After years in nonprofit leadership and a series of life-changing health challenges, Katie Jamieson bet on herself and launched not one, but two businesses. In this episode, we talk about building a life and business around what actually works for you, why breaking up with the "shoulds" matters, and how travel can still be possible even when chronic illness or pain is part of your reality.
Check Out These Highlights:
Katie Jamieson never planned to become a travel advisor, but a difficult season of health challenges, multiple surgeries, and a rare mesothelioma diagnosis forced her to rethink what freedom, work, and success looked like. After years in nonprofit leadership, she made the decision to bet on herself and launch a consulting business before eventually building Engage Travel Co.
In this episode, Katie shares how chronic illness changed the way she approaches both business and travel. Instead of following someone else's blueprint, she learned to create systems that worked with her life, not against it. That same philosophy now shapes how she helps clients plan meaningful trips around their own needs, limitations, and priorities.
We also talk about the power of finding your "why," whether you're building a business, planning a vacation, or navigating a difficult chapter. Katie explains why breaking up with the "shoulds," letting go of FOMO, and focusing on what actually matters can transform how we live and work.
From leading a group of 19 travelers through France during one of the hardest medical years of her life to helping clients travel confidently through grief, chronic illness, and major life transitions, Katie's story is a powerful reminder that you don't have to wait for life to be perfect before pursuing what matters most.
About Katie Jamieson:
Katie Jamieson is a nonprofit consultant, travel advisor, and founder of Engage Travel Co. She helps individuals, families, and groups create personalized travel experiences that fit their real lives, with a special passion for helping people navigate travel through chronic illness, grief, and major life transitions.
Connect with Katie:
🌐 Website: https://katiejamieson.com/ and https://engagetravelco.com/
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-jamieson-cae/
💬 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katieconnects
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voyage.la.vie/
Stalk Me Online!
About Me: https://tobymyles.com/about/
Free Gift: The Nashville Method: 5-Day Storytelling Mini-Course
Subscribe to Her Origin Story on your favorite platform. New episodes every week with real, raw stories about the moments that started it all.
Okay, you guys, this is a really special episode. My guest today is Katie Jamieson, a travel advisor, nonprofit consultant, and founder of Engage Travel Co. In this episode, Katie shared how she bet on herself in 2019 after a really hard season with her health, and what led her to the work she does today, which is helping people plan trips that fit their real lives, even when life includes chronic illness or pain. Katie's approach is the opposite of one size fits all. Just like building a business, Katie approaches travel planning by starting with your why. We talked about breaking up with the shoulds, ditching the FOMO, and how she led a group of 19 people to France in the middle of one of her hardest medical years. And one of the things I loved most about our conversation is that you can have the hard stuff and the big win at the same time. We also talked about her roots as a theater kid, and she shares a little gem about airports that I bet most of you don't know about. I didn't. Are you ready? Let's dig in
Toby Myles: Hey, Katie. Welcome to the podcast
Katie Jamieson: Hi, I'm happy to be here.
Toby Myles: I'm excited to have you here. We were chatting a little bit before we pressed record about, um, you and I first connected last December, and we have bo- have both had a lot of life going on, which is, that's life, right?
Katie Jamieson: It sure is.
Toby Myles: And so, um, my husband went through some medical stuff.
I know you deal with ongoing medical stuff, which- I do ... um, if you're willing, we can get into that in our conversation. Mm-hmm. Uh, but I'm glad that neither of us gave up, because I think this... people need to hear your story. So I usually like to share how we know each other, and we were connected, um, by Kelly Vrchota, who I've known for quite a few years in the online space.
First in a networking group, and then she and I reconnected through other people. And, uh, she was on my podcast last year, I think. Or was it this year? I, I can't even remember anymore.
Katie Jamieson: Runs together.
Toby Myles: And she's, she's one of my favorite humans. Just such a good person, and just, like, real and down to earth. And so she introduced me to you.
She was... says you were somebody I should meet and possibly have on the podcast. So here we are today. So I'm going to, um, turn things over to you and just ask you the question of why we're here. If you could take us back to a moment in time, or maybe it's, like, a period of time or a cluster of moments that you feel really put you on the path that you're on right now.
Katie Jamieson: Yeah. Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here. And, you know, sometimes, um, we just have to wait for the right timing on things, and I think I'm so grateful that both of us were open to that, because now the timing's worked, and here we are. Yeah. Um, and so Kelly actually, um, works with me. So, um, I run two businesses, so I can talk a little bit about how and why, um, I run these businesses.
Um, but Kelly is, um, the wonderful, wonderful expert who takes my crazy ideas and helps me make them happen.
Toby Myles: Mm.
Katie Jamieson: So I will come to her with, "Okay, I think we should work on this," and she's like, "Well, I think we can get it going here, here, and here." So I'm very, um, grateful to her expertise, um, and the fact that she introduced us.
Yeah. And, um, you know, she's just been wonderful to work with too, as I have experienced some unexpected health issues, um, recently. But, um, going back to kind of how and why I got to where I am and what I'm doing, I currently, um, have two businesses. So my original business is, um, focused on serving nonprofits, and I, um, transitioned into kind of nonprofit consulting in the summer of 2019 after having been through quite a bit medically, and it just made sense to make that change for my family.
Um, a lot was changing in my l- long-term job, and I thought, "You know what? It's time to bet on myself." Um, and so- Mm-hmm ... I, I distinctly remember the day I packed up my little girls and we drove to the bank and I opened my- business bank account. Um, and a few months before that I had been driving back and forth to the, the Mayo Clinic quite a bit, and I just had this moment where I was like, "This doesn't feel like freedom."
And I was like, "I need, I need to make some changes." And so I kind of took the skills I had and made that original business. Um, yeah, obviously we didn't see the pandemic coming. Right. And so the organization I had been an employee with, um, which is called the Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers, and then has a related STEM program called Minnesota Math Counts, they needed some help with, um, a transition that was happening during the pandemic, so I helped them kind of rebuild all of their operations from the ground up.
And that is actually why I originally hired Kelly, 'cause she helped me with that. Mm-hmm. Um, so that was what I did during the pandemic. And, like, halfway through that I was like, "Okay, well, I, I'm gonna be doing this under this business. Um, what am I gonna do next?" Um, and so I thought long and hard about my skills and what I had kind of built up the last few years, and decided to open a travel agency.
And I took a three-month course that kind of set me up for that, 'cause I thought, "You know, if I'm gonna do this, I don't really have a lot of time. I need to just cut through the clutter." And as soon as I started that, I was like, "I want to build a full agency. I wanna have a team of people." I've run volunteer teams for many, many years, and I really like doing the big stuff.
I had a former colleague who told me, "Katie, you're not afraid of the big stuff." And it was one of those turning points where I thought, "You know what? I guess, I guess I'm gonna do this." Um, but coming from... And I can get into a little bit of how and, and why I got to some of this. I had just been through a lot.
Um, I have experienced four miscarriages. I have two beautiful daughters. And after my fourth miscarriage, I was very, very sick. I had extreme p- pain, like pelvic pain. I was nauseous all the time. I was very, very ill, and no one could figure out why. Uh, and I ended up having surgery that summer, and instead of what we thought was gonna be endometriosis, it turned out to be a very rare form of mesothelioma that was in my abdomen.
So mesothelioma is a cancer usually caused by asbestos exposure. Uh, so you probably have seen, you know, commercials on TV- Mm-hmm ... late at night. You know, for those of us who used to watch old school TV. Yes. I feel like it's so much less- Yes ... common now. Uh, and so you think old men who were exposed on the job, well, it has actually become much more common in the abdomen of young women.
Um, some of that is related to exposure to talc from things like baby powder products. My version has no tie to asbestos. Uh, it's really unresearched because there are so few cases. Hmm. It also i- is the nearly benign, sometimes considered a benign tumor. Now, it's still, there isn't a lot of research on it, so 10 years later, there's still not much known.
Toby Myles: Wow.
Katie Jamieson: So I went through, in the course of two years, three abdominal surgeries related to that. And on the other side, you know, really started to just try to put b- back together the pieces of my life. And it was, you know, about a year later that I finally filed my business and thought I'm gonna, for my family, try to work from home full-time too- Mm-hmm
do some consulting. I had a chance to build a community advisory board for the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation. So I got a chance to use some of what I had been through, along with my nonprofit skills, to build this board that brought together patients, caregivers, and people who lost someone to meso.
And we were about to launch it right when COVID hit, so again, another- Gee ... adjustment. Thank you, COVID. It's obviously not. We're going in and it, it turned sideways. Mm-hmm. Um, but fast-forward to late 2021 when I was launching my travel agency, I just had been through so much. I held up my web designer for six weeks because I could not write an About Me page.
And I didn't know how to put myself out there in the world.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: And she finally was like, "Katie, I just need something." Now, there was not ChatGPT then.
Toby Myles: No, exactly.
Katie Jamieson: And I, I'm a writer anyways. I prefer to write. Mm-hmm. But that is a turning point for me, that I had to find a way to get through that just to say I was open for business, and it was a business I knew I, I could do because in my heart, in my core, I just care about serving people.
Mm-hmm. And so I thought, you know, that... And that's actually what led me to finally being able to write that page and put a photo of myself out there in the world. And now I make reels all the time, and when I bring people on my team, I say, "Just-" Look at where I, I started. Yeah. And I have no interest in, like, being a YouTuber, but when you put yourself out there, the people who you were meant to serve then can find you.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: And that took me years to get through. And I will tell you- Yeah ... a lot of behind-the-scenes work with obviously therapists, um, but Kelly is a wonderful colleague that way, where she's like, "Well, what do you think about this?" You know? Yeah. And she helps me make it happen, and- Yeah ... kind of jump over that, that hurdle, I guess.
Toby Myles: Yeah. I, I think that's so, it's so good. I, I don't know. I'm going through a little bit of a, let's say I'm like, um, maybe a, a, a toddler. I have a toddler attitude, a two-year-old's attitude now a- around social media, and I'm just, I just, every time I log in, s- Instagram's different, 'cause I just go there just to, like, be entertained and waste time.
But, like, I- Mm-hmm ... spent, s- have spent a fair amount of time trying to grow a, a following on LinkedIn, and um, I think I've said this, like, in the last six podcast episodes, like, sorry everybody on LinkedIn, but y'all are boring me to tears. Like, I don't want perfection. Mm. I want to hear your real stories.
Mm. Like, I'm over the polished, like, I don't, I'm, I just, I'm not interested in it, and I think there are a lot of people that feel that same way. So it, so, uh, like, what are, what have you found to be, um, some of the ways in, in which you've grown? Because you're just willing to just show up in all of the, like, mess and the life stuff.
Katie Jamieson: Yeah. That's a great question, and I had to spend some time really deciding, you know, kind of who I wanted to serve and what that looked like. You know, I, I kind of joke, I, took me a long time to get to this. I used to think the only way to put good in the world was through nonprofit work, and I love my nonprofit work.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: But one day I realized, like, there's so many other ways to make an impact in the world.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: Yep. And I, in order to find people you can serve, it, it's kind of part of putting yourself out there. Now, I also was a theater kid. So that, I think, sometimes helps that, that barrier of just me being me.
Um- Yeah ... you're so used to just, you know, taking on different characters. But really, um, sometimes we were too much for people at, when we were teenagers. Um, I've not always been someone who could just be someone else, I just am who I am. And what I- Mm ... really tried to get clear on was, I, I'm with you on the polished thing.
I, I, you know- It's boring.
Toby Myles: Yes, it's very boring.
Katie Jamieson: It's boring. I, and I, I think I'm still finding what's that line of, like, how you can share so it can help other people without also feeling like you're just dumping your stuff everywhere. Yeah.
Toby Myles: Yes.
Katie Jamieson: You know? There's, there, there's a good line there. Mm-hmm. And I think it needs some nuance, but I did finally get to a point where I was like, if I don't start sharing pieces of what I've been through, then I c- I'm not gonna find the right people to help.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: And so a project I actually took on with that was I signed on to a book project in, uh, 2024, and nine of us wrote a chapter, and it is on pregnancy loss and our- Mm ... journey s- with that. And, and it was across the board different types of stories, and so I very lightly touched on the end with my diagnosis with m- mesothelioma.
My goal in that was really to help people see, you know, the path through that, but also how, because I was further down the parenting path than some of the other authors, how I learned about grief and how I wove that into our parenting because it doesn't just go away. I mean, we wanted- Yeah ... a third kid, and it didn't happen.
Yeah. You know? So th- those types of things that I incorporate into my business, you know, all the time, I mean, I've had people come to me and they've said, "I have this cancer diagnosis, and I want to travel before I die. Can you help me?"
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: And I, and I'm not afraid of that because I've, of what I've been through.
So if I don't put those things out in the world, those people aren't gonna find me.
Toby Myles: Yeah. Yeah. I think that, um, oh my gosh, so many things I want to- I wanna talk about. Before we go too far into some of my other questions that are kinda like business related, are you... This is more about your mesothelioma. W- did you find out that it was tied into the miscarriages, or is that still a mystery?
Katie Jamieson: It's, it's unknown.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: Yeah. Uh, it, it's unlikely that it was directly related-
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm ...
Katie Jamieson: other than the fact that I went from, you know, I was running 5Ks and lifting weights and working out in a period of, like, six months to, like, very, very sick. Mm-hmm. The only thing that was different in that period of time was that I was pregnant twice, 'cause I had- Mm
miscarriages back to back.
Toby Myles: Mm.
Katie Jamieson: Um, and so, you know, things grow when you're preg- when you've got pregnancy hormones, but that's not been- Sure ... researched, so that is not- Yeah ... medical, medically cleared at all. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just my lived experience with knowing where I was at, like, this was the fall of 2015, and how sick I was by spring of 2016.
Mm-hmm. And I actually did, um, write about this in my book chapter, because it was m- my therapist who was like, "There is something medically wrong with you."
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: You know, 'cause y- you had thought, like, "Oh, I'm just not recovering from this. I've been through a lot," and she was like, "You need to go see your doctor."
Yeah. And that, and you know, they're supposed to refer when that happens, but I'm so- Yeah ... grateful for her that she was very insistent, because I cut through a lot of clutter in finding that faster than-
Toby Myles: Mm, mm-hmm ...
Katie Jamieson: what I've learned than people sometimes do otherwise.
Toby Myles: Mm. I think that's so, such a key thing, such a key point, because sometimes we just brush something off.
We're just like, "Oh, it's just 'cause of this or just 'cause of that," and I, I don't know. I don't wanna say it's, like, a, a, a female thing, but I do think that we do tend to just think like we're, we can handle it. Like, we're fine. Yeah. We're just gonna, like, power through, right? And, uh- Yep,
Katie Jamieson: and
Toby Myles: you're
Katie Jamieson: like, "I have to get up and function today,"
Toby Myles: and- Y- yeah, yes, exactly, as opposed to...
I mean, I can't speak for anyone else's husband, but my husband is... You know, he gets a cold, and he's like, "Well, I'm gonna go to the doctor and see if she can give me something." I'm like, "It's a cold. Like, it's, you're gonna get over it." I love you, honey. Yeah. And he listens to my podcast, so I do have to tell him I love him.
Katie Jamieson: Mine is stubborn and he doesn't like to go to the doctor, but I do know that that is often the case. People won't. And, and I got so, you know, stubborn with some stuff in the last year that I had, was convinced that, oh, I'm fine, and, you know, realized that I had some other medical things that needed to be dealt with.
Um-
Toby Myles: Yeah ...
Katie Jamieson: but because of everything I've been through, I was like, "No, I'm, I'm fine," and I was not fine. I had a doctor last fall, um, I was having some labs done and sh- I was very anemic. Mm-hmm. And I was about to fly to Europe. I was going to the Canary Islands for a conference, and she was like, "You are so anemic, you cannot get on a plane and fly to Europe alone."
And I was like, "I'm leaving next week. I'm fine." And she was like, "You're not fine. You need an iron infusion." Bless her- Wow ... because I didn't realize just how bad I felt. I got, I got this iron infusion, I got on the plane and left two days later. Mm-hmm. And I was then climbing, I got there and went on a tour with another travel advisor of, um, Grand Canaria Island, and we're, like, climbing around these rocks in these small villages and whatever, and I was like, oh, I'm, like, regular out of breath.
Not, I'm gonna fall over and die out of breath. And I didn't even realize it was that bad.
Toby Myles: Yes. Yes. Oh, my gosh. Many, many years ago, I, uh, had a vit- a B12 deficiency, and so I had to go to my doctor for weekly, um, B12 injections. Oh, my gosh, I loved them. And then when I reached, like, normal, she's like, "Okay, you're done."
I'm like, "No, can we keep going?"
Katie Jamieson: Can I not
Toby Myles: be done?
Katie Jamieson: This was wonderful.
Toby Myles: Yes, exactly. Can you just, like, slide me in? Oh, my goodness. Okay. So, um, I, but I wanna circle back to, um, this idea of, uh, that you mentioned, the client, you know, clients that have illness. Mm-hmm. You know, whether it's terminal or just chronic.
Um, and the idea of, like- You find a way to, to do these things anyway, right? You don't just, uh, you know, travel in particular, but lots of things, big things, starting businesses, you know, things that you enjoy. Um, can you talk about just, like, what that is like to, to work with people who have reached that point where they're like, "Yeah, I still...
Like yes, I have a chronic illness, but I still want to do all these things."
Katie Jamieson: I wanna travel and I wanna live and I still wanna- Yes ... pursue my dreams. Yes. So I actually have just finished the process of trademarking my phrase, "Travel with life."
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: And I want to speak and write about that because I want people to see you can still do these things even when you are, um, facing chronic health issues, when your life turns upside down.
Yeah. And so it's travel with life because sometimes travel is part of how we respond when life happens. And, um, so I, you know, eventually I'll do some more speaking and writing on it. Obviously, I've been dealing with some medicals with myself recently, so I've been trying to get this going. But, uh, the more I work with people on this and the more I've experienced it myself, the more I wanna create systems that help people with that.
So I, I do like to share pieces of my story because I did build two businesses in the middle of all these medical things. I did it-
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm ...
Katie Jamieson: you know, on a slower scale than some people. The, the bottom line was really just believing I could do it, and then- Yeah ... finding ways to do it. So it's kind of that scrappy entrepreneur mindset to begin with.
And, you know, when you spend 20-some years working in nonprofits, you learn how to be scrappy anyway, 'cause- Right ... with a small team you learn how to do it. Uh, I, I think Some of it really lies in breaking up with the shoulds.
Toby Myles: Mm.
Katie Jamieson: If you spend s- time shoulding on yourself, you don't get anywhere. Yeah. So if you wanna still pursue business of, you know, the dream of building and owning a business and you have chronic health issues, then build a framework that works with that.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: You know? And so it doesn't have to look like everybody else. Right. It can be your own version of that. And the same thing with travel is, you know, I deal with this a lot actually when I send clients to Disney because it, you know, it, there's so much noise out there. Yeah. And, you know, people come to me and they've got all this FOMO.
"Well, I have to do this, I have to do that, everyone said I have to do this." And so I really dial into, like, what works for you and what's your why. So the same way somebody would go through a process of figuring out their why when you're starting a business- Mm-hmm ... I apply that to people's vacations.
Toby Myles: Mm.
Katie Jamieson: Because maybe you're traveling because of a grief reason, then let's figure out what that looks like. Maybe you're traveling for a celebration.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: I get to this a lot with multi-generation families because you're gonna have different needs at different ages.
Toby Myles: Sure.
Katie Jamieson: And so getting down to that level of what is something key that you need that works for you, okay, well let's build that in.
Yeah. When it comes to traveling with chronic illness and chronic pain, I, it's about developing the system. What are the pieces that you need to make it successful? So where somebody else might say, "I'm totally cool with staying at a hostel on the outskirts of Paris," if you are somebody who deals with chronic pain, we wanna work your budget so you can be in the center of the city so you can still do the things you wanna do and take the break you need.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: And the same way with, like, when I send people to Disney, what are the pieces you need? The most, the number one thing I tell people to do is make sure you have groceries in your room.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: Because you can feed everyone breakfast before you go out the door and then people aren't hangry, right?
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: So it's identifying those key things that you need to function, whatever your chronic- illnesses, your pain, your, your own needs, uh, and applying that to how you're planning it. And so, like the same with the, you know, how I run a business is I tell people I hire on my team, I work seven days a week, and that's because I work around my kids' schedule, 'cause I have kids that are, uh, who are high school age.
You know- Mm-hmm ... teenagers. They're in lots of activities, and I do it because I work around my pain.
Toby Myles: Sure.
Katie Jamieson: So I always make sure, like my team knows, "I don't expect you to work on the weekend. You know, I'm helping you build a business from home. You will do what y- works for you. This is how and why I do this."
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think that's, it's such a good point, because there can be some shame around, you know, what, what people's idea is of like boundaries, right? Mm-hmm. And the thing is like boundaries are your boundaries. My boundaries are my boundaries, and neither one is right or wrong. It's just, it's just what works for you.
So I, I totally get that. I, um, last year, the first year of my podcast, um, I had, uh, Nikita Williams on and she has a podcast called Thrive with Nikita, and she works specifically with women entrepreneurs who have chronic illnesses, uh, because that's her story too. And she really talks about how you, you know, you work when you're f- when you know you're gonna be feeling good and you have the good energy, and you don't push yourself through those times when you're low energy or you know you're in a lot of pain, even if it's just, you know, a time of day or like a span of a week or whatever when you have a, a flareup.
And I just think like- Right ... there's not enough people that, that talk about that, you know, whether it's like something physical or something, you know, psychological, emotional, whatever it is. Like it's okay to respect those things that are going on in our bodies and in our lives.
Katie Jamieson: You're absolutely right.
And, you know, I didn't get there overnight. It took me a long time to get there. Sure, yeah,
Toby Myles: yeah,
Katie Jamieson: yeah. And a lot of, a lot of support, a lot of, you know, uh, uh, fabulous therapists I've worked with who have been helpful. You know, I have a spouse who very much is about, like, we split the mental load, you know?
And so I, I do try to talk about that sometimes too because that is a key piece of-
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm ...
Katie Jamieson: of still, uh, making things happen, and that is something over time. You know, I'm, I'm gonna say this just because I want this out there in the world. The nu- the number one thing that has helped us be successful in that is not expecting our spouse to do things exactly the way we would.
Toby Myles: Yes. Very important.
Katie Jamieson: And I find that... And, uh, you know, we were, we were okay on that to begin with. I also was in a situation where I had to leave when my kids were small.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: And it, it wasn't a work thing. I mean, sometimes I left for work 'cause I run events. Uh, I had to go to the Mayo Clinic. And, you know, I was there for appointments.
I did scans every four months. I had surgeries. I, you know, was seeing lots of specialists down there. Like, there was, uh, quite a bit of time when my kids were small where it didn't matter, I had to leave.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: And so we ha- we had to reshuffle that.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: And so that also kinda opened up our ideas of just, you know, different ways of functioning-
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm
Katie Jamieson: on that. Going back to what you were talking about with travel and, you know, working around the chronic stuff and the work business stuff, I have had one of the hardest years medically in the last year, and I have had a f- five years into selling travel the most rewarding trips I've sent out the door.
And so it's like you can have both. You can- Mm-hmm. And I like to talk about that yes and, you know, y- not yes- Yeah ... but life when it's yes and- Yeah ... it continues on. I took, there were 19 of us who went to France in June. My, I launched a group trip, and I was able to do it with my mom who, uh, was a French teacher the first half of her career.
So when I was a kid she took students to Europe every other summer when I was young. And so now all these years later to come back, that's truly where my travel inspiration started was- Mm ... my mom went to this foreign, far-off land every other year when I was a kid. Yeah. And then I finally got older and I could go, and so then I got addicted to going to France because who doesn't want to go to France -
Toby Myles: Exactly
Katie Jamieson: all the time?
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: Um, so I did get to chaperone two trips with her in my 20s. She wasn't teaching French anymore, but my high school French teacher invited the two of us to chaperone with her, and I thought, "Okay. Well, great. That's that." Well, then I start this travel agency and people are like, "Katie, if you do a trip to France I wanna go."
I thought, "Okay. Well, we, we have to put together a group." I had enough people. Well, in the end 19 of us went. Very grateful for my mother's expertise, especially with Paris, 'cause she really helped lay out what we were gonna do-
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm ...
Katie Jamieson: while I was dealing with so many medical things earlier this year.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: Uh, and we had the best time. It was- Mm-hmm ... the best mix of people.
Toby Myles: That's amazing. It
Katie Jamieson: was incredible. We did Paris and Normandy. It was about a, just over a week's time.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: Um, and I thought, and to be honest, I had been dealing with some medical procedures, and I was barely well enough to get on that plane and leave in June, and I was like, "I'm going."
Yeah. If the, if the plane goes I'm on it. Yeah. I'll figure it out when I get there.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: And I just thought this is everything I'd been building towards where I can literally be having- an awful period of time, and you can still have these wins in the middle of it. And it's about the mindset of opening up to it doesn't have to fit in this box.
Sure. I could've come up with all of these excuses to continue putting it off, and I thought, "We're just gonna make this work with what we have." And, and we
Toby Myles: did. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I think that that's... So w- we talked about this before. My husband has multiple myeloma, and, um, he deals with a lot of bone pain on a regular basis.
Like, every day, right? Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And so for him, having, um, kind of his routine, he talks about, like, his routine is really how he manages the pain, right? And so this past weekend we went down to Washington, D.C. to do a 5K walk to raise money for, um, the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, and we decided that, yes, he, he wanted to do this walk.
He was... He received an award, a, a Spirit of Hope award, and he wanted to do the 5K walk. Um, but we turned it into a little mini vacation so that- Yep ... there was a travel day, a walk day, and then a recovery day. Mm-hmm. And, you know, anything that we needed was in walking distance from the hotel. Like you talked about, you know, we didn't have to go far.
There was plenty of downtime and, you know, meals nearby and things like that. And I just think, like, he never once was like, "I don't wanna do this," you know? And so we figured out a way so that he could be at his best on walk day, um, and then have plenty of rest. And I- Yeah, that's- I know that he would not have had it any other way.
Katie Jamieson: That's so smart to do it that way. That re- the, the, the lead-in and the recovery is what makes- Mm-hmm ... that successful.
Toby Myles: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I, I just, I love that you, when you talk about, you know, when someone wants to go on a trip you talk about their, their why. Like, what is the why for the trip? Because, like, I never really thought about it in that way before, right?
Like, the why is, like, just because. I just wanna go there, right? But, but when you have to maybe think about how you structure things, and maybe not doing every single thing that some guidebook says or some friend says, like, staying connected to that why, what's the reason why I'm going to this place, can, um, can really make or break the trip.
So you do have an e-book called Your Guide to Making Travel Possible. Um, can you talk- Yeah ... a little bit about that?
Katie Jamieson: Yeah. It's, I put it together while I was trademarking Travel with Life. It was one of the pieces of my, my trademark. And what I wanted to do was just put some structure behind people building the structure that works for whatever your specific case is.
Mm-hmm. 'Cause that can be overwhelming. Like, I wanna go and do these things. How do I break it down? And then you hear stories of when people do travel and they have chronic pain, and then they have... You know, you still can have flare-ups and things like that.
Toby Myles: Sure.
Katie Jamieson: It's on the front end setting yourself up for as much success as possible.
Mm-hmm. And so I tried to put some framework around that, and also validating what people are facing, and that you can still travel with- With chronic health issues Yeah, yeah I, I do as a travel advisor then get to another layer of that where you get beyond, "Oh, my friend said I should go here or stay here or do that," and then that isn't always the right answer for someone.
Mm-hmm. So, you know, you can build out your own structure of that, but when you work with somebody who's got the expertise, they'll help you find the pieces that work. I really put that to the test, 'cause we traveled for a month in Europe with my family in June after I did the group trip. My husband flew over and we traveled, and I, I, I was actively trying some of my own advice- Yeah
to see how far I got with the pain, and, and I learned a lot, you know? So it's things I can bring back to clients now. But even something as simple with the why with the travel, why your trip is happening, you know, like I mentioned for grief you might do something differently, or if you're celebrating. I- my husband and I just went to Mexico, and we finally went somewhere for an anniversary.
We have not really done that before, and it was very fun, and I made sure I was very specific about the resort we chose. And so even when you get... And we're not usually all-inclusive travelers. I'm, drop me in the middle of a city in Europe and I'm happy all day.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: Uh, but I got so into finding what was gonna work for us, and we wanted something quiet, no party atmosphere.
That's just not our scene. And even with that, when you have someone who's like, "I went to this place in Mexico and we loved it," well, that's might not be the right fit for- Yeah ... somebody else's trip.
Toby Myles: Yeah. Yeah. I think that's... I, I s- like, when we first started talking, you said, "Oh, I opened a travel agency," but it's, like, so much more than a travel agency because of your unique experience, and I think that kinda goes back to what we were talking about earlier about your willingness to just kind of share, like, the r- real life, like, what's going on, and not in a, like, this is a therapy session kinda way or I want you to feel sorry for me kinda way, but in a, like, I have, like, stuff going on ongoing and I'm doing it anyway.
Katie Jamieson: That's my goal, is to help others see they can do that, too.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: A- and this is, this is just makes me giggle. I think it's pretty clear I'm not that great at slowing down- ... and I have been very humbled by my own health experiences and challenges in that way. And so I also support people learning what that line is of going for it and also learning to slow down, 'cause, you know, just casually mentioning I'm not usually into all-inclusive, like- Mm-hmm
it's because I don't like to slow down.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: And I've got, I've gotten to learn so much from my clients about where people are on that scale, and it's been so fun to learn how to support people on that.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: So fun.
Toby Myles: Yeah. Yeah. I think that's pretty amazing. So, um- I wanna go back in time just a little bit.
You mentioned your mom, um, being a French teacher. You mentioned you were, um, a theater kid. Like, when you were a little girl, say, I don't know, 8, 10, something like that, did you know what you wanted to be when you grew up?
Katie Jamieson: No. No, and a, a great question because, you know, you think about how much the world has changed.
You know, I'm, I'm 44, so I'm right on the cusp of Gen X and millennials.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: And so we like to say we kinda cross both sides of that. So I've lived in an analog and a digital world very comfortably. And what's interesting is I didn't know you could grow up and get paid to do the things I love to do, but I loved to organize people and things as a kid.
Um, so I think I've always had that entrepreneurial, I'm gonna be scrappy and figure it out. And obviously I have this experience with my mom taking people to Europe as a kid, and that was... You know, and, and Europe came to me as a child, 'cause she did exchanges with some very close friends in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France, and we did an exchange for them for several years.
So my mom would bring students there, and they would come here, um, because our friend Wendy is from North Dakota and her husband is French, and so she wanted to have an exchange somewhere near where her family lives.
Toby Myles: Mm.
Katie Jamieson: And she got connected with my mom, and so they've become lifelong friends. But every other summer for a few years when I was a kid, those French kids would come here and- Mm-hmm
to Minnesota. And so w- lots of just, you know, ways that that was woven into my childhood. So I actually- Yeah ... see just culture differently that way because it was so ingrained into, uh, my experience growing up. Um, but I loved to plan and organize things, so most of what I've done in the nonprofit space is meeting planning.
I've run continued education programs for a long time. And I went back and asked my mom a coup- sometime in the last couple years. I'm like, "What, what was with all my big crazy ideas?" And she was like- ... "Well, most of them were good." You know? I was like not afraid to go execute on these huge ideas and get adults to follow what I was doing.
So that, that's what I was doing when I was like 10- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm ... 11, 12. Um, and obviously that just fed right into theater. Our high school theater department was, uh, an experience that is hard to describe if you weren't part of it, in ways that those of us who were part of it still use most of those skills every single day.
Mm-hmm. Like, we all say, like... So our, uh, theater director, Mr. Paulson, was someone who expected you... He gave you a responsibility. He expected you to follow through, and usually gave you the tools to see it through. But the way he would pull shows together and the way this was set up in a multi-generation mentoring manner, I use those skills every day.
Toby Myles: Mm.
Katie Jamieson: So, and when I come across friends who were also part of it, we all just get it. Like, we just know, like-
Toby Myles: Yeah ...
Katie Jamieson: we had this training that you cannot replace anywhere else.
Toby Myles: Yeah, yeah. And didn't really know it was training you for something down the road at the time.
Katie Jamieson: Yep.
Toby Myles: I'm trying to remember where I read this, that there's something to the effect of, like, w- the things that you love when you're, like, 12 are gonna be the things you're gonna love your whole entire life.
And I thought about it and I was like, "Yeah, that's me." I've, I have always loved making things- Mm-hmm ... and reading and writing. Um, and I'm fortunate that I get to do that for my job. Um, my job, my business.
Katie Jamieson: Yeah.
Toby Myles: Um, so- But you found
Katie Jamieson: a way to build it into your life.
Toby Myles: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So, um- Okay ... so this is a point in the show where I, um, I, I think you've been doing this actually all along in the whole conversation, but we'll, maybe we'll, like, kind of like make it a little bit more concise, because I think, like, you could give, um, a piece of advice for someone wanting to start a business if they are struggling with a chronic illness.
I think that could be some advice. You could also give advice for somebody wanting to take a trip. So I would be happy for you to give both pieces of advice to our listeners.
Katie Jamieson: Uh, yes, I would be happy to do that. I, you did just spark something funny though about things you liked when you were younger that you do now.
Um-
Toby Myles: Yeah ...
Katie Jamieson: theater, I love theater, so I do build it into my travel. There you go. We're going to London in a couple weeks, and, uh, my daughters and my sister and I are seeing, so far, three shows, and we're gonna be there four and a half days. We might get a fourth.
Toby Myles: So- Oh my gosh. Okay. So on that note, my parents traveled to London.
That was like one of their fa- favorite places to go. Mm-hmm. And my dad worked for the Navy Department, um, and so he got to travel a lot of places, and somehow they would always manage to weave in London, and they would do exactly that. They would see as much as they- Because- ... could possibly see, 'cause like- Yeah
that's the place to do it.
Katie Jamieson: We, we are going there to see Matilda and do related things.
Toby Myles: Oh.
Katie Jamieson: That's the goal.
Toby Myles: Matilda. See Matilda. Oh my gosh.
Katie Jamieson: Yes. Yeah. That's my- It's such a phenomenal show.
Toby Myles: Oh my gosh. Amazing. So- Okay ...
Katie Jamieson: you asked me about, um, building a business and then also travel, right?
Toby Myles: Yeah, yeah.
Katie Jamieson: So when it comes to, let's start with the business since that part was first.
I, I actually did coach people for a few years who were starting their travel businesses, and people making a lot of transitions from a lot of, uh, different things. And then obviously working with a professional association and, um, with some volunteer programs for so long, I see people on the kind of the peripheral of their professional space.
Mm-hmm. Um, so I think where I've narrowed in on this is if you spend some time really focusing on the skills you like to use, the qualities, what you're good at, what you like to do, you know, people call that your zone of genius, you can usually find a way to build a business around that.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: And what I have done is really try to make sure I had some way to hire some support for the things that aren't my favorite things to do.
I mean, I've got- Yeah ... some, I, I don't like administrative work. I can do it fine. Dislike to the core.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: Kelly is like, "Give me something to build and I'll do it," you know? Yeah. And I'm like, "How many people can I talk to?" And you know, she's like, "I'm happy to build your stuff." You know, things like that. So really identifying like what really lights you up, and you usually can find a way to build a business around it.
There are so many resour- uh, resources out there about starting businesses. It's kind of about jumping in.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: And the other thing I will say is finding somebody who is a little bit further down the path than you who can mentor you. Mm-hmm,
Toby Myles: yeah.
Katie Jamieson: Whether that's an official coach or not. And so just with my longevity, I'm a strong proponent of joining professional associations and professional organizations, and you do not have to be the most outgoing person.
I've worked with engineers for 22 years, and I am usually the lone extrovert in the room.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: You know? Uh, there's plenty of ways to do that. I first got involved when I was starting with the Women Entrepreneurs of Minnesota group, and that was huge because I met other people who were at the same stage of building business as me.
We didn't have the same business, but there were a lot of commonalities that we could share ideas and swap. So some kind of peer group I would say is huge.
Toby Myles: Yep.
Katie Jamieson: Uh, and then really getting clear about w- what those boundaries are for you and how you can work to be successful, because probably if you're dealing with something chronic, you're not gonna work a regular, you know, 8:00 to 4:00 or 9:00 to 5:00-
Toby Myles: Sure
Katie Jamieson: schedule, and that's fine. Yep, yep. You know? You, you can find ways to do that. With the travel stuff- I really like the finding your why piece. I, I find that helps people narrow in on what's gonna make a trip of theirs successful. And, you know, I'm somebody where if you say, "I maybe wanna go here," I probably have it planned two hours later, so
Toby Myles: That's
Katie Jamieson: my dad.
So be careful where you tell me you wanna go with me, 'cause I'll get working on it right away. My poor husband has been on the receiving end of that far too many times.
Toby Myles: Next thing you know- Um- ... we're going. We're packing our bags and we're outta here.
Katie Jamieson: We're done. We're leaving. Um, yeah, my quickest turnaround to me, myself, going to Disney was 48 hours later, I was on the plane. Wow. I was like, "I need to go to Disney," and I was like, I left a day later. It was, it wasn't even 48 hours.
Um, I really think breaking up with the FOMO, fear of missing out, with travel is so important.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: I mean, you can definitely get ideas from Google, from crowdsourcing, from AI. It can get so overwhelming. Yeah. And so, like the biggest thing I help people with is relieving that overwhelm of like, "I can't figure this out," or, "I just don't have the time or capacity to."
Mm. That's the top reason people hire me. It's not that they can't figure out how to book a hotel in Paris. It's like, "I do not have the time to figure out how to piece this together."
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: And even when they go get a nice little outline from AI, it's not really what they're looking for.
Toby Myles: Sure. Yeah, for sure.
It's, it's, hearing you talk about that, I, um, my mom was a travel agent. She owned her own agency for a number of years, and one of the things she loved about it was all the perks she got, you know? She got to do- Mm-hmm ... free tours of ships and, you know, weekends, and my dad got to be the beneficiary of all the places she got to go.
But, you know, like you would joke, like, "Oh, you, you, you do it so that you get to go to all these places," but you do it so that you can then recommend things to your clients, really.
Katie Jamieson: Correct.
Toby Myles: You know? Yeah. That is really the reason. Yes, it's amazing perks, no doubt about it, but really, like wouldn't you rather hear from somebody who has actually done the thing that you wanna do and not just Google it or read it in a book?
Katie Jamieson: Absolutely. Yep.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: And, and even if you haven't been to all the different places, just the different style of travel, you know?
Toby Myles: Sure.
Katie Jamieson: Yeah. I mean, when I send people to Europe, lots of different questions about money, entry in and out of Europe, you know, things like that that are pretty standard across the countries.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: Um, you know, the other thing too is that- Owning a travel agency, I have access to a whole range of suppliers that aren't open to the public. I mean, there's like- Mm-hmm ... I think somebody told me once, like, 40% of the travel industry is not open to be, to the public. Wow. So you have this whole layer of, you know, I like to work with what's called a DMC sometimes, where I've got a partner in the country where I'm sending somebody.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: And they have contracts to the hotels and things like that. And so I can get very specific about how I wanna build that trip for that person's, you know, cultural immersion.
Toby Myles: Sure.
Katie Jamieson: And I'm, I'm really picky about how I send people to France that way, 'cause I've spent so much time there. Yeah. And I have a wonderful partner in France that I work with.
So the, you know, there's things like that too where, yes, I travel. I'm also doing it so I make sure I have the right things to-
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm ...
Katie Jamieson: to bring back to clients.
Toby Myles: Yeah. And, and the partners on the other side, because, you know, you know, back in, back in the day, you had to go through a travel agent, right? Mm-hmm.
But then all these other, like, DIY options came, and- Okay, m- you know, maybe people really liked having that at the finger, their fingertips, but it didn't necessarily make for a better, smoother experience.
Katie Jamieson: Correct. Yep. Yeah. And you know the number one thing people overlook and they come back to me and say, "This was really helpful," is when I set up, i- and it's just a part of what I do, but prearranged car transfers.
Like, you get to the airport, you're gonna go to your hotel.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Katie Jamieson: I, personally, when I'm jet-lagged, especially if I go, you know, to Europe, the last thing I wanna do is figure out how I'm getting on the train. Can I? Yeah. Yeah, but, like ... And that's another piece, too, with traveling with chronic pain or chronic illness.
Those little things. Yeah. Those are the pieces that can kill your energy.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: If you build in those little things that give you a boost that you don't have to do the mental or the physical energy. Mm-hmm. And it saves you for the actual, like, seeing and experiencing what you
Toby Myles: want. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Or I think about some of these airports that are just huge, and if you have a connection and you're coming in in terminal A, but you gotta, like, fly out of terminal D and- Yeah
you got, like, 15 minutes to get there, and that's probably not happening.
Katie Jamieson: Don't do that to yourself. Oh, I dig on, like, do not minimize your layovers.
Toby Myles: Uh-uh. No. No. Oh my gosh, no.
Katie Jamieson: Oh, gosh, and whenever possible, you know, I, I get straight to Europe and then I take a, a layover versus trying to, getting stuck in the States is terrible.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: Yeah. You know? That's hard. Um, and actually, one thing you just reminded me of on that, many airports have support services.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Katie Jamieson: So, you know, definitely check that out. In Minneapolis we have a whole program, like, if somebody's even just has major anxiety about traveling- Mm-hmm ... that you can sign up for it, and you get a volunteer who will escort you from arrival all the way till you get on the plane and board.
Wow. To help you just with the anxiety of navigating the airport.
Toby Myles: That's amazing. I bet you a lot of people don't know that.
Katie Jamieson: Right. Um, and actually it was an engineer friend who designs airports who told me it existed. It was not somebody in the travel industry who told me.
Toby Myles: Interesting.
Katie Jamieson: She, she does work on Minneapolis Airport and told me about it.
Yep.
Toby Myles: Wow. Okay, there's the, the little gem we didn't know we were gonna uncover.
Katie Jamieson: Great.
Toby Myles: See, I knew if we talked long enough, we would get all the juicy things. This has been so much fun. Um, I, as always, I never know where our conversation is gonna go, but I so enjoyed this. Let people know where they can find you and follow you online.
Katie Jamieson: Yeah. Thank you for having me. This has been so fun. So my, uh, travel agency is Engage Travel Co. And so engagetravelco.com and on, you know, Instagram and Facebook. And then I, um, under Instagram post under a name called Voyage La Vie, and that's where I, uh, write and speak. And then I also have katiejamieson.com as my website.
Um, but Voyage La Vie is a play on, it's not quite correct French, but kind of travel with life, just in French.
Toby Myles: Okay. Awesome. We will put all those links in the show notes, so for everyone who's listening, you don't have to quick write it down, especially if you're driving and listening. Um, Katie, this has been so much fun.
I appreciate you. I appreciate all the things that we talked about, even the personal stuff that you're willing to share. So, um, thank you for your time today.
Katie Jamieson: Yeah. Thank you for having me.