My Brand Story: Janet Mactavish Travel Designer

#5 in a series of brand story interviews with established businesses, to inspire you, and help you create and grow your own brand.  Janet is a Luxury Travel Designer, read on for her brand story!

Please introduce yourself; what is your business, and is there a story behind its name?

Hello, my name is Janet Mactavish and I am a Luxury Travel Designer.  Janet Mactavish Travel Designer – the name tells you what I do and hopefully, that it is a very personal service.  It is just me.

What’s your business story? Why did you start your business?

I have over 25 years’ experience in travel and hospitality, working on commercial aircraft and private jets in the Middle East, as well as looking after top VIPs at a hotel in Central London.  Having spent the best part of 17 years living, travelling and/or working in hotels, it made sense to put all of that together in the form of travel management. After a year with a private company in London, looking after the travel plans of their top tier clients, I decided to set up on my own in May 2012. I am now free to work my way, choose my clients, and what projects I want to work on.

What are your super-powers?  How do you stand out?

I am quite instinctive, knowing which properties and ideas to suggest to which clients.  I genuinely want my clients to have THE best time, so will do my very best to make it happen.

What’s your big story? What’s your mission? 

What I would really love to do is see more Luxury properties embrace the need to be more sustainable and vegan friendly.  The current situation in which we find ourselves, tells us that high consumption cannot continue. That said, eco and sustainable does not have to mean going without, there is a balance to strike and ways to achieve it. I have a few projects in mind that I am working on in my spare time – of which I currently have a lot as no-one can travel at the moment! [April 2020].

Why are you an entrepreneur?

For the freedom and flexibility to work with who I want, from wherever I am in the world, in a manner that suits both me and my clients. And of course, to be able to choose my projects.

What’s your niche? What do you want to be known for?

My niche is Luxury and Experiential Travel e.g once in a lifetime adventures, honeymoons, big birthday celebrations, multi-generational travel and luxury retreat planning.

I would like to be known for providing a highly personalised service and for knowing the perfect place or experience.  I like to use the hashtag #Iknowaplace for those special and unusual places.

What are yours and your brand’s values?

They are one and the same: Respect for people and place, Honesty, Integrity and Discretion.

What’s your customers’ story? Who are your ideal clients?

My clients are, for the most part, highly successful businesspeople.  They have high expectations and understand the value in paying a professional to create something perfectly tailored to their needs and wishes.

What’s the story behind your logo?

As I mentioned, I lived in the Middle East for a long time and love Islamic Art and Design. I also wear a Rose Gold Mandala necklace every day, that my husband bought me some years ago. My logo is a combination of both, and I love it! 

[Janet’s branding/logo as shown in this blog is by Phil Pallen at www.PhilPallen.co].

What’s the story behind your brand colours and your visual style?

I read a book on branding colours and played around with some ideas.  I wanted to avoid the typical black and white/black and gold of many Luxury brands. Not wanting the colours to be too soft and wedding like, I opted for the luxurious feel of the teal to give it some strength and backbone, the pale pink as I am a creative and intuitive business, touches of soft white, and of course rose gold for a little more luxury.

What’s your brand’s personality?

Elegant, Inspirational and Aspirational – the stuff that dreams are made of.

Is there a story behind your brand photography?

Rather like the brand personality, it is meant to be inspirational and aspirational. The photos of me are well, just photos of me, so people get to know the person that is Janet Mactavish Travel Designer.  I confess that I really do not enjoy having my photo taken.  I do believe that a personal connection is extremely important in my line of work, people are trusting me with their most important resources; their time and their money, so they want to be reassured and feel like they know me.

[Janet’s branding photos used in this blog are by Ami at www.thewomanandthewolf.com].

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Finally, where can we find out more about you and your business?

My website is https://www.janetmactavish.travel/ – here you can read more about me, visit my blog, sign up for my newsletter or download my free resource on Luxury Retreat planning.

On Instagram and Facebook I hang out at JanetMactavish.Travel

And I have a free Facebook group called Luxury Travel Talk, https://www.facebook.com/groups/LuxuryTravelTalk that you are welcome to join. It is a COVID free zone and we just chat about all things travel, and I will test your travel knowledge from time to time.

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I hope this blog post has inspired you to get to know your own brand a little more, and helps you to create your own brand stories.  Knowing your own brand, and using it cohesively everywhere, will really help to build and grow your business.  You’ll be more recognisable, more memorable, and you’ll attract more of your ideal clients/customers. 

See the blog category ‘#Your Brand Stories’ for guest blog interviews as I add them.  And let me know if you’d like to answer the same questions!

Next Steps:

- Need some new headshots or branding photos and live nearby?  I'm just outside Sevenoaks, Kent, south east of the UK.  Find out more about how it works and my different packages on the Capture Your Brand page.

- Want to get clearer on your brand and branding?  Take my free Discover Your Brand Style Quiz, find your Brand Vibe keywords with my From Brand Confusion To Brand Clarity course, and then create or refresh or rebrand with my From Drab To Fab branding course (available soon).

- Ready for more personal mentoring, brand, visibility and marketing strategies that work for you, a community of fellow ambitious introverts, training, and accountability to put it all into action?  You'll soon be clear enough on your brand so you can answer these questions too!  Come and join my Brand Plan membership, and get support to show up, stand out, and sell more🤩

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Blog topics / categories: 

#Your Brand Stories

[This blog was first written in April 2020, then transferred to this website and updates added, January 2024]