Sarah Kennedy, one of Beverley Travel's 16 homeworkers, went full time with her business Soar & Explore in August 2024, juggling travel sales with her work as a Senior Registrar treating sick travellers upon their return to the UK.

Kennedy, who has been shortlisted for Home-based Travel Agent of the Year at this month's TTG Travel Industry Awards, says she "loves" what she does, but stresses she still doesn't view her work as sales.

"I offer my help and people take it – it's lovely that I can make money from it, but I don't see it as a sales job," she remarks. "I actually find sales really icky. If someone tries to sell you something, I don't like that so I don't do that. I don't want people to think I'm selling to them."

Over the past 12 months, Kennedy has made £1.9 million in sales, including one booking worth north of £100,000. But she insists she enjoys working on lower value holidays every bit as much as the biggies. "I'm not target or figures driven, I see my role as helping rather than sales," she explains.

Thankfully for her, Beverley Travel's Co-Directors Karl Douglas and Kelly Cheesman don't set their homeworkers sales targets either.

'I loved that I could do that'

Kennedy discovered Beverley Travel after one of the agency's homeworkers responded to a post of hers on a Facebook forum, in which she said she was looking to get into travel.

"She introduced me to Kelly. I had a call with her and later met her at Beverley Travel's shop," said Kennedy. "I really wanted to meet the person I was potentially going to be working with.

"Some homeworking agencies are so big you would never meet the person at the top so I loved that I could do that."

Kennedy reveals that because Beverley Travel's homeworking division is smaller than most, homeworkers can have business reviews either on a monthly basis or every other month.

"If I want them, they will have all my sales figures ready to show me, but really it's an opportunity for them to go through any support I need or marketing ideas I have," she says.

Asked how she feels about hitting £2 million in sales, Kennedy says: "It's complete shock. I did not expect to be in this situation."

Sarah Kennedy

For Kennedy, bringing in £2 million in sales over the past year means she is making around £166,000 worth of bookings every month, on average.

It was aged 18 Kennedy developed her passion for travel when she went Interrailing around Europe with friends. However, she had already set out on the path to becoming a doctor when she took her GCSEs in Northern Ireland.

Her love for travel was strengthened further when she won a community scholarship to study in the US for a year. "I lived there, boarded there, and studied lots of subjects linked to travel like Middle Eastern Studies," she explains.

'The NHS faces a lots of challenges'

Once back in the UK, Kennedy completed a six-year medical degree split between Cambridge University and University College London, but was "pulled" up to Yorkshire where she now lives with her husband, who worked in Harrogate.

"I worked in Bradford hospital, in Harrogate hospital and in Leeds – but I basically got to the point where I was fed up with being on a rota and having to request annual leave," she reveals.

"Plus, the NHS faces lots of challenges now from a staffing and resource point of view. I wanted a job with more flexibility, one I'm really passionate about that works better around my family so it means I don't have to miss sports day or the nativity play."

This summer, she was able to look after her two children thanks to having her own travel agency business. "As an agent, I can pick up work on a weekend whereas medicine lacks that flexibility because you're on a rota and you turn for your shift," she says.

Sarah Kennedy

So what skills has she been able to transfer across to her new career? "As a doctor, you get taught to qualify your client by asking lots of questions so I've used that skill in my travel work. Then there's the problem solving, which doctors do day in, day out.

"I problem solve in travel because, unfortunately, not everything goes to plan. There's also that commitment to learning. Being a medic involves life-long learning that you have to do to stay up to date. I'm still learning every day in my role as a travel agent."

One thing she won't do, though, now she is no longer a practising medic, is advise her clients on health-related matters. Nonetheless, she will draw upon her "useful" medical knowledge if a client wishes to travel to a destination where there's a risk of them getting malaria, yellow fever or the Zika virus.

"I don't give advice," she says. "I signpost and make sure they've consulted a travel clinic to make sure they've had the necessary vaccines."

'Game-changing' tactic 

Interestingly, Kennedy believes meeting new clients via a Zoom or Teams call has been a "game-changer" for her business rather than any skills she acquired during her 10-year medical career.

"When you communicate via email or on the telephone, you're not actually seeing each other's face," Kennedy says. "I think this has massively helped with conversion. It also helps us find out if we're the right fit for each other.

"Having a video call with new clients is pretty mandatory. I dress professionally and I can make eye contact with them. I explain to them my role and gauge that commitment to working with me."

She adds: "You need to avoid spending hours and hours working on a holiday for someone who has no intention of booking with you."

So what has been the secret to scaling her business so quickly? "I really enjoy working with doctors," she reveals, adding around half of her clients are medics. "Having been one, I know how hard they work and how little headspace they actually have for holiday planning."