Brownell, the luxury host agency that was founded in 1887, is ringing in 20 years of its award-winning mentoring program with a rebrand and a refresh.
Now called Brownell Startup, the training and onboarding program will introduce updates while continuing to provide new-to-the-industry advisors with the best practices, technology and community needed to launch a scalable travel business.
The program, which hosts three classes of five participants per year, lasts nine months — and the next class will start in February. The majority (61%) of Brownell’s 149 luxury advisors are graduates of Brownell mentoring, with mentees selling an average of $300,000 in their first year.
While it is a competitive program, I don't really think about it that way — it is more about looking at the puzzle pieces of what a person envisions for their business, and what can we provide.
According to Margaret Haas Wolf, the director of advisor development at Brownell, collaboration with the agency’s experienced advisors will remain a key tenant of the program. But changes were made to adapt to travel today, as well as to better serve the changing face of applicants — who are largely coming from the legal and financial fields.
"We have also seen a wider age range, as well as a bit more gender diversity,” Wolf said. “The industry as a whole is seeing a slow move toward more diversity in general, which we hope to see more of.”
What’s New About Brownell Startup
Wolf says that the updated program — which underwent a beta run last October — will now include the creation of a case study, where each mentee shares a full client journey from inquiry to proposal, detailing the advisor’s thought process, conversations, decisions, challenges and things they might do differently.
Brownell has also reformatted the included calls with partners from a presentation format to a live question-and-answer session, which has already had great reception from mentees and partners who prefer engaged, prepared conversation. (Mentees will be able to learn about the basics of the partner with on-demand access to partner video content provided ahead of the call.)
Some updates have happened over the last few years, says Wolf, including Birkman Method personality assessments for all new advisors. Brownell also provides marketing guidance earlier in the onboarding process and has enhanced its marketing plan and sales training handbook.
What Brownell Is Looking For — And the Importance of Advisor Education
With only 15 mentees accepted per year, Brownell Startup is a competitive program, with an acceptance rate of just 2%.
“We do not fill the class just to fill the class,” Wolf said. “We are very intentional about ensuring we have people joining this program who reflect our values and will both contribute to our community and benefit from it.”
Wolf says the process is “mutually selective,” since the agency focuses on a particular niche of the market (luxury travel) and has a specific business model, which she describes as “service-based,” featuring a close-knit team of full-time independent contractors.
I would love to see more agencies invest in education to ensure best practices in client care, partner engagement and risk management, at the very least.
“While it is a competitive program, I don't really think about it that way — it is more about looking at the puzzle pieces of what a person envisions for their business, and what can we provide,” Wolf said. “Can we get them where they want to go?”
Wolf says that there are several other great onboarding programs for new-to-the-industry advisors and admits that ensuring advisors are well-trained is labor intensive and expensive.
"So, agencies may not always choose to invest in it, but we feel this investment comes back in spades and, more importantly, is better for the industry overall,” she said. “I would love to see more agencies invest in education to ensure best practices in client care, partner engagement and risk management, at the very least.”
