Joined in May 2025
Former medical marketing executive
Based in Jacksonville, FloridaUsing medical marketing skills to build a full-time travel business
Ryan Ali spent years in medical marketing, traveling extensively for work and planning vacations for friends who constantly told him he should be in travel. When he quit his job in the spring of 2025 with no plan beyond doing something he was passionate about, becoming a travel advisor seemed like a natural fit.
After researching multiple host agencies, Ryan chose Fora for its technology platform and community support. He joined in April 2025 with a goal of reaching $500,000 in sales by December. By year-end, he had booked $1.3 million—more than double his target.
Building travel expertise through daily discipline & training
When Ryan started, he felt the same overwhelm most new advisors experience. Fora’s platform, called Portal, had countless features and hundreds of trainings, so the learning curve felt steep. Rather than getting paralyzed by information overload, he created a structured approach to tackling Fora’s resources.
Every day, Ryan set five specific questions he needed to answer—from “How do I refund a booking?” to “What is a DMC?” He spent an hour each afternoon exploring Portal, clicking through every tab and feature to understand what resources were available. He researched one property management company and one hotel daily, sometimes using ChatGPT to randomly suggest properties he knew nothing about.
“You have to immerse yourself,” Ryan explained. “I love that idea of going to a Medina in Morocco and getting lost and finding things you didn’t know. That’s my approach with Portal—I wanted to investigate every aspect because every single page, every single tab that I saw, opened up resources that were unimaginable.”
The strategy worked. By understanding exactly what Portal offered, Ryan could quickly pull together comprehensive proposals and confidently book complex itineraries without second-guessing himself.
Ryan immersed himself in Fora’s training library to build destination expertise
Fora’s platform has a library of 800+ trainings, plus a community app where advisors exchange trip-planning knowledge, supplier contacts, and client management tips.
Tapping into community knowledge to accelerate growth
While Portal provided the technology foundation, Fora’s community became Ryan’s secret weapon for rapid scaling. He started a biweekly call with other advisors at similar experience levels where they shared client trips, discussed challenges, and exchanged supplier recommendations.
At a Fora in-person training called the Italy Intensive, Ryan experienced the full power of Fora’s community firsthand. Meeting 30 suppliers and connecting with dozens of advisors provided instant resources for client proposals.
“Anytime I have a chance to meet people like this, I’ll take it,” he said. “After learning about these properties, I now have proposals out to four of them to help with my clients.”
When a client requested a Costa Rica trip—a destination Ryan rarely booked—he didn’t struggle alone. He went online, connected with HQ specialists, attended a planning session where a great hotel was being featured, and quickly became proficient enough to deliver an exceptional itinerary. The collaborative approach meant he didn’t have to build expertise in isolation.
“I’ve met other advisors who say their agencies are super competitive and agents don’t really help each other,” Ryan said. “Why? My success is based on all my Fora teammates, and that is what sets Fora apart—we want to help each other out.”
Scaling through strategic client relationship management
Ryan’s background in marketing shaped his approach to client relationships. He understood that consistent, memorable touchpoints drive referrals and repeat bookings—but they need to cut through the noise of endless emails and texts.
I think when you find your joy and your happiness in the work that you do, success comes with it.
Ryan Ali
joined May 2025
His solution? Postcards from destinations. On the first day of every trip, Ryan writes postcards to five or six clients, mentioning he’s thinking about the destination for them and suggesting they connect when he returns. The response rate is remarkable: roughly 10 responses from every 30 postcards sent.
“Deliver something authentic,” Ryan explained. “Clients get tons of emails, phone calls, and texts. A postcard lands.”
Beyond postcards, Ryan implemented a systematic 30/60/90-day client outreach plan. Each quarter, he selects three or four new destinations to actively promote to his client base. By October, he was already planning client outreach three months ahead, reaching out about spring break and summer travel while others were still focused on immediate bookings.
This methodical approach transformed his business from reactive to proactive, enabling him to scale from $100,000 to $200,000 monthly, with a February 2026 target of $300,000 in sales.
“I think when you find your joy and your happiness in the work that you do, success comes with it,” he said.
How Fora made success possible
Community support: Knowledge sharing with a community of advisors through Forum, WhatsApp groups, and in-person events like the Italy Intensive
Technology platform: Portal’s comprehensive features for efficient research, confident booking, and business growth tracking
Structured training: Live support calls, group booking support, and cruise line certifications for continuous learning opportunities that accelerate expertise development
Direct HQ access: Ability to connect with Fora team members for specialized travel guidance, plus leadership investment in individual advisor business growth
