A First-Class Idea

How Shenique Sparks turned her luxury travel side hustle into a big business.

- By Audrey Williams

SHENIQUE SPARKS HAD LONG BEEN her family's go-to vacation planner. But it was in 2019 that she started to think about putting that skill set to use to generate an additional stream of income. Encouraged by a friend, she started a side hustle as a travel agent and, later that year, officially launched Let Sparks Fly, her luxury travel business.

"Initially, my goal was one trip a year, make a little extra money, and that would be it," Sparks says. "But around year two, it had wings."

Though her first trip—an excursion to Dubai with a group of 27 women—was postponed to 2021 because of Covid restrictions, it brought in $200,000 of revenue. The following year, she produced her second international getaway: a 10-day trip to Greece that took 55 women to Athens, Mykonos, and Santorini, complete with luxury resort stays, daily guided tours, and a sunset cruise. She closed the year out with $800,000 in revenue.

"At that point, a light bulb went off and said, 'Hey, you're on to something. You've got some repeat clients. This could be a full-scale business," Sparks, 44, says. "I was a first-time entrepreneur still trying to figure things out."

Looking for guidance and community, she joined Travel Gang, a Black woman-led coaching program designed to train travel agents on growth strategies. There, she says her goals for Let Sparks Fly shifted from "side hustle to scalable business." It was also where she learned her first major lesson: Always follow the momentum.