Jim Augerinos: Searching for the perfect honeymoon

Jim Augerinos, president of Perfect Honeymoons, grew up in Washington, D.C., in the business that his mother founded in 1989. He and wife Meghan moved to the Charleston area a little more than a year ago to open an office and raise a family.

A recent attempt to call him produced this voice mail message: “I am currently away from the office, exploring Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia for new honeymoon safari destinations.”

He doesn’t offer the typical honeymoon.

“People don’t want to do the same thing that everybody else is doing,” he said when he got back to the U.S. “What keeps me relevant is them being able to talk to somebody who has actually been at the destination.”

Charleston is one of the nation’s top wedding destinations, with more than 100 ceremonies a year, according to the program for Charleston Wedding Week, which is coming up Jan. 23-28. Augerinos’ business is to make the honeymoon special. The family business has booked more than 10,000 honeymoons all over the world. He’s traveled to more than 60 countries for research.

Q: Who is your favorite business leader and why?

A: Alex Sharpe, the president and CEO of Signature Travel Network. He is a personal friend and has always taken the time to mentor, guide me and promote my business within industry. I admire him for his forward-thinking, charisma, sense of humor, passion, drive and dedication.

Q: Who is your favorite leader of any kind and why?

A: My wife, Meghan. She spent 15 years selling technology to the government and joined the Perfect Honeymoons Team as the chief operating officer when we relocated the office to Charleston last year. She is a leader in all aspects of our agency and handles public relations, advertising and marketing, training, hiring and social media communications.

Q: What is the best leadership advice you’ve received?

A: John Quincy Adams said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader,” and that really resonates with me.

Q: What is the best leadership advice you could give?

A: The task of a leader is to get people from where they are to where they have not been. Leaders become great not because of their power but because of their ability to empower others.

Q: What is the best book on business or leadership that you’ve read and why?

A: I recently read “Good to Great” by Jim Collins and I was able to correlate the successes of many of the companies examined in the book with how my business has had both success and challenges throughout its 27 years. Commitment to excellence is really a process and framework that keeps its leaders and people on track for the long haul. Miracle moments from change don’t just happen overnight.

Q: What other business publications do you regularly read?

A: Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, CNN Money, The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur

Q: What are the most important decisions you make as a leader at your business?

A: The biggest and most important decisions I make as a leader of my business relate to what directions we are going to with the company (our niche is honeymoons but we do all types of travel and are contemplating opening other separate divisions and potentially new companies specifically for engagements, ‘babymoons,’ family travel, adventure travel, etc.). As a result, our infrastructure, operations and support teams will need to grow as the team and companies expand. I believe personnel are a company’s biggest asset and I need to be very sure that I am taking on the right people with solid knowledge, travel experience, a good reputation within the industry and possesses the same work ethic and values as the rest of the team.

Q: What is the biggest challenge facing business leaders today?

A: In the field of travel, I would say online and direct bookings are a challenge for many business owners. It is our duty to educate the consumers about the benefits of working with a travel consultant and that booking on your own, you are just a credit card number and receive none of the perks of being a VIP client (such as early check in, late check out, free breakfast, room upgrades, spa credits, food and beverage amenities). We know how to package the entire trip together to save money (often less than what is offered online), what airline offers the best pricing and service, and more importantly which hotels have great promotions. We give our clients the most memorable experiences they have ever had all the while making sure it’s a great value. We also offer travel insurance and 24/7 customer service that provides peace of mind knowing we are here to assist in the event something goes wrong on their travels.

Q: What was your biggest mistake as a leader and what did it teach you?

A: I used to feel that no one apart from myself could do key jobs properly. This caused problems as work bottlenecked around me, and I became stressed and burned out. I had to learn to delegate. Over time, I have learned to trust my team to do the work correctly. Many appreciated being given more responsibility and having more of an active role and voice in company decisions and directions.

Q: What was your biggest success as a leader and what did it teach you?

A: My biggest success as a leader was when I took over the family business as president and CEO and was able to afford my mother (Beth Augerinos) a very comfortable retirement. It was a whole new, exciting and somewhat terrifying experience for me going from travel agent to agency owner of a multimillion-dollar company. During that transition time, I also brought on board a team of consultants in San Diego to grow the business on the West Coast. I learned so many things from this time of my life such as how to talk less and listen more; how to inspire and to motivate; provide direction, support and encouragement; have trust and give my team autonomy to be creative and do excellent work; how to reward and take care of my team and to lead by example.

Q: What are you doing to grow the next leader in your company?

A: I always envisioned handing the family business over to my children when they come of age, but I understand that they might not share the same dreams as I do and their passions might lead them to careers in other industries. I plan to continue to grow the team in various markets throughout the country. I am hiring the next generation of travel consultants and will educate, train, mentor and provide the right tools and resources to for them to succeed. I challenge my consultants to get out of their comfort zones and travel to new and different parts of the world and immerse themselves in other cultures. I encourage them to attend travel conferences, speak on boards and participate in industry events that expand their knowledge and network.