As part of Women Leading Travel & Hospitality’s 2022 Top Women in Travel & Hospitality report, which features in-depth interviews with leading female execs from across the industry, we asked honorees, “What was a key obstacle you faced early in your career, and how did you overcome it?” Here are a few of their insightful responses.

“Public speaking has never been one of my favorite activities, but I realized early on in my career that I had to develop that skill. I spent 10 years with the Toastmaster’s International program improving my comfort level when addressing a large crowd. I’ve never forgotten the favorite saying of one of my fellow Toastmasters: ‘Although you can never eliminate the butterflies in your stomach, you can learn how to make the butterflies fly in formation!'” — Rochelle “Chellie” Cameron, CEO, City of Philadelphia – Division of Aviation (DOA)

“When I look at the very beginning of my career in the hospitality industry, leadership roles were almost exclusively male and there were never female mentors in those leadership positions that I could look up to. As a result, I really leaned into my peer mentors. Over time I was able to develop relationships with those peers through industry organizations and we’ve supported each other from a career development perspective throughout the years.  Unfortunately, this obstacle is still present for many women in our industry. One of my greatest concerns is that women haven’t broken through at the levels we should have seen by now. Of course, the fallout of the pandemic created a significant setback for women advancing, especially in our industry.  As I look to the next generation of leaders and what I can do to help remove these same obstacles for them, I’ve become more committed to paying it forward — because I can’t pay it backward. I’ll always be a spokesperson and ally for women. I hope to bring a voice and perspective that can shape consideration for other women.  I firmly believe that if you can see it, you can be it. In that regard, I’ve made it a priority to embrace diversity in everything I do in my personal and professional life. Diversity in leadership brings different perspectives that drive organizational growth, allowing us to be better leaders for our employees and in Best Western Hotels & Resorts’ case, our hoteliers, too.”  — Dorothy Dowling, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Best Western® Hotels & Resorts

“Mine is a ‘best laid plans’ story. During law school I planned to become a real estate attorney with a firm. I ran out of money during my third year and took a full-time law clerk position with MCI Communications Corporation to make ends meet. I had no background in technology and found myself in the litigation department of a major technology company. It was really intimidating! My only choice was to learn the business as quickly as I could. I’m naturally curious and there’s a psychology element to understanding what motivates our clients. The moral of the story is to consider every option that comes along even if it seems like a stretch. MCI ended up offering me an attorney position when I graduated, an unusual move as in-house teams are not staffed to train new attorneys.” — Laura Heltebran, Chief Legal Officer, Wheels Up

“I took a somewhat atypical approach to my career. After undergrad, I had kids and put myself through grad school while they were young. So I didn’t start my career until several years later than my peers. In some ways, this was an obstacle because I came into the market with less corporate experience but with more practical and life experience. I used this to my advantage by being authentic and absorbing any and every technology area I could to hone my craft. Studying while raising a young family also develops solid problem-solving and multitasking skills!” — Rathi Murthy, Chief Technology Officer and President, Expedia Services, Expedia Group

“I faced a fear of failure when I took a risk on a project outside of my comfort zone. Looking back now I recognize that I certainly made some mistakes, including empowering my team in a way that wasn’t helpful to delivering the best results that we could have out of that project. I’m proud of the fact that I quickly recognized my mistakes, took responsibility, and then focused on applying those lessons learned when I took the next risk in my journey. I think it’s very easy to lose your confidence, especially when you’re just starting out, and then allow that to make you risk averse. There’s very little growth potential in that. You simply can’t know if things will work until you try them. The job of a leader is to pay attention and to be prepared to change direction if things aren’t heading where they need to go.” — Tracie Winbigler, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Amtrak

To hear more from these women leaders (as well as other honorees) on additional important topics related to both leadership and the travel and hospitality industry, download the full report, 2022 Top Women in Travel & Hospitality.