Women in Travel: Agency Leaders Who Pushed the Boundaries
by Maria LenhartThis is the second in a series about the status of women in the travel industry. We invite readers to share their own experiences and comments.
Not taking the word no for an answer. Getting active in community organizations, including those that are traditionally male. Pushing the boundaries of what they think they can do. Hiring capable individuals who can do what they can’t.
For four women who made their way to the top of the travel agency industry, these are the strategies that worked. Some encountered barriers along the way, then surmounted them, refusing to acknowledge any obstacles in their path. Here are their stories.
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Elaine Osgood: Persistence pays
Elaine Osgood, president and founder of Atlas Travel, embarked on a travel career in 1986, by purchasing a Uniglobe Travel franchise. As an agency owner, she was often one of very few women in the rooms where decisions were made.
“A lot of the agents were women, but I was one of just a few owners,” she said. “When I would call on executives for corporate business, they were almost always male. I could get into the Chamber of Commerce, but other local organizations such as Rotary and Lions Club were closed to me.”
Osgood persisted, eventually becoming the first female member of her local Rotary and achieving top honors from Uniglobe, including Agency Owner of the Year and #1 Agency in America. She went on to found Atlas Travel, which employs 160 people in 30 states and last year grossed $260 million in sales.
It takes drive
“You have to have a certain amount of drive,” she said. “When someone says ‘no’ to you, you have to come back with, ‘Yes, I can.’”
Equally important, she said, is recognizing your own limitations – and bringing people on board who are good at what you’re not.
“You need to identify your strengths, but know where they begin and end,” she said. “Whenever I hit a plateau and realize I need more skills to go to the next level, I search for someone who can help me do that. Hiring the right people is essential.”
Hire the best
Last year Osgood expanded the infrastructure of the agency by 33%, including by hiring Lea Cahill, a 25-year agency veteran with a strong travel tech background, to serve as COO.
“She moves at the speed of light – I learn from her every day,” Osgood said of Cahill. “What you do is hire the best, then get out of the way. She’s here to improve our operations and technology.”
Now Osgood feels she is free to focus on what she does best.
“I’m still here to make sure the company culture is strong,” she said. “We’re making changes but not to our core values. My job is to make sure those values stay strong and that our customers are happy.”
Pam Wright: Jump in there
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Pam Wright, who founded Nashville-based Wright Travel in 1981, also had little female company as she worked to penetrate local business organizations and grow the corporate side of her agency’s business. Today, Wright Travel encompasses 18 full-serve locations in nine states.
Has the business environment for women changed over the last three decades? Yes, but not enough, she said.
“There are still a lot of obstacles out there for women. Men still dominate the business world,” Wright said. “It takes a strong woman to overcome that. Women in travel are comfortable in their own settings, but perhaps not so much in chamber meetings, where the rooms are mostly male.”
Stepping outside her own comfort zone has been crucial to her own progress, Wright said.
“I just jumped in there,” she said. “I became involved in community leadership, served on boards, got involved with a local university in mentorship programs. I made speeches and commitments, even when I didn’t feel I was the best person to be making them.”
Focus on the big picture
What she didn’t do much of was the day-to-day work of a frontline agent.
“I avoided booking travel and learning how to be an expert at it,” she said. “I believed that if I spent time doing that, I couldn’t grow a business. It was more about selling, strategy and having cutting edge services.”
She was also not afraid to step out of the leisure side of the business and go after corporate accounts.
“Small agencies tend to focus on leisure because it’s hard to crack corporate travel where you’re competing with large global agencies,” she said, “But it’s not impossible. You can start with small and mid-size accounts. Corporate is more consistent than leisure, so it’s worth pursuing.”
Jackie Friedman: What barriers?
Jackie Friedman started out 23 years ago as a frontline travel agent in Toronto, Ontario, rose through the management ranks at Sabre Travel Network and then joined Nexion in 2004 as vice president of operations.
Today Friedman is president of Nexion’s host agency network. Under her leadership, Nexion has tripled its membership base to 3,000 corporate and leisure agents who generate $250 million a year in gross sales.
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Did she face barriers as a woman? Not at all, she said.
“Don’t listen to the negative talk. If you believe there are barriers, that will make those barriers happen,” she said. “On the flip side, don’t think that success is something you’re entitled to.”
Involvement is key
Friedman, who serves on a wide variety of industry councils and advisory boards, including for ASTA and CLIA, said industry involvement is essential for success.
“I’ve always tried to expand my reach in the industry,” she said. “As I worked hard and grew, the opportunities came. And I continue to learn.”
McClure-Mysza: Not a gender issue
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Andi McClure-Mysza, co-owner of Montrose Travel and president of its host division MTravel, got her start in travel by cleaning up the brochure room in her parents’ agency. As a young adult, she honed her business skills at major corporations, holding key marketing positions at Hunt Wesson Foods and Kellogg’s.
In 1990 she joined with her brother and sister-in law to buy Montrose Travel from their parents. At the time, Montrose Travel was a leisure-focused agency with about $6 million in annual gross sales.
She has since helped turned the agency into a multi-division powerhouse, with 150 employees, 500 independent contractors and $160 million in annual gross sales.
Know what’s needed
“Success is not a gender issue – it’s what you’re willing to do,” she said. “It’s understanding what you need to accomplish and what you need to accomplish those goals.”
When it comes to hiring employees and bringing in independent contractors, McClure-Mysza looks for those who share that business ethic.
“We’re not about taking fam trips,” she said. “Too many people jump into travel because they think it’s sexy. We discourage people who are not in the quest to make a profit.”
McClure-Mysza helped expand the agency by starting its robust host division. In doing so, her strategy was to proceed carefully in “testing the waters,” avoiding big risks, she said.
“I always wanted to see if something worked before going in hook, line and sinker and hiring a bunch of employees,” she said. “At the time the host division was started, I did everything to develop it – recruiting the contractors, wiring the website, handling the customer service. Then we hired people.”
Stay close to customers
She considers it essential to “stay close to the customer base,” no matter how high one’s position in the agency.
“You cannot sit in your ivory tower and expect that you will understand the frontline,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to pick up a complaint call and engage with the customer. A lot of agency owners don’t appreciate the importance of this, but it’s about leading by example.”
Related stories
Part one: CEOs in Travel: Where Are the Women?
Next: Tips from the best-selliing author of Women Don’t Ask
