I emphasise the truly here as these days we are so bombarded with quotes, stories and inspirational videos on our social media channels that it’s easy to end up all inspired out and losing sight of the genuinely inspiring things.

So, to remind ourselves of how real inspiration feels and how that feeling can consciously or sub-consciously affect the paths that we follow, perhaps a better question would be, “When were you first truly inspired by someone or something?”.

For eight-year-old me that time was the 1974 European Athletics Championships in Rome, watching Brendan Foster run away from the field to win gold in the 5,000 metre final. There was something magical about this man running round and round a track, his face a mixture of pain, determination and self-belief.

It captured my imagination and inspired me to spend the rest of the summer running around our back lawn being Brendan.

I’m not exactly sure what inspired me towards a career in the travel business. What I can clearly recount though are those people I have come across along the way who have had a big impact on me.

My first boss, Anna, scared the heck out of me! She was fiercely competitive and demanded a great deal from her team. The pressure was always on, yet what was most important to Anna was that we had fun each day, however tough it was.

I was inspired by the notion that when work was fun, amazing things could be achieved.

I next found myself inspired by a chap called Tony Walker, who was chief executive of Midconsort (now Elite Travel Group), when I had my first travel shop. At the regular meetings of members, I marvelled at how Tony was able to manage a room packed full of strong-willed individuals voicing very differing opinions. Tony had an uncanny knack of bringing those different opinions and agendas together so that the group could go forward stronger, with a purpose good for all.

And at the birth of Holidaysplease I was definitely inspired by what David Speakman was creating at Travel Counsellors. Not only was his business growing rapidly, it was being built on a firm belief in the power of delivering outstanding service and creating lasting relationships with customers. Both became key to the vision we had for the business Holidaysplease would become.

David, along with other top leaders such as Brian Young, Jennifer Atkinson and Jeanette Linfoot will be speaking at the forthcoming TTG Tomorrow’s Travel Leaders Conference at WTM London on November 8.

Sometimes you happen across inspiration as I did aged eight sat in front of the TV. At other times you have to go seek it out. The Tomorrow’s Travel Leaders Conference is the perfect place for every young travel buck serious about becoming an industry leader to learn from those that have truly been there, seen it, done it.

That is an opportunity they should be inspired to take.

Richard Dixon is director of Holidaysplease