Episode 8 - Mentorship Matters: Building Success Together
Connect and get in touch with HollyDay Travel
Connect and get in touch with Kim Wethmar
People and Links mentioned in this episode:
TIME Programme - get in touch with TIME Programme at time@travelindustrymentor.com.au
EPISODE SUMMARY
• Topic: The Power of Mentorship in Travel Business
• Host: Holly Velardo from Holiday Travel (Port Noarlunga, South Australia)
• Guest: Kim Wethmar - Former CEO, TIME Programme Board Member, Business Mentor
Kim Wethmar's Background
• Former CEO who grew corporate travel business from £50M to £300M TTV with 96% client retention
• Led teams of 200+ people, introduced automation and bio-analytics at scale
• 25+ years across account management, operations, and executive leadership
• Telstra Businesswoman of the Year NSW finalist
• Runs "The Asking Leader" coaching business
• Current TIME Programme board member
How Holly and Kim Met - TIME Programme
• TIME: Travel Industry Mentor Experience led by Penny Spencer
• One-on-one mentoring across all travel industry sectors
• Kim volunteers as mentor, Holly was mentee
• Programme connects emerging leaders with experienced mentors
Kim's Mentoring Philosophy
• Core mission: Turn ambition into action through simple systems
• Greatest joy: Seeing people realise their full potential
• Approach: "No BS" direct communication style
• Why she mentors: Paying forward the mentorship she received in her career
• Energy source: Watching mentee ideas click into profitable plans
Holly's TIME Journey
First TIME Experience (Post-COVID)
• Mentor: Matt Lewis
• Challenge: Overwhelmed with sudden booking influx after COVID
• Outcome: Scaled from solo operation to 5 team members in 6 months
• Scholarship: Won scholarship for first programme
Second TIME Experience (with Kim)
• Clear goal: Increase revenue by 50%
• Challenge: Self-doubt and mental blocks despite business growth
• Timeframe: 3 years more advanced than first programme
• Pairing: Penny Spencer
Kim's Mentoring Approach
The Three Cs of Mentorship
• Clarity: What to do next, stop doing, or start doing
• Cadence: Rhythm and discipline of showing up prepared
• Courage: Using someone else's belief until yours catches up
Key Tools and Frameworks
• One Page Business Plan: From "Traction" by Gino Wickman (mandatory reading)
• Urgent vs Important: Framework for prioritising tasks
• Time management strategies
• Strength identification
• Employee engagement techniques
Transformational Impact on Holly
Personal Development
• Changed internal self-talk and self-perception
• Overcame self-doubt and vulnerability
• Learned to think differently about others and possibilities
• Built genuine self-belief
Business Structure
• One Page Plan: Daily morning routine, weekly accountability
• Planning discipline: No excuses approach to structure
• Accountability: Weekly meetings with homework assignments
• Strategic thinking: Focus on important vs urgent tasks
Leadership Growth
• Understanding of delegation needs
• Focus on building business rather than working in it
• Clear goal-setting and achievement tracking
• Improved team communication and vision sharing
The Mentoring Relationship
• Kim's Preparation and Care
• Mentee-Driven Process
TIME Community Benefits
• Generous community: Travel attracts "best humans"
• Global expansion: Beyond Australia and New Zealand
• Networking: Valuable connections and relationships
• Support system: Ongoing community beyond programme
• Scholarship opportunities: Financial assistance available
Kim's Leadership Philosophy
• Self-Discipline as Foundation
• Personal Growth Commitment
Key Takeaways
• Mentorship value: Essential for business and personal growth
• Planning importance: Structure and discipline create momentum
• Community power: Travel industry's generous, supportive nature
• Continuous learning: Even successful leaders need mentors
• Action orientation: Turn ambition into measurable results
READ THE FULL PODCAST TRANSCRIPT HERE
Holly: Welcome to episode eight of Travel Business Unlocked. I'm Holly Velardo, the owner of HollyDay Travel, which is a boutique travel agency based in the beautiful Port Noarlunga in South Australia. And today I am so excited. I have my beautiful mentor Kim Wethmar with me and I'm so happy to share our journey and why mentorship is so important. Welcome, Kim.
Kim: Thank you, Holly. I can't believe it's number eight already.
Holly: I know, I can't believe it either. And without your encouragement, I wouldn't even be here. But first of all, I just want to tell you a little bit about Kim and her journey.
Kim's Background
Holly: Kim helps organisations across Australia and New Zealand simplify their business and unlock measurable value. She's a former CEO who grew a corporate travel business from 50 million to 300 million TTV with 96% client retention. She introduced automation and bio-analytics at scale and led teams of 200 plus. At The Asking Leader, Kim focuses on client strategy, programme optimisation, stakeholder engagement and change management. With 25 plus years across account management, operations and executive leadership, Kim brings pragmatic execution, clear communication and a people-first ethos to every engagement. She's also a Telstra Businesswoman of the Year New South Wales finalist and a longtime mentor of emerging leaders.
Holly: Amazing, Kim! What an incredible bio. I obviously know your background and everything you do, but I did not know some of those numbers. So that is incredible.
How We Met
Holly: Kim and I met through the TIME programme which is the travel industry mentor experience. This is a programme that is led by the beautiful Penny Spencer. And what it really does is offers one-on-one mentoring across all different sectors in the travel industry. And it connects individuals like myself with incredible mentors just like Kim. And we get to go through this amazing programme and Kim volunteers her time as part of this. So I just wanted you to share a little bit more about yourself, Kim, and also why you joined TIME and as a mentor and your role there.
Kim's Response
Kim: Thank you again, Holly. You know, travel has been the through line of my career. Building teams, growing businesses, helping leaders get the best out of themselves. And I wear a few hats today. I work with some travel companies. I run The Asking Leader where we coach leaders to use better questions and I advise a couple of growing businesses and the common theme in all of that is kind of turning ambition into action. I'm obsessed with simple systems that create momentum. You know that it's all about planning. And so you know, my job is really what gives me my biggest passion and joy is to see people who didn't know that they had certain things in them to realise their full potential.
Holly: And did you ever do that for me! I mean, one of the things about our connection instantly was, as I call it, your no approach. You just said to me, like, “Just stop. Think about what it is you want.” And you know, you took me right back to break down the basics. And you know what you said to me in our first meeting, get this book and read it. I don't want to hear any excuses. You will make time and, and you do it. And that book was Traction by Gino Wickman. I actually spoke about it in last week's episode in my books that I love. It completely changed my life. And I think, you know, having you there and having you instantly get me within like a 30-minute meeting and know that what you could say to me and what was going to make me tick just blew my mind. And you know, tell us about what your role is at TIME now because you are a board member as well now, and a little bit about your journey with TIME and how many mentors you've had or how long you've been involved.
Kim's TIME Journey
Kim: Well, I've known Penny since I moved to Australia, which is now 20 years ago. And so I've had somewhat of a connection to TIME through all of that period. I said yes to being on the board because it allows me to shape such a beautiful organisation into the new way of the world. You know, whether it's working from home, whether it's hybrid, whether it's the new generation of people coming through who have different requirements. I wanted to be able to sit at the table and help TIME evolve. I said yes to TIME all those years ago because the industry gave me some extraordinary mentors—people who'd opened doors and told me the truth. Not always what you want to hear, but sometimes you need that different perspective. Mentoring for me with TIME is my way of paying attention forward. What do I get? I get energy. I love seeing that moment when a mentee's idea just clicks into a plan and the plan starts paying the bills or paying the dividends and getting the results. The TIME community is ridiculously generous. Every conversation reminds me of why travel attracts the best humans. And so we're looking to expand the TIME community beyond Australia and New Zealand into other global areas. And it's super exciting to be part of that family.
Holly: It absolutely is. And like you said, I mean, what the TIME community provides as well for me that was one of the biggest things. I've actually done TIME twice, which, you know, but for the listeners. I first did TIME in just after COVID. I had spent that time during COVID getting the business what I thought was ready and maybe put some systems in place. And then I just got completely slammed. I had no idea how to deal with all of the bookings that were coming in and everything that was happening. And I joined TIME and I had the most beautiful mentor, Matt Lewis. He was incredible and he also just helped me understand that things could happen in a way that I didn't know how or didn't even want to believe. Like I had these dreams but I didn't know what to do with them, had no idea what to do with them. And during that time with Matt, I went from no staff members pretty much to I think I had five in that six-month period. So that was crazy.
Holly: And then when I met you, Kim, I came back to do TIME with a very different goal and I, you know, you would have got my what I wanted to achieve out of it. I was very clear this time. I wanted to increase my revenue by 50%. I wanted to do so many things, I knew exactly what I wanted to do but I was so stuck in my own head and my own self doubt and you know, how do I get through it and what do I do? So for me like I find that TIME is for anybody starting out, but anybody anywhere in their journey. Like I was so much further along this time three years in from when I first finished the programme. It was unbelievable. So you know, this is where there's mentors for everybody. I was so lucky to be paired with you when I saw Penny last year at the Women in Travel Awards and, and she said to me, “Oh my gosh, I've given you my best friend. She's amazing. You guys are going to get along so well.” And I was like, how does she do this every time? How does she do it? And you know, you're on the board, you know, the process as well, it blows my mind. I mean talk to me a bit more about the connections and the relationships and the support and stuff in the community. Because for me that that is one of the biggest things in TIME. The people I met along the way. You know, how is that for you as a mentor getting to see and everyone at the events and what does it mean?
The TIME Community
Kim: It's just a beautiful community. You know, travel people are brilliant at caring for clients, but we also notorious for putting ourselves last.
Holly: Absolutely, absolutely.
Kim: And I'll just come back to something that you said earlier. You know, I still have a mentor. I still have somebody who isn't in my day-to-day because mentorship fixes the imbalance of caring for clients versus putting ourselves first. And mentorship for me, gives me a thinking partner who isn't in my inbox. Can challenge my assumptions or help me zoom out into the bigger, brighter world and shift into what really matters in a business or in life. Because just because we talk about people's businesses doesn't mean some of those things can't be applied in the way they listen or have conversations or relationships with people in their immediate family or their children. My purpose is to make better humans or enable better humans to be on this earth. And better humans make better leaders.
Holly: So you definitely made me a better human in every, in so many different ways. Keep like I still remember. I mean, you know, we don't talk all the time anymore but you still the things that you told me in my mind about how I talk to myself, that was one of the biggest things. You know, it doesn't matter where we are in business and where we're feeling, there's always going to be that vulnerability, there's going to be overcoming self doubt and you just made me always think differently about how I firstly spoke to myself, which was so important but then also how I thought about other people and how I saw things and what I could really achieve. And you know, one of the things was my one-page plan that you would, no excuses, want it filled out before every single meeting and if I hadn't done it then the meeting would get postponed or we would do it during the meeting and but this taught me that structure and planning. There's no excuses, there's always time and we can get in our own heads. Especially you know, I work from home, I've got the five kids, I've got the team. Life is extremely busy. But that's a word you also told me don't use so often because there's so many different ways we can be busy and you know, it's how we see it. And to have you teach me how to plan how to do all of those things, that was one of the biggest things that I got out of that. It was making time for it. And you know, with that, how is it that made you think differently and why is that so crucial that you are always on about planning, planning, planning, planning for other travel business owners. Explain the strategy behind that and what it means to you.
Kim: It's a great question. And you know, I didn't necessarily get a degree or I studied travel and tourism many, many, many years ago. I did some foundations of general management. But I'm not a, I'm not a learned book smart person. I'm a learned on the go and, and just in time. The, the one thing that I wanted to be known for as a leader was that people knew that, that I would be consistent, that I would be inspiring. And so when I, when I moved into my big CEO role, I was able to choose the type of leader and person that I wanted to be. And in the still of the moment, it came down to self-discipline. It came down to the more disciplined I was as a leader, the better I could see the results in my team. We wouldn't just cancel meetings because it didn't fit or we were too busy. We wouldn't take shortcuts because it was easier and less convenient. And if I could, if I could be the yardstick, if I could be that person who held us to account, I knew that my team and their teams and all my mentees will take that with them in life. It's much easier to not read a book. It's much easier to listen to some fun music. It's much easier not to get up and put your runners on and go to the gym or not do your plan. But once you get into that rhythm, you almost don't know how you could have done it without that before. Because if you don't have a plan, you don't know where you're going. You don't know when you got to where you said you wanted to go.
Holly: And this is exactly right. And I mean, one of the things for me was I would always find an excuse, but I love being held accountable. And so I would procrastinate on things. But knowing that I had to meet with you week after week and knowing that what I could achieve, you know, and fitting it in. So when you're made to fit in things that are important, the dreams, the goals, I mean, I don't know how many times I cried with you on our meetings. And you broke me down personally, professionally, but in such a good way. You didn't just break me down. You built me up so high that I had to break down to those levels. I had to have those moments, you know? But you, you learned so much about me so quickly. And I think that's one thing that's so incredibly beautiful about you, Kim, is your genuine care. Like, you couldn't come into this role and volunteer if you didn't care. And, I mean, you've worked with huge companies. You've had huge successes. And every week, here I am sitting here with crying or frustrated or confused about what I want. And every time I would finish our meeting, I would have so much more clarity. Even if it was one or two things that you gave me homework to do, I just felt this huge weight lift off. Like, here's this incredible woman who has done so much in the world, and she's helping me with my goals, which, you know, to me seem so small and insignificant, but to you, you made me feel like I was the most important person. And, you know, I can never thank you enough for that and what you have given me. And I know that the TIME Programme is so incredibly lucky to have you as a board member now. And the mentees that are going to come through and work with you are just unbelievable. So. You are unbelievable, Kim. And I just. I want you to explain a little bit about some of the things that we did in our journey, if you can remember. So, sorry, I'm putting you on the spot a little bit here. I didn't really have this as a plan, but, you know, just for people who are interested in the TIME Programme or a mentor and might not really understand, how does this actually work? Like, what did we do? You know, did you have to have it all planned? Did I have to have it planned? Just maybe explain that a little bit.
How Mentorship Works
Kim: Well, there's probably two sections to that answer. One, three quick reasons to get a mentor. You know, it's the three Cs. For me, it's about clarity. It's about cadence, and it's about courage. So when we talk about clarity, it's about, what do I do next? Or what do I need to stop doing? Or what do I need to start doing? Cadence is that rhythm. It's the drumbeat that keeps you honest. It's that discipline of showing up religiously prepared and backing yourself and doing the hard work. And third is courage. So you use somebody else's belief until yours catches up. And I just love that.
Holly: Absolutely. I love that.
Kim: The journey with a mentee is never the same. And as much as you got out of it, Holly, I did, too. I often say to people when I'm doing mentoring that I sometimes need to hear what I'm telling my mentees more than they need to hear it. So never for a moment think that what you're experiencing is not what I'm experiencing, you know, we're all humans on this journey of life and have good days and not so good days and crazy days and more structured days. I guess the journey of a mentor and a mentee is very personal and it takes a wild ride. I never know where it's going to go necessarily. I do like to have a little bit of a heads up about what's happening in that person's life. So that, but there's a lot of frameworks. There's, there's the urgent versus important. There's how to manage time, there's understanding your strength. There's figuring out how to do business planning, there's employee engagement stuff. You know, I'm busy working with a company at the moment where we're doing professional leadership development and coaching. So it, the reason why I love what I do is no two days are the same and no two people are the same and no two journeys are the same.
Holly: Oh, absolutely. And one, what you're just saying there brought back so many memories and you know, the urgent versus the important. I really struggled with that. You know, you went through that with me so many times because working in travel we always go to what we think is right now. It has to be done right this second. But it really took me a long time, weeks for to step back and look at that in a very different view. But you had to walk me through that and that was something I did. I would never have understood on my own or even probably thought about because I couldn't even break it down. I couldn't work out why was I always going to that. And those things were urgent so I had to work on them but they weren't important. And this is one of my biggest goals moving forward is finding people who can do the urgent for me so I can work on what is important and I can work on building the business and getting it to where I want it to be. So there were so many strategies in what we went through. And also I think with the TIME programme, the way that mentorship works is that it is mentee driven. So you know, this is, you are a volunteer. But I know like that you were not coming into these meetings unprepared. You were so well organised, you knew what you were doing. But even if it is mentee driven, there was something you always had ready for me. But you would also send me an email going, “What are we working on this week, Holly?” You haven't come back to me. Like you were always at one step ahead of me, wanting to know where I was at. So, you know, I think the programme can be very different with whichever mentor or mentee you get. But obviously that's one of your strengths, is knowing exactly what you want to get out of them.
Recommended Resources
Kim: Well, I've, I've recently listened to a great TED talk by Dr. Darria Long. She's an ER doctor and she talks about this crazy, busy life and triaging. You should definitely listen to that one.
Holly: It's on my list. I'll put it in the show notes as well for everyone because it's. Anything you tell me has been so valuable, so I will add it to my list. But I just want to thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy life. You've just got back from a week in the Maldives, relaxing and enjoying it. And I am off next week for a beautiful river cruise, which I am very much looking forward to. And I'm going to take your advice and switch off and I will read a book and maybe a business book because I also want to do a bit of planning and taking some real time away from the business to clear my head and really look at my plan for the what is happening for the next few months. So is there anything else you would like to add to anyone out there looking to be part of the TIME programme, looking for mentors? Is there anything that you'd like to add, Kim?
Kim: It's been so much fun, Holly. Thank you for having me and sharing your insights and reminding me about, you know, how inspiring the work that we all do at TIME is. I think if, if you would like to get in touch, you know, Holly's got in my contact details [in the show notes] and TIME is there. Do it. There's no better time than now.
Holly: I 100% agree with you. We will link to all the details in the show notes. I will put Kim's details in there as well and all the information on how you can join TIME. I know there are some incredible, scholarships available coming up in the coming months with TIME. I and was so lucky. I did win a scholarship the first time that I did the programme. And look, it's not an expensive programme at all for what you get out of it. So please get in touch with the team and they will absolutely help you. But thank you again, Kim, for everything, for your amazing insights. I can never say thank you enough for what you've done for me. And we will chat again soon.
Kim: Thank you, Holly.
