How Entrepreneur Stephanie Bloom Sold $500k in Travel Her First Year

Making the leap from design business to travel advisor

Stephanie Bloom spent five years running her own table linen and accessories design business. This meant traveling throughout Europe and Asia for inspiration and sourcing, which naturally led to friends and family asking her about restaurants, hotels, and destinations—advice she happily provided for free.

“I was that person that everyone’s always asking where to go and what to do,” she said.

When her design business wound down in early 2024, Stephanie heard about Fora through another advisor. She realized she could earn income from planning travel, and her entrepreneurial background gave her realistic expectations about building a business from the ground up.

“When you’re an entrepreneur, I think it needs to be clear that this is yours—what you put in is what you’ll get out of it,” she said. “Fora will support you, and give you all the tools. But at the end of the day, you’re not working for Fora. You own a business.”

Stephanie became a Fora Advisor in February 2024 and transitioned to full-time advising within six months, giving herself a full year to build the skills and systems needed for long-term success.

How strategic client relationships drive referrals and repeat bookings

Stephanie spread the word about her new business through monthly newsletters, highlighting specific destination knowledge—like the best places for afternoon tea in London. She also made a strategic decision about her personal network.

“I told people close to me that the best way they can support me is by referring me to people. That’s better than them even booking with me,” she said. “My two clients that give me a lot of great business came from somebody I know but doesn’t book travel with me.”

If you really want to keep clients, you’ve got to invest in them. And it has to be personal.

Stephanie Bloom

joined March 2024

Throughout the year, Stephanie maintains personal touch points, sending birthday wishes to clients and their children, sharing targeted hotel recommendations based on client preferences, and offering post-trip coffee meetings for local clients.

“If you really want to keep clients, you’ve got to invest in them. And it has to be personal,” she said.

This relationship-first approach paid off quickly. By early 2025—nearly one year after joining—Stephanie hit a velocity moment where business shifted from active outreach to inbound referrals. She had already scaled to $500,000 in travel sales during her first year.

Building destination expertise through Fora’s community

Stephanie credits Fora’s community as instrumental in accelerating her expertise across destinations she hadn’t personally visited. She uses WhatsApp groups strategically, searching by destination and reaching out to specialist advisors for client-specific recommendations.

“The community is probably Fora’s biggest tool,” she said. “We really help each other.”

Fora’s community was crucial in growing Stephanie's business

Our collaborative travel advisor community exchanges ideas through in-person events, location-specific chapters, and Fora’s online community app, called Forum.

She also participated in industry trips (called Fams) to India and Marrakech, selecting trips based on booking potential rather than her personal preferences. These experiences built both destination expertise and relationships with fellow advisors who continue to share insights and contacts.

How Fora made success possible

• Entrepreneurial business model: Complete business ownership with flexible support structure so advisors grow businesses on their own terms

• Collaborative advisor community: Knowledge-sharing networks where advisors support each other’s success across destinations and specialties

• Automated client management tools: Pre-travel reminder notifications and service fee invoicing for professional touch points that build client trust and legitimacy

• Strategic learning resources: Sidekick navigation tool and targeted training to help quickly access destination expertise and platform guidance as the business scales