Luxury travel advisor Courtnie Nichols' family has always been drawn to service. Her grandfather, Ernest McKinney, was the first Black alderman in the town of Jonesborough, Tenn., coincidentally elected the same day Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the other end of the state in 1968. Her father, Kevin McKinney, following in Ernest's footsteps, was the youngest and first Black mayor of Jonesborough.
Now, Nichols is following in their footsteps in her own fashion, hoping to serve the travel industry with a new diversity consultancy, Compass Collective. Compass Collective is the third travel business Nichols has founded; the Gainesville, Fla.-based advisor started the romance-focused agency TravelBash in 2017 and subsequently the membership-based agency TRVLB.
"My family has been rooted in community, advocacy, helping others, being a voice," Nichols said. "I'm not necessarily a politician. That's the way they gave back, but I feel like this business gives me my little piece of heaven [in] travel, trying to make sure that it's inclusive."
Nichols launched Compass Collective in mid-January.
Her interest in a travel career began a few years ago, when she used a travel advisor to arrange her destination wedding.
Her husband, Darris Nichols, was a professional basketball player before settling into his current profession as a college basketball coach. The Nichols had lived in Hungary and Amsterdam, among other places, then hopped from university to university, with five moves in nine years.
Courtnie Nichols worked as a professional fundraiser for universities and nonprofits during that time but was getting tired of finding a new job every time she moved.
All along, her travel advisor had encouraged her to consider a career in the industry. When she decided to build her own business, she launched TravelBash, which is focused on destination weddings, honeymoons and romance travel.
Nichols started work on Compass Collective last year, during pandemic-related downtime. For her, it's a way of being a "change agent" in the industry and sharing the values and legacy with which she was raised.
Compass Collective works with travel brands on being more inclusive of people of color.
"No one can tell me they don't want to be more inclusive," Nichols said.
She is already working with some destination management companies and convention and visitor bureaus, and she is open to working with fellow agencies, too.
Clients and prospective clients have largely been in two camps: "There's a little, 'I don't want to be the next hashtag,'" Nichols said, "but then there's, 'We have been trying to do this, and I don't think we're getting it right.'"
Many want to serve a more diverse group of travelers, she said. They know they're out there, and they know they're spending money, but they are having trouble attracting them. Even Nichols' fellow travel advisors are struggling with basics, such as where to get more diverse photos to use in marketing and advertising.
Lack of diversity in marketing and advertising has been raised as a pervasive issue in the travel industry. Nichols' answer: If a brand truly wants to be more diverse, they need to invest, even if that means having their own photo shoots. She is happy to connect travel brands with Black influencers and content creators, like those who have formed the Black Travel Alliance.
Her services go deeper than marketing and include one-on-one consulting, touching on such topics as diverse hiring practices, staff training, audience connection and building revenue.
"It's got to be authentic," she said. "It's got to be more than just a couple of pictures on your website. It's about being authentic and diving deep."
Nichols described TravelBash, her first agency, as her first "baby" in the travel space, but Compass Collective has taken its place.
"This is close to home," she said, "because I feel like I can really make a difference and still do what I love."