{"id":9099,"date":"2019-08-05T10:00:35","date_gmt":"2019-08-05T14:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/?p=9099"},"modified":"2019-07-30T13:37:50","modified_gmt":"2019-07-30T17:37:50","slug":"working-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/working-together","title":{"rendered":"Who we are: Working together for the better"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Our staff, like the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/teachers\/new-to-explorica.aspx\">teachers who travel<\/a> with us have a goal to create a better world by enriching every student with cultural experiences through educational travel. One piece of feedback we hear from these teachers we work with and respect is that our people is what makes Explorica stand out. Our team is dedicated to working with teachers to make sure the process is easy and fun from start to finish! Enthusiasm seems to be the common theme here. The enthusiasm our teachers have about how traveling will prompt student growth is infectious, and we feed off that enthusiasm!<\/p>\n<p>We (and you!) value our staff members so much, we decided to highlight a few people on our tremendous team and share their unique stories!<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #f79520;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-9103\" src=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working1.jpg 960w, https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working1-820x461.jpg 820w, https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working1-350x197.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working1-860x484.jpg 860w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nChelsea Kelley &#8211; <em>Senior Account Manager, Team Lead<br \/>\n<\/em><\/strong><\/span>Chelsea was well on her way to becoming a history teacher, but her plans took a turn when she learned about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/\">educational travel<\/a>. Her passion for cultural education makes her an excellent support for teachers who travel with us. Bonus! Chelsea took part in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/teachers\/select-a-tour.aspx\">Explorica trip<\/a> when she was in college, making her a direct product of our mission!<\/p>\n<p>When asked what she loves the most about her role at Explorica, Chelsea had much to say. \u201cWhen I applied to work here, I wanted to be a part of the process and help teachers open the world to their students, like my professor did for me. What I value most now are the relationships I have developed with the teachers I work with year after year. I\u2019ve gotten to know some interesting people who\u2019ve had amazing life experiences and I probably wouldn\u2019t have met any other way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #f79520;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-9101\" src=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working3.jpg 960w, https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working3-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working3-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working3-820x461.jpg 820w, https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working3-350x197.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working3-860x484.jpg 860w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nBryan Ouellette \u2013 <em>International Air Operations Manager<br \/>\n<\/em><\/strong><\/span>Brian has worked in the educational travel industry for 15 years, the last seven of which have been with us at Explorica. The relationships he\u2019s formed with his program leaders have transcended time and location in the very best way. He doesn\u2019t just work with teachers to build <a href=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/teachers\/select-a-tour.aspx\">tours<\/a>, he partners with his friends to organize educational experiences of a lifetime. Yes, Bryan does indeed consider the teachers he works with his good friends. In fact, he was once in a program leader\u2019s wedding!<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t just sell tours, we build relationships. Being trustworthy is very important to me, and, as a result, I have formed a lot of friendships. After working with this program leader for several years, I ended up being in her wedding (which was, of course, an honor). At this point, we\u2019ve known each other going on 15 years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #f79520;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working4.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-9100\" src=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"617\" height=\"540\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working4.jpg 617w, https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working4-300x263.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 617px) 100vw, 617px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nLaura Jones \u2013 <em>Senior Account Manager, Team Lead<br \/>\n<\/em><\/strong><\/span>Laura traveled with Explorica in high school and went on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/educational-tours\/best-of-italy.aspx\">study abroad in Italy<\/a> during college. She attributes her inspiration for deciding to go abroad and for double majoring in Italian and art history to her high school trip with us.<\/p>\n<p>When asked what the most valuable aspect of educational travel is, Laura\u2019s answer demonstrates her passion and appreciation for it all, even the little things. \u201cGetting outside of their comfort zones, learning new cultures and seeing different kinds of people are important, and in my opinion, very valuable. Through my work at Explorica, I have helped students experience some incredible destinations for the first time, as well as some simple things well-traveled people might take for granted, like seeing the ocean, flying on an airplane, riding on a train or ferry, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #f79520;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-9102\" src=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working2.jpg 960w, https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working2-820x461.jpg 820w, https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working2-350x197.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Working2-860x484.jpg 860w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nCharlotte St Denis \u2013 <em>Senior Product Coordinator<br \/>\n<\/em><\/strong><\/span>Charlotte\u2019s personal experience with Explorica is quite special as her mom is a long-time program leader and one of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/teachers\/teacher-to-teacher.aspx\">Teacher-to-Teacher mentors<\/a>. By the time she finished college, Charlotte had visited 23 countries, mostly on Explorica trips. She was so influenced by her travels she chose to pursue a career with Explorica after majoring in international relations.<\/p>\n<p>Charlotte has numerous stories about successful partnerships she has been a part of while working at Explorica. \u201cIn my new role in Product Innovation, I am able to continue former partnerships I had in sales; specifically, with my mom and one of her favorite tour directors. They\u2019ve both become advisors to me on new program ideas and destinations. The Explorica organization as a whole has also been a great partner to me professionally. I have always felt like part of a family here, and loved how I was supported when I decided to move to Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more about Charlotte and her mom\u2019s story <a href=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/mothers-educational-travels-inspire-daughter-pursue-career-explorica\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We understand working with Explorica is a choice, so our team makes sure it\u2019s easy and you have fun doing it. Our passion for educational travel shines through in everything we do to enrich students\u2019 lives. Thanks to our stellar staff and fantastic teacher partners, we really are working together for the better!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our staff, like the teachers who travel with us have a goal to create a better world by enriching every student with cultural experiences through educational travel. One piece of feedback we hear from these teachers we work with and respect is that our people is what makes Explorica stand out. Our team is dedicated <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/working-together\">Read More &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-explorica-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9099"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9105,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9099\/revisions\/9105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}