place.

[00:17:46] Everything is magical.

[00:17:48] Y'all come home.

[00:17:49] Bills are finally paid.

[00:17:50] What is the final bill compared to what your initial, not initial, but I guess your, your estimated cost.

[00:17:57] Are you usually like right on or pretty close?

[00:17:59] Right on.

[00:18:00] Or I've done better than what my client does.

[00:18:02] Wow.

[00:18:03] Okay.

[00:18:04] Yeah.

[00:18:04] So then the next question is from the client's initial belief as to what it should be compared to reality, how far is that normally off?

[00:18:15] 30 grand, 50 grand.

[00:18:17] Large numbers.

[00:18:18] Yeah.

[00:18:19] Big numbers.

[00:18:19] It can be a big, big, big difference.

[00:18:21] Yeah.

[00:18:22] But, you know, and that's, that's where we can, that's where the light bulb goes off to where we can help, you know, create this, this gap or where our services, you know, seem to be an offset of, hey, well, you were, you guys were going to, you know, sign on the dotted line and spend this amount, you know, and now we can come in and take this stress and pressure off of you so that you can stay forward facing with your clients, your team.

[00:18:47] Enjoy the moment.

[00:18:48] Let us help you.

[00:18:49] And, you know, we'll, we'll even save you money while we're doing it.

[00:18:52] You know, we're going to treat your money like it's ours.

[00:18:56] Um, and Tom, you know, we come from some pretty frugal roots at ATA and we, we knew how to stretch the dollar.

[00:19:04] Not, not to say that we sacrificed service because I think if anything, that's where I learned the most about how to be resourceful and how to, um, work and work without, we didn't have cell phones.

[00:19:19] We didn't have laptops.

[00:19:20] We didn't have credit cards.

[00:19:21] And yet we were dealing with multimillion dollar budgets and projects and for somehow it all worked out really well for a while.

[00:19:29] Yeah, no, we actually, um, for me, uh, I, I moved on from ATA and I'm still very involved in charter aviation, uh, you know, more on the airline side versus you on the more customer facing side.

[00:19:39] Um, and I, to this day, I still say that ATA probably did charters better than just about anybody.

[00:19:45] I mean, they, they, they, we did charters really well and I do lots of charters and I mean, they're okay, but in comparison, man, we did them really well.

[00:19:56] And we did them on a shoestring budget all the time.

[00:19:58] Yes, we did.

[00:19:59] So, yeah, it's, it's, I'm fortunate to have that, those roots, you know, and, um, kind of that American dream story of, of George and starting his, his dream and vision in America.

[00:20:11] And I'm just very fortunate to have that, that baseline of my corporate America experience.

[00:20:18] I'm glad you brought George up actually, because, um, one of these days I would love to, and I have no way of contacting him.

[00:20:23] Like, you know, I don't, I don't really have too many people in my network that probably have a cell phone number, you know, now that he's really moved on and very much retired.

[00:20:30] But I mean, there's a guy that I would love to thank because even though I ended up leaving ATA before crumbled into nothing and they actually became a client of mine, the man was inspirational.

[00:20:39] Um, he, there was a lot of inspirational people in my life and he was certainly one of them.

[00:20:43] The guy was an amazing guy and he created something that I don't know.

[00:20:47] I'm sure someone can create something similar at some point.

[00:20:50] There's other companies that people probably have that kind of passion for.

[00:20:53] And I know there's a lot of, uh, ex ATA people that have a lot of passion, but, uh, it was just, I have a lot of mad respect for him.

[00:21:00] What he did was, was really special.

[00:21:02] It really was.

[00:21:03] And, you know, I, I'm still in Indianapolis where the airline originated.

[00:21:08] And so in my network, I can reference those routes quite a bit and people just understand that story and that experience that, um, you know, we, we both know very well.

[00:21:21] And, you know, I thought about this actually this morning.

[00:21:23] Um, I do, I have a meditation practice every morning and I was thinking about just, you know, how, where did, where did that sense of empowerment come from, from George and from the company?

[00:21:36] And I thought, because I just remember that was the one thing that was a game changer for me is that I, as a brand new employee with, you know, coming in with a chip on my shoulder with an eight aerospace degree.

[00:21:46] And working as an admin assistant, making $18,000 a year, I, I did, I had a chip on my shoulder, but I also felt a sense of empowerment at that airline.

[00:21:56] I felt like my voice was heard and I felt like, you know, regardless of my status or my title, I just felt like I made an impact and that I was heard and seen.

[00:22:06] And that was so, so special for me.

[00:22:09] I think one of the reasons that, uh, a lot of us, um, ex ATA people are successful.

[00:22:15] And I know a lot of them, a lot of them have gone on to be, uh, very entrepreneurial in many different ways.

[00:22:20] Um, we were never really heavily restricted.

[00:22:23] Uh, we were given a lot of authority to just make decisions and problem solve and, and, and never really got yelled at heavily for doing that.

[00:22:31] Um, I mean, as, as far as business goes, you listen to a lot of, uh, some of the most famous business minds out there and that's the right way to do it is, is to really empower your employees.

[00:22:42] And I do, I agree.

[00:22:42] I believe that we were very, very much empowered to just get the job done and do the best that we could.

[00:22:47] And they were always grateful.

[00:22:48] I mean, you know, they didn't shower us with Christmas gifts.

[00:22:51] Uh, the pizza coupons, the one year was kind of a bummer.

[00:22:54] What a bonus.

[00:22:55] Um, but we were always broke.

[00:22:57] So, you know, what are you going to do?

[00:22:59] Um, but they, uh, you know, there was that empowerment and you, you were indie based far longer than I was.

[00:23:06] Um, I was always out in the outstations or somewhere in the middle of the world, be it a beautiful place or an armpit.

[00:23:12] Um, but you were a lot closer to, to George and the management team.

[00:23:17] What do you feel that they got right most often?

[00:23:19] And what do you think that they really got wrong?

[00:23:21] I mean, just from a, just from a business standpoint, I'm curious.

[00:23:24] You know, I think they got right.

[00:23:25] I think they really listened to their customer for, for quite, for 30.

[00:23:29] How, how many years was it?

[00:23:30] It was, I think we were around for like 30, was it 35 or 37 before we finally tanked?

[00:23:35] Yeah.

[00:23:36] I think they listened to their customer and they listened to their employees.

[00:23:39] I think that was a very key element.

[00:23:42] And, um, at least that was, you know, my little 10 year experience coming in, you know, the last 10 years of the company's existence.

[00:23:48] And then, you know, where it started to go wrong, gosh, it's hard to pinpoint one thing, right?

[00:23:53] It was a series of events and, and timing.

[00:23:56] Oh, the timing.

[00:23:56] That's true.

[00:23:57] The timing was, I think they could have survived the demise, uh, had the timing not been epic as far as when they, they leased their brand new fleet of airplanes at the highest possible leasing rates ever.

[00:24:08] And then 9-11 hits like 10 seconds later and obliterates the industry.

[00:24:11] So, I mean, you know, we certainly had timing working against us, but I mean, there had to be some other decisions that maybe they were grumblings at headquarters.

[00:24:19] Uh, and again, I mean, when I, when I went to headquarters, the place was almost decimated anyway.

[00:24:24] Uh, that's when they finally brought me in from the field and said, Hey, can you work at headquarters?

[00:24:28] And I was thrilled to do it.

[00:24:29] Um, but there wasn't a lot left.

[00:24:31] It had been, it had been gutted.

[00:24:33] So what do you think it was that, that decision-wise that they made, or do you think it was all just based on really lousy timing?

[00:24:39] You know, timing played into it.

[00:24:41] I do think we kind of got out of our lane a little bit and tried to compete with the big dogs, right?

[00:24:47] We went from kind of being this charter only charter and, you know, we did some scheduled service, but it was very much a, um, low cost carrier type of experience, right?

[00:24:58] Kind of similar to a Southwest.

[00:24:59] Oh, I hated writing our scheduled services.

[00:25:01] Awful.

[00:25:02] Yeah.

[00:25:03] Yeah.

[00:25:03] And so, and then I think we tried to kind of go into competing with the big Americans and the Deltas.

[00:25:09] And, and I just think we got out of our lane.

[00:25:11] I think we got out of alignment, got out of our lane and we got out of doing what we're, what we were good at, which was kind of keeping things simple yet elevated, right?

[00:25:21] Just that whole, it doesn't have to be, you know, first class and all this, you know, brand new everything.

[00:25:27] Right.

[00:25:28] But, and there's, there's a, I guess there's a learning lesson in that too, because look at what's happened with Southwest recently.

[00:25:34] And again, you know, a company that I have loved for, for a long time, you know, Southwest kind of took up a lot of ATAs.

[00:25:43] Oh, they, they devoured, they devoured our carcass.

[00:25:48] I mean, it was, they really did.

[00:25:49] Yeah.

[00:25:49] It was, they, they saved us.

[00:25:51] They literally saved us and then polished us off.

[00:25:54] It was kind of a sad ending the way that went down, but sorry, you were saying about Southwest.

[00:25:59] Don't get me wrong.

[00:25:59] I do love, I have love and appreciate Southwest.

[00:26:02] I've always had a mad respect for Southwest for the way in which they do things.

[00:26:07] Their, their employees are amazing.

[00:26:09] Their, their company's been amazing, but they did have a meltdown recently in a big way, but go ahead and finish.

[00:26:14] We did.

[00:26:15] And, you know, kind of, I guess it reminds me a little bit of the ATA ending and in some ways, because sometimes when new leadership comes in and wants to flip it on its head and do things differently.

[00:26:26] And, you know, it becomes a lot about shareholders and what it looks like on paper.

[00:26:31] You know, you hear that a lot when you get new ideas and new management involved.

[00:26:36] And, and there was a lot of comments about how they kind of got lost from their, their, they lost their voice.

[00:26:44] Their employees maybe didn't, weren't heard.

[00:26:46] And, you know, now it's, I think they've done a good job at coming back though.

[00:26:49] I just read an email from that went, you know.

[00:26:52] I read that the, the CEO's email.

[00:26:55] Took responsibility.

[00:26:56] Owned it.

[00:26:57] And you know what?

[00:26:59] That I can admire and respect and get behind.

[00:27:02] So, you know, I think they're going to right the ship.

[00:27:05] I think it's going to hopefully be okay, because I do think at the end of the day, again, that story too, of Fred, what was Fred's last name?

[00:27:13] Not Fred, FedEx.

[00:27:14] Who was the founder of, of Gene?

[00:27:17] Is it Gene?

[00:27:18] I'm getting names mixed up.

[00:27:19] I'm just, I'm just sitting here smiling right now.

[00:27:23] Whoever, Herb.

[00:27:25] Herb Keller.

[00:27:26] Herb Keller, yes.

[00:27:26] I could have let you go on that one, but you got it.

[00:27:28] I mean, I went from Fred to Gene to Herb.

[00:27:31] So, hey.

[00:27:31] Freddie Laker.

[00:27:32] No, that wasn't it.

[00:27:33] But, you know, I mean, that's.

[00:27:35] Honey Coletta.

[00:27:36] Yeah.

[00:27:36] He instilled some pretty good values in that company that's made the people stay, right?

[00:27:44] It's like people over profits kind of, I guess, model.

[00:27:47] And so it sounds like, you know, and I'm hopeful that they come around and can get back on board.

[00:27:54] Oh, I hope so.

[00:27:55] But let's get back to Elevate for a minute because there's something else that I discovered as I was researching what you do these days.

[00:28:03] And you have the Elevate Travel Club.

[00:28:06] I do.

[00:28:06] I do.

[00:28:07] I mean, what?

[00:28:09] Is this now being modeled after Ambassador?

[00:28:11] Or where are you going with this?

[00:28:13] And how long have you had that?

[00:28:14] You know, the club was born during the pandemic.

[00:28:18] I, in full transparency, I really thought, oh, this is it.

[00:28:22] This is going to sink the ship here.

[00:28:24] And I don't know what to do.

[00:28:26] I can't.

[00:28:26] I can't.

[00:28:27] I can't stay in business, right?

[00:28:29] Because there's nothing to sell.

[00:28:32] There's nowhere to go.

[00:28:33] There's no experience.

[00:28:34] That's not true.

[00:28:35] During the pandemic, you literally all, I mean, all you could have done was take people on excursions to Florida where they could live without masks and breathe and eat normally.

[00:28:44] Short of that, yeah, no, there's nothing exciting at that point.

[00:28:47] Yeah.

[00:28:47] Yeah.

[00:28:47] So once I kind of had my own grieving party and, you know, we literally just like, you know, think about the days of being around and during 9-11 where all flights were grounded and we had to go into kind of survival mode and get people home, right?

[00:29:02] Same thing happened at Elevate.

[00:29:04] We had people and I had a group in India and I had a group in San Francisco.

[00:29:09] We had to get everyone home safely.

[00:29:11] So that was priority number one.

[00:29:12] And then reality sunk in and it was like, okay, it's not looking good here.

[00:29:17] And so after my little pity party and grieving party, I decided to get creative and I started what I call my epic adventure virtual series.

[00:29:26] I thought, okay, how can I bring together community and, you know, take people on experiences virtually?

[00:29:34] Because I was watching the virtual stuff and tell them it was boring.

[00:29:37] I know to watch another webinar and sit there and listen to a speaker, get up and do their spiel and all that is okay.

[00:29:45] But I like extraordinary elevated experiences.

[00:29:50] And I like those five senses to be evoked when I'm traveling or really doing anything.

[00:29:54] And so I thought, okay, how can we do this?

[00:29:58] And so Elevate Travel Club started and I started a Facebook page and the group grew overnight.

[00:30:03] So I knew there was a demand for it because it was clear to me that people wanted to gather and connect during this virtual or this new world we were living in.

[00:30:12] And at first, the first year I charged a membership fee of 99 a year.

[00:30:15] It doesn't, that, that price tag sound familiar.

[00:30:19] Subscription service though.

[00:30:21] It's a great idea, especially when you're down.

[00:30:23] Yeah.

[00:30:23] And, and it also allowed me to bring people together and show them, Hey, here is a preview of where you could take your next group.

[00:30:32] Right?

[00:30:32] So I've gathered corporate clients.

[00:30:34] I gathered leisure clients and I thought, okay, at the club, if you join, we're going to do one trip a year.

[00:30:40] I'll be the guide and we're going to have this live like a local experience.

[00:30:43] And so we ended up, this is my little feather in my cap, but let's see, I launched back in, I don't know when it, what 2020.

[00:30:54] So 2021, I think was our, no, I'm sorry.

[00:30:57] At the end of 2020, December, we went on safari to South Africa.

[00:31:00] I would give a trip away at the end of each virtual to one of our attendees.

[00:31:05] Literally the supplier on the other side in South Africa, my partners, DMCs, hotels, they draw the name out of the hat of the attendee on the virtual.

[00:31:14] And they'd win, you know, I had people went a safari.

[00:31:17] I had clients win a trip to Argentina and, and, you know, all these incredible experiences.

[00:31:24] And then, and then February of 2021 came around and I thought, okay, I'm going to show people what it's like to travel right now, because the word on the street is that it's challenging and it stinks and it's, you know, a pain.

[00:31:39] And it was all of those things.

[00:31:41] Let me tell you.

[00:31:42] But I also wanted to show people that it could still be safe and fun.

[00:31:46] And we were there to handle all the crappy paperwork that need and help people make it easy, right?

[00:31:52] Hit that easy button.

[00:31:53] So I go on a trip to Aruba.

[00:31:55] I partnered with the Aruba Tourist Board.

[00:31:57] I partnered with Maui Gym Sunglasses.

[00:31:59] I don't know if you know that brand very well, but they're one of my favorite for experiential gifting.

[00:32:05] I partnered with the Renaissance Marriott in Aruba and we put together, I came down and we did a little mini movie.

[00:32:11] Also my DMC in Aruba was, oh goodness, I can't remember the name, which is horrible, but I had a destination management company that helped with tours, right?

[00:32:19] Taking people on the tours.

[00:32:20] And we literally, I was, you know, during that time, I would take my cell phone and I would film myself and put out little nuggets of videos on LinkedIn about what I was doing and why.

[00:32:33] And would you believe a journalist from the Wall Street Journal saw my video?

[00:32:37] Wow.

[00:32:38] They took the phone and called me.

[00:32:39] And she, a month later, called me to say, I'm putting your story on the front page of our section of the Wall Street Journal.

[00:32:46] Sarah.

[00:32:47] So that's incredible.

[00:32:49] It was pretty awesome.

[00:32:50] That's incredible.

[00:32:51] It was my validation to keep going, right?

[00:32:53] Keep going.

[00:32:54] Because I will tell you, I considered many times closing up shop and shifting gears and trying to do something else because it was really challenging.

[00:33:02] And, you know, we were in the red for a couple of years.

[00:33:04] So at any rate, it was well worth it and so grateful for the partners that I had during the time and just the community we built.

[00:33:14] So now our club does one trip a year.

[00:33:16] We're going to Kenya in September.

[00:33:18] It's open to anyone.

[00:33:19] Anyone can join, but I keep it very small intentionally so that we can offer this really unique, small, kind of high touch.

[00:33:27] Similar to what we do for corporate big, but these are kind of intentionally small to get you behind the scenes and do the non-touristy thing that you can do so more with small groups.

[00:33:36] It's the once-in-a-lifetime approach.

[00:33:38] That's awesome.

[00:33:40] Now, listen, I had no idea that you were on the cover.

[00:33:43] I guess the front page of the, was it the travel section on the Wall Street Journal?

[00:33:47] That is, that's fantastic.

[00:33:49] I'm so proud of you, Sarah.

[00:33:51] That's so awesome.

[00:33:52] Oh, my gosh.

[00:33:52] It was incredible.

[00:33:53] It was like I was in a dream.

[00:33:56] I thought, am I getting punked?

[00:33:57] Is this a prank?

[00:33:58] Is this real?

[00:33:59] Is this a scammer?

[00:34:00] You innovated.

[00:34:01] I mean, look at what you did.

[00:34:03] You took something that would have killed most companies and could have killed your own.

[00:34:08] And you really innovated your way and were creative in how you solve the problems.

[00:34:12] You probably never thought of yourself as inspirational, but Sarah, you're quite inspirational when it comes to what you do.

[00:34:18] Thank you.

[00:34:18] Think about that.

[00:34:19] Yeah.

[00:34:19] You know, as I get older and start to think about my purpose and how I can help more people, I think inspiration is a big why for me.

[00:34:28] It really is.

[00:34:28] So thank you for sharing that.

[00:34:30] Oh, thank you.

[00:34:31] I mean, you shared.

[00:34:32] I think you shared something that anyone who listens to this can walk away from this and realize that hopefully realize that they're paying any attention whatsoever.

[00:34:40] They have half a brain that under the worst circumstances, you can still be creative and come up with something and be OK.

[00:34:46] And in your case, not just be OK, but I mean, talk about a gift.

[00:34:50] You accelerated past any expectations.

[00:34:53] I mean, you were just posting videos trying to say, hey, everyone, it's OK.

[00:34:56] And next thing you know, bam, look at what you've got.

[00:34:58] You've got tremendous exposure.

[00:34:59] And I love what you're doing because you're creating once in a lifetime experiences.

[00:35:04] And, you know, a lot of times I talk with a lot of people about business.

[00:35:09] I'm a business owner myself, obviously.

[00:35:11] And, you know, a lot of people think money, money, money.

[00:35:14] Business equals money.

[00:35:15] I know far too many people who do think that way.

[00:35:17] And it's sad because they tend to kind of miss out on some of the joys of life.

[00:35:21] But it's really never about the money.

[00:35:24] It's about the experiences.

[00:35:26] It's about, you know, those once in a lifetime memories that you can create, because as much

[00:35:31] as it would be great to have a Maserati and believe me, I'm sure one day I'll own one

[00:35:34] because my wife will force us into it.

[00:35:36] I'll go kicking and screaming, of course.

[00:35:38] But the car will never bring anyone as much joy as the once in a lifetime experiences.

[00:35:43] And you're living that.

[00:35:45] Yeah, I gotta be proud.

[00:35:46] It's amazing.

[00:35:47] And you know how sometimes our children or kids in general are our greatest teachers,

[00:35:52] right?

[00:35:52] I love this story because my son, who's now 15, I took him.

[00:35:58] I had to go do a site inspection at a dude ranch in Colorado, right?

[00:36:03] And I decided to take my son along and said, hey, let's go for the weekend.

[00:36:06] You know, we're going to go horseback riding.

[00:36:08] We're going to go mountain biking.

[00:36:09] You're going to get to shoot BB guns or whatever.

[00:36:13] And, you know, fishing, you name it.

[00:36:15] So we go on this incredible fall long weekend and we get back and we did everything.

[00:36:21] We did it all.

[00:36:22] Everything I just named and more.

[00:36:24] We did even more than that.

[00:36:25] But I get back and I say to my son, who was probably, I don't know, 11 or 12 at the time.

[00:36:29] And I said, Carson, what was your favorite part?

[00:36:31] What was the best?

[00:36:32] What was the favorite thing you did?

[00:36:34] Your best memory, your best experience.

[00:36:35] And he said, getting there.

[00:36:37] And so, and to go back, I remember taking snapshots of what, you know, the process of him getting

[00:36:43] excited about flying on the plane, the process of getting the car and driving up the switchbacks

[00:36:49] of the mountains to get to Granby, Colorado at 11,000 feet or 9,000 feet elevation and the

[00:36:57] awe and the wonder and the journey, right?

[00:36:59] It's that message of enjoying the journey, enjoying the experience.

[00:37:03] And I just love that.

[00:37:04] It was such a great reminder of every little touch point from the moment you say yes to

[00:37:10] the experience, yes to the trip, whatever it may be.

[00:37:14] That's when the journey really begins and to really savor each and every moment and each

[00:37:18] and every stop along the way.

[00:37:19] I love what you just said there, because I'm going to take it.

[00:37:22] I'm going to, I'm going to strip it down to the most important for people.

[00:37:27] And that is to say yes.

[00:37:29] Too many people say no.

[00:37:30] They say no for a myriad of reasons, but every one of those no's probably strip you

[00:37:34] of a tremendous memory and experience.

[00:37:37] And that's sad.

[00:37:37] It is, you know, it is.

[00:37:40] We sometimes will, you know, let time and money be our, be our reasons why that we say no.

[00:37:47] But wow.

[00:37:48] Is it, you know, at least it's, if it's something you value, if experiences are something you

[00:37:52] value or quality time with a loved one or, you know, with your team, with your customers,

[00:37:57] you know?

[00:37:58] I mean, you name who that audience really is that, you know, saying yes really opens

[00:38:03] you up to so much more.

[00:38:05] It just does.

[00:38:06] It can.

[00:38:07] I'm learning that myself.

[00:38:08] You know, I, I sometimes even in my world today that I love, I love traveling with clients.

[00:38:15] I love traveling on my own and with my son and, you know, but sometimes I get a little

[00:38:20] guilt.

[00:38:21] I still get a little mom guilt that I'm, you know, leaving him behind and I'm off working.

[00:38:25] And so sometimes, you know, that, that yes, for me, I struggle a little bit, but I know

[00:38:31] if it's, I call it a full body or a, like a hell yes.

[00:38:35] Like when you're all in and when you just say yes, you know, your body will give you that

[00:38:39] feedback.

[00:38:40] You'll feel it.

[00:38:40] And, um, so many more doors open for me when I, when I go all in and when I say yes, even

[00:38:46] though I may have a little bit of a head chatter or negative, negative chatter going on about,

[00:38:51] you know, Oh, you know, I'm going to miss out on, you know, my son's eighth grade graduation,

[00:38:56] which I did by the way.

[00:38:58] Bravo.

[00:38:59] I did, but you know what?

[00:39:00] I had a conversation with him and he was cool with it.

[00:39:03] I missed my kid's fifth birthday.

[00:39:05] I was in Pakistan or Bulgaria or something like that.

[00:39:08] A little bit of guilt on that one.

[00:39:09] I'm not going to lie.

[00:39:10] That one, uh, that was not one of my, my better moves.

[00:39:12] Yeah.

[00:39:12] I mean, I was, I mean, I was having an adventure.

[00:39:14] It was, it was, it was during COVID and you know, I'm flying all over the world and some

[00:39:19] of the craziest things happening.

[00:39:21] I mean, it was a wild adventures, but I'm not sorry.

[00:39:24] I mean, I don't have a regret there, but you know, kind of a bummer missing your kid's

[00:39:28] fifth birthday.

[00:39:29] Not, not, not a great dad moment, I guess.

[00:39:31] I know, but you know what?

[00:39:32] I think too, sometimes you got to find that, that fine line or that, at least for me, it's

[00:39:38] been conversations and as your kids get older, you can, they can start to articulate back

[00:39:42] to you what's important to them and what matters to them.

[00:39:44] Right.

[00:39:44] And so I'm grateful my son's now at the age to where he can truly say, mom, I really need

[00:39:48] you to be there or.

[00:39:50] Hey.

[00:39:50] Have at it.

[00:39:51] Love you.

[00:39:52] Bye.

[00:39:52] Peace out.

[00:39:53] Party at your house while you're gone.

[00:39:54] But it's been a journey to get here, right?

[00:39:57] To get to that point.

[00:39:58] So, yeah.

[00:39:58] So what would you say should be the biggest takeaway or the biggest, most important thing

[00:40:03] that you would like to tell an audience as we, as we close out our podcast together?

[00:40:08] You know, I'm a big dreamer and I think following your heart's desires and dreams are, and, and

[00:40:15] using your imagination are such powerful tools that we forget.

[00:40:20] And, you know, along with the dream, you've got to have people, you've got to have the

[00:40:24] people there to support the doers, right?

[00:40:27] The operational teams, the doers in life to help bring that vision to life.

[00:40:31] And so, you know, my message of inspiration is with Elevate and just what we do as a means

[00:40:36] of our jobs is that we love that's, that's how we love to bridge the gap and partner with

[00:40:41] our, with our clients is let us help you dream and let us help you execute.

[00:40:46] All right.

[00:40:47] Sarah, I'm going to ask you one question here and you don't have to commit to it because

[00:40:51] it's very forward thinking.

[00:40:52] Okay.

[00:40:53] Where do you think you and Elevate will be in five years from now?

[00:40:57] Where would you like to be?

[00:40:58] What do you imagine that could be?

[00:41:00] You're a dreamer.

[00:41:00] I already have the next big thing, Tom.

[00:41:03] Okay.

[00:41:03] Wow.

[00:41:04] I'm looking for people who are ready to support me in this vision.

[00:41:09] I'm looking for the doers and, and some of the dreamers and the doers for this next

[00:41:13] big vision I have, but I've had a vision for quite a long time that I'd love to start

[00:41:18] here in my community of Indianapolis.

[00:41:21] And it's called Elevate's Epic Adventure and Cultural Center.

[00:41:25] And I've been, I've lived here, born and raised in Indianapolis.

[00:41:29] I love my community.

[00:41:31] I've been blessed to travel all over the world.

[00:41:34] And I, every time I fly home, I get teary eyed every flight.

[00:41:37] When I land, I just took a picture of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as I was landing

[00:41:40] yesterday morning and I love my community.

[00:41:44] And yet I've always said, you know, the only thing we're missing here is the beach, water

[00:41:49] and mountain, you know, water and mountain.

[00:41:51] And so, um, I'm also a big believer of sustainability and how we can, how corporate America can become

[00:42:00] more aligned with nature.

[00:42:02] Um, how we can reduce our carbon footprint, right.

[00:42:05] From a individual and, you know, mass perspective.

[00:42:07] And so, you know, kind of think of it as this kind of nature scape and play scape of bringing

[00:42:12] indoor year round surf, ski, culture, immersive experiences that are open and accessible and

[00:42:22] available to all.

[00:42:23] And that can be a footprint for other cities to either repurpose existing space.

[00:42:29] Cause we have a lot of movement in that space, right?

[00:42:31] With commercial retail and buildings and all these empty offices and all these empty parking

[00:42:37] lots, how can we thoughtfully repurpose space to get our bodies moving from a health standpoint?

[00:42:44] Um, to bring, you know, my world is bringing together groups of people to create immersive

[00:42:49] experiences and have fun.

[00:42:51] And so adventure is rooted in all of that.

[00:42:54] Um, and so, yeah, that's my next big vision of starting that process of working with my city

[00:43:00] and the government officials and a lot of the businesses that are, um, you know, looking to,

[00:43:06] to turn that way or enhance that, um, relationship that we have with, with nature and with, you know,

[00:43:14] health and wellness, mental health.

[00:43:16] I mean, there are so many things I could go on and on about what this could do for a community

[00:43:20] and essentially the world.

[00:43:22] Starting there in hometown, Indianapolis.

[00:43:25] Starting in Indy.

[00:43:26] I love it.

[00:43:27] Well, get on it.

[00:43:28] That way I could bring the family out and we could experience, you know, Indy in, in,

[00:43:32] in the best possible way.

[00:43:34] Right.

[00:43:34] You know, maybe even an Olympics here, maybe.

[00:43:37] I've been, I've been to Indy.

[00:43:38] There's not that much going on there.

[00:43:39] I hate to say it.

[00:43:41] There's, there is, there's, there is good stuff, but you know, I spent a lot of time

[00:43:44] in Indy.

[00:43:45] It's not the most exciting place on earth.

[00:43:47] We need to do better with our use of outdoor space and, you know, nature and adventure

[00:43:53] space.

[00:43:54] You know, we have great sporting teams.

[00:43:57] We have a great music scene, great food scene.

[00:43:59] We have a lot of incredible things here.

[00:44:01] And so I'm ready to just bring that cultural component and bring it all together and incorporate

[00:44:06] adventure movement.

[00:44:08] And then, you know, really forward thinking with sustainability, solar, wind, healthy eating.

[00:44:13] I mean, and travel has been such a teacher of that for me.

[00:44:18] Right.

[00:44:18] A lot of those things are possible.

[00:44:19] Yeah.

[00:44:20] There.

[00:44:20] Well, Sarah, any, any last words, final thoughts?

[00:44:23] Any.

[00:44:23] An elevated day.

[00:44:25] I, I, I think we've said it all.

[00:44:27] I think it was spectacular to have you on an absolute pleasure.

[00:44:32] I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation.

[00:44:34] Um, and I look forward to seeing more of, of you and what you are continuing to build.

[00:44:39] Cause I think it's something very special.

[00:44:41] Thank you, Tom.

[00:44:41] It was so good to reconnect with you and always fun and keep making people laugh and just being

[00:44:46] amazing and smart.

[00:44:48] You're such a smart, smart person.

[00:44:50] And I, I hope that I know that everyone realizes that when they sit down and have a conversation

[00:44:54] with you.

[00:44:55] So you put the brain and brain ski, right?

[00:44:57] Isn't that your tagline or something like that?

[00:44:59] I mean, do I, do I have to hit stop?

[00:45:01] I mean, you can still keep telling me about me.

[00:45:03] That's fine.

[00:45:05] No, thank you so much.

[00:45:06] I appreciate it.

[00:45:06] And it is brain droppings with brain ski, just to be very clear.

[00:45:09] Brain droppings.

[00:45:10] That's what you're on.

[00:45:11] That's right.

[00:45:12] You got to know that.

[00:45:13] That's right.

[00:45:14] You got to, you know, you got to promote that cause I'm going to, I'm going to share it.

[00:45:16] So that's how that works.

[00:45:17] I can help you to brain ski.

[00:45:18] Okay.

[00:45:18] I got it.

[00:45:19] Got it.

[00:45:19] Well, thank you again, Sarah.

[00:45:21] I really appreciate it.

[00:45:22] Thanks Tom.