It was in May 2013 that Jessica Hargreaves first met the kindred soul that would change her career for ever.

“When I met Catherine, it all fell into place,” says the co-founder and creative director of Beyond Travel Company of the encounter with her now business partner, Catherine Gallagher. “We met completely serendipitously. I rented a room out in my house to a gentleman who ended up being Catherine’s boyfriend’s best friend. He kept saying ‘you guys should talk about business together’ as we were both always yabbering on about ideas. I feel incredibly lucky that we managed to find each other. It’s quite romantic.”

Prior to the chance encounter, Hargreaves worked in the arts. In 2011, she completed a degree in theatre and live arts producing at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and later moved into events work. “I got into festivals, big live events and immersive theatre through university, which then led to freelance high-end private events. Creating environments was what got me excited and I dabbled in interior design,” she says.

Coming from a family of artist types, founding a travel business was not something she had considered. “I’ve always wanted to travel at every opportunity, but I never realised I could work in travel – I’ve had a million ideas for businesses in the events and interiors industry.”

Initially, her parents were hesitant about her establishing a business. “They said I should get a good, well- paid job in the City, but I’ve never done what I’m told. If somebody says it’s not a good idea, I’ll go ahead and try and prove myself.”

She hasn’t looked back since: “I fell in love with the industry as soon as I dipped my toes into it.”

Gallagher and Hargreaves set up the Beyond Travel Company in May last year after a period of professional soul-searching. The pair attended every conference and networking opportunity they could, researching and brainstorming and looking for niches in the market, says Hargreaves. “We always wanted to do something different. We just weren’t quite sure what that was.”

The two worked together on Handpicked Holidays, a travel agency in Tunbridge Wells that Gallagher started in May 2010, using the business as a training ground. “It was about proving we could run a profitable business,” says Hargreaves.

Drawing on their experiences as independent travellers and tapping into the zeitgeist for experiential travel and the un-Googleable, eventually they settled on the idea of a bohemian, socially conscious, luxury travel brand focusing on service and experience over mere aesthetics. And so the Beyond Travel Company was born. “Luxury isn’t just about five stars and flashy interiors,” says Hargreaves. “It can be much more humble.”

The operator offers 10 collections of trips – from Trailblazer, featuring trips such as a voyage to Antarctica with a National Geographic photographer, to Ceremonial, featuring itineraries such as an artisans of Mexico discovery tour.

“We want to be the Soho House of travel. A business for creative people. An operator for people who don’t typically like operators. We never wanted to run a generic agency. We don’t plan to be very conventional.” And the future for the business looks rosy. “We’ve smashed our first- year projections, growing from two staff to nine and increased bookings by 200% in the past 12 months since we were Handpicked Holidays.”