EP18 RobinBrodsky
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Serena Reynolds: [00:00:00] Hi, welcome to Fearless and Flawed. I’m Serena Reynolds

Sara Ferrer: and I am Sara Ferrer. And today we have a real treat for you. We have our guest, Robin Brodsky on our podcast today. Robin is the owner of All Set to Jet, a travel company that offers meticulously curated group experiences around the Spanish Basque country that are designed to empower solo female travelers by providing comfortable, safe.

Sara Ferrer: And confidence building journeys. So welcome to the podcast, Robin.

Robin Brodsky: Oh, thank you so much for having me so happy to be here.

Sara Ferrer: We are so thrilled when we hear Spanish Basque country travel, I have to tell you, Serena and I get a little giddy because deep down inside, that’s exactly where we want to be at all times, but we have to start off with asking you like.

Sara Ferrer: Where did this all [00:01:00] begin? Have you always been in the travel industry or did this just kind of evolve over time?

Robin Brodsky: It evolved from, over time, from the craziest of starts. Believe it or not, I started out in the environmental industry. I, after grad school, I moved to Boston, so I had lived in New York all my life, picked up and moved to Boston to take a job in the environmental industry.

Robin Brodsky: I was in that job for four months. And got laid off. I was then out of work, um, for about four months and I got my dream job. Um, what I thought at the time was my dream job at Massport. So I worked at Logan Airport. I was a project manager. I had the best job in the world. I got to play on planes. I got to drive on the airfield.

Robin Brodsky: I got to do all kinds of really cool things. I drove a fire truck down the runway one time. And [00:02:00] look, it was Super fun. The coolest, coolest job ever.

Serena Reynolds: I must admit, that is a bucket list. It was, it was so cool. Driving a firetruck. Just, it doesn’t even matter on a runway. Driving a firetruck. I want to do that.

Robin Brodsky: Yes, but do it on the runway at Logan. It’s even cooler. Yeah, so, so I had these cool experiences, got to sit in cockpits of all the planes that are in the hangars all around Logan. I got to do all these behind the scenes things, and then something happened in the world. 9 11. 9 11 happened. I was at Logan Airport that day.

Robin Brodsky: Actually, it was in the air traffic control tower that day. So, I remember the chaos and, and all of the craziness happening with all the planes and, and the activity and, and It wasn’t directly involved though, was it? Logan was not [00:03:00] directly, but the people who, who took the plane, the planes came out of Logan.

Robin Brodsky: The people who, you know, committed the terrorists came from Maine. So they had originated in Maine and they connected through Logan.~ Um,~ but the, but the planes did come out of Logan. So there was this huge panic and, you know, everybody was, was going crazy. And in the days after, the CEO of Massport actually made this decision to get rid of most of the staff because she was afraid that Massport was going to be sued because of what happened, because of 9 11.

Robin Brodsky: So, in my dream job, all of a sudden, Boom, I’m laid off again. And, you know, then if you remember at that time, the economy tanked after 9 11. It was really difficult to get a job. The environmental industry, which had peaked [00:04:00] around the early part of 2000, then kind of collapsed after. And there weren’t a lot of jobs anyway, so it took a long time to find another job.

Robin Brodsky: Finally landed a job at a university, stayed there for a while, was there for three, four years, until I kind of felt like I wasn’t being appreciated for, for the work that I was doing. And that was kind of proved by the fact that when I quit and went to another university, They actually, it took them four people to replace me.

Robin Brodsky: So they replaced me with four people. The money that I had been asking for, you know, please, please, you know, pay me what I’m worth. They ended up paying way more in benefits and salaries to other people. So I felt a little bit vindicated

Robin Brodsky: after all that time.

Robin Brodsky: But, you know, I took another job. I was actually working, can I say this, at Harvard.

Robin Brodsky: So like took a job with Harvard University and [00:05:00] absolutely fucking hated it.

Sara Ferrer: Okay. When you said Harvard, I was like, she’s going to love it. Dream job. Everyone thinks Harvard. Everyone’s going to be like, okay, let’s fawn over you. So girl, you got me with that. Cause I was like, not ready for the hated it part.

Sara Ferrer: Double click. Tell us more.

Robin Brodsky: Waited it. I, I’ll tell you, I don’t know if you can relate, but I used to drive to work and I, I used to try to find ways on the drive to work to see if I could like, not go to work that day. So I’d be like, okay, if I just bump this curb over here, can I like pop my tire maybe and like not have to go to work today.

Sara Ferrer: Like, like can I just drive halfway off the bridge? I don’t wanna fall in just teeter, just teeter.

Serena Reynolds: I would love to know if this was a live conversation. If we set out a poll, have you ever felt like this about a job report? How many people would actually be like, yep, uh huh.

Robin Brodsky: I bet they, I bet they would because I mean, I felt it every morning.

Robin Brodsky: Every [00:06:00] morning I drove to that job and I just f ing hated it so much. And you know, people always laugh because they say, oh Harvard University, it’s the most prestigious. You know, um, university in the, in the world. And you, you must love the job. No, no. It was the worst work environment I’ve ever been in to that point.

Robin Brodsky: And I absolutely did not like it at all. And I, you know, then I started thinking, it’s kind of not a good sign when you’re, you’re, you’re, you’d rather have damage to your car than to go to work. At the same time I, I, you know, had bought a condo, it was my first condo. I had kind of a crazy experience during the buying process and wasn’t really supported by my agent.

Robin Brodsky: Um, at the time there was a problem on the closing day and I refused to close because the furnace didn’t work, which it was supposed to. Anyway, the, all the men [00:07:00] sitting in the room called me a bitch and said like, Oh, don’t be a bitch. You should, you still need to close today. Like really just said that, like, like literally directly just said that.

Robin Brodsky: Yes. Wow. Yes. And it was a room full of men, and my agent was a man, but he had gotten up and left me sitting there by myself with the listing agent, the two attorneys, all men, men, men, trying to bully me and telling me, you know, I was like 29 at the time, trying to tell me, you know, you need to close. It was the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.

Robin Brodsky: They wanted their money. They all wanted to get paid.

Serena Reynolds: New poll to audience. Have you ever experienced anything like this?

Robin Brodsky: Yeah, it’s crazy, right? So, so I said, Hmm, I hate my job. I just bought this. You bought it. So you went ahead with it. Well, what, yes, so I walked out the door with my check in hand and [00:08:00] I said, if I get all the way to the end of that door, I’m ripping the check in half and this deal was totally done.

Robin Brodsky: So I, I got down the hallway and almost to the door and they came running after me and, you know, they, because I said, you need to withhold 10, 000 so that I know that the furnace gets fixed. Otherwise, you know, like it’s. So finally they agreed, and by the time I got from the closing to the, to my new house afterwards, there was somebody working on the furnace.

Robin Brodsky: Hmm. So they had no intention of doing it. They would, if I were, were not, you know, like I wasn’t savvy at the time, I wasn’t a real estate agent. I just had a few friends who had told me if things aren’t perfect, don’t close, don’t, you know, don’t sign the paper unless everything is as they said it would be.

Robin Brodsky: And it wasn’t. So I, you know, I was standing up for myself.

Sara Ferrer: Can I just ask you something about that, that exact moment? Because I think this resonates. With so [00:09:00] many women, especially, I think where you, you are told, and I’ll liken it to buying a new car or going to, you know, uh, uh, maybe get your car fixed kind of post historical spaces where it’s common to get advice with how to maybe proceed.

Sara Ferrer: And then you add the layer of being a woman and there are certain spaces where it’s like, well, because you’re a woman, you might kind of get X, Y, and Z script, but in buying a house, I feel like there’s a general script of for, you know, women and men. To be, to do your due diligence, check X, Y, and Z. And it sounds like you did your due diligence.

Sara Ferrer: You listen to people’s advice in this context. Now you being the only woman added an extra layer to it, but can you just reflect that feeling of knowing what had to be done being called a bitch, knowing that you were in fact right to do what you were doing, but you, now you have this pressure, did you feel at any moment?

Sara Ferrer: And I’m genuinely curious, like [00:10:00] maybe I’m being too annoying, aggressive, too needy.

Robin Brodsky: No way. My personality is, is maybe a little bit different. Like, I knew I was right. I knew that I had the right to not sign that document. And I knew that I shouldn’t. And I knew if I did, I would get fucked. I knew that I was right.

Robin Brodsky: That’s why I got up and I was like, you know what? I’m walking out and I said to them, if I get to that door, I’m going to take this fucking check and tear it up.

Sara Ferrer: That is who we all need to be. Some of us are there. Some of us will get there and some of us will kind of stay stuck, but that is ultimately right is right.

Sara Ferrer: Wrong is wrong. What I’m hearing is. However you approach it, you’re swearing, not swearing, angry, no anger, it was not right what they were doing and you simply stood up for yourself.

Robin Brodsky: And you know, for them, you know, it should have been an embarrassing moment for them because I really put them in their place.

Robin Brodsky: You know, [00:11:00] I, I was the one who walked out of the room. They were the one who had to chase me to get me to come back. And then they were the ones who had to, to kowtow to what I was asking for all along. Because I, I, I said, now at this point, I’m not even going to negotiate with you at all. So, you know, you want to offer me 5, 000?

Robin Brodsky: No, the number’s 10, 000 off and that’s that. Otherwise, I get in my car and I go, you know. And I was very, I was very angry about it because I was angry that my agent put me in that position, like leaving me alone. I was angry that I had to, to like fight for something that for me was such a big move in my life because, you know, this is my first condo.

Robin Brodsky: I, you know, came from a background, like my parents didn’t own a house until they were in their like mid 50s. So here I am, 29, And [00:12:00] buying my first, you know, condo. And it was such a moment of pride for me. And such a, such a thing that they ruined. They ruined that experience by making me have to be a bitch, right?

Robin Brodsky: Like.

Serena Reynolds: You weren’t. You were standing up for your rights. And I think this is something that we need to reclaim here. Is the fact that all because we’re female or we’re younger or whatever. That does not give people the right to take advantage of us. We are strong, we are independent, we do have a, we do have brain cells.

Serena Reynolds: We, we don’t need to hand over our cash just because somebody’s telling us to.

Robin Brodsky: Exactly. And, and if something is, is wrong, it’s wrong. This is, it drives me crazy when women say, Oh, I had to do this because someone told me to, but I knew it wasn’t right, but they told me to. But, no, if it’s not right, you stand up for it, you walk [00:13:00] away.

Robin Brodsky: In, in my situation, I could have cancelled the whole contract and I was well within my right to do that, and I knew it. I think I would have done, I would have walked, I think I would have walked away. What I should have done was I should have walked away because that moment then became, like, the downfall for the next, like, two years of my life.

Robin Brodsky: So I feel like it, it created, like, this, this, like, terrible karma and terrible, like, black cloud that, that, like, centered over that. condo in over my life.

Serena Reynolds: Perhaps the universe was telling you something.

Robin Brodsky: I think I did, I think I did not listen to the universe and I should have, but I was so, I just, I, I have this like pride that I wanted to buy this condo.

Robin Brodsky: I wanted to do it for myself before I turned 30. It could have been any condo and, and I wish it was, I wish I had waited because. Like I said, things, things changed and, and [00:14:00] things turned around. But after that experience and that combined with the fact that I hated my job, I decided I can do that. I can sell houses and I can do it better than they did.

Robin Brodsky: So I, I literally called in sick to work. I took the real estate classes via like audio cassette at the time. And then I went and took the exam, passed the exam, went in, gave two weeks notice and quit my job.

Sara Ferrer: Wow. So, so you, you, I mean, I just want to reemphasize this. You went through this really horrible experience.

Sara Ferrer: You stood up for yourself, right? It sounded painful, you know, in retrospect, yes, it always feels good to stand up for yourself, but it sounded painful to go through it and then you just didn’t stop there. You were like, fuck it. I’m actually now because I understand how it feels to be so intimidated or to, to, to, to have someone trying to intimidate me, to have someone trying to [00:15:00] ruin my experience.

Sara Ferrer: Now I’m going to use this fuel and not just bend over and just. Die, I’m actually now going to become a realtor. Am I hearing this right? Cause this is some crazy energy in like the right direction.

Robin Brodsky: Yes, that’s exactly, that’s exactly what I did. So I, I built my business on, on the premise that you will never, you as my client will never have to fight for yourself in a deal.

Robin Brodsky: I will fight for you no matter what, like, I am your advocate, I am your person, I will never leave you to, to be in the position that I was in when, when it happened to me. I mean, let’s face it, a real estate purchase is the biggest purchase of your life.

Robin Brodsky: It’s, it’s a

Robin Brodsky: shit ton of money.

Serena Reynolds: I mean, that’s a serious power move when you were 29.

Sara Ferrer: Well, I mean, here’s the thing. I think that at different phases of life, the stakes are different, right? I think that, you know, buying a [00:16:00] house is something most people do. You know, if you have the good fortunes, you may be around your 30s or 40s, if that’s even a possibility. I think that ultimately what ends up happening is, and I hear this from those who are older from me, I believe in the idea of getting to know, you know, the elderly community, your elderly neighbors, because they’ve been through it.

Sara Ferrer: ~And um,~ and I find that it’s not that I have a, you know, I don’t give any fucks attitude. I don’t have that, you know, at all at 38 years old, but I do find that the older I get, the more I learn from the wisdom of those before me, which is wait, wait, wait, I can still be scared. Doing this, I can still get the anxiety feeling knowing that I’m, that this isn’t right, but I must continue to go through it.

Sara Ferrer: And, and, and what that looks like just might be different in terms of what the advocating is for, but I find that, again, through listening through stories from my mom or through those, you know, before. You’re always going to need to advocate for yourself. It’s just that the older you get, the more you look someone in the eye and go, I can walk away.

Sara Ferrer: Like I can actually, you [00:17:00] give yourself permission to. So I think with that in mind, that sense of, I don’t need to wait for you to tell me to leave the table. I can leave the table attitude is something I have much more as I get older versus waiting for the permission to leave. I mean, you literally change careers.

Sara Ferrer: You have this purchase. This is wild. What happens?

Robin Brodsky: I’m, I’m not saying it was the smartest decision I ever made in my life. It was a decision. It was a decision that I, you know, made, you know, because of the situation. You know, obviously I was affected by the situation. And I was really angry about it for, for a while.

Robin Brodsky: And so I channeled that anger into something. You know, more positive to say, okay, let me get out of this space where I hate my job and, and this annoyance of this, you know, this buying this place, because then buying the place, there were all these problems, the roof needed to be replaced, they blocked me and they blocked my car in the [00:18:00] garage, ~um,~ with a big dumpster for it for an entire long weekend, and I couldn’t get out, for some reason, they decided to replace the roof when I was the only one living there.

Robin Brodsky: At the time, it was a four unit building, and two of the units were sold. And I was the only one who was moved in. And they ended up bringing this huge dumpster, blocked my car into the garage, and then took off for the long weekend. So I couldn’t get my car out for, for a whole long weekend. Like, it was the karma associated with, like, with buying this place.

Robin Brodsky: Like, it was the worst. And I tried to say, okay, let me channel this into something that’s more positive. Let me try to do something where I can help other people. Like the job that I had, the environmental business, you know, I started to realize that, that what I wanted to do, the reason that I wanted to do it in the first place was not what I was getting out of it.

Robin Brodsky: So what I mean is I wanted to do something. I wanted to make a difference in the world and I wanted to do something good. [00:19:00] However, When you work in a field like, like an environmental field, uh, unless you’re working for a non profit or maybe the government, but probably not even, you’re likely in a position where you have to do things or you’re told to do things that are just enough to meet a regulation.

Robin Brodsky: But they’re still bad or it’s, you know, you have to, you’re, you know, companies want to do the least amount of things possible and save the most money possible. So I realized that the jobs in which you make money that you need to survive, you’re not actually necessarily doing the right things for the environment.

Robin Brodsky: That said, you know, I said, okay, This is not what I’m getting out of this. I’m not feeling like I’m doing a good thing. I feel like I’m doing barely enough and [00:20:00] squeaking by and, and going under enough of the regulations to just barely need it. And I don’t like that. I don’t like the feeling, I don’t, you know, that was part of why I didn’t like to go to work, didn’t feel like it was doing the right thing all the time.

Sara Ferrer: Right, right. And this op, this, I don’t wanna say this opportunity, but this disaster of a closing. Propelled you because now it’s sounding like do you just turn into this rock star like real estate like realtor real estate agent who’s like, listen, girl, I got you, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, like, this is what I’m imagining, like, right, like, she shows up our, our pink suit, every closing, yeah, like, what does that look like?

Sara Ferrer: Because now you’ve like, really, you’ve built this up to me. And I’m like, well, she must obviously come out guns blazing with like this new career.

Robin Brodsky: So I came out guns blazing and then the entire real estate market fucking fell apart.

Sara Ferrer: Oh, yes. Around what, 2008?

Robin Brodsky: 2008. So I got my license in like May of 2007 [00:21:00] or somewhere around there.

Robin Brodsky: And in 2008, the market Totally collapsed. So, I mean, I lived the leanest years of my life. I ate more ramen than, than I would ever admit. I mean, I had a very difficult time. You know, I was building a business. I’m not from the Boston area. I, you know, I didn’t go to college, you know, in Boston. I didn’t have family in Boston.

Robin Brodsky: I didn’t have a network. So, I mean, I literally built a business. From nothing, from, from literally, I mean, having some friends, but I literally built every bit of, of what I did.

Sara Ferrer: How long did that take approximately to like go from zero to really get like a good clientele, good word of mouth referral? How many, how long would you say that took for you, for the listeners who think it [00:22:00] can be done overnights?

Sara Ferrer: Five years. Five years. So 2008 to like 14. Yeah. Five years.

Robin Brodsky: It takes at least five years in the real estate business and I, I mean, I was a full time person. I worked really hard, you know, I taught myself how to build website, my own real estate website, you know, at, at two o’clock in the morning, I was learning HTML and coding on Google so that I could put a, You know, website together and write a blog and, you know, do all the things that I, that I was supposed to be doing.

Robin Brodsky: So I was networking everywhere I could. I, you know, um, you know, was trying to bring my environmental skills in and working with, you know, networking with people who wanted to do green building. And build with energy efficiency and, you know, which was kind of sort of a thing at the time. So, you know, I was really focusing on building a business and it takes time.

Robin Brodsky: It, it drives me crazy when people say, I’m going to get into the real [00:23:00] estate business and make 100, 000 a year. Here’s, here’s the biggest fact that like, if you never hear anything else about real estate. The average real, average, average real estate agent out there makes around 28, 000 a year.

Sara Ferrer: Wow.

Robin Brodsky: So, you know, it’s not an industry, yes it can be an industry that can be very, you know, profitable if you’re successful, but it can also be really, really, really difficult.

Sara Ferrer: It sounds like you go from like one very tough job, the environmental gig, right? Which like, well, especially with Harvard, let me say, it sounds like you had some, some, some good times, but you went from like a really tough, needy environment at Harvard. Now you go into real estate, it takes you five years to just.

Sara Ferrer: Build it right and that takes us to about 10 years ago, more or less from where we are today. So like, I’m just curious because I always, I’m not in real estate, obviously what’s like in, in, in real estate. Is [00:24:00] it, you become an agent and then you eat, then you like lead a realtor company. Like what is, what is success quote unquote look like in terms of growth for real estate?

Sara Ferrer: Does it include. You know, hey, let’s tack on to like now a travel business. Like where do you go with that? Or do you just become like your solo realtor? And that is like with a ton of clients. Is that what success quote unquote looks like?

Robin Brodsky: Well, I think success is something different for every person, right?

Robin Brodsky: So there’s, there’s different tracks. Kind of when you’re an agent, you have to work for a brokerage. So some, some of the top agents out there work under a broker and they have a team and they have a whole team within that structure and, and that works well for them. Some people want to break out and instead of being an agent, you can go and get an additional license called your broker license, which is what I did.

Robin Brodsky: So I, the regulations were changing and the number of hours for training [00:25:00] were changing, so I said, let me get my broker’s license. So, you know, I, I took the broker class, got my broker’s license and I didn’t do much with it until I really had a more, ~um,~ stable client base. In the meantime, I did a lot of teaching in the offices and the brokerages that I worked for.

Robin Brodsky: So I did a lot of like one on one consulting with other agents for creating like Facebook pages and using social media. Because if you remember, like, you know, so this is kind of going back, like, almost, what, 15, 15 ish, you know, 12 to 15 ish years, you know, Facebook wasn’t a thing. Facebook marketing wasn’t a thing that people knew how to do.

Robin Brodsky: It was out there, but people didn’t know how to do it, and they didn’t know how to use it. So I was teaching myself like how to, how to do these things. So, you know, I built some websites for other people. I taught lots of classes on social [00:26:00] media, which then, you know, translated to teaching real estate classes, which then kind of, I got my certification from Massachusetts as like.

Robin Brodsky: Professional, ~um,~ real estate instructor. So then I started teaching, you know, classes throughout Massachusetts and Invert Island and you’re doing it all.

Sara Ferrer: It sounds like, I mean, curious minds want to know when, when does the travel agency become a thing? Because we, we know you’re a master, a guru of real estate.

Sara Ferrer: We get it. You’re doing everything. Meet us now to like all set to jet. How does this happen? You’re like a woman with many half thumbs.

Robin Brodsky: I know. I feel like, I feel like in our lifetime, we’ve had like some things that, that really, we’ve had moments that, that have changed the world, right? More moments, I think, than maybe previous generations, you know, 9 11 changed the world and it changed my whole life.

Robin Brodsky: whole job, you know, um, and my whole, my whole life because of, you know, I lost my [00:27:00] job as a result. The pandemic was another thing. So during the pandemic, I had my own brokerage. I was successful teaching, you know, all this stuff. And then the pandemic hit and, you know, the pandemic made. more difficult for us as real estate agents.

Robin Brodsky: And it also changed people after the pandemic, you know, and during the pandemic, people got nasty. And I don’t think that they actively even realize how nasty they became and, and how they would treat people and talk to people differently. So during the pandemic, I literally had. I had three clients back to back to back, right in a row, that were the worst clients of my career.

Robin Brodsky: In terms of the way they disrespected me [00:28:00] personally. And, I had enough. I said, you know what? I’m not your punching bag. I’m not your therapist. I’m not, I’m your real estate agent. You want someone to fight for you? I’m gonna fight for you. I got you 120, 000 more for your house than you should have. I did my job, but my job is not to be your therapist.

Robin Brodsky: My job is not to be on the phone with you, you know, for two and a half hours, and then have you text me 80 times. After that, over the next two and a half hours,

Sara Ferrer: it sounds like you’re going to reinvent yourself real soon. Anytime you get this rock bottom, there’s a big career change. So, so like, I’m smelling it.

Sara Ferrer: Don’t you smell it, Serena? It’s like, Oh, this is good. What so, so people, people are being total shit to you. What do you do? What do you do? What’s the next big move?

Robin Brodsky: I took off on a vacation as soon as the, as soon as the world opened back up and [00:29:00] as soon as I could get on a plane and go to Europe, I did. I was planning this adventure from Paris to Madrid.

Robin Brodsky: And it was a six week trip that I was super excited about. And as, as soon as I could, I got my ass on a plane and was at a dodge. And I set foot in Europe. So, so also to rewind a tiny little bit at, at that time with those clients that were, were really difficult. I was having some health issues too, because of the stress from the job.

Robin Brodsky: I had some really serious stomach problems that they couldn’t figure out. What was going on then I finally like went to this like nutritionalist believe it or not and she said You know did some tests and basically said if you don’t cut the stress out of your life, you’re going to die And I said, okay, I’m like in my 40s.

Robin Brodsky: And she said, yeah, that doesn’t matter. I go on this trip. [00:30:00] And, you know, at the time I’m taking all these like expensive supplements and like trying to get my stomach back in order and trying to, you know, move without vomiting all over the place. Right. And I set foot in Paris. I had probably two days where I was pretty sick and not feeling well.

Robin Brodsky: And then all of a sudden on the third day I got up and I was like, I’ve never felt this, this good before. Like, wow, it’s been years since I felt this good. So I, you know, walking around, I’m at the top of the Eiffel Tower drinking champagne as one does in Paris. And you know, I made my way from Paris. Down to Bordeaux, down through the Basque country.

Robin Brodsky: I had this incredible experience with, ~um,~ a tour guide that I had met here and I just felt at ease. I felt at home. My stomach was not, I had no problems with my stomach. I could eat the food without being sick. [00:31:00] I could, you know. Walk around and not feel like shit. And it was incredible. It was absolutely incredible.

Robin Brodsky: I ended up extending my stay here in the vast country before then going to Madrid and back to Paris and going home. And when I got back to the U S. I was miserable, my stomach hurt, I couldn’t eat anything, you know, and I said, hmm, there’s something here. So I kind of kept thinking, I really want to do something, you know, and, and, you know, travel because that’s what I’ve always wanted to do in life.

Robin Brodsky: Like my life goal is to travel. My life goal was never to have children and get married. make babies and all that. Not, not my, not my thing. My thing was I want to see the world. I want to see every bit of the world that I can in the time, you know, that I have. So I, you know, I said, I’m going to start pushing myself towards that instead of this real estate [00:32:00] thing, which is driving me crazy.

Robin Brodsky: I built this great business, but for what? I don’t have kids. I don’t have a legacy. I don’t have business partners. It’s just me. So, if my company doesn’t exist, who cares? You know, shouldn’t I spend the time doing something that I love to do, that I want to be doing, instead of building something for, for kind of like, what purpose?

Robin Brodsky: What, what am I doing it for? For the, for the kudos? For the success? To pat myself on the back and say, Hey, you did it. Yay. Okay. Well, I did it. So, that was, It’s in October that I returned from the trip. I went back to the Basque country that December and January because I couldn’t get it out of my head.

Robin Brodsky: Same thing happened. Felt better, was energized, loved every bit of it.

Serena Reynolds: You finally listened to the universe, didn’t you?

Robin Brodsky: Yes, I did. Yes, I did. And then I went back to the U. S. and I [00:33:00] was miserable again. So, I planned a huge trip that summer. So that summer I spent three, the following summer I spent three months in Europe by myself.

Robin Brodsky: My home base became the Basque Country. And I did all sorts of trips all over. I went to, I think that trip I went to nine different countries. Nine or ten different countries. I went to Turkey.

Sara Ferrer: While you’re doing all this travel, because I’m curious, do you have in the back of your mind, like, okay, I want to, like, I have, I, do you have all sets of jet in the back of your head?

Sara Ferrer: Like, Hey, I’m doing all this solo traveling. Hey, like I’m, I, you know, I want to empower other females. Is this, is this almost research for, for your current company? What, like, cause I want to kind of. Get to where, where does that become formed?

Robin Brodsky: So what happened was when I went on this three month trip, I went to like Turkey and Morocco and Egypt by myself, all the, like these places that people were saying, you’re going to get raped and robbed and murdered.

Robin Brodsky: And you’re going by yourself to [00:34:00] Morocco. You’re going by yourself to Turkey. Oh, that’s so, that’s so terrible. You’re going to get raped and all, all these things are going to happen to you. You know, and this. Believe it or not, who do you think was saying this? Do you think it was men or women? Probably, I would guess women.

Robin Brodsky: Correct. It was women. It was women. Mostly women saying this. And so I, I, you know, came on the trip. I was having an amazing time. posting, you know, on Facebook. So I started to get all kinds of messages from women like our age. And they were saying, wow, you’re so brave. What you’re doing is so brave. I wish I could do what you did, but I can’t.

Robin Brodsky: I had like, Three women actually say, can I come and meet you? Like, I want to travel on my own, but I don’t want to. So can I come meet you like next week? Where will you be next week? Can I come meet you? [00:35:00] So that, that was the moment when those messages kept coming in and I kept seeing the same comments over and over again of women saying, I wish I could do what you’re doing.

Robin Brodsky: Well, you can. There’s no reason that. No reason that you can’t like, why can’t you, if I can do it, you can do it.

Sara Ferrer: This is so you Robin, this is so you to be like, you can do it. In fact, here’s a guy, here’s a company I’m going to create. Here’s a package I’m going to create. Hey, actually, because I’m a go getter and I’m so like, I can make it better.

Sara Ferrer: I’m going to create a company that caters to independent female travelers with beautiful packages that is all laid out for you. Like amazing. Amazing. And you did this, what, last year or two years ago? It’s this year is two years, like right now is about two years. And what exactly do you offer? Like I’m somebody, somebody listening, going, Hey, I want to go to Northern Spain, the best country I’m going to call Robin or Robin’s going to point me to her website, all set the [00:36:00] jet.

Sara Ferrer: And what is Robin’s. Uh, services going to provide you with.

Robin Brodsky: So what I want to do that’s different from what I think the other tours on the market or the other experiences, I don’t call, I don’t like to call them tours, they’re experiences because it’s a life experience. It’s a life changing experience. My solo trip was very life changing for me, ~um,~ clearly as, as, you know, ~um,~ as to where I live at the moment.

Sara Ferrer: Where do you live at the moment? Tell people. I don’t even know if we’ve mentioned this. Where are you living at the moment?

Robin Brodsky: I live in the Basque Country in Bilbao in Spain.

Sara Ferrer: Yeah, how’s your stomach doing?

Robin Brodsky: It’s the best it’s ever been in my entire life. Literally, like.

Sara Ferrer: Wow. And so you’re leading these groups through these amazing, to these amazing terrains because you actually live there as well.

Sara Ferrer: I think that’s really important to mention. You’re not subcontracting with someone who’s kind of boots on the ground. You lead the tours, the [00:37:00] groups, the experiences.

Robin Brodsky: Yes. And that, that’s the thing. So when you sign up for an experience or a tour from other companies, you don’t know what you’re going to get.

Robin Brodsky: I’ve seen some where, like, for instance, there’s a woman who organizes tours for people and as, as long as she gets two people to sign up. She sends them to whatever location they want to go to in whatever part of the world, Thailand, wherever, you know, Dubai, whatever, with unknown guides that are mostly men, because in a lot of other countries, a lot of countries, women don’t act as tour guides and women don’t work So, you know, you could sign up for an experience with a company and end up being one of two women with some random guy.

Robin Brodsky: How safe is that? That’s, it’s not safe. Mine is all female. It’s an all female tour. [00:38:00] It’s run, every, every part of my experience has been vetted personally by me. Every restaurant, every hotel, every driver, I’ve driven with them. I’ve, I’ve eaten in the restaurants, I’ve stayed in the hotels. Everything about it, I’ve personally experienced and I endorse.

Robin Brodsky: And I can say it was a safe, comfortable experience. The other thing about solo travel is they feel like people who travel alone are punished for traveling alone. When you go on a group tour, single people, solo people who are traveling by themselves. Almost always have to pay an additional supplement, an additional fee, because, you know, because they’re, you know, instead of having a room with two people and having extra profit built in for that tour operator, now you have a room with one person.

Robin Brodsky: So they need to, you know, [00:39:00] that, you know, the solo people need to make up a difference in the profit. and they need to pay more. So they get hit with these solo single supplements or solo supplement fees. Same happens on cruises and, and things like that. So I set out to do this and never charge. a solo, a single supplement fee.

Robin Brodsky: So literally every woman on my tour pays the same amount of money. It’s the same, in my experience, it’s the same amount for everybody. And everyone gets their own room. So you don’t have to pay extra to have your own room and, you know, to not be stuck with someone who like snores all night or, you know, ugh.

Sara Ferrer: How has the reception been? Do people get it?

Robin Brodsky: Oh yeah, everyone who I’ve told about it says, this is a great idea that’s going to be such a successful business. We love it. We think it’s so smart. [00:40:00] It’s so great.

Serena Reynolds: Who’s your core audience? Who are you marketing this to?

Robin Brodsky: So, my core audience is really women between 40 and 65, and that’s not to say that other people are not, ~um,~ you know, welcome to be a part of the experience, but there’s a very particular reason why my demographic is the 40 to 65 age group, and it’s because in, again, from my experience.

Robin Brodsky: And the responses that I was getting from women in our age group, which is sort of like in that demographic, people were saying, oh, I wish I could do that, but I can’t. And because they’re used to, I think, by the time you get to your 40s or your 50s or your 60s, you’re used to traveling maybe with other people, whether it be a partner, you know, husband, wife, partner, you know, friends, whatever it may be, maybe kids.

Robin Brodsky: So you, I think women get to this [00:41:00] point in their 40s where then things start to get more scary because we’ve had all these experiences, we know all of these things happen, right? Women in their 20s go off to Bali with a backpack and, and you know, the free spirit. There’s not many 40, 50, 60 year olds that do that same exact thing because their life experience has changed their view.

Robin Brodsky: So what I want to do is I want to change that view back for those women, especially in their 40s, you know, to 60s to say, you can do this. You will do this. It’s great. It’s empowering, it’s, it’s safe. If you know what to do to keep yourself safe, you know, come with me on an experience and I can show you how.

Robin Brodsky: So, you know, so that you don’t have to go off and try to do it on your own because, you know, look, I did it on my own. Did have, I always had like the greatest experiences traveling [00:42:00] alone. No, sometimes it sucks. Sometimes it really sucks being in a foreign country and not being able to speak the language and being very frustrated or having men hit on you and it feels really dodgy or, you know, there’s a whole host of things, right, that can make you feel uncomfortable.

Robin Brodsky: So it’s not always like, wow, it’s not always. Sunshine and rainbows, but, you know, more often than not, it absolutely is, especially if you know how to, if you know how to go about it and know how to take care of yourself and, and to keep, keep a good head about what’s happening around you and. And that’s sort of what I like to, to embody in my experiences is, is giving you the confidence to say, you know what, why don’t you go out on your own, you know, go out to a bar, go out to the beach, go do this, go to a museum, whatever it is that you like to do.

Robin Brodsky: This is your trip. This is your [00:43:00] experience. So I want you to be able to go and do that. Most other tours, they just, you’re on the bus, off the bus, on the bus, off the bus, on the bus and you have no time to yourself. This is all about we have time yourself. The other bonus part is you’ve got a group of women who have your back.

Robin Brodsky: There’s a tribe who have your back right on this trip, you know, if you don’t want to go out by yourself. Okay, so you, you, maybe someone else wants to go with you. Maybe it’s a whole group that wants to go. And, and as a group, we can do things too that are, that are things that you shouldn’t be doing on your own, like going hiking or maybe going to like.

Robin Brodsky: Visit wineries or, or any situation where you might be drinking, you know, you, when people like to have cocktails, but when you travel alone, that’s not really something you should be doing is going out and, and, you know, getting, getting wasted or [00:44:00] even, you know, getting buzzed, even just having a couple of drinks, you know, could mean.

Robin Brodsky: You know, it could make a difference whether something happens to you or not, depending on where you are, you know, something that dulls your, your reflexes or your responses or, you know, people see you drinking and makes you a little bit more of a target.

Serena Reynolds: So, are you, you’re not selling this to Spaniards?

Robin Brodsky: Yeah, people in Spain and in Europe, I think, you know, they approach things very differently. Um, so, you know, Europeans generally have no problem traveling around Europe, because there’s kind of a comfort level here.

Serena Reynolds: I’m a Brit.

Serena Reynolds: We

Serena Reynolds: have issues.

Robin Brodsky: There’s a lot of Brits here and, and there’s a lot of travel between, you know, Spain and, and the UK and, and, but, you know, for, for Americans, I think it feels like a big [00:45:00] experience to come to Europe because you’re crossing a major ocean.

Robin Brodsky: And it’s a big deal to get here. You know, if you’re coming from California, even you’re crossing the entirety of the United States, then you’re crossing this huge, big ocean. And it feels like a, it feels like an imposing thing to do, or like the scary thing to do, it’s a little bit easier for Spaniards to travel around, like around Spain,

Sara Ferrer: that makes sense.

Sara Ferrer: So how do people find you? I mean, I, we always ask this at the end of the podcast, how do people find you? What are your details? You know, people have inquiries. It’s probably something people want to ask questions about or pricing and all that what’s included. So, you know, give us the website, the social media handles, anything that you find.

Sara Ferrer: Is, is kind of your biggest lead generator.

Robin Brodsky: So the website is definitely where all of the trip information is. There’s literally anything you could ask. Those questions are, are on there. [00:46:00] The website is, um, all set to jet. You know, there’s all kinds of FAQs, uh, that are there as well. There’s really the nitty gritty details about the trip, all the fine print and everything.

Robin Brodsky: You can find everything, um, on the website, including, you know, a sample itinerary of what we do, you know, the pricing. And then there’s a link, um, there’s links throughout the website to sign up for the experience if you’re interested.

Serena Reynolds: And what is your next experience?

Robin Brodsky: The next, well, I have two upcoming, um, in May and June of 2025, both of them here to the Basque country, but each one a little different.

Robin Brodsky: One is a seven day, six night experience here in Bilbao with an option to add on a three day, two night trip to San Sebastian. Which is a beautiful area. It’s where the, there’s a major international film festival that happens there. It’s one of the [00:47:00] world’s best places for gastronomy. And I mean, it’s, it’s incredible.

Robin Brodsky: It’s beautiful. It’s incredible. So that’s one, that’s the May option. The June option is 10 days and nine nights in Bilbao. And we do still go to Saint Sebastian, just not on an overnight. So I tried to give, you know, different options because in the past, you know, some people have been concerned about a 10 day trip being too long.

Robin Brodsky: You know, for some people, a seven day trip to Europe is too short. For some people, 10 days is too long. So I tried to make it that would, would appeal to everyone.

Sara Ferrer: Our last question, cause it’s sounding so good, but now I want to get into like how, what’s the one, and I’ll give you 20 seconds to think about this while I’m saying it.

Sara Ferrer: Someone attends a trip, someone picks the itinerary, they’re with you, they have the time of their life. What’s that one word that you want a woman to, how do you want her to feel [00:48:00] after attending one of your experiences? What would be the one word that you would say, I want Susie Q to feel blank.

Robin Brodsky: So word one that I think is, is super important is comfortable.

Robin Brodsky: I want you to feel comfortable. I want you to feel this, a sense of peace and like tranquility. And that’s, that’s kind of what it’s like living in Spain. So I want, I want that you to have that feeling. And the second is empowered. I want you to feel, I want you to feel empowered. I want you to feel like you can go and attack the world and go travel the world.

Robin Brodsky: You can do it on your own and you can do it with people, whatever, whatever it is you want, but I want you to feel like you’ve done this thing for yourself and, and it was worth it.

Sara Ferrer: Comfortable and empowered sign me. I’m [00:49:00] in Madrid. You do not have to twist my arm to have a good time. This has been such a, what I loved about this entire podcast, this whole conversation is.

Sara Ferrer: Who you are right now is, is, is chapters of your life that have propelled you to travel, to want to do it better, to want to connect deeper. So this is just so wonderful to have heard your story about how all of those experiences have now amounted to you. In northern Spain, offering the best goddamn vast country tour one can offer for solo female travelers.

Sara Ferrer: So thank you, Robin, for sharing your story, telling us about kind of where you’ve been, where you’re going. And if anyone has any questions or again, any inquiries, we have all your details on our website. So people do not have to search far. I just want to mention it’s all set to Jet with the, uh, all set the number two and then jet.

Sara Ferrer: com. Or you can do two as well. Oh, okay. Cause I’m, I’m on the website now and I’m like, girl, let’s not lead people [00:50:00] astray. Um, wonderful Robin, thank you so much for being with us and just telling us about your journey.

Robin Brodsky: Thank you so much for having me. It was fun. And, you know, these kinds of experiences, it’s funny when, you know, because I don’t think of these things, you know, as you’re going through and, and experiencing life and going through life, but this podcast is, it’s kind of made me say, wow, like.

Robin Brodsky: a little badass, like, you know, in the things that I’ve done, you know, like, it’s good to, to reflect, I think, for yourself to say, okay, like, you know, I’ve come a long way, I’ve done, like, you know, kind of a lot of things, then all of those maybe missteps or, you know, places that, that, um, you know, didn’t quite work out, bring you to this Like a really incredible place sometimes.

Robin Brodsky: And that’s what I feel like this is. Like living here is an incredible place. It’s been an incredible journey. And all of those things were just like the little steps that [00:51:00] got me here. So I’m glad to have had that one.

Serena Reynolds: We say fearless and flawed, really what we mean is fearless and fabulous. So, that’s, that’s the new line here.

Serena Reynolds: It’s not flawed, it’s fabulous.

Sara Ferrer: It’s fabulous. And, and as they say, Robyn, as I’m sure you’re very aware of in Spain, no one, it’s very rare for people to say just goodbye, just to say adios. As they say in Spain, hasta luego, which is, I will see you later. So with that in mind, thank you for sharing your story and hasta luego.

Robin Brodsky: Gracias. Hasta luego.