Sandy Lipkowitz has done a lot of different things over the course of a long and successful career, but her current incarnation as Founder & Owner of We Make Travel Easy is by far her favorite. Sandy’s bespoke travel agency, which she started in 2007, brings together her passion for travel, commitment to relationships, attention to detail, and excitement about broadening people’s experience of the world.
Sandy’s lifelong love affair with travel began in her 20s, when she embarked on a two-and-a-half-month solo adventure through Europe. Since then, she’s traveled to five continents and over 75 countries. Having the opportunity to help others experience the kind of life-enriching travel that’s shaped her own life is a dream come true for Sandy.
Sandy started her agency as a side business when she was working in sales for an employee benefits company that served the Jewish Community Federation (among other clients). We Make Travel Easy became her full-time occupation in 2014 when the economy improved and people started traveling again in large numbers. She has received the J. Readers’ Choice award for top travel agency every year since then, and is proud to be a Conde Nast Top Travel Specialist and a Virtuoso travel advisor.
We Make Travel Easy specializes in custom designing trips that meet the interests, travel style, and dreams of each client. Whether someone is planning a multi-generational family expedition, a special anniversary, or a trip to engage philanthropic donors; whether they want to visit art museums, cook local food, or see wildlife and natural wonders; whether clients yearn to travel on their own or join an organized tour … Sandy and her team can make it happen.
But of course, during the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic she couldn’t make any travel happen. Travel agencies didn’t have the option to pivot to take-out the way that restaurants did. For many months there was nothing Sandy could do but cancel reservations, return deposits, monitor travel credits, and wait for the world to reopen. She turned to Hebrew Free Loan for a Covid Relief loan that helped keep her business afloat during this difficult time.
Now that the travel industry has picked up and her business is thriving again, Sandy has put into action her gratitude for Hebrew Free Loan’s support by becoming a member of our Business Circle. She’s long been active in the Jewish community, mostly on the giving end, and it means a lot to her that the community was there for her during her own time of need.
“Joining Hebrew Free Loan’s Business Circle allows me to pay it forward and assist other emerging entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses. It gives me great satisfaction to know that my experience navigating the pandemic can help others move through the uncertainties of our current economic climate.”
Sandy invites anyone interested in learning more about her unique approach to travel to explore the Morocco tour she’s organizing for October 2023. This is one of Sandy’s “Come With Me” tours, a trip led by Sandy herself to visit a destination on her personal bucket list.
Much has changed in Sandy’s life since she began her career many years ago as a fourth-grade teacher in San Francisco’s Hunters Point. But one thing hasn’t changed: she’s just as committed as ever to helping people thrive, so supporting an organization like Hebrew Free Loan is one of her top priorities.
