24. Jobs for Military Spouses Through the Travel Industry with Ashley Metesh-McCoy

According to today’s guest, unemployment for military spouses is six to seven times higher than it is for the general population. This makes sense considering that military families move frequently. Starting over and finding a new job can be a challenge. Today’s guest experienced this herself. Ashley Metesh-McCoy was raised in the military and was used to the moves. She also served for about ten years. In this time, she met her husband, and now she is a military spouse and a veteran. 

After Ashley left the military she earned an MBA at George Washington University. She found a job working in corporate strategy for Carnival Cruise Lines. She also discovered that travel was a viable career option and the perfect fit for military spouses. After all, they travel frequently and the ability to work remotely would mean they wouldn’t have to switch jobs after every move. She had always wanted to be an entrepreneur and turned her idea into a business. 

Ashley founded Kinship Vacations which is a travel design firm that helps people plan unique travel experiences. Ashley is the owner and lead travel advisor. She also found a way to help other military spouses. Within her business is a training component that teaches military spouses and veterans how to create long-term career opportunities in the travel industry in a portable business model. Her entire team consists of military spouses and veterans. In this episode, Ashley shares her business success and how she helps others do the same. 

Highlights from Episode 24

[01:22] Ashley's step dad was an Army Ranger. She joined the Washington National Guard to help with college expenses. She then started school at the University of Washington. She drilled as a guardsman and got an ROTC scholarship. 

[03:10] After graduating, she was commissioned as an officer in the National Guard.

[03:25] She was then deployed to Afghanistan in 2006 to 2007, and that's where she met her husband. 

[03:49] They've been married now for almost 12 years. 

[04:03] She got out of the military in 2011 and got her MBA. Her husband also got his master's at the same time. 

[04:35] They then moved to Florida. Ashley had a baby and her first post-military job was working for Carnival Cruise Lines in competitive intelligence. 

[05:26] Ashley always wanted her own business. The next time the family had to move, she decided to start her own travel agency. In the process, she learned that this would be a cool opportunity for military spouses.

[06:07] Military spouses want to work and for most families a dual-income is necessary.

[06:33] Military spouses move all the time and live in really cool places, so they have a really great travel knowledge and need portable careers.

[06:41] Ashley started a program for military spouses and veterans which trains them on how to start their own home-based travel agencies.

[06:52] The program has been going for about a year-and-a-half now, and she has seven sub-contracted travel agents working with her and one administrative person. 

[07:55] She won an ASTA Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Her competition included people who had been on Shark Tank. 

[11:25] Coming from a military background with all the challenges that we face makes us very entrepreneurial.

[12:57] Ashley uses Zoom to stay in contact with her virtual team that's all over the world. They also have a private Facebook group and use Trello.

[14:57] To avoid isolation when working at home, it's crucial to align yourself with some type of community.

[17:58] Having a remote business had been a life changer for Ashley and the people she works with. The flexibility is great. 

[23:16] The challenge of finding jobs for military spouses is finally getting the attention it needs. Ashley is working on a grass roots level.

[24:11] The Kinship training program has three components. The training portion is virtual module based training. The second component is structured mentorship. The third part is Ashley's proprietary system.

[26:08] Her program is designed so that someone who has never worked in the travel industry but has a passion for it can step into the job. The program is a year-long, but it's technically at your own pace.

[28:19] Everyone in Ashley's program is a military spouse and some are also veterans.

[28:50] Industry familiarization trips or research travel is a tax write-off for travel agents.

[29:17] Agents are also offered discounts and even free trips. Ashley has been to Slovenia twice in the last two years.

[30:38] Find something that brings you joy that you can monetize. Align yourself with a supportive community.

Links and Resources

Kinship Vacations

Ashley Metesh-McCoy on LinkedIn

[email protected]

Kinship Vacations on Twitter

Kinship Vacations on Instagram

Kinship Vacations on Facebook

American Society of Travel Advisors

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