How a B2C Travel Brand Reinvented Itself Through The Collaboratives
An Interview with Heather Morse, Founder of Create Joy Travel
When Heather Morse joined Stone Mantel’s Experience Strategy and Innovation Program, The Collaboratives, she was focused on building a B2C travel company. Two years later, her business model has completely transformed—and she credits that shift to the insight, structure, and inspiration she gained from Stone Mantel’s frameworks, the research, and the community.
“It really changed our business model in a huge way, because it gave us the understanding of what our product can be.”
Through participation in summits, shared research, and cross-industry dialogue, Heather and her team identified a major opportunity: not just designing travel experiences for consumers, but empowering other businesses to create authentic, retention-driving travel experiences for their own audiences. The research provided clarity, but it was the focused time during summits and the ability to actively listen to peers that helped her translate data into direction.
“We just followed the path of what the data was telling us… And we discovered all that through Stone Mantel over the last two years.”
For Heather, The Collaboratives offered more than insights. It was a space to pause, reflect, and reimagine her brand’s potential. She left each summit with actionable inspiration—what she affectionately called “Jerry Maguire moments”—and applied those insights to everything from communication strategy to product positioning. In her words, “By the end of two years, we were in two completely different places.”
Whether you're B2B, B2C, or somewhere in between, Heather’s experience shows the value of being open, adaptive, and connected to great frameworks and a diverse community of forward-thinking brands.
Ready to evolve your experience strategy?
Join us and start building what’s next. Click to learn more: theCollaboratives.com
