Built in the Margins

For more than four years, I built my future in the margins. By day, I built someone else's business. Before sunrise, after dinner, on weekends, and during vacations, I quietly built my own.

On July 17, 2026, those two worlds become one.

Chapter 1: The Spare Bedroom

Every business has an origin story. Mine didn't begin in a fancy office, with investors, or with a detailed business plan. It began with a spare bedroom, a folding table, a laptop, lots of prayers, and a dream.

On a long, cold February night in 2022, I clicked "Submit" on the legal agreement to become an independent contractor and seller of travel. With that one click, JMart Travels was born.

Looking back, I can see God's fingerprints on this story long before I recognized them myself. Time and again, doors opened that I never could have opened on my own.

Those who have known me for many years know my career has taken more than its fair share of unexpected twists, turns, disappointments, and detours. Yet somehow, every chapter prepared me for the next one. Looking back now, I don't see random events. I see a loving and all-knowing God quietly preparing me for work I didn't even know was coming.

Back then, JMart Travels wasn't really a company. It was an idea. An experiment. Something I worked on during lunch breaks, evenings, weekends, and early mornings before heading to my full-time job. I had no employees. No office. No certainty.

What I did have was a belief that people still valued personal service and trusted relationships. I believed travel could be more than transactions. It could become memories, milestones, reunions, celebrations, adventures, and life-changing experiences.

At the time, that belief was enough to get started.

Chapter 2: The First Believers

No entrepreneur succeeds alone. Long before JMart Travels became what it is today, a handful of people took a chance on me. Some booked a cruise. Some joined a group trip. Some referred friends and family. Others invited me to speak to their organizations or trusted me with vacations they had spent years dreaming about.

Those first travelers probably didn't realize it, but every booking gave me confidence. Every referral gave me hope. Every recommendation helped build momentum.

Groups like Pam's Traveling Friends, OWLS, church communities, civic organizations, and countless individual travelers became part of the foundation that JMart Travels stands on today. When I look back, the first people who trusted me changed everything. And I’ll be forever grateful.

Chapter 3: The Unexpected Growth

Somewhere along the way, something surprising happened. The business grew. Then it kept growing. One year’s half million in travel sales became the next year’s million in sales. The first million became the second. Then the third. Then, almost before I realized it, more than four million dollars in travel sales.

What started as helping a few people book vacations became helping dozens. Then hundreds. Alaska. Hawaii. Europe. National Parks. River cruises. Ocean cruises. Escorted tours. Family vacations. Bucket-list adventures.

What amazed me most wasn't the numbers. It was realizing every dollar represented someone trusting us with an anniversary, a honeymoon, a retirement celebration, a family reunion, or a lifelong dream.

The stories multiplied faster than I ever imagined. I still remember many of the travelers who took those early trips. I remember the excitement in their voices, the photos they shared, and the messages they sent after returning home. I began realizing that I wasn't simply booking travel anymore. I was helping create experiences people would remember for the rest of their lives. That realization changed how I viewed the business.

Along the way especially in the early days there were lessons. Some lessons were expensive. Some lessons required a lot of work to fix the mistakes. Learning an entire new industry is truly not for the weak.

Chapter 4: The Moment It Became Real

At some point, JMart Travels stopped feeling like a side hustle. It started feeling like a company. A real company. That realization didn't happen overnight. It happened one small step at a time.

A ribbon cutting. Building an office. Meeting clients in person – first for coffee or for lunch and then eventually in the office we converted from our garage. Hiring help. Creating systems. Investing money back into the business instead of taking shortcuts. Watching my dad help build something he believed in. Watching Lisa step in and become an important part of serving our travelers.

Every one of those moments represented a commitment. Not just to growth. But to permanence. When you start hiring people and building spaces, you're no longer testing an idea. You're building something intended to last. That’s very gratifying. And also equally terrifying.

Chapter 5: The Recognition

This is the chapter that makes me the most uncomfortable to write. Not because I'm not proud of what has happened. But because none of it happened by myself. Over the last several years, JMart Travels has received recognition I never expected.

Recognition wasn't validation of me. It was validation of an old-fashioned idea—that answering the phone, returning emails, telling people the truth, and genuinely caring about their vacation still matters.

An invitation to christen Norwegian Cruise Line's newest ship. Entrepreneur awards and nominations. Partnership opportunities. Milestones I once thought were reserved for someone else. Yet when I look back, I don't see trophies. I see confirmation.

Confirmation that the work mattered. Confirmation that serving people well still matters. Confirmation that relationships matter. These moments weren't signs that I had "made it." They were reminders that the business had grown beyond what I originally imagined. They helped me realize that JMart Travels wasn't just a hobby anymore.

Chapter 6: Betting on Myself

Eventually, a question became impossible to ignore:

If I believe in this business so much...

Why am I still treating it like my side job?

Over the past 4.5 years, JMart Travels has grown beyond anything I originally imagined. Hundreds of travelers. Countless memories. Multiple employees. A dedicated office. More opportunities than I ever expected.

And yet, every morning, I was still splitting my energy between two professional worlds. One day, I realized something important:

The question was no longer whether JMart Travels could survive.

The question was whether I was willing to fully commit to it.

That's when I made my decision. Not because I was running away from something. Because I was running toward something. Toward freedom. Toward purpose. Toward ownership. Toward the opportunity to build the business exactly the way I believe it should be built.

One afternoon, while reviewing the calendar, I realized something I hadn't planned.

We weren't simply booking vacations anymore.

We were operating tours.

Fifty travelers to Alaska. Seventy to Europe. National Parks. British Isles. Iceland. That realization changed everything.

This was not part of the original plan. In order to be a tour operator and host trips for 50+ people at global destinations, additional staff – both full time and part time – are going to be required.

During a meeting at my full-time job, we were discussing ambitious growth goals. When the look on my face gave away my feelings about what would be required, the president smiled and said, "I'd bet on Jason Martin every day of the week."

She intended it as encouragement.

I heard it as a challenge.

Walking away from a successful corporate career isn't something you do casually. There are paychecks. Benefits. Predictability. There are people who tell you you're crazy. I wrestled with that decision for months.

But there comes a point where the biggest risk isn't leaving.

The biggest risk is never finding out what could have happened if you had fully committed.

Chapter 7: What's Next

This story isn't ending. It's beginning. The future of JMart Travels isn't about doing less. It's about doing more.

I picture airports filled with JMart travelers with matching luggage tags.

I picture hosted dinners overlooking the Mediterranean.

I picture first-time cruisers becoming lifelong friends.

I picture Lisa welcoming clients into the office while another advisor helps another family plan their next adventure.

I picture building a company that will outlast me.

I picture more opportunities to help travelers create memories they'll treasure forever.

The mission remains exactly the same as it was when I first opened my laptop in that spare room years ago:

Help people experience the world.

For the first time since February 2022, I'll be working solely in JMart Travels. More importantly...

I'll be working SOULY in JMart Travels.

Sometimes faith means staying where you are. Sometimes faith means stepping into the unknown.

After four and a half years of building JMart Travels around the margins of my life, it's time to step fully into the life I was building all along.

To everyone who has traveled with us, referred a friend, attended an event, joined a group trip, stopped by the office, liked a social media post, read a newsletter, or simply encouraged us along the way...

Thank you.

You helped build this. And for that, I'll be forever grateful.

Here's to the next chapter.

World Class Journeys. Hometown Care.