A panel of industry-leading female travel and hospitality executives took the stage at the 2024 Women Leading Travel & Hospitality New York City Roundtable, held Oct. 28, and shared the internal beliefs they swear by as well as the barriers they’ve had to overcome in their career journeys. Below are four pieces of advice these leaders from Carnival Cruise Line, LaGuardia Gateway Partners, New York City Tourism + Conventions, and Amtrak shared. The panel was moderated by executive coach Courtney Seard.

Remind Yourself of What You’re Known For

Suzette Noble, CEO of LaGuardia Gateway Partners — who transformed Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport in New York — said when in doubt, it’s best to go back to basics.

“I’m not an aviator. I didn’t grow up in aviation,” Noble said, adding she used to work for Disney. “In every single one of our businesses, we focus on a great experience. [We focus on] building great cultures, keeping safe and secure environments, and operational excellence.

“It was a little bit of making me feel smaller than I am,” added Noble. “And I had to remind myself — and remind my colleagues — ‘What are some of the key things we’re known for?'” Doing that helped her stand up for herself, Noble told the audience.

You Know More Than You Think You Do

Like Noble, Nancy Mammana didn’t have a background in tourism when she landed a job marketing the city of New York.

“Taking the leap into a different industry is tough,” Mammana said. Even without a tourism background, Mammana carried the skills she learned in various industries and applied them to her new job. “You can learn a different industry but the core principles are always there,” said Mammana. “You know more than you think you do.”

You Can Never Know Everything About the Job

While you know more than you think you do, you will also reach a point where you have to do the job without knowing everything about it. Judith Apshago, chief digital officer of Amtrak, used to say earlier in her career, “I’m not technical.” One of her mentors told her she needed to remove that phrase from her lexicon as she was moving into leadership roles within IT. Even though she wasn’t a traditional IT person — she had never touched a server, never been in a lab, wasn’t an engineer, had never studied technology — she still had the skills to fit the role.

“I had to overcome that — the barrier of feeling like I didn’t know something or couldn’t manage people because I hadn’t done what they did,” recalled Apshago. “Don’t ever tell people what you don’t know; focus on what you do know.”

If You’re Quiet, it Means You’re Listening

Mia Landrin, director of events at Carnival Cruise Line, identifies as an introvert and is quiet in nature, and had to find a way to make that work to her advantage.

“I had to overcome the fact that they thought because I was quiet I wasn’t paying attention, I didn’t have command of what I was doing, I didn’t understand what it was I was being asked to do,” Landrin said. “I quickly had to help them understand that I’m listening. And for me to listen to you, I can’t be talking at the same time.

“When you’re sitting around that table with so many people, wanting to know how we’re going to do it, who’s going to do it, what time we’re going to do it — there’s just so much, and I had to basically tell them, ‘I hear you, and I’m the one that’s going to make all of this happen for you and you’re going to look good,'” said Landrin.

Now, people tell her they feel heard in meetings.

“They know that Mia will get it done because they know I listen and I know what they need.”

Women Leading Travel & Hospitality members can watch the full panel on-demand now. Not a member? Apply today!