If there’s one thing to learn from WhirlAway Travel, it’s this: never give up.
From “Family Owned & Operated.”
For some people, entrepreneurship is just in their blood. That seems to be the case for Patty Jefferis of WhirlAway Travel & Cruise Consultants. Patty worked in travel, and a lot of her family worked for themselves— she knew she wanted to own her own business. “Everybody told her she was gonna fail,” reflects Patty’s daughter Jamie Jones, “but she proved them all wrong.”
Despite being the owner’s daughter, Jamie began work at WhirlAway on a trial basis. “I was being tested,” she says. She had a business coach and started of as an admin, slowly working her way through the ranks.
Jamie is now a co-owner of the business and the COO. Patty is still in the office a couple days a week, and working together has transformed their relationship. “We probably have a better relationship now than before we worked together, ” Jamie says. “She’s learned to view me as a capable woman, and now I understand all that went into what she accomplished when I was growing up.”
Jamie thinks that family feel is part of what their clients love. “When you work with a family-run business, you’re putting a kid through dance class. You’re not giving your money to some big-box entity, you’re supporting a family.”
