NASHVILLE — At Avenue Two Travel, a handful of people wear an unusual array of hats. Not only are they independent contractors affiliated with the Bryn Mawr, Pa.-based host agency, they are also employees on the agency’s leadership team.
Carissa Cummings, vice president of corporate and air services; Jamo Ladd, vice president of sales; and Martha King, vice president of strategic partnerships, all have their own successful businesses as travel advisors in addition to their executive roles at Avenue Two.
CEO Josh Bush admits it’s “not a common practice” in the travel agency world, but it’s one that works for Avenue Two (No. 62 on Travel Weekly’s Power List) and the employees/ICs.
“It’s something that I think that we do with certain individuals that we’ve identified who share our values, have an amazing work ethic, [and] we’ve already worked together,” he said.
King said she believes it gives her some unique advantages.
“I still own my own company, but the advisors know me,” she said in an interview during the agency’s Collective event in April at the W Nashville. “I already have the relationships with the partners, so it creates that level of credibility and value on both sides. It’s like starting out way ahead, rather than bringing someone in from the outside.”
King is new to her Avenue Two employee role, but she’s been selling travel since 2008 and affiliated with Avenue Two since 2022. For the past few months, she has worked with president Debbie Bush on developing a framework of processes for advisors, from clients’ initial inquiries until they return home. Called the Avenue Approach, it includes forms and client-facing materials to ensure clients experience high service levels.
In developing the Avenue Approach with both Debbie and Josh, who is Debbie’s son, the three realized there was an opportunity to grow a preferred partner program for the agency, and King’s role was born.
Cummings has been in the vice president role since 2020. She’s been selling travel for 15 years and affiliated with Avenue Two as an IC in 2017.
Originally, she worked on creating the framework for a mentoring and training program. She got involved with “how to create a more symbiotic relationship between leisure advisors and the air team, because they are two very different worlds,” she said, adding that she is “passionate about air.”
Ultimately, Cummings stayed on the corporate and air side of things at the host agency, building that team.
Key to having employees who are also ICs is that they have all established their own limited liability companies, Josh said. That separate, legal business entity is the IC with Avenue Two.
“They can sell as much or as little as they would like,” he said.
Like King, Josh said he believes the ICs have some inherent advantages in their dual roles.
“It gives them a whole unique perspective when they’re coming at it from a leadership side, because they know what our ICs go through day in and day out,” he said. “They are on the front lines. They are selling. They are handling objections. They are having all the ups and downs of the normal course of business in the day to day.”
