Meet Jessica Crozier | Travel Planner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jessica Crozier and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jessica, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?

When I started selling travel over 4 years ago, I always thought it would be a fun hobby. I didn’t expect to ever make much money- I just really enjoyed planning travel, and I was good at it. Primarily, up until then my travel planning was mostly theme parks. Last summer, however, I planned a river trip in Europe for my family. On that trip, I met a full-time travel planner. She gave me a little spark of inspiration. And throughout the week, we chatted several times and she gave me some really great advice on how to start. Once I returned home, I did a lot of research, conducted several interviews with host agencies (after all, I was scoping them out just as much as they were scoping me out).

After taking a lot of time and pouring over website reviews, I finally landed with a host agency in September of 2022. I also created an LLC with my name, Elevating Adventures, built a website, hired a brand manager, and did the grunt work of creating a business.

At this time, I was working full time as the Director of Operations at a laboratory and while I loved the people I was working with and the job I was doing, I wanted and needed more flexibility in my schedule. I didn’t love the idea of working a 9-5 office job. You see, my daughter has special needs, and so doctor’s appointment, special schools, therapy are all a part of our daily life. And it is hard to juggle all of that with a traditional office job. Within the past year, I’ve been able to slowly decrease my hours at the lab and put them into my new business, Elevating Adventures. I have the time to take my daughter to her appointments and school, and I now have the ability to put more time in during the day, which frees up my nights and weekends. But building a business is still a job that is 7 days a week!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
From the time I was in 2nd grade, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I went to the best school in the state for elementary education…and I lasted 3 whole years. It wasn’t the job that I didn’t like, it was the bureaucracy and politics that surrounds public education. And I just wanted to teach my students. When my own kids were little, I was fortunate to be able to stay home, however I wanted a little extra pocket money, so there were a few companies I was a rep for, doing social selling online and in person. When my daughter was 2, she had an impactful medical crisis that changed the course of our lives. When she was 9, and having unrelenting seizures, I looked into cannabis. Cannabis was literally a life saver for us. Her seizures decreased and we were able to decrease her pharmaceuticals, which were having a negative impact on her mood and personality. At this point, I knew I needed to educate other parents who were in the same situation and feeling helpless. I helped start a non-profit organization to educate parents on the use of cannabis for epilepsy. I was back in the classroom teaching- but the students weren’t middle-schoolers! From there, I joined a cannabis laboratory to continue doing client education on the importance of cannabis testing. My journey has taken quite a few twists and turns, but I believe all of these have helped me become the person/mom/business owner I am today!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend were visiting from out of town, we’d definitely have a little stay-cation. We have so many amazing resorts and spas in the Valley. And as a native to Scottsdale and a travel advisor, I’ve visited many of them. I’d have to say, however, that my favorite spa is at the Omni Montelucia in Paradise Valley. The spa, and the resort in its entirety, feels like another world. I also love the Arizona Biltmore. Think Old Hollywood meshes with Phoenix history. It’s iconic. It’s classic, and it’s a big piece of Arizona’s history! I’d also take a day trip to Sedona. If she’s never been on a jeep tour, we’d take one of those, but we’d go on a route that no one else can access. My best friend loves to shop, so we’d hit up Scottsdale Fashion Square, but we’d also visit some of the smaller, local boutiques that carry locally made products or highlights local brands. As a small business owner, I like to keep it local! One of my new favorite things to do in the Valley is kayak on the Salt River. When I was in highschool and college, I loved tubing (who didn’t!). Now that I’m in a different stage of my life, I like to keep it a little more low-key. The best part of kayaking the Salt River is when you get to see the wild Salt River horses towards the end of the journey. They are so beautiful! Again, when you’re on this part of the Salt River, you don’t even feel like you’re in Arizona anymore!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband definitely deserves a shout out as he is my biggest fan and supporter. Becoming a travel planner isn’t the first ‘out of left field’ idea I’ve had. But he takes all of my ideas in stride and goes along with them, and helps me to develop and execute them. It’s been our goal to show our daughter the world, and this is one way that I am able to travel with her, take her to the places she wants to see, and get the experience and education to sell those locations to my clients. So in the end, my husband gets a lot of credit for the support and encouragement he gives me.

I also need to shout out my kids, who also go along with my crazy ideas! Our goal is to show our daughter the world, but it needs to be on her terms. Traveling with special needs takes extra care and planning. And I take what she teaches me and I put that into other trips that I plan- I want everyone, regardless of their disabilities, to have the opportunity to see the parts of the world that interest them. My son also gets credit- he is always up for an adventure. He’s always up for being my +1 when my husband isn’t able (or isn’t interested!). In the back of my mind, I could see my son joining me in this industry as he also loves to travel.

Lastly, all 3 of them get a shout out for holding down the fort when I travel. Especially when I travel to places they want to go as well! I couldn’t imagine doing this without the support and love of my family!

Website: www.elevatingadventures.com

Instagram: @elevating_adventures

Facebook: @elevatingadventures

Image Credits
Cher Photography AZ