Today we’d like to introduce you to Polly Hemstock.
Hi Polly, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My journey has taken me through several careers – medicine, food product research, chef/restaurateur, food & wine sales and now travel advisor. I always had a strong interest in science, so after high school I trained as a medical laboratory technician. I got tired of working odd shifts and started looking for a “day job” and found myself working in a food product research lab. I found it very interesting and decided to go to school and get a degree for more options. I went to the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and earned a BS in Food Science and Technology. I got my dream job at General Foods in Tarrytown, NY and did food product development there for about 13 years. While I was there I met several chefs who were consulting on various projects. I had the opportunity to talk with them about science vs cooking and restaurant careers. When the technical center I was working at closed, I chose a new direction and went to the NY Restaurant School’s Cooking and Restaurant Management combined intensive program. I worked in several fine dining restarurants and cafes and a corporate food service before deciding to pursue my ultimate dream – my own restaurant in Provincetown, MA at the tip of Cape Cod. After 2 different locations, it seemed I had been a critical success but not a financial one, so I gave up the restaurant business, sort of. I became a supplier rep for a major food supplier, then a gourmet food supplier, selling to restaurants on Cape Cod. When I had the opportunity to transition to wines sales with one of my favorite former suppliers, I adjusted my direction again. I sold fine wines to restaruants and retailers on Cape Cod for 8 years. About that time, after a winter of 108+ inches of snow in Boston, my wife and I decided we had enough of winter weather. The deal was whoever found a job first in a warmer climate…she won and we moved to Florida. I retired but got bored really quickly, so I answered a Facebook post about becoming a travel advisor, and the rest as they say is history. I started at Expedia Cruiseship Centers in July 2019 and started learning the ropes. Then in 2020, what the cruise industry refers to as “the pause” closed the office I was working in. I decided to look at my own agency and chose a Cruise Planners franchise. I work from home and in 2024 my wife retired and joined me. Now we travel as much as we can and work from wherever we are.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Anyone who has ever started and run their own business will tell you it is not an easy road. Provincetown, MA is a highly seasonal, tourist-driven economy in a fairly remote location. A hurricane threat on Labor Day weekend took the little profit we had our first season. When the first restaurant property owner did not renew our lease, we had to move everything into a friend’s empty restaurant and scramble to find a new location for the next season. We did, but never really recovereed from the move.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Cruise Planners?
Cruise Planners is one of the top franchises organizations in the country and is a billion dollar business. We are a full service travel franchise – land, air and sea. The name says “cruise” but we do it all. Being in Florida, we sell a lot of cruises from the Fort Lauderdale and Miami ports, mostly Caribbean, some Mexico, Panama Canal and South America. We deliver a stress-free vacation designed to client specifications. Having been on over 40 cruises on 32 different ships on 10 different cruise lines for over 228 days, we have a lot of personal experience to draw on to match clients with the right vacation. We can have you picked up in a private car at your door, driven to the airport or port, and have you picked up when you return. We can help you find excursions and activities where you are going, whether by ship or on land. Cruise Planners has amazing partnerships with our vendors and we often have exclusive deals to offer. This year we have booked clients on Antarctic expeditions, all inclusive Caribbean vacations and African Safaris. If you can dream it, we can plan it.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Stay flexible – be able to pivot! Whether it is location – losing your lease or relocating entirely, know that you can overcome it. Use your support network, people you can call and vent, brainstorm or commiserate with.
Pricing:
- Travel advisors do not charge a fee.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.adventuresbypolly.com
- Instagram: advbypolly
- Facebook: AdventuresbyPolly.com – Cruise Planners (soon to be Polly Hemstock and Susan Leven – Cruise Planners)
- Linkedin: in/polly-hemstock-76739913
Image Credits
all photos were taken by me
