Shannon Jones, owner of ATX World Travel in Austin, Texas, decided after 20 years in corporate America to strike out on her own. Jones explains, “After so many years working to exceed someone else’s goals, it was time to take control of my own destiny.”
Like many women entrepreneurs, Jones leveraged her determination, grit, and connections to get her business off the ground. In this EBW exclusive, Jones shares her experience about how she navigated building her travel business during the shutdown, battled breast cancer, and is currently navigating major life changes for herself and her family.
- Can you give us a little background about where you’re from and your career?
I grew up in Houston and moved to Dallas during college. I graduated from The University of North Texas with degrees in Marketing & International Business around the dawn of internet commerce. I spent the next nearly 20 years working for and with major retail brands to build and market their e-commerce businesses.
- You worked in the corporate world for many years, then pivoted to start your own business. What was the hardest part of that transition?
The hardest part? Oh, I don’t know. The fear? The doubt? The nightmare of failure and losing everything I’ve worked for throughout my career? The terror of not having the safety net of a steady paycheck? The knowledge that I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and was 100% flying by the seat of my pants? You know, the normal things. But a mentor gave me some advice: get comfortable being uncomfortable. It’s almost like my battle cry now.
But aside from the mental Hunger Games, truly the hardest part was actually making the decision to do it and taking action … because a decision without action isn’t really a decision, is it?
- Entrepreneurs have to be ready for anything, and that was definitely the case for you. How were you able to sustain your newly launched travel business when Covid shut down travel?
The timing of the launch of my business and Covid was both lucky and unlucky. Unlucky for obvious reasons, but lucky because I had about enough time to develop some practical experience before the world shut down. The shutdown, while inconvenient, was actually beneficial for me because it allowed me the opportunity to conduct a launch post-mortem of sorts. A long one. I could dive deep into the previous 9 months to determine what I liked, what I didn’t, what I wanted to change, etc. For example, while the world was shut down, I dabbled in building the great American road trip – and then quickly decided this was not a niche that I particularly enjoyed. I also understood that, with the exception of Hawaii, Alaska, and certain U.S. territories, the vast majority of my business would be focused on international multi-destination travel and bespoke, immersive experiences.
In actuality, the entire world was only shut down for a relatively short amount of time. After that, travel planning became a giant game of whack-a-mole, and it became my job to consult on which countries were open or closed, what entry and exit requirements existed, and the logistics of transiting from one country to another… it was intense, and so was the demand, particularly among the luxury demographic. The world changed instantly, people found themselves homebound for months, and so came an attitude of “Carpe Diem!” where travelers couldn’t travel fast enough or far enough. Covid taught us that you never know what tomorrow may bring, so while pre-Covid travelers would daydream of that bucket list destination, post-Covid, they thought, “Why wait?”.
- How do you keep yourself centered and positive between the demands of your work and your personal life?
Two things:
First, mindset is key. There have been a few times where I’ve ditched work on a random Tuesday afternoon (I can do that, right? I’m the boss, after all), then found myself super stressed about some research I could be doing, or an itinerary that someone is waiting on that I promised to deliver later in the week. Finally, I’ve learned to remind myself: how many times have I dropped the ball? How many deadlines have I ever missed? Pretty much never, so chill out girl. It always gets done. Now go have some fun.
You also have to have something besides work – ideally a few somethings – that can clear your head and restore your mind, body, and spirit. For me, it’s my kids, tennis, a supportive circle of friends, my giant sheepadoodle Phineas, my Wednesday night mahjong group, and travel, of course. And there are a million more things that I want to do. All these things rejuvenate my spirit and make my heart happy, which allows me to come back to my desk with a clear head and sharp focus.
- What advice would you give anyone building a business while undergoing a major life change?
(a.) Success is not linear, and
(b.) for goodness sake, give yourself a break. You’re amazing, and whatever you’re doing is great.
In August 2022, I was hit with a breast cancer diagnosis that I was sure meant I would have to step away from my business and try to rebuild it once I was through the 8 months of treatment that lay ahead. Surprisingly (and luckily), it turned out that being able to focus on my work on the days I felt good actually helped me maintain a bit of normalcy, and I enjoyed my biggest growth year ever.
Fast forward to 2024. I’m in the midst of a painful divorce, and I assumed burying myself in work would help me sail through. Funny thing, that universe. Just when you think you have it figured out, it’s right there to remind you that you don’t have a clue. It’s been a struggle to stay focused on growing my business while trying to navigate the divorce process, and as a result, my year-over-year revenues have declined for the first time since I launched in 2018. But I’ve been around long enough to know that sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward, and business will come back into focus in due time.
Plus, here’s what I know for sure about the universe: it’s always working for me, even when it seems like it’s not, which is why I was ecstatic but not necessarily surprised when it put EBW in my path.
- How has EBW.ONE helped you?
I love planning luxury leisure travel, but lately, I’ve felt like I’ve been working slightly off-center. For example, I could be planning multiple and/or different types of travel, but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what that would look like. Or how I could make it work without making me insane. I needed some serious clarity. I spent a day working through Ingrid’s Vision Boarding workshop, and it was like a lightbulb had gone off. The roadmap is still not 100% crystal clear, but I’m becoming more confident that this yellow brick road I’m building (and rebuilding) for myself will keep me on the right path.
Thank you, Shannon, for sharing your story with EBW! You can connect with Shannon on EBW.ONE or her website, https://atxworldtravel.com/