When did you start your agency?

August 1996

How long have you been in the travel industry?

Mona: Since 1986, when I became an editor for a hospitality magazine.

Tom: After working in the automotive aftermarket as a trade magazine editor and a marketing director for a member-driven international shipping organization, I joined Mona in travel.

What originally drew you to the travel industry?

Mona: The people who work in this industry are my tribe. They tend to be curious about places and people, and they embrace and welcome different cultures and lifestyles. 

Tom: The opportunity to promote travel and tourism as a self-employed public relations practitioner was an opportunity that combined relevant skills with what felt like an unlimited industry that constantly opened up new worlds.

In your past professional life, you were …

Mona: An automotive magazine editor, covering body shops, car parts stores and races. 

Tom: Editor of BodyShop Business, a new at-the-time trade magazine based in Akron, Ohio. After a short stint as a self-employed consultant providing desktop publication services, we moved to Denver where I joined an organization comprised of freight forwarders/customs brokers from around the world. From there, Mona and I joined forces at Mesereau Travel Public Relations.

What is something you love about working with travel media?

Mona: I love to learn about places through the eyes of a terrific writer or photographer. Even if I've been to a place dozens of times, a writer who is seeing it for the first time can help me see a place in a new way. 

What are your professional pet peeves? 

Mona: I don't have many, but I do prefer to work with travel professionals who are honest about their expectations and professional needs.

Tom: I also do not have a list of pet peeves. I do, however, do my best to live up to my commitments, and I expect others to do the same. Last-minute wrinkles happen, and honesty is always the best policy when dealing with them.  

What has been your most memorable press trip?

Mona: Yellowstone in winter: Skiing to a backcountry waterfall; skiing to a backcountry geyser; bison adventure # 1 (bison lumbering toward us on the trail we just created); Old Faithful geyser in the early morning; snowmobiling; bison adventure # 2 (bison charging us while snowmobiling); wolf adventure # 1 (wolf chowing down on an elk carcass); wolf adventure #2 (two wolf packs howling simultaneously); Einstein-level river otter outsmarting a fox; epic alpenglow. 

Tom: I cannot narrow it down to just one press trip. There are five or six that had elements that I will never forget: Dolphins appearing a few feet away from me in Florida Bay in the Everglades, hiking to the top of Geyser Hill in Yellowstone at -24F, hiking to the top of Angel's Landing in Zion National Park, running the rapids on the Gauley River in West Virginia, wildlife watching in Yellowstone (bison are equal opportunity chargers, bears cover a lot of ground, wolves never get old).

What is your favorite place to travel?  

Mona: The next place. 

Tom: What Mona said.