Welcome back to Flight Path, your weekly behind-the-scenes look at what we’re building at Tern! This week is packed with major news, impactful product updates, and a special guest interview you won’t want to miss.
Listen to Office Hours Here
https://open.spotify.com/show/5VoYI891SDJkhlQFpuwuip?si=nIBeINnSQVKo4aJR5IpWFg
00:00 – Intro & chaos avoided
David nearly live-streams the episode by mistake. Molly shares sleep deprivation updates (thanks to a teething baby), and we all express gratitude to Faith, Molly’s mom and Tern hero.
03:08 – A feature that brought tears
Molly recalls a powerful moment where an advisor emotionally responded to the new occupancy rates feature — a reminder of why we do what we do.
03:33 – Major News: Tern Acquires Lucia!
Tern officially welcomes Lucia into the family!
Co-founder Grace Van Hollebeke joins the episode to talk about:
Lucia’s origin story (hint: it started as a college class project!)
Why vetted freelance co-pilots are essential to ending invisible work
Her new role as Head of Marketing and Services at Tern
The power of combining humans + tech to remove manual work for advisors
Sneak peek at Office Hours podcast and our growing Instagram presence (follow @ternsoftware)
10:30 – The future of co-pilots in Tern
Brad and Molly lay out the vision for Lucia’s integration:
Context-aware prompts for help (e.g. “need assistance on a group trip?”)
Embedded support workflows inside Tern
Empowering co-pilots to deeply understand Tern tools
20:05 – Product Highlights:
Subfolders in the Library (finally!): Organize templates, activities, and more with nested folders — complete with emojis.
Flexible Dates for Lodging: Let travelers select custom check-in/check-out dates (perfect for destination weddings & FITs). Combine with occupancy rates for dynamic pricing.
New “Save to Library” Flow: Save activity templates in 3 clicks instead of 10. Name, folder, and share — all from the itinerary.
Copy Confirmation Numbers: Tiny change, big impact. One-click copying for commission tracking.
TICO-Compliant Invoices: Add your agency address directly in business settings.
New Rich Text Editor in Invoices: The upgraded editor is now PDF-friendly — a big step toward full rollout on trip itineraries.
39:48 – What We’re Working on Next Week:
Performance & Scalability: Optimizing reporting and load times as large agencies import 1,000s of bookings.
Trip Funds (early R&D): The team is back in the trenches on payment collection for group trips — but taking it slow and safe. No live release soon, but important foundational work is underway.
GTM West: David hits the road to represent Tern at his first GTM event. Let us know if you’ll be there!