$40,000 Vacations Inspire Finance Pros to Become Travel Agents

Lisa Reich studied hard to become a forensic accountant. She worked in the field for eight years, and enjoyed interacting with her clients. But the divorce cases she often dealt with were becoming depressing.

One day, she wandered into a local travel agency looking to book a trip and got chatting — they offered her a role as an independent contractor that day.

“I’m working half the hours and making quadruple my salary,” said Reich, 42, who started her own agency in 2021 and said her annual sales have been around $3 million to $3.5 million for the past three years.

“When ...