If you have not met Judy Bond, chances are you’ve at least heard of her. Judy joined Ultimate Choice Travel when the company launched, making her one of only a few Founders within the business. She quickly moved up to become the first female promoted to an Executive Director position. Judy was a guest speaker at TravelFest and several rallies this year alone. Her passion for the business and support she has given to other Representatives have created a strong team in the Lexington area and across the nation alike!

We can thank Executive Director Peggy Warren for bringing Judy into the UCT family. Judy has known Peggy for many years and respected her as a good friend and excellent businesswoman. Upon retiring from a 32 year career with IBM and Lexmark, Judy “wanted something to do that was fun, didn't involve a lot of stress, gave me a chance to work with my friends, and do a little travel.” Her motivation to succeed in this business has since changed. When she joined, she felt very secure about the money she had saved for retirement. With the uncertainty of today’s economy, her rollover IRA, like millions of other people, has taken a big hit. She realized that not have a “plan b” was no longer an option, but rather a necessity for thousands of those whose jobs and 401k's are at risk. “Both of my daughters have been laid off from their corporate jobs of 10+ years. So I now feel this is my opportunity to regain what I've lost, plus more. It is a chance to take care of the financial security of my family,” said Judy.

With her experience in UCT thus far, the biggest mistake Judy has seen new people make is when they say they are “waiting to have time to do this business”. She advises, “Learn how to incorporate it into your life EVERY day. It doesn't take anything to give someone a business card or to invite them to look at an incredible business. And the most important advice is something that Steve Smith told me when I had been in the business less than a month. He said that the key to being successful in the business is to ‘never quit’. Lots of people do, which to this day, is still hard for me to understand.”

In her TravelFest speech this year, Judy said how grateful she is to Steve for providing a service that is easy and fun to talk about—travel. “I would have never dreamed that when I got an opportunity to reinvent myself after 32 1/2 years in the Corporate world, that it would be in a job that involved travel, working with positive, like-minded people, and that it would actually offer me more opportunity than anything I ever did in my professional career,” comments Judy.

Judy and her fiancé, Tom Borg, love to travel (a commonality amongst the UCT Representatives), and one of their favorite vacations was last January when they rented a house in Naples, Florida for an entire month. They would take in beautiful sunsets, enjoy the perfect weather and simply relax. Judy hopes to someday take her granddaughters to New York City to see a Broadway play, visit the wonderful museums, and stop by Niagara Falls on the way back to Lexington.