|
Donna McDonald, Travel Plus |
|
|
|
Entrepreneurship allows Travel Plus owner to balance work and family - while doing something she loves
By Laura Masulis
Donna McDonald has always been passionate about travel. As a college student, she handled all of her friends’ travel plans, free of charge. After school, she went on to work in various travel agencies, racking up over twelve years of experience in the field. While she still loved planning trips for other people, she was frustrated by the lack of flexibility her employers offered her. Moreover, because she lived in a small Rhode Island town with only one travel agency, Donna was forced to seek employment elsewhere. Having three young children, ages fifteen months, five, and seven, she struggled to balance her family life and work life, especially with a long commute everyday.
Interested in working closer to home, Donna approached the owner of the sole local travel agency and expressed her interest in working with her company, or even purchasing the travel agency if she would ever consider selling it. Five months later, Donna received a call that the owner was ready to sell.
Thanks to the Center for Women and Enterprise, Donna was adequately prepared for this unexpected opportunity. After being encouraged by her husband to think about working for herself, Donna took “Steps to Starting a Business,” a business basics workshop. This class provided Donna with the necessary tools, resources, and direction to help her become a successful business owner of Travel Plus.
Since taking over the travel agency in May 2007, Donna reports business has been going well. Through creative marketing techniques like partnering with other local business owners to put on events like cruise nights or raffles, Donna has effectively spread the word about her woman-owned business.
Donna now hopes to attain certification from the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) in order to help attract contracts with major corporations and federal agencies. She plans to attend the WBENC Information Session and work with a WBENC Specialist at the Center for Women and Enterprise in order to achieve her goal of becoming WBENC certified. Donna attributes her recent success at Travel Plus to the encouraging clients and staff at the Center for Women and Enterprise, in addition to her ever-supportive husband.
To find out more about Donna McDonald’s travel agency, Travel Plus, please visit http://www.travelplusri.com/ or call (401) 828-2230.
|
