Meet Lily Szemplinski
LOCAL FOREIGNER’S TEAM OF INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS
This post is part of our series celebrating our Independent Contractors and Hosting Program. The Local Foreigner's Hosting Program provides a platform of systems and support for independent travel advisors.
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seas the day
Lily Szemplinski is a firecracker – a level of energy that, when she was younger, she channeled into competitive gymnastics. When injuries ended her gymnastics career (and her stated eighth grade goal of becoming a backup dancer for Britney Spears) by age 18, she headed to the University of New Hampshire, where she spent a semester seeing the world with Semester at Sea. “We spent 108 days on the ship, stopping in ports in 13 countries, from Asia to Europe to Africa. My favorite places to visit were Tokyo and Bangkok – they offered such a different experience from anything I had seen before, and they just knocked my socks off. I still think about these beautiful mango popsicles we had in the floating markets of Bangkok.”
“As the world started coming out of Covid, I kept seeing cheesy quotes about following your heart, and they were speaking to me. In that moment, I realized it was time – and I quit my tech job the next week.”
-Lily Szemplinski
Inspirational quotes
After graduating, she began working in the tech sector in software sales and building her career with several big-name tech companies. “Tech is something that was really an amazing career – it was my dream job in that I got to cover amazing clients and the roles were lucrative. But something was missing, and I started planning travel for friends for fun. For a while, it didn’t even occur to me to do it full-time – when I thought of travel agents, I thought of the woman from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, sitting in her office in the strip mall with her little headset.” But her attention to details and product knowledge caught the attention of members of the industry before she even opened her business officially. “I was planning a friend’s honeymoon to Kauai, and the Director of Sales at the St Regis introduced me to Jon Makhmaltchi, founder of J.Mak Hospitality, and he was my true entry point into the industry.”
For the first couple of years that Lily was booking travel, she maintained her full-time tech job. “When I was getting started, I was taking on as many trips as I could handle, working crazy hours learning the ropes, the destinations, and the suppliers. And then as the world started coming out of Covid and the demand for travel skyrocketed, I was at a crossroads. I kept seeing cheesy quotes about following your heart, or following your dreams, and they were speaking to me. I was terrified to leave the stability of tech, but I went on vacation with my family, and in that moment, I realized it was time – and I quit my tech job the next week.”
Given this background – former competitive gymnast turned double-career woman – it’s no surprise that when it comes to her own travel, Lily’s not big on lounging on the beach for days on end. “My husband and I are big car rental people. For example, in Mallorca, we’re going to hop in the car and spend the morning checking out different beaches and towns. I will come back in the afternoon, though, and have some spa time. I do have two little girls, so most days we’ve had a full concert in Elsa dresses before 7AM, so I do like to be pampered.” And she loves to incorporate that big of comfort for her clients as well. “As moms, we take care of people all the time, and as a travel advisor, it’s a different way of taking care of people.”
“I was looking for a company that is community based, super supportive, and wants to make my business different. I love that the four owners of Local Foreigner are all moms. Tech is such a masculine world, and taking this leap into planning travel full time has been so wonderful.”
Sharing is caring
That sense of community and care is what drew Lily to the Local Foreigner. “I was looking for a company that is community based, super supportive, and wants to make my business different. I love that the four owners of Local Foreigner are all moms. Tech is such a masculine world, and taking this leap into planning travel full time has been so wonderful. I’m super inspired by Hutton Beckcom – she came to travel from the consulting world and has three young kids. And the sharing of knowledge at TLF is amazing – the travel world can have a lot of gatekeeping, but Local Foreigner is a place of collaboration, inspiration, and empowerment.”
That love of sharing a personal connection extends to her clients as well. “I love having a long-term relationship with my clients, because this is a relationship business. We manage our clients’ travel plans for the whole year, big and small – whether they’re going to Italy or on safari or to Dubai. We want to be as close to perfect as possible, and that starts with the relationship. Building trust with people is really meaningful.”