Michelle Peluso went from creating a last-minute travel-booking Web site to running Internet giant Travelocity.com.
The 1993 Wharton graduate told about 75 students last night how she led the struggling Travelocity Web site through a rough two years of business and re-established it as a leader in the field.
The Travelocity CEO urged students to stay passionate and take risks throughout their careers.
"Being a leader is about crawling out of a really comfortable shell and getting into a new one," she said. "Only when we push ourselves hard do we have a chance of realizing our potential."
Her strategy of integrating hotel reservations with airline bookings was important, she said, but she largely attributed the company's recent success to the passion and commitment of her team.
"We wanted it, and we wanted it badly," she said.
Her leadership has helped increase the company's revenue growth from 1.8 percent in 2002 to 30 percent this year.
But there were "failures along the way," errors inherent in what she said is a "culture that takes risks." Her job as CEO involves making sure that she values "the lessons learned from failures almost more than the [successes]."
Those successes largely came from good working relationships with her employees.
"You can't communicate too much," she said.
Former Travelocity employee and current Wharton MBA student Laura Lubetsky agreed.
"She's great about communicating with everyone in the community," Lubetsky said. "It's an environment that rewards top performers," she added.
Peluso continued to stress the importance of her workers. "Being the boss means it's my job to ... make sure our business is full of people who are smarter and more passionate than me," she said.
Despite her focus on business, Peluso's education extends far beyond Wharton.
Instead of jumping immediately into typical fields like consulting or banking after her Wharton undergraduate career, she went to Oxford to study philosophy, politics and economics as a Thouron scholar.
After working for a Boston-based consulting group, she pursued a White House Fellowship before starting site59.com, a site that allows people to book their trips at the last minute.
The site was bought by Travelocity, and Peluso was employed by the company. She quickly worked her way up the corporate ladder, becoming CEO in 2003.
This career history seemed to inspire students.
"I liked to see that ... she followed non-traditional career paths," Wharton freshman Jacob Suher said.
Top 5 travel tips From Travelocity CEO Michelle Peluso n Read customer reviews of hotels. They are a great way to get a sense of whether this the right hotel for you - Look for the undiscovered gems and use your vacation to try some place new - Use 'FareWatcher,' a Travelocity feature that sends you updates on fares to specific airports. It can save you money if you know where you want to go - If you are in the mood for a weekend trip, site59.com, the travel Web site she founded, 'has great deals' - Buy your holiday travel tickets now. Prices start going up soon Source: Travelocity CEO Michelle Peluso
