Meet Caleb Nelson, Founder & CEO

Why did you start Destination Motivation? 

I founded Destination Motivation with the idea of helping the home improvement and home service industries grow their sales, while providing their customers the ultimate travel experience. Because home improvement is expensive many homeowners give up their next vacation to invest in their home. I thought, why not provide both. This would help companies differentiate from competitive bids without reducing their margins, provide urgency and provide an enhanced experience to help eliminate cancellations. I love helping companies grow, I’m passionate about travel and more than anything, I love building long lasting relationships with employees and clients.

How do you feel about the company you are building? 

I feel very fortunate to work with such a caring, talented, and remarkably dedicated team. As we continue to grow, we’ve been fortunate enough to onboard employees that share similar values.

Describe the best vacation you’ve ever taken: 

Ugh, that’s a tough one. My first vacation at 21 was an experience that really helped me grow. I went backpacking through Europe with some friends for a few months and it was incredible. I learned so much about myself. It also got me out of my bubble and opened my eyes to so much.  It helped teach me problem solving and so many other life lessons. It truly helped shape the trajectory for the rest of my life. I’m a big “experience” guy and I can’t just sit at a resort for a week. All day, every day has to be action-packed full of adventure and new experiences. That trip definitely helped me realize that.

Do you like to travel with family, friends, or alone and why? 

All of the above. I think traveling alone can teach you a lot about yourself, and I highly recommend it, but traveling with family is always such an incredible experience.  Traveling with a significant other can help spark new levels of romance and love. When traveling with kids it’s so fun to watch them experience things for the first time.

Where did you grow up, and what’s your favorite thing about your hometown?

I was fortunate to grow up in San Clemente, CA, home of surfing, great Mexican food and Ole Hanson style buildings. My favoritething about San Clements is the surf culture and small town feel.

What’s the most interesting job you had and what made it so? 

Working in the restaurant industry was awesome. It was so much fun, good money at the time, fun to interact with friends and regulars. My first job was working at a grocery store for just over 3 years. Again, interacting with friends and regulars made the job so much fun.

 What’s the best thing you’ve done to help a customer or client at Destination Motivation? 

I started working with one of our clients when they were a small local window replacement company barely doing $10 million in sales a year, now they’re spread across most of the US and doing over $350 million! They used over 30,000 Vacation Vouchers and I feel proud to be a part of that growth.