The travel industry has always been shaped by disruption. At Brownell, disruption has defined our story of growth and evolution. We’ve lived through world wars, depressions, technological revolutions, and two global pandemics. In the travel industry, longevity is rare. Sustained relevance over more than a century is rarer still. And yet, for 139 years, Brownell has found a way not only to endure, but to evolve, grow, and thrive, growing into a $300 million luxury agency.

What explains that kind of staying power? It isn’t technology, strategy, or even innovation. Those things matter, but they change over time. What endures is something deeper, and something deeply Evergreen®: a clear sense of Purpose and a relentless commitment to trusted relationships.

At Brownell, our Purpose is simple: to enrich lives through exceptional travel experiences. It is true for individual travel and so powerful for our corporate clients seeking to bond their team or clients. Throughout our history, this Purpose has acted, and continues to act, as our filter for every decision. It is our North Star.

Some of the most impressive examples of this steadfast commitment involve Jennie Brownell, who with her husband, George Brownell, led the company through its second generation beginning in 1900.

In 1914, Jennie was leading a tour group in Western Europe. They happened to be in Berlin at the moment war was declared. Amid panic at the train station, Jennie managed to get all of her clients out safely—at one point tipping a porter in gold to ensure safe passage for them and for their belongings. The lesson? Treat your suppliers on the ground well; they are the key to execution of the experiences.

On a later trip, in the spirit of offering cutting edge experiences for her clients, Jennie agreed to try a new technology—an early airplane flight from Paris to London. The flight ended in a crash landing in a muddy field in England. Once again, she managed to walk away from the disaster, and she and her group made their way to a train and continued their journey.

Although these stories are rich with drama, some more modern examples were no less harrowing from our point of view.

We made one of the company’s most consequential decisions in 2008: the sale of our corporate travel division. At the time, corporate travel accounted for roughly 40 percent of our business and about half our profits. However, this arm of the business had changed so much since the early days that our corporate work felt less and less like us.

Initially, our corporate work had us working directly with the C-Suite and HR, managing travel with the specific employees traveling in mind. It was very personal work, which allowed us to excel at what we did best – nurture, maintain, and lean into relationships. Over time, however, policies around travel tightened, the bottom line became the driver of all conversation, and the work became less individualized.

Because it was so much less personal, we found that we were no longer dealing with the C-suite and our longtime points of contact. Lowest cost was the top priority, and customer service fell to a lower priority. Customization dropped entirely out of the conversation. We were simply in procurement and it was grinding us down. We were still profitable, but we had drifted into work that no longer rewarded trust, judgment, or care. It didn’t feel right and it didn’t feel like Brownell. Eventually, we just decided to take those chips off the table and sold the division to a large corporate agency

In its place, we doubled down on leisure travel—specifically, high-touch, experience-driven travel built on trust and expertise. We realized we can be best in the world at delivering exceptional travel experiences and having a reputation for that, so we went all in. The decision required not just letting go of revenue, but also reducing airline volume dramatically, rethinking partnerships, and rebuilding capabilities focused on the travel experience.

Over time, however, it allowed us to refocus fully on the kind of work that aligned with our values. We were able to rededicate ourselves 100 percent to work in which relationships was the focus, rather than transactions. Ultimately, this defined our success.

Today, industry partners, who are sometimes complete strangers, pull me aside to comment on Brownell advisors. They’ll say, “What is it about your Brownell people? My team wants to work with your people because they show up prepared and they treat us with respect… and they bring really good business.”

In all of our stories, dramatic and sensational or mundane, the underlying principle is consistent: things go wrong and the world changes, but relationships, when handled with care, grace, and respect, carry us through. Those relationships are key to making great travel happen.

Throughout Brownell’s 139 years, we’ve changed our structure, our revenue model, our technology, and even the segments we serve. What has not changed is our commitment to enriching lives through exceptional travel experiences, and our commitment to relationships built on integrity, curiosity, and respect. These values do not eliminate disruption, but they provide a way through it and allow us to endure.