From passports to purpose: A journey made possible in 10 days
For Coach Phil Bollier, basketball is more than a game. It’s a way to teach young people how to lead, how to trust, and how to believe in something bigger than themselves. His nonprofit, Just Right For Now (JRFN), is built on that mission—to create life-changing moments through sport.
Coach Phil had a dream and from the early stages, he and JRFN Project Manager, Tyler Gamble, knew they’d need to bring in expert help to make it happen.
The dream? A global basketball tour where youth could experience a different part of the world.
“I knew we were going. I just didn’t know who was coming. Or how. Or when.” — Coach Phil, Just Right For Now
That’s when Corporate Traveler stepped in.
Starting from scratch with the clock ticking
This was JRFN’s first international trip, and the team was starting from almost nothing. Tyler remembers the moment clearly:
“For us it's our first time taking an international trip. When we were planning it in the early stages, we knew right away that we needed some help.”
There was no final headcount. No itinerary. No guarantee it was even possible. But there was one very big reason to try—the impact this could have on the kids.
Phil had deep ties to Macedonia and wanted to share that culture with his students. The connection was personal. The opportunity was rare. And the timeline was tight. That’s when dedicated travel manager, Gabi Scolpino, took the reins.
A steady hand in the chaos
Gabi knew this trip would be anything but simple. JRFN hadn’t yet been onboarded with Corporate Traveler, but from the first call, she was committed. “Usually when I book a trip,” Gabi explains, “it’s straightforward most of the time. This was not straightforward by any means. Ten days before the trip, I didn’t have a solidified headcount, and I didn’t have names yet.”
Tyler shares, “It started off as we don't know who's going or when they're going, but somebody is going. I think we had five kids with no passport. Two haven't even gone through the process.”
Gabi and the Corporate Traveler team fast-tracked onboarding, helped get information to speed up passport processing, and stayed on top of every last detail.
“It was constant communication. A lot of phone calls at all times of the day.” Tyler Gamble said. “Every time we gave [Corporate Traveler] a challenge, there was never a ‘we need more time.’ There was, ‘All right, well, let me fix that. Let me work on that.’”
With six days to go, the trip was booked.
Safety, support, and showing up
For the parents of the students, safety was the number one concern. Their kids were heading across the world—many for the first time—to play a physically demanding sport in a completely new environment.
“One of the biggest questions that parents had was about the safety of their child... and so they leaned heavily on us to give them that sense of safety and security. And then as an organization, we leaned very heavily on Corporate Traveler.” Tyler shared.
Thanks to the team’s organization and planning, the trip ran without a hitch.
“I’ve been on trips internationally where I’ve had to go to the ticket counter and talk to someone about a seat arrangement or a ticket we didn’t have. I didn’t have to do any of that.” – Coach Phil, JRFN
“I think that when organizations think about travel, they see it as overwhelming. But I’m here to make their job easy and so they don’t have to worry about it. They can just show up to the airport and go.” Gabi Scolpino, Travel Manager
More than a trip. It was a turning point
For many of the students, this wasn’t just their first time on a plane. It was a life-changing chance to see the world beyond their hometown for the first time.
“[They] get on a flight and go 8 to 10 hours [into] a totally different world, and when [they] come back...my students realize the blessings that they have. And that changes them.” — Phil Bollier
I feel like I just appreciate what I have more, just realizing how big the world really is outside of my small little town of Mill Creek.
- Nick, Player, JRFN
Supporting dreams at every stage
Just Right for Now may be a small nonprofit, but their dreams were big. And Corporate Traveler was right there with them.
“What I've learned in being a small company is that Corporate Traveler is the group you want to get with. The resources they provide just took so much pressure off us,” shared Coach Phil.
Corporate Traveler works with organizations of every size — from first-time travelers like JRFN to growing businesses navigating uncertain markets. For companies feeling overwhelmed by logistics or limited resources, we bring the experience, structure, and heart to help them move forward confidently.
“They walked us right through it all. They provided and met every need that we had,” said Tyler.
When you’re building something new, travel can feel like just one more hurdle. That’s where our team makes sure travel is a launchpad—helping businesses grow, save, and succeed at every step of their journey.
A partnership built on trust
For growing organizations, having the right travel partner makes all the difference. Corporate Traveler became more than just a booking service for JRFN—we became a true extension of the team, helping them stay focused on their mission without the stress of logistics.
Throughout every twist and turn, Gabi stayed close, offering the kind of support that businesses often don’t realize they need until they need it. She built a personalized relationship with JRFN, staying ready to jump in whenever the team needed her, even when no one could predict when that would be.
By the time the trip wrapped up, the relationship had evolved into something stronger. As Phil put it, the best thing they did together was becoming a team. Gabi felt the same, staying connected through every step of the journey and eager to hear about the trip once the students returned home.
For Tyler, the experience went beyond just managing flights and hotels - “Corporate Traveler was perfect for us. Kind of went into it with expectations of way more business, and then came out of it with way more of almost like a family experience.”
Having handled travel arrangements on his own before, Phil knew firsthand how overwhelming it could be. His advice for other organizations was simple: don’t go it alone. Trusting experts like Gabi and the Corporate Traveler team can turn even the most daunting trip into something unforgettable.
Special thank you to Jmixtape Productions for lending the on-trip footage to complete the video version of this case study.
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