Change or Die: Building Values‑Driven, Sustainable Sales in Travel with Jeremy Brady

Jeremy Brady is the Director of Sales (USA & Latin America) at G Adventures, the world’s largest adventure travel company. A veteran of the industry, Jeremy transitioned from a "road warrior" BDM to a strategic leader overseeing a distributed team of Global Purpose Specialists. He is a passionate advocate for community-based tourism and a leadership style that prioritizes values, purpose, and sustainable high performance over traditional "hustle culture."

Episode Key Points

• [02:57] The G Adventures Story: From a garage startup with two maxed-out credit cards to a global leader in community tourism.

• [09:54] Leading a Remote Sales Force: Lessons from a team that was "doing Zoom before Zoom was cool" and how to maintain culture across borders.

• [12:37] Killing the "Uninspiring" One-on-One: Why Jeremy pivoted from weekly status checks to deep-dive monthly coaching sessions focused on happiness and growth.

• [19:08] The Magic Number for Leadership: Why having 6 direct reports is the "sweet spot" for maintaining high performance and avoiding manager burnout.

• [21:34] Values-Based Hiring: Using a "Core Values Exercise" to find talent that aligns with the brand’s mission rather than just hitting a quota.

• [27:40] Change or Die: How to create a "safe to fail" environment that encourages innovation and prevents corporate complacency.

• [34:06] AI & Sustainable Performance: Why the real power of AI in 2026 isn't doing more work, but creating the "white space" needed for strategic thinking.

• [36:52] The 70% Rule: Why 70% effort on some days is the key to avoiding the high turnover and "milk runs" common in the travel industry.