Why We Started
I grew up going to Walt Disney World. We called my dad Mr. Tour Guide, and those trips are the best memories I have of being a kid.
When my oldest was a baby, I took her for the first time. Watching her light up at a character, seeing the whole thing through her eyes, was the most magical thing I could have imagined. We kept going as she grew, and then with my youngest, the four of us. Teacups spinning too fast. First roller coasters. Hugs from characters. I can still hear the giggles.
Then I was diagnosed with cancer, and we canceled a trip.
I told myself I would make it to that trip. My girls were three and five. I wanted them to have one more big memory of me, in case that was what it came to. Getting there was the finish line I held onto through treatment, and it turned out to be a starting point instead.
“I remember every minute of it. Checking into the resort, someone was skywriting overhead, and the words came out as Love God. It felt like a signature on something that had already been written.”
That trip is why this company exists. Memories are what is left. When my girls are grown and making memories with their own families, the trips are what they will carry. I wanted to help other families build that while they can.
The Advisors
I have been careful about who joins. Every advisor here shares the same view of what this work is for, and we genuinely like each other. We collaborate, we compare notes, we care how each other’s clients do.
That is deliberate, and it is why we have not grown faster. An advisor who does not understand the heart of this would be easy to hire and hard to undo.
It is also why we say we create magic. That is not a tagline. It is the actual job.
What Comes Next
Both of my daughters want to build careers in travel, and one is in college working toward it now. I did not plan that. They have traveled the world with me and seen the joy in this work, in our advisors and in our clients. They want that too.
Us, over the years
Ashlee Walker
CEO and Founder