Today we’d like to introduce you to Steph Gallo & Julia Asselin.
Hi Steph & Julia, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
We first met in college, seven years ago at West Chester University of Pennsylvania through our sorority, Delta Phi Epsilon. After being named Big & Little (we still laugh about that now), we became close sharing similar interests; fashion, marketing, and travel.
While planning a girl’s trip for us and our three best friends to Napa, an idea struck us. We both LOVE planning and researching trips, and have been doing it for friends and family for years – we NEED to make this a job! We spent 3-4 months before launch working on our marketing and content strategy, designing the website and creating our customer experience journey; and the rest is history.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We have been really lucky – people have been super kind and supportive of our business (especially as we were ironing out the details in the beginning). We will say, the road has not always been easy – in the beginning, we had to build up a network and client list of people (outside of our friends and family) who trust us. 7 in 10 customers will purchase more from a brand they trust – we have worked on building trust by using social media to showcase our knowledge, create a bond with potential clients and share more about us personally.
While our services may not be a perfect match for everyone, we value each connection we make and are continuously learning how to improve. We are still trying to build our social following and broaden our reach through new platforms – like TikTok! Each platform takes patience and lots of practice but we are so happy to have such loyal followers who continue to celebrate our business.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about The Itinerary Girls?
We offer boutique travel consulting services. We pride ourselves in a fully customizable service, catering to your travel preferences and budget. We understand travel can feel uncertain and confusing and that the planning can be daunting. We aim to be trusted travel advisors – putting the work in so our clients don’t have to.
We offer two different types of packages here at the Itinerary Girls – one for the traveler who needs a few ideas of what to see and where to go and the other for the traveler who wants a bit more of a structured vacation. Both options can be as involved (or not) as you’d like. We are more than happy to work WITH you, not just FOR you, in the planning process.
PLANS THAT WE OFFER:
#1: Bare Bones: Curated list of recommendations (activities, food, drinks, etc.)
#2: The Itinerary: We will research and curate a unique day-day itinerary for your trip and you can handle all the bookings.
At this time, we do not handle bookings for any hotels, flights, activites, tours or restaurants. The booking power is in your hands so there’s no 3rd party to go through if you need to make changes!
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
We recognize that traveling during COVID can be scary. During this time we tried to pivot as much as we can – offering outdoor exclusive packages (restaurants, hiking, etc). We learned that everyone’s comfort zones are different during these unprecedented times and we have to be understanding and accommodating. We provide all relevant Covid-19 information for the location they are traveling to and answer any questions they may have. While most countries have stopped requiring a negative test to enter, many still enforce masks on public transport or in certain areas. We want our clients to feel confident, comfortable and excited about their trip; knowing they have the most updated and correct information.
Contact Info:
- Email: theitinerarygirls@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.
theitinerarygirls.com/ - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/ theitinerarygirls/ - Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/theitinerarygirls
Image Credits
@lexibrownphoto
