Women Travel and Hospitality Execs on Overcoming Adversity

In a recent recent report produced by Women Leading Travel & Hospitality, 2021 Top Women in Travel & Hospitality, executive women from across the industry were interviewed about their careers. The interviews touched on a variety of topics, from why they love working in the travel and hospitality space to their leadership styles to the lessons they've learned while leading through the pandemic. One of the questions posed to this year's honorees was as follows: What's the biggest challenge you encountered while rising in this industry? How did you overcome it?

Here are the responses from four of this year's honorees: Tara Bunch, global head of operations, Airbnb; Stephanie Chung, chief growth officer, Wheels Up; Keyra Lynn Johnson, chief global diversity and inclusion officer, Delta Air Lines; and Amy Wei, chief commercial officer, KAYAK.

"My biggest challenge was my most recent one — joining a travel company in the midst of a pandemic. I joined Airbnb on May 29, as the travel industry was still very much in crisis mode. As an executive overseeing our community support operations, this was a time when people were cancelling reservations in droves. We had to move quickly to stand up new capabilities and processes to support our community during a period of great uncertainty. This started with helping to enable local travel and elevating safety and cleanliness. I do feel that great companies make the best of crises to become stronger in the long run, and we did that at Airbnb." — Tara Bunch, global head of operations, Airbnb

"For women, and women of color especially, it’s easy to be underestimated in the aviation field and only be marketed certain jobs that are traditionally 'for women.' It was important for me to show people throughout my career that I deserved the harder job, the bigger title and more responsibility. I had to work harder than most to prove those things, and today I hope my success and the success of other women who have helped to break barriers in the space will make it easier for women to rise." — Stephanie Chung, chief growth officer, Wheels Up

"The biggest challenge I encountered during my 25 years in the industry was hoping I could be what I didn’t see. In other words, I needed to believe that my potential wasn’t defined by the limited representation I saw, specifically that of Black women. How did I overcome it? Truly, I’m still overcoming it. Focusing on progress and potential keep me optimistic. In addition, I’m committed to lifting as I climb because helping someone else through your own struggle is a great way to overcome it." — Keyra Lynn Johnson, chief global diversity and inclusion officer, Delta Air Lines

"If you asked me this question in 2019, the answer probably would have been different. I would have to say leading through a global pandemic, in a time of travel bans and quarantines, means that how our business is done and what the future of travel will be is still very much evolving. This means that we have to draw from our past experiences and our instincts to gauge, build and adapt through uncharted territory. This situation has been and will continue to be a challenge that we as an industry face on a daily basis, but being outside of my comfort zone — something instilled from a love of travel early on — motivates and pushes me every day.

"Clear, transparent and frequent communication is key to keeping everyone informed and feeling connected, especially as we shifted to working from home. In addition to upping the ante on communication, getting comfortable with and, most importantly, accepting the fact that whatever plan we put in place will need to be adaptable and flexible in this new normal, whatever that ends up being! This flexibility and agility needs to be part of the plan and communicated. Last but not least, leading with compassion and kindness — recognizing that a crisis is mentally, physically and emotionally taxing. Leaders need to acknowledge that." — Amy Wei, chief commercial officer, KAYAK

To read the full interviews with Bunch, Chung, Johnson, and Wei, as well as the other nine honorees, download the 2021 Top Women in Travel & Hospitality report today!