Today we’d like to introduce you to Sonia Singh.
Hi Sonia, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My love for travel started as a young kid, traveling with my parents to places mostly outside the US. After finishing college, I began my career as a management consultant. The consulting lifestyle – being on the road almost every single week of the year – allowed me to visit new places and rack up travel benefits that made it easier for me to visit distant destinations around the world. It was also during these years of working on solving complex problems with my clients where I honed my planning skills. Bringing order to chaos and figuring out a path to make people’s lives easier came naturally to me.
As I traveled to more and more places, friends, family and referrals would reach out asking for help with their itinerary. After hearing, “You are really good at this, why are you not doing this professionally?” I finally decided it was time to start my travel planning business. I officially launched Yatri: Luxury Travel Planning in January of 2023. I have booked travel for clients looking for everything from a weekend US getaway to custom two-week itineraries around the world. I could not be happier curating unique experiences and narrowing down the list of hotels, local establishments, and more to visit.
My mission is to understand each of my clients so I can curate travel experiences that are meaningful to them and their travel companions. I see my purpose as freeing up my client’s time so they can enjoy the journey and be present during their travels.
Travel has and will continue to bring me an immense amount of joy. I see travel as a way to connect with people, nature and myself, which is not always possible to do from our home base with the pressures of work and other obligations. I hope to create lasting memories for all of my clients and help bring their bucket list journeys to life.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Most definitely not!
I am not a risk taker. My family encouraged me to start the business years before I actually did. I was hesitant to start something new, even though I knew I would be good at it. I needed to reassure myself I was making the right decision, so I spent many months talking to people in the travel industry and doing independent research before I was ready to jump in.
As I started the business, I was overwhelmed with the amount of training and research required for me to best help my clients and stay on top of what is happening in the industry. There are often times where I feel like I am falling behind because there is so much to do and learn and not enough hours in the day. I try to remind myself that it will, hopefully, get easier!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
For me, luxury does not mean expensive but rather rare and curated. I specialize in introducing my clients to more than just the “must-see” sights. Whether it’s a long weekend getaway or a 2-month vacation, I want my clients to return from their journey refreshed and satisfied. I check in with each of my clients when they return. I want to know how everything went, would they do anything different next time, did they love their guide, and could I have done something differently. To me, the best feedback I can hear is “you made travel stress-free (or as stress-free as travel can be)!”
What matters most to you?
Our lives are so busy, and it’s not easy to get away, so when a client is ready to plan that getaway (no matter how short or long), I take it seriously because I know they might not travel again for a while.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.yatriplanner.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yatriplanner/
Image Credits
Yvette Roman
