Today we’d like to introduce you to Desaray Pearson.
Hi Desaray, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I started traveling in 2010, flying for my first trip to Atlantic City, New Jersey, with a road trip to New York City with eight of my family members.
It was the first time I had left the state of Texas. The flights were $110 round trip. It was this trip to the east coast that taught me how to travel outside of the state of Texas. I learned about lodging, location, and how to navigate and maneuver through the airport—all this information in one trip. I remember being so proud that I only spent $300 on everything (lodging, flight, and rental car) and made it to New York City. I recalled being speechless while standing in Times Square, not believing I had made it out of Houston, Texas.
A few months after that trip, I decided to go to Florida for my birthday. I ended up buying an airplane ticket round trip for $86. I leaned on my mother, who worked in hospitality, to coordinate my lodging and rented a car for under $100. This trip taught me you could make a little money to experience new places and travel. The rest of my journey is history. Since then, every year, I have managed to travel somewhere.
The official start of my business was when I was asked to plan my first destination wedding in Costa Rica in 2017. That experience was the one that pushed me to want to become a travel agent. I had no clue how to start it, and it took me four years before I finally got the information I needed to begin the travel agent journey. 2021 became the year I officially started my business, and I have been building it since then.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a smooth road. My struggles and challenges have been marketing, putting the word out there, and getting people to know about the business. The pandemic, of course, affected me personally and business-wise. Amid the pandemic, I had to shift to having a more significant online presence and figure out how to advocate for myself and my business in a way that did not allow me to be face-to-face anymore. Figuring out how to do that was a learning curve, and I am continuously working on sharpening it.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
HeyDee Travels specializes in finding affordable travels that work within set budgets while providing realistic and transparent expectations. My specialization includes curating travel needs from destination weddings to family vacations.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
With the way inflation is going, the need for more resources and people to accommodate the influx of travelers and people interested in traveling will become much more difficult in the upcoming years. People will have to get creative with the way they travel. It will be crucial for not only HeyDee Travels but all companies invested in helping people travel to shift their business practices to the reality of people’s economic capabilities and the infrastructure of a changing travel industry.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.heydeeevents.com/
- Instagram: @heydee_travels and @heydeeevents
Image Credits
Joi Conti Photography
V Lampkin
