How Corporate Event Planner Stephanie Holcombe Booked $1.8M in Travel Without Leaving Her Day Job

Stephanie Holcombe has spent 20 years in the business of creating extraordinary experiences. She began her career in meetings and conventions before joining the events team at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead, where she worked with sports teams, entertainment groups, and corporate clients. After a stint opening a Kimpton property and doing third-party meeting planning, she joined a global leadership development organization as its internal event director. 

In this role, she plans high-end donor trips—think Paris, Fiji, Greece, chartered yachts, and access most travelers will never get—and conferences with thousands of attendees. She’s built the kind of supplier network that many travel advisors spend a career working toward.

But for most of those years, Stephanie wasn’t getting paid for the travel side of her work. Colleagues, guests, and event attendees sought out her recommendations. “I found myself giving advice,” she said, “but not really having a way to officially help them further.” She was doing all the work of a travel advisor without any commission to show for it.

She joined Fora in 2025. Her first booking, a Cayman Islands trip for her neighbor, covered her $299 membership fee. In 2026, she was named a Fora Centum honoree—one of Fora's 100 highest-producing advisors.

A platform for people with no time to waste

Stephanie was looking for a way to formalize work she’d been doing informally for years. Starting an independent travel business wasn’t realistic. “The overhead, the accounting, all of those things—I just didn’t have time for that,” she said. With Fora, she could skip the setup and start immediately. 

“I saw Fora and thought, is this too good to be true? Could I actually marry these two things together?” Stephanie said. Then she saw a hotel contact she trusted in a Fora video testimonial, which sealed it. “He loves excellence and quality,” she said. “If he was legitimizing Fora, maybe this was something I needed to keep on my radar.”

Since joining Fora, what’s kept her growing is the technology. “Doing things with excellence and a technology platform that can support and adjust for future needs, that’s where Fora really shines,” she said. “The ability to do things with speed.”

Stephanie used Bookable Quote to seamlessly book client rooms for an event

With Fora's Bookable Quote feature, advisors send quotes that update automatically and can be booked directly by clients on their own schedule.

Speed matters more than most people realize. When high-net-worth clients are ready to book, they’re busy, and a slow response can mean lost business. Bookable Quote has been a particular time-saver: When guests registered for a recent golf event, Stephanie used Portal to quickly source hotel options, then sent each guest a link to review and book rooms directly. No back-and-forth, no follow-up emails.

She’s also watched Fora’s platform expand quickly since she joined: the itinerary builder, Fora Flights, social media resources. “The technology is the hands that would otherwise require other roles filled by humans,” she said. “I can grow a business without necessarily thinking about who I’d have to hire.”

Staying in her lane, and growing there

Despite booking $1.8 million in travel in under a year, Stephanie isn’t looking to leave full-time work. Being deliberate about how Fora and her day job work together has been key to getting started and growing as quickly as she has. 

Stephanie’s first move after joining Fora was to tell her CEO. She wanted to be transparent that she was building something on the side, and make clear it was a complement to her existing role. That conversation was easy, and work has even become a source of clients.

But doing this in addition to her corporate planning means being selective about which opportunities she pursues and where she spends her attention. She qualifies new clients carefully, and she’s learned to expand within existing client relationships rather than constantly hunting for new ones. 

I don't want to be a flash in the pan. I want to grow and be excellent in everything I do.

Stephanie Holcombe

joined June 2025

For example, a honeymoon booking leads to a wedding room block. A room block leads to wedding night stays. “The commission can expand much faster than the amount of work,” Stephanie said, “if you know the right questions to ask.”

It's a mentality she describes as “low and slow.” “I don't want to be a flash in the pan,” she said. “I want to grow and be excellent in everything I do.” 

How Fora made success possible

Fora’s platform gave Stephanie the infrastructure she needed to get paid for work she was already doing.

• Flexibility: No overhead, business setup, or career change required. Stephanie joined and made her first booking within weeks, while keeping her full-time role.

• Commission infrastructure: Fora handles the back office most planners have to build or manage themselves, including contracts with 7,000+ preferred partners, invoicing, and accounting.

• Technology platform: Bookable Quote, the itinerary builder, and a rapidly expanding suite of features cut response time and eliminate manual back-and-forth, which is critical when serving busy, high-net-worth clients.

• Industry partnerships: Fora’s IATA combined with Stephanie’s 20 years of experience means stronger buying power, fast responses from partners, and added credibility with high-end properties.