The journey from Armenia to Reno might not seem obvious one, but it's been a really good trip for Marianna Sharoyan.
Sharoyan is a travel consultant at Welcome Aboard Travel, one of Reno's oldest travel agencies. She grew up in Armenia, speaks four languages (Armenian, Russian, Portuguese and English) and graduated from Moscow State University with a degree in international relations and foreign affairs. She moved to Sacramento to pursue a master's degree and moved to Reno after meeting her husband, Karo Galusi, who lived here.
And this was all before she turned 25. But now that she's landed in Reno, she can't think of any place she'd rather be. Or anything she'd rather be doing than working as a travel agent.
"It's a very tough business, but I want to stay in it. I love to travel, and I love to help people travel," she says.
Part of her love for the business arises because she's so happy with the company she works with.
"It's is like working with family. I am so protected here, and everyone supports you and wants you to do well," she says.
Family is easily Sharoyan's favorite subject, and one she's very emotional about. Her parents and younger brother still live in Armenia, and she hasn't seen them in more than three years. She talks on the phone to her mother twice a day. And she calls her mother-in-law, who also is in Armenia, twice a day, too.
Her American co-workers often tease her about how she tells her mother everything, but to Sharoyan, that's just what you do. She still goes to her family for advice and support, and it's something that is likely to continue.
"My grandparents lived with my parents for 28 years before they passed away. Family is the most important thing," she says with a shrug. In fact, while she frequently gushes about her adopted homeland, the one thing she doesn't like about America is that the children seem to have no respect for their parents.
Other than that, when talking about living in America, Sharoyan can't say enough.
"We just love the U.S. I think you have to live in a different country to really know how great it is here. I wish I was born here, so I could have had all the opportunity and freedoms," she says.
While she may not have been born here, Sharoyan has made sure to go after the opportunities she's found. After she moved to Sacramento to attend school, she began looking for a job. A listing for a travel agency caught her eye; she loved to travel, had an international background, had worked in Armenia's foreign ministry and knew she liked to help people. She was hired on the spot.
She met her husband when he came to buy a ticket at the travel agency. Moving to Reno to be with him, Sharoyan has found her new home.
"I love that there is no traffic in Reno, and less people!" she says. She and her husband also love how close they are to Lake Tahoe, and they spend much of their time on the North Shore, enjoying the fresh mountain air. The couple plans to stay in the area for the foreseeable future, and plans eventually to add to the family.
Sharoyan's family has won a green-card lottery, and she hopes they'll be moving to the area by the end of the year. When they do, she plans to take her mother to Hawaii, Sharoyan's favorite place to vacation, as evidenced by the fact she spent her honeymoon and first anniversary there and plans a trip there this fall.
Such travels are one of the best parts of Sharoyan's job. Low-priced familiarization trips give agents a chance to experience a destination and offer plenty of seminars and education so the agents can sell the destination.
Sharoyan hopes to visit Paris and Scotland one day. For now, it's beach trips with Karo, who loves swimming and loves the ocean.
As her father reminds her when they talk, "You take care of family first, then you do for others."
That motto has clearly stuck for Sharoyan, and it's part of what she loves so much about her job. As fewer people choose a travel consultant and look instead for bargain on the Internet, Sharoyan is quick to point out the flaws in that thinking.
"What if you need something? When you use an agent, you have someone to talk to, someone who can resolve your problems," she says emphatically. "Calls from happy clients make me the happiest. It's so satisfying to know we can help people achieve their travel goals and to help resolve their complicated problems."
Keeper of the family
Who: Marianna Sharoyan
What: Travel consultant, Welcome Aboard Travel
Family: Husband, Karo Galusi
She says: "I love that there is no traffic in Reno!"
