Nina Price, a 2017 graduate with a degree in Organizational and Community Leadership and minors in Entrepreneurial Studies and International Business, left a lasting impact on Horn Entrepreneurship. Now, she leaves a lasting impact on the personal relationships she creates with her clients at Audley Travel. Price uses her extensive knowledge of Australia to create a personalized travel guide while using many of the lessons she learned at Horn.
Price works at Audley Travel, a fully customized tour operator based in Boston. Price gets to directly use the skills she’s built as a student entrepreneur by holding a position as a Country Specialist, which means she has spent extensive time living in and traveling around her country of expertise, Australia. Because Audley Travel invests in each of their specialists, they get to return to their country on a “Research and Familiarization Trip” every year, so that each specialist has a personal experience of having stayed in the hotels, gone out on the excursions, interacted with tour guides, traveled the routes, and explored the local streets.
“Ever since I was young I had an intense desire to travel to Australia,” Price said.
“The country fascinated me and as I grew older and became more of an experienced traveler, I was eager to explore the country on my own,” Price said. I found myself in an unfavorable work environment in New York and decided to take the plunge and venture off to the land I had always dreamed about visiting.”
Her desire for exploration and travel was rooted in her as a young child, but being a student entrepreneur sparked the motivation to travel for work post-graduation and not be afraid to venture into the unknown. Venturing into the unknown also meant finding a way to make some money. Price landed a job as an au pair helping her host family in Australia. She found a wonderful family with three kids, who live just outside of Sydney, and became their au pair for nine months. In addition to this, she also ended up picking up a part time job as a waitress to make extra income to aid in her travels.
At the time of living there, Price had hopes to stay in Australia and create a career for herself, so she networked a bit before deciding to come back to America to advance her career. Price feels it's important for all entrepreneurs to work on building your brand and network wherever you go.
Post-graduation, Price developed a deep affection for entrepreneurial and international cultures through her entrepreneurship minor and found a love for people through being a Student Ambassador at Horn Entrepreneurship.
“I assisted with events and activities within the major and minor, and I interacted with new and prospective students to help get them involved in entrepreneurship at UD,” Price said, reflecting back on her time in the Venture Development Center.
Price was able to venture into entrepreneurship from an academic aspect but learned personal development skills while working in the Venture Development Center that she now utilizes while working with her personal clients.
In addition to learning personal development skills during her time at Horn, she reflected on her favorite entrepreneurship class that challenged her yet allowed her to explore her passion for entrepreneurship.
“ENTR661 was engaging and challenging to the next degree,” Price said.
“I recall visiting 1313 Innovation in Wilmington, DE as a sort of ‘field trip’ and absolutely loving seeing the environment of the entrepreneurs' day to day lives. That trip really stuck with me, as I now work in an office setting that is collaborative, open desk layout, and casual, in the same manner as 1313 Innovation.”
If you find yourself relating to Nina’s interests and experiences, consider adding this class to your coursework! Nina reflects back on her work with entrepreneurship as an undergraduate and clearly was given great knowledge through the entrepreneurship program at University of Delaware.
“As entrepreneurs, we are taught to identify pain points and find solutions to fix them,” Price said. “Specific travel plans can truly be a pain point for an individual trying to plan their own trip, who simply does not have the resources or knowledge to do so. This is where I step up to bat. I speak with my clients extensively and get to know them on a personal level.”
“There is always, always, another way to combat a problem,” Price said, reminding herself of the biggest lesson she learned while at Horn. Which is, “No matter how many times you may think you have exhausted your possible solutions, there will always be more iterations to be made!”
When working with clients, Price finds herself relying on this lesson. The main areas where clients feel they need a problem-solver, are the same areas where Price exhausts all her possible solutions. Price’s entrepreneurial side comes out when working through travel issues like routings, activities, and bookings. In her own words, Price focuses on “identifying clients' pain points right off the bat, so that I am better equipped to help them and to create a trip for them that meets and exceeds their expectations.”
Being able to adapt to change and use your skills to keep going is a part of being an entrepreneur. COVID-19 has put Price and a lot of other entrepreneurs to the test, affecting many industries immensely. Price talks about her struggles with the pandemic and the steps she has taken to overcome the obstacles.
“We are an international travel company and during this time, all international leisure travel is at a complete standstill,” Price said. “The company has extremely strong roots, dedicated clients, and passionate employees, so I am not worried about our long term bounce back, we just have to face these current difficulties head-on and work our way through this uncertain time. I’m confident that people’s desire to travel will return full force, once it is safe again, and we’ll be back up and running to our full potential, helping our clients see the world the Audley Way.”
Price feels that she still has so much more exploring to do along the lines of her passions, especially within the realm of entrepreneurship. Her successful career and love of entrepreneurship has made her want to kickstart her own company in the future.
“I would love to start my own company someday,” Price said.
“That aspect of my passion for entrepreneurship has only been further ignited since joining the workforce, post-Australia!”
Price is evidence that students can greatly benefit from learning in an entrepreneurial environment to fulfill their specific passions such as meeting new people or adventuring. In Nina Price’s case, working and using her entrepreneurial experience to make people's dream vacation become a reality.
About Horn Entrepreneurship
Horn Entrepreneurship serves as the University of Delaware’s creative engine for entrepreneurship education and advancement. Built and actively supported by successful entrepreneurs and thought leaders, Horn Entrepreneurship empowers aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs as they pursue new ideas for a better world.
