After Jana Gallagher retired from the Army in 2005, she found a second career that made use of skills she’d picked up in the service: arranging hotels and air travel for Reserve units preparing to deploy.
Gallagher served in the Army for 25 years, handling personnel matters. “My job encompassed a lot of things, mainly taking care of soldiers and making sure they were in the right spot,” she said. “I was also a recruiter in Texas and an equal opportunity adviser in Missouri.”
Inspiration for her next endeavor would come from a friend who was undergoing a career change of her own.
“I had a friend who had been a flight attendant and then started her own home-based travel agent business,” Gallagher said. “I told her that I would help her out and she said, ‘Why don’t you start your own?’ So we went to the [Luxury Travel Expo] in Las Vegas, and I got into it.”
Gallagher started Jana’s Jaunts in January 2006, but the business had some hiccups along the way when a couple of host agencies she joined went belly up. Last year, she signed on with Nexion, which has 3,000 agents and $238 million in annual sales, and Jana’s Jaunts has enjoyed success ever since.
Gallagher specializes in cruises, targeting former Army buddies, friends and family and taking advantage of Nexion’s extensive educational offerings.
Coincidentally for Gallagher, Nexion’s main training event is called Boot Camp, though “there’s definitely no similarity with the real Army boot camp,” she said with a laugh. “The food was good and the housing was great.”
Gallagher, originally from North Carolina, and her husband, also an Army veteran, retired to Indialantic, Fla., about a 90-minute drive from Orlando on Florida’s Atlantic coast.
Military families make up about 20% to 30% of Jana’s Jaunts’ business. Her military experience gives her insights into their needs. She knows, for example, that travel insurance is a necessity. “I always have to stress travel insurance because I know that deployments and things happen at the drop at the hat in the military.”
Gallagher is expanding this year into nonmilitary groups, targeting local women’s groups and gardening clubs. “We have a lot of ladies in the Orlando area with disposable income. Some of them are single and some of them are golf widows or have husbands who don’t like to travel.” Gallagher sees an opportunity for girlfriend getaways or cruises and other trips “for ladies only,” she said.
Her background as an Army recruiter has helped her in sales, giving her persuasive tools to use in the travel business. “The Army is really high on sales techniques that are like planting seeds. One is to pass out your cards everywhere. It really does work more often than not: Passing out your cards is like planting a seed. Talk to people and ask to plan their trip. Then, give them your card.”