Episode 63 - Melissa Krueger

Speaker A: Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Conscious Hospitality podcast. This is David, your host and today I'm joined by Melissa Kruger, a powerhouse in the world of luxury travel and the visionary CEO of Classic Vacations. With over 25 years of experience and a reputation for leading with heart and innovation, Melissa has transformed Classic into a modern travel company built on purpose, personalization and progress. Since taking the helm, she's led the company through its thrill three most successful years in its 47 year history. Driven by a bold vision for digital transformation, sustainability and inclusivity, she's restructured the company, built a female led executive team and embraced a remote first model that ah, has elevated both diversity and the company's environmental consciousness. Melissa is not just redefining how we travel, she's redefining why we travel. From empowering solo travels travelers to curating wellness retreats for female adventurers and advocating for sustainable tourism through programs like E3 and the GSTC certification, her mission is clear to make luxury travel a force for good. In today's conversation, I'm excited to explore her leadership journey, her views on the evolving traveler and how conscious choices can elevate the entire industry. Let's begin where we always do. Welcome Melissa. What are you grateful for today?

Speaker B: Good morning. Good morning. Thank you for having me. Oh, gosh, I tend to be a really grateful person. I. My health and when I say my health, I. My physical health, but also just my mental health. And when I say that, that really leans into that space of kind of forgiveness of all the things you are and all the things you're not. So, you know, in addition to that, I think, you know, the opportunity for hard and committed work that's meaningful to me, meaningful to my family, my employees and their families, and the example set for all three of my daughters in doing these things and having this approach.

Speaker A: Yeah, that's absolutely beautiful and I think it will make for a great conversation. I think, like we were speaking a little bit earlier before the recording, you know, I think, uh, it's very difficult and in particular when you're in one of these roles where you have to come out to the world so strong and so, you know, always showing that you know what you're doing and that you know where your company's headed and you have to be steadfast to be able to give yourself that space and that grace to become vulnerable and then, uh, and really just take care of yourself as well.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. You know, it's years ago, so my youngest is 19, so it must have been. I Don't know. Within the first six months of her life. And I was at a yoga class, and I, you know, you're, you're, you're, you're just trying to get. You're just trying to get a good night's sleep, but you're just trying to get back in the rhythm, and your body maybe isn't what it was when you were 25. And I remember going to this yoga class and just going, oh, I got to get back at it. And having the yoga instructor just changed my perspective on how hard we can be on ourselves. And it was. I think she went through this process, David, of, you know, starting at your head, think about. And going down to your toes. Think about everything that your body's ever done for you. And so I remember getting to my feet and thinking, wow, they've never failed me. Every time I've needed to go help my child, or every time somebody has cried out in the middle of the night, every time I've wanted to walk into a meeting, I've. I can. So I think about that moment a lot because there's a lot of things that we don't know how to do yet, but there are so many ways that our body has never, ever failed us.

Speaker A: Yeah. And it's all about appreciation. In the end, I think I often found myself before I got to this point where I can, uh, where I understood that it was my choice whether I decided to be positive or negative about something. But it was so often that any circumstance, any situation, the first thing I would come up with would be the roadblocks, the why nots or things that were going wrong in a situation. And, um, it's that shift in perspective of saying, hey, listen, you went through all of this, but guess what? Here you are, and you can go and do so much more. It's such a beautiful change in mindset that can happen.

Speaker B: Yeah, I think that that comes from wiring too. Right? Is it. What were. How were we wired based on kind of what our parents experiences were. And they're wired, uh, because of what their experiences are. And I even know from kind of shifted to like a work. You know, capacity is that you can be in the same meeting and you can have one person on your right saying, this isn't working. And all the things you could have one person on your left saying, here's, here's, here's what I suggest. One of my favorite things to do is, you know, when people are saying, you know, here's a roadblock, is to write down your roadblock pass it to your left. And this is in a meeting. And just have somebody else reframe it and solve for it. Because sometimes we just can't get out of our own way that in those, in those moments.

Speaker A: Exactly. And I remember doing an exercise in the past where the person that was facilitating the exercise said, okay, this is the problem we're going to tackle. And what I want you guys to respond with is yes, but. Mhm. And then he did the same exercise and say, okay, so now this problem we're going to respond it with yes, and. And it was simply that one word that changed everything because the put the but always brought you to that place of restriction of negativity. And so that reframing, as you mentioned, is, is key.

Speaker B: Okay, I'm going to tell you something so funny right now. So my, I get three daughters. They're now 24, 22 and 19. They all had the same first grade teacher, Terry Dahl, just an extraordinary educator. And she would tell the class that anytime you say the word but, you're looking for a problem. And that is so the, so these big lessons in running this big company. And one of my favorite lessons came from a first grade teacher. Every time you use the word but, you're looking for a.

Speaker A: That's incredible. That's incredible. And that's really why I start the, uh, podcast with appreciation and gratitude. Because to me that's our biggest superpower as a human. The ability to express appreciation, get you into that mode of okay, what's going on that's positive in my life is really the kicker to then going down that path of positivity and finding solutions and opening up opportunities. So I love that. Great start. Uh, Melissa, When I start my podcasts and going down the journey of every individual that I speak with, it's always at the very beginning. And before life shapes you, we talked a little bit about how we end up becoming a product of the way that life shapes us. But before that, we are in essence. And so I'm curious, what was little Melissa like between the ages of two and six?

Speaker B: Yeah. Well, first, so little Melissa was short for Melissa is Missy. So it's. If you're ever in a social environment with me, you'll know who has known me the longest because they will still refer to me as Missy. Um, I was, I was a happy little girl. I, um, I saw the magic in things. I think I'm still like that. And I, I see the good. Um, I don't. I never wallowed in what wasn't right. Ah, or. And when you're young you actually don't know what's right or wrong. Right. Because you only kind of know your, you know, your small, you know, your echo chamber of world. But I always like to make things magical for others and that remains the same.

Speaker A: Oh, that's amazing. And um, you know, talk to us a little bit about your upbringing, what it was like in your home, if you had siblings, what your parents were like, what were some of the things that they did and ah, maybe some of those early lessons that came from them.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So I'll take it just for just a brief moment, a step further back. So my parents were first generation Americans. My grandparents immigrated from Scandinavia and, and my parents, so they lived in North Dakota, small towns, like towns of 50 people. But my parents were 18 years old when they met at a barn dance and they got married a couple months later. So you, you were really raised by, you know, they were kids. Right. They didn't, they were kids and so they moved out to the northwest. I grew up in a small town, um, was small then. Issaquah, I think it was 7,000 people. And it was a really simple lifestyle. Um, we, we were probably lower middle class family. My mom was a stay home mom, my dad was a union to management professional dad. Our life was simple but so was everyone else's. There wasn't, I didn't know what a BMW was. I didn't. There, there wasn't. Um, it was just a simple lifestyle. Um, I have two sisters. One is seven years older than me and one is 10 years younger than me. And that sounds crazy, right? Same two parents. But I guess when you're 18, 19, you, you start a family right away and then you think, well maybe we should slow this down a little bit. And so I didn't have siblings that I played with. We were, we were kind of each other's caretakers in some ways. And so now they're my dearest of friends. But it was a different dynamic. Uh, my mom in hindsight really fought depression. But again, you don't know. You don't know it's undiagnosed and you don't know what normal is because normal is only what's within your, your four walls. And that can be a good thing or a bad thing. Right. So I learned at a very early age that if something needed to get done, I needed to do it. And I'm always a little bit hesitant and I offered up no one feel bad for me. Right. And so I don't want Anybody saying, wow, she really got robbed of a childhood because, yeah, I, uh. Uh, at, uh, four or five, if we were having company, I knew I needed to clean the house. If I was hungry, I knew that I needed to learn how to make breakfast. And so. And then when my little sister, you know, 10 years later, when she comes along, I learned to be her caregiver. And Because I knew, I don't want to say the pain, but I knew that at that point in time, you know, that that's not the norm. Um, and. But the flip side of it is, is that you have this opportunity at such a young age to realize that you're capable of doing so much more than what you think you're capable of doing. That's, um. It's funny. I had a, um. I'll go back to that thought in just a second. But I remember when my oldest was going off to college, and I said something to my, uh, my friend Sherry. We've been friends since the first day of kindergarten. I said, oh, I don't want her to have to do what I had to do. And she goes, that's really interesting. She goes, because I like how Missy Thompson turned out. And it was this really. This really heavy moment where it's. You can. You can try to fix what you think was like, oh, that. That shouldn't have been my childhood.

Speaker A: But.

Speaker B: But then if you fix it too much, do you completely change the trajectory? So, anyway, I could talk about that all day, but what I will say is that, yeah, so I learned at an early age that if it was going to get done, I needed to do it myself. Um, it created a unknown confidence that I was capable of a lot more. And then I would just say, combined with my dad's work ethic and that he always told us that if you're having a hard day, a good hard day's work fixes anything. And I think that all of that combined has really, really served me well.

Speaker A: Yeah, I can see how, like, it creates resilience. It creates independence. You know, I often talk about how true confidence comes from conviction, and it comes from doing the hard things. And so after you've been able to successfully accomplish something difficult, your confidence level, your true confidence level rises. And often in our society, when we're raising our children, we're giving them this false sense of confidence, which is, you can do something, but you can always lean back on us and we're going to help you. We'll always be that safety net. So, coming from a background where I also had A, um, mother that suffered from depression and alcoholism. And so me, ah, at a little bit later age, had to also become that. The stabilizer in my home sometimes. Right. And so it gave me that sense of responsibility early on, and things couldn't fall, uh, between the cracks in a way like they could have with another family or with another upbringing. Right. But similarly, I think now it gave me this. It was just kind of what I knew. Right. What I knew was you're responsible and you need to have your stuff together and it all depends on it. Right. And so it's amazing how difficult moments like that can definitely foster something very positive and productive in your life.

Speaker B: Yeah. And where I. I mean, there's two. Two things that I always think about when I think about kind of that. What, what. What somebody else could define as, oh, gosh, that was kind of messy, or you didn't get that magical childhood and fun. Which I think is so important is I learned. Once you learn that, like, oh, wow, everybody else's house isn't like this, then you start looking at other scripts. You start looking at other. In this instance, other moms who were. Maybe had the capacity to show up differently, and I would. I would pick up from them. And I remember, um, Erin Renfrew's mom in first grade. I thought she was the most beautiful woman ever because she volunteered in the class all the time. I thought that was the most amazing thing. So that left an imprint on me. I remember my high school boyfriend's mom. We're still friends to this day about, you know, just. Just the meals she would make or how she would entertain. And so I've been. Even though I have definitely shown up in a different way because of health for my children, I know the power of saying to them, take what you like from my script and repeat it, but don't let this be your only script. Look at all these. Look at. Look at my friends, look at my colleagues. Look at all these other people and pull from their scripts, too. It's going to be really messy if you only. If you only pull from mine. So, yeah, that's really healthy. The other thing, though, is that this concept, David, of if it's going to get done, do it yourself. I have had to really, really check myself professionally. And so I think as I grew my career, I think I grew it because, wow, we can always rely on her. We can always get it done. Uh, she can always get it done. You can also alienate people. So it was. It was about a year before I took over this job. And we were having a leadership meeting and I think one of the questions, it was actually our investors, and he made us go around the room. What's something everyone doesn't know about you? So I told this story, you know, with the same, you know, don't feel bad for me. I'm going to tell this story. And. But what I did, I said, I realized that sometimes I make people feel that they're not needed. And I said, and I don't, I don't think that. I don't think that at all. It just.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: I just, if I see something that's not done, I give everybody else the grace to think they must be at capacity. I don't judge people because something's undone. I just jump in and do it. Yeah, sometimes that can make people feel that I think only I can do it. So I have to. I balance that a lot to this day. I saw myself shoot out an email last night and I did it again. So I had to keep myself.

Speaker A: Yeah, well, it's part of the journey, right, is that it never ends and you end up coming, coming back to the. These cycles. But I think it's so beautiful. Um, I think one of the biggest lessons that I take, honestly, of all the episodes I've ever recorded is the fact that I've never heard a parent tell their kids, hey, very consciously, there are many ways of doing things. My way is not the highway. And I think that's huge because talk, uh, about example every single day. We, you know, we have three kids at home as well. And our conversation with our children is very, very high conscious consciousness. And so we, we expect our children to behave like many adults sometimes. And so we have conversations about other households and other parents and other children and why they're raised this way and what are the cultures, etc. So we have these. But I've now I will definitely integrate to, hey, you can choose which one of these you want to then bring into your life later on. So that's, that's amazing.

Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, good, Good job. Well done today.

Speaker A: Let's. Yeah, that's it. It's a wrap. There's a lot more to cover. So let's talk a little bit about your upbringing, your early childhood years, you know, once you got into, you know, school. And what were some of the activities that you were gravitating towards naturally? What were some of the things that life put in front of you as well to do in terms of activities, friendships, et cetera.

Speaker B: Okay. So being in a small town, a lot revolved around Especially once we got to high school. Right. So, um, it was a classic high school experience that you can imagine in a small town. It was. Everything revolved around, you know, the Friday night football game and pizza and Dairy Queen after. It's a little bit out of, you know, like a, A Footloose kind of movie. I was really active in the student. I, I was active in school. And I think that that was my escape. Right. Because my. And escape's the wrong word at home. I was taking care of my 10 year old or, uh, I, I was, I was taking. Yeah. So if I would have been 16, she would have been sick. So my sister that was 10 years younger than me, I was taking on that role because I wanted her to be nurtured. Maybe like I wasn't. So at, uh, school I actually got to be a kid. And that was, that was great. Right. And, um, was a growing awareness that I did get to do that. So I was, um, very active in student body, holding multiple leadership positions. Uh, eventually I transitioned to cheer staff. And I remember that being the school made you choose. So I kind of, I kind of had this big thing. It's like, well, why can't I be insurer staff and be class president at the same time? And I don't know if they were trying to teach us balance that I hadn't known yet or it was. Everybody needed to be able to do something. But I made that transition, um, all, all kind of in a leadership capacity. I played softball, small town softball. And given the socioeconomics of our family, I always worked and I always held a lot of responsibility as I shared from my younger sister. And kind of what I think, what motivated me, the. I think it's around this time that you start to see, you know, kind of what I said before, you start to see that your family dynamic is a little bit different. And you learn, you learn grace, you learn, you mature faster, you learn grace to say, wow, this isn't, this isn't like their house. But everybody here is doing the best job they can with whatever they have available. That that's a really good place to get at a young age. And then I mentioned that that script piece, I have so many, whether it's a teacher or a friend's mom that I, that I pulled from their scripts that I will always be grateful for. Not just because how I turned out in my life journey, but again, that, that space of being able to tell my own daughters, do not let my script be your only one, no matter what you do.

Speaker A: Yeah, I Think it's, um, it's, um, you know, as I'm listening to the story and the fact that you were like, adding things onto your plate consistently. Right. And it was a way, I think also, you know, as you say, of not escaping from it, but trying to build your own world and your own life and choosing what you wanted in your control. Right. But the fact that you had a sibling that was so much younger. Right. I think also this ability to relate to your parents in a way that if you didn't have that, um, because I remember, you know, in my home, I. I didn't have a young. I had a younger brother, but he was two years younger. So we were both in the weeds together. So it wasn't me getting him out of the weeds. It was like we were both in the weeds together. And so there was no. We couldn't relate to what my mom was going through, what my dad were going through. So it was always this unfair feeling. It's like, oh, my gosh, it's always so unfair. How come we have to deal with this? How come we. Whereas if, like, if you're co parenting in a way, you understand the struggles and it allows you to have that grace for them as well early on. And I think that that's something that, like, I'm sure later on in your leadership career also it was this ability to, like, let's see things from their perspective and let's see things from their perspective, which I didn't get until much later on. Um, and I would have loved to have that opportunity because I would have been a lot easier on my parents because at the end of the day now, after many years of deep conversations and doing a lot of work, I realized they were just trying to get through another day every day. So it wasn't necessarily fault. So I think that additional perspective is really amazing.

Speaker B: Well, think about the resources that you and I have in building our families, whether it's a book or a podcast or an article or, you know, what to expect when you're expecting. We all read that book. Our parents didn't have that they didn't have. And you weren't raising families for like, that. You. It was because that's what you did. Right. It wasn't because that joy of it. And I. Yeah, you know, I think. I think my, um, you know, my dynamic with my younger sister, we're very, very close. Sometimes when I, When I see her seeking, like, she wants me to show that I'm proud of her, sometimes I forget that she probably viewed Me as that more of a mother role than as a sister role. So I have to kind of, I have to, to check myself on that one a little bit. And we, uh, you know, it's, I mentioned the Friday night football games, but, you know, I was, I always had two choices. Like you have to babysit your sister one night so your dad and I can have a night out and then you're, then that night. So I, she would sit, she would sit at the bottom of the football stands and just watch me because that gave me, that was my night to take care of her as I was also cheerleading and she, but she did her job. She, she knew that almost like, as, as this like 6 year old kid that like we have to work together. Right? You're, you do your job, I'll do my job. And I talk about that a lot with my own raising of kids with my own employees, but she would just sit right there so that I could have my Saturday night out with my friends. And as, as not, okay, as that may seem at the time, what a great experience for all of us. Just to figure out, to your point, like you and your brother were figuring out how to navigate it together in some ways. So were we. Right.

Speaker A: Uh, that's amazing. So high school years come to an end and it's time to make a decision on what you want to do and finally leave home and really be on your own. So talk to us through that. Um, the decision making, what you wanted to study. Um, and what were some of the, what was the thought process to. Okay, this is where I'm going. This is what I want to be doing.

Speaker B: Yeah. Uh, so again, it's, you know, growing up in a household where, you know, parents get married at 18 and 19 and, you know, they weren't going off to college. And I remember, it's always a funny one to say. I remember saying to my mom, you know, I want to go to college. And their perspective was at the time, I think they said, you're a pretty girl, you'll get married, so why are you worried about getting an education? And it was. Sometimes people cringe when I say that, but it wasn't demeaning, it was just practical. Right. It's a. You're not going to have to.

Speaker A: It's a natural thing to do. Yeah.

Speaker B: So, so, so I took the long road. So I thought, wow, okay, I'm gonna figure this out. So that meant community college. Right. And because in my mind I was gonna go up to the University of Washington, but there was there Was no one to teach you how to fill out the paperwork, no one to say, you know, go take this test. So I thought, well, at least I can do that. So I, I think that that was about two and a half years to complete community college and then another, you know, another two and a half years because you're working full time to do this. And. And so I studied business with a, uh, concentration in marketing management. I had no idea that the travel industry was even a thing because I had not been on an airplane. Vacations were to and from my grandparents farm in North Dakota with every once in a while meeting my cousins in Montana for a couple of weeks in the summer. So I had no idea. But I did know that I wanted to travel. I was starting to get like, the world is bigger, right? And so I was finishing up college and I was working for a chemical distributor. And I thought. And that seemed there wasn't a lot of women in the industry. I thought, well, this will be a great path. And I kept passing by a travel agency. So I was, and I was trying to like, what, how does this even work? And then I was looking on such a funny, the back page of the San Francisco Chronicle at the, at the, you know, at the, the help wanted ads. And Club Med was hiring. And I thought, well, that is a company that is based in France. And I only knew that because I'd been walking back and forth past this travel agency and I, for sure, if I go to work there and I do a really, really good job, someday I'll get to go to France. There's, uh, there's a God, they've got to pick me to go to this meeting some someday. Just, I don't, I don't. I didn't care if it was once years down the road. So I interviewed, uh, for a role as a business development manager and was hired. And I learned very, very early on that it was much less about what you were selling and more about the impact that you can make for your customer. How can, how could I support their business? How could I help them be stronger? And that everything after that fact would fall in place. And, and it worked. And so I spent about, gosh, three, four years of my life with Club Med. And then American Express had purchased a, uh, wholesale company and they were looking for someone to launch west of the Mississippi. So I joined that team and held positions in sales and brand development and director of sales and director of sales and profitability. Profitability. And that spanned about 15 years of my career. And these were all the years when I was first married, had my three daughters, and David, I'll tell you, I will always be back to being grateful for the opportunity that I had to be a very engaged wife, a very engaged mom, and also be really committed to growing my career and leadership path. And I remember thinking, well, I'm going to have my baby, and then I'm going to not work. And I just had these. I could name them. I meant Charlie Galena, Steve Gorga. You know, I could. It's these great leaders that just said, we heard you're going to resign. And I said, well, of course I'm going to resign. I'm having a baby. And they're like, first of all, nobody says they're going to do that before they have the baby. I'm like, well. And they're like, don't leave. Just give us a chance. And what does that look like? So I was kind of an early adopter in our industry of saying, well, look at. I want to. I'm going to have somebody at the house to help me during the day, but I want to be there, but I'll do activations at night. I built a great career. And then time goes by fast. And I remember that they were kindergarten, third grade, and fifth grade. And I was like, wow, I'm ready for a little bit more. And I knew that our company's headquarters was in the northeast and leadership positions, you know, these were not decentralized organizations at that time. And I wasn't going to move to New York. And I thought, well, what should I do? I called up Alex Sharp, the CEO of Signature, because I said, I don't know how to do this, and I don't want anybody to think I'm not a loyal employee, but I'm ready for more. And he said, you should call the president of Classifications. And so I have no idea. So I did. And, uh, we just started having conversations for about six months. And he said, you know, what do you. What do you want to do? And I said, well, you know, eventually. Eventually, I'd like your job. I said, but not now. I said, ten years from now. I said, I will take on more when each of my daughters is a junior in high school, right? Because that's that pivotal time. They're kind of in the trenches. And I. But. And I was honest. I said, your problem with me is going to be I am going to be capable and ready to take that job on, but I don't want it. So that I learned that articulation of, um, yes, I want to climb the ladder, but I need to do it differently. I'm not going to accept a job just because that job is available if. And I think that was new. I think that was really new for women at that point in time. And it's, um. And I never want to sound contrived, but, you know, Sheryl Sandberg had come out with that book, Lean in, and it said, don't just step away and definitely don't take the job, because you think that's the only time that job's going to be available. So, um, so I did. So I, um. I. I jumped in. I. I think that. I think the phraseology was, come in, you know, earn your stripes and good things will happen. And it's. It's true. It is, you know. Right. It was a little bit premature. It was about nine months premature. But I was offered my. My biggest. I don't say final job, but this role. And so I would really encourage everybody just to, you know, I was. I hope's not a strategy, but it's okay. It's okay to have your own path. It's okay to have your ladder be your own ladder. And it's really okay to state that. I'd rather state that now and find out it wouldn't work here, so I can go somewhere else and do it.

Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, you have definitely oversimplified a 15 years of, I'm sure, moments that were not very easy as well. And so I think the fact that you were a trailblazer is the reason why you are where you are and that you're able to take on a role like this. And the reason why you are an inspiration to so many individuals. And I say individuals because, of course, you know, we were talking about this a little bit earlier, that for many, many, many years, it was very difficult for women to go down one of these hybrid paths and to be able to make these decisions. And fortunately, now we've had pioneers like you that have opened up these pathways and have normalized the fact that, hey, no, no, I can do both, and I can do it well. And there are structures that are created now in order to be able to do that. But I'd love to dig in a little bit more of what that. What that really looked like. Maybe some of these moments that you had to make some of these decisions as you were going through it, um, and saying, okay, this one is the good time. This one is the time when I need to hold back and wait, you know, so that these, you know, individuals that are Trying to do these things a little bit differently can. Can maybe gain some awareness from it and some of the lessons that you learned along the way.

Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, gosh. And there are so many. So I would say that first one, I talk a lot about, like, kind of like, you know, my values. And I would say that and I share, because when you, you know, your employees want to know, your customers, your spouse want to, you know, what are the things you really value? And one of them is don't take away someone's choice. And I think that, you know, when I reference, you know, every time I was going to, you know, have a. Have another child, it was. I was going to resign. And I was going to say, well, you know, I was opting out, saying, this is going to get hard. And it was really, I had these great leaders that said, don't take our choice away. Right. And so I think that that's such an important thing is, you know, don't take someone's choice away. Give them the opportunity to have the conversation and for you. And I mean, it's. It's silly to think of now, but there was a time when you took off your wedding ring before you went for a job interview. And this wasn't that long ago, because when people saw that a, uh, wedding ring thought a man meant, oh, he's got. He needs to really work hard and provide for his family, a wedding ring on a woman was interpreted as, we're not going to be her first priority. And so that. That's not fair, right? So. So we would. I learned to not take away someone's choice, meaning my leaders, by opting, by making a decision that I thought was going to be the only decision for my family or my only decision for me. We do that because once we put it out there, it's out there, right? So we could have someone say, yeah, this isn't going to work. The opposite is not saying anything at all and just being a good little soldier. Right? And I, I remember when the company said that they were interested in me, me taking over officer. There were others within the organization who thought that job was going to be theirs, but they had never, uh, they had never said that they, they had shown up, absolutely been a great steward of the company, but they had never had the conversation. So I think, you know, both of those. Both of those are kind of two different paths, but they all lead back to communicate, have the conversation, be willing to find out now that the answer could be no or that it could be yes, but at least, you know, now, because if I know now I can make decisions that impact me down the, down the road as opposed to kind of just, just hoping everything falls into place. So, um, I, I think that, I think that's one of the biggest, I think, ones that I would share.

Speaker A: It's really interesting that you share that, you know, this idea of like giving people the choice. Like, I think everybody in any position of leadership or in any position in, in general, at home, and what they want is to still remain somewhat in control of what the destiny is going to be like. I mean, in hotels and resorts, I remember the number one guest recovery strategy that I learned was give the person that's, that's having the problem the choice on how they want it resolved. You just come back to them with one option. Even though that option may be great, it's not as good as coming with two, three options because then they're back in control and they're in decision making power. And so that gets tied to the fact that a lot of the times we think that this person that we're talking to about these difficult conversations wants to hear one thing. And so we come, um, prepared with that one speech and say, okay, like, you know, like you said, like, I'm, I'm resigning and because this is what's best for the company, I can't. So you've created again, this script. I love the idea of the script. And then the person says, well, but that's not my script at all. Like, that's not the way I see it. So if you come in with an open mind and say, hey, listen guys, this is my script, this is why my way of seeing it. How do you see it instead? Then it, it, it opens the space to be able to build this, this, this kind of hybrid script that could work for everybody, but we sometimes limit it because we think that that's what the person wants to hear. And so we're, we're adapting to what they want when it's not always the case.

Speaker B: Yeah, I had one. It's one, uh, of my favorite things is questions is what does that look like to you? Right. Because it is. My job isn't to be a mind reader. So if someone says, well, this person's not doing what I need them to do as a salesperson, or, you know, this person's not being a good spouse, or this person's before you jump in. And so. But what does that look like to you? Right. I think that that is. Or what outcome are you looking for from me? It's, I think that those are, those are really powerful pieces. And you know, just going back to the work piece of it too is because I didn't, because I was, I don't say forced, but conditioned to say, you know, Melissa, don't, don't leave, give us a chance. And then, then I was able to put together, you know, these 30, 60, 90 day plans where allowing someone else to step into my role while I was gone. I came back to something not being messy because that's another thing too. A lot of times people want, want to have people believe that they're the only one that can do something and that's just factually not true. And, and I get that you take a risk by saying, hey, I'm going to bed in a bag, right? I'm going to hand you over exactly how to do this and I'm going to not do it. Does that feel risky? That risk is far less than the risk of not allowing someone to building a plan, to being a leader, building the plan, letting someone else step in. And I think about the professionals that I've built that stepped in and took over for me when I was out. That's powerful.

Speaker A: I mean, I think there's, there's a huge lesson there. I mean it all we know, you know, breeds from an insecurity, a, ah, deeper insecurity you bring in and the fact that you think, oh my gosh, without me this place would fall and crumble. If you think that, then there's a major insecurity that you have deep down inside. At least that's been my experience from my personal experience, when I believe that is when I was most insecure about my job. And the moments when I was most secure about my relationship with my employees, employer, my relationship with my colleagues was the moment that I was like, wow, I'll give it all away. Like let's, let's share everything because there's trust. And so I think it's also tailored to, or it's also built around how much trust there is in the organization from the leaders that are hiring you, from the people that report, you know, it's all based on that trust and respect that there is within an organization. But um, it's true that so much of that comes from that little voice in our head that tells you, hey, hey, don't give it away because they're going to take and run with it. And then, and then where are you going to find yourself?

Speaker B: Yeah, and, and you know, and I mean you. And I couldn't sit here today and say well, we're 100 competent. As long as you. As long as you put it out there, no one's going to do that to you. We can't guarantee that. But what I can guarantee is if someone takes advantage of that, in the long run, you don't want to be there anyway. Right. So that's lesson number one. Lesson number two is, as leaders, it is incumbent upon us to know that until someone has had the chance to gain trust in leaders, which may not be you, may be a previous leader, put it out there. Let them know, like, hey, I'm going to. I'm going to guide you. I'm going to walk you through putting together this perfect plan that may or may not be executed. Executed by you, but the plan itself is you. And I'm. I'm looking to you to do this and let them know that it's okay. Right. And guide them through it.

Speaker A: That's right. And very often, you know, most of the time, if you're in an organization that has healthy roots and that has a healthy base, when you are entrusting that path onto an individual, it's because they know that you believe in them, and so they want to prove you right. They don't want to prove you wrong. You know, So I think it's. It's definitely the case. Um, that's amazing. Now, 15 years make a lot more sense. I would love to get your perspective on how those 15 years. 15. In those 15 years. And that, uh, all that work that you did, the travel age, the travel industry, the travel business evolved a lot. And so right before stepping into your role, I'd love for you to just maybe talk us through how you saw that evolution. What were some of the key moments that really shaped where you were headed and how that prepared you for then taking the helm of, um, the CEO role and really making great impact in that role.

Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, gosh, there's. We need all day there. So I could go a couple. I could go a couple places on this. Do you want to, like, the, the values that, That I took that I think that were critical to me serving as a leader. Do you want me to share, like, some of my own travel experiences and how the impact that I think that they made, um, I'll let you go wherever you.

Speaker A: Wherever you want to go, Melissa. I think, you know, I mean, it's. It's an evolution of an industry and everybody kind of understands it, but I think as an insider from the travel side, I think it would be very helpful to understand, okay, this is where I was at the very beginning. But things shaped differently and technology made big differences. So what were some of those big changes? I would say that then, now that you're coming into this next role and that you're trying to make a big impact in the industry as a whole. Right. And making it more aware, more conscious, more impact driven. Right. It's from some of these lessons that happen.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So there's so much to share on this one. So um, I would say that me taking on this role was definitely a little bit of come in and dust off the brand. And I had a very good friend of mine that was hired years ago by LVMH to dust off the Krug brand. Right. Krug is. It is the finest champagne in the world. But it maybe wasn't getting a Dom Perignon, Abu Clouco and Cristal were getting, you know, all for whatever, whatever social group kind of attached to those. They were the ones that were getting all the, you know, all the hype. And yet it was dusting off the brand. And so I think a little bit of me stepping into this role at Classic was definitely dusting off the brand. And I huh, have gotten very clear on, you know, it's not about building, you know, it's not preserving the legacy. You're building upon the legacy. And that um, that makes people uncomfortable, right? Because you have a company that for the large, for 45 years saw very, very little change. And then I jump in and I believe and this is something I'm stealing shamelessly from a previous, a previous CEO at a different company. But you know, you, you, you stabilize, you standardize and you innovate. And that requires, that requires change. And most people hear the word change and they, they tighten up, right? Because they don't, they don't think change is good. And when you start changing things, people interpret that you're saying how you've done it is wrong as opposed to. No, actually how you have done it is so right. For the first 45 years that you did it, we're just going, we're just going to build an add on to that right now. I think for me, building, building upon the classic vacations legacy, building upon. We leaned in so just the depths of service and then we got bigger because you have to grow. And then it was Travel Advisor, meet us where we're at. Right? And that, that was actually kind of working until post Covid. We had this whole new generation of travel advisors and they actually wanted a page out of our original playbook was Lean into heavy, heavy service. So it was almost going back. You were, you were dusting off the brand to take it back to where you were on that service. Oozing luxury oriented culture, because it is a culture. And, and then adding, adding onto it on the tech space, onto that. So I would, you know, I would say that with that I had to really. You made the, you know, the comment earlier today about it's not exactly what you said, but where I went with it is like, you know, nobody really, nobody really checks in. Right. Nobody checks in with the CEO, right? Nobody. I don't get on an airplane and ask the pilot, how are you doing today? Are you going to be able to fly the plane? Because I just want to know. He is. I will say that is something very, very few people ever say. Hey, is it stressful? Or hey, how are you doing? Because they just need to know that I am okay. Um, and that's good. That is good. You learn that you need to show people that you're okay and you need to have a group of people that it's okay to say, you know what? I'm struggling with this. Um, I've shown up really clear. It's equal parts of nurture and accountability. And I laugh at this one. And my investors and I had a conversation because we see a lot of similarities in really good parenting. You are creating great citizens and you're going to set them free. We need to create great kind of corporate citizens. And when I dropped the girls off at kindergarten, I literally said, you do your job, I'll do mine. Meaning you do really well in school. I'll figure out a way to pay for you to go to college. And I think approaching an organization and every employee and it is the same, it is nurture. I care about them, I care about their families, but I'm also going to hold them accountable because if they're not accountable to what we're trying to do, I can't, I can't go back and help them take care of their families. Yeah, no, yeah. I think being really clear on what's expected. And that is sometimes, I think sometimes people can think, wow, she's, you know, we talk the double bind. Right? It is sometimes. Wow. She's direct. And I would want to clear as kind. Right. As Brene Brown says. But it is, I have very clear expectations. I also think it's critical for us to be extremely available to take the time individually, even me as a CEO, that if I have this expectation, I will absolutely meet you there to explain it to you, to walk you through, to guide, to figure out if you have the capacity. And if you don't have the capacity, that doesn't mean that you don't have a place here. It just means we need to change it.

Speaker A: Um, that's true in a similar way. Like, a lot of people don't know when someone's at capacity, when there is no clarity and when there is no accountability and when there is no guidance. Right. And so, like, it's funny, I always say clarity is respect. Right. So it's a sign of respect. And I've learned from my history in working on teams that human beings want to be held accountable. It's not that they don't want that. Right. But they want clarity in what they're being held accountable for. So if you're going with that first impulse of saying, okay, listen, from now on you're gonna be working with me. That means that we're gonna be uber clear with each other. And so I'm gonna tell you the bad, the ugly all the time, and I want you to do the same for me. And the issue is that that conversation never happens in the beginning or rarely happens in the beginning. And so the first time somebody gets, ah, held accountable, they're like, whoa, where did that come from? Here they were three months ago courting me and telling me that I was the best thing that ever happened to this company. And then all of a sudden somebody's telling me that something's wrong. Right. And so I think, you know, your approach of saying, no, uh, no, I'm going to be kind to you by being clear with you, like Brene Brown says. Right. And I'm going to be there along the road to show you. But I also want you to do that for me. Then you have, then you have these people that say, okay, great, it really is a two way street. And I can trust that this person's telling me the truth because they care for me. And you don't assume the worst in these situations.

Speaker B: Yeah, I, this has been, I think that, um, 2024 and 2025, that, that's, that's, that's my biggest, like, we're just trying to gain understanding of that. And I will. I mean, I would say like two months ago you probably could have quoted me as saying, you know, I think that 90% of leaders, and that's a big number.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Have a really difficult time having what I would consider to be like these courageous conversations because they don't want to dampen someone's spirit. And man, What a disservice we do to people, right? Is it? I, I'll give you a couple examples because I think there's, I mean, and if just one person listening to the podcast is like, right. Um, it'll be meaningful to me. But I had, um, earlier this last fall, was having conversation with one of my leaders and, um, he or she was talking about a member of their team and said, well, you know, so. And so, you know, they're passable. And I was like. And I would say, well, have you had the conversation? Well, not yet, but I. And I said, well, you need, you need to have the conversation. It's, you know, we're, we're pretty thin company, so I can have A players. I think it's really hard to have a B player, but maybe don't have, don't have a lot of space for a C player. And I said, you know, so, you know, week one, week two, week three. And I said, you know, have you had the conversation yet? Well, no, I'm, um, waiting for the one on one. And now there's a few other things. So now, as opposed to making up, like, hey, I need you to meet deadlines. So now the list has grown, right? So now we're just going to like ambush somebody with this entire list of things and we've made it bigger than it needs to be and we're going to wait until a one on one. And I finally said, well, now this is on you now. So this person's passable performance is now your performance. And I remember just. And this is, this is an A employee. And so. What do you mean? And I said, no, I said this, I said, because first of all, I said, for every minute that you're thinking, oh, I need to have that conversation with so. And so I said, you're not giving me your brain space. And that's, that's what I really need. And so I had to push the point of having the conversation. And of course now the conversation is a list of five things as opposed to one thing. And there's tears, which nobody feels good about.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And then that person improved. And I said, okay. And I said, imagine. And I think I'd given the reference point to. I said, imagine if the investors just didn't tell me that they only thought I was passable. Right. Imagine if they didn't say, hey, here's something we think or have you thought about that? I said I would be so upset that they did not want to invest in me. So fast forward this conversation happens and the person's performance goes from a C to a B. And I said, wow, imagine what we could have done as a company and if you leader would have had that conversation. Right? It is, it's hard, but we get paid to do hard things.

Speaker A: That's right.

Speaker B: Um, yeah. So this, this clarity, it's really important and I think employees want certainty and another one. And I'll just, again, I don't have all the best practices, but I was having, um, I was having lunch a couple months ago actually last fall. Everything seems to be last fall with, with one of the founders of Churn, which is a technology in our industry. And she was asking, talking about work ethic, uh, and different employees. And she was talking about somebody was going to do a demo certification. And I thought, what's a demo certification? Because she comes from the tech side. And she said at the 30 day mark, every employee that is outwardly facing so supplier customer has to pitch to us just like they would. And we ask questions just like we're whatever the Persona is. I thought, that's brilliant. Why haven't we done that here? So I immediately said to my trainer, I said, okay, within 30 days every salesperson needs to present to me. And that was. They were going to present on classic. And then within 30 days they need to present on technology. And then. And everybody was nervous and twisty and we can't believe. And I'm saying, well, it's only me, of course. I said, I'm actually good at presenting. This is great. It's a soft landing. And they're like, no. Everybody realizes that they're presenting to the CEO. And so we go through this process, David, and they have to get ready. I mean, I, I want them. Don't cancel, don't be late. I mean, everything you would do if you were trying to land a big account. I asked questions, I asked hard questions. I wanted them to get to a place where they didn't just make up an answer. And then afterwards we would give them feedback. And it was great feedback. So everybody went from being I can't believe I have to do this to wow. I learned from my peers. I learned from the repertoire. I learned. And then I did it with product and marketing and everybody was twisty. Everyone's like, oh, uh. But at the end, everybody was so glad that they got the investment from me and from our trainer. And now everybody knows it's okay to be vulnerable. It's okay to learn, it's okay to listen and watch yourself. So, yeah, that was a very long winded. Rambling.

Speaker A: No, I love those examples, and those are very relevant. And sadly, as you spoke and, you know, you quoted a number. But I think in general, just, it's fair to say that, you know, we don't have enough of these difficult conversations, right? And when we try to adopt and go from, okay, we don't have them to, like, okay, we read Radical Candor, and now we're. Everybody's gonna have the difficult conversation. And, uh, it doesn't go well. Of course it doesn't go well because you're going to the other extreme and you're causing this kind of revolution within your culture. Whereas I think we need to start normalizing. And I think, you know, I love this conversation because I became a better leader when I became a parent. And the number one lesson, and I always say, you know, the fact that I had my first child very young is what made me a better leader, because I had to learn them both at the same time. It's not like I was leader of an organization and then I was a parent. No, no. It was all happening at the same time. And the moment that I realized, like, my job is not always to be the teacher, because I'm not always going to be the best teacher. My job sometimes is to guide, sometimes is to facilitate. Sometimes it's to teach. And guess what? Most of the time, now they're the ones that are teaching me, right? So I guide, they teach, I provide the kind of the guardrails. And why that was important for me was because when I was teaching my teams and when I started taking this approach with my teams, I became the safety net and I became the guardrails instead of being the path. And that changed everything because then they were no longer afraid of me because they knew this is. He's on my team. And if that difficult conversation with that client happens, he's going to call them and he's going to fix it. And he's so, like, he's. He's on my side. And I wish a lot of individuals that work for leaders wouldn't be threatened by the leader or afraid of the leader simply because of a title or simply because they don't have access to them. Like you mentioned, it's not like you can be with every single one of your team members every single day, at every moment, answering every assumption that they have that unanswered question that they are not afraid to. They know that they're afraid to ask you. It's not like you can be doing that. And so having leaders like you that actually create those moments and say, hey, this is a safe space. And that's what I teach my kids. Like, amongst us is like in this group, between the five of us, amongst you, brothers and sister and parent, you can tell each other everything. And it's not to make each other work. It's to strengthen each other. So organizations need to do that more. And, uh, I'm curious, you know, going into the world of leadership and, you know, you probably had a few mentors that. That taught you a few of these things throughout the journey. If you could just highlight two or three of these individuals and what were maybe some of the key lessons that you took from them, I think that would be great.

Speaker B: Yeah, so I had. So at my, um, the. The company I was with previously, I think I made the, um, I made the commentary about, you know, you know, it's stabilized, standardize and innovate. That was. That was a really key in. You're always. You're always doing that. You know, you're always. You need to stabilize, you need to standardize. And that's the full circle, I think, from that same leader, it was definitely, um, full disclosure, brutal honesty, and unconditional support amongst the leadership team. That one, yeah, that one was really, really meaningful to me because it is. And that's. That requires a lot of trust, but it was very meaningful. So I would say that that is a good one. Um, I. One that I think that I learned actually. I think I actually wasn't from a leader, but it was from a group within the organization. We were reading a book at point, Some Playing to Win, and it talks about assertive inquiry. And oftentimes I'm asked if you could do something different or, um, earlier in your career, what would it have been? And you know, be careful because I like where I ended up. So if I would have changed it, would it have just made it. Would the path have been easier or would I have not ended up where I am? But I think the idea of assertive inquiry is a big one because I. There. There are certain things that I'm not probably great at, and there are other things that I. That I nail. And sure, if I want to. If I've got an idea and I'm going to pitch a plan and I can. I can tell I'm a great storyteller, but I don't want. You need to bring everybody along, right? So that the idea of assertive inquiries, like, hey, here's what I've got. Here's what I'm thinking. I want that I want the entire group to take a look at it. I must be missing something. And I don't want that to sound contrived, but I think that, that, that very, very important, um, important lesson, um, for me, um, to learn and to, to mirror for. To mirror for my team, uh, what am I missing?

Speaker A: And it all. It also builds a ton of trust amongst the team because they feel like they're contributing to the end story as well.

Speaker B: Yeah. And then I just kind of going back to what we're saying is like, just not shying away from the hard conversations. And you brought up the, the parenting thing, but you would never. If you had somebody who was struggling on their, you know, we used to take spelling tests in elementary school. You would be like, well, I guess they just don't have half the words. You would sit down tirelessly and work with them to help them get there. But why do we shy away from doing that with employees? You would, if somebody was having a hard time, you know, getting up and getting going in the morning, you would, you wouldn't just say, well, I guess they're not a morning person. You would figure out a routine because that's. We are nurturing and holding accountable, and yet we somehow, some way have determined and we have created a little bit of a societal issue that says, so if I come to you and say, hey, I. I did last night, two nights ago with, um, I was expecting something from my leaders and they provided me and it wasn't what I needed. And I just said, I said, hey, guys, I'm. I'm going to go through, I'm going to give you some framework of what I would have done. Your work and what you do is so much better than what you put on this document. And by the time I get up was. It was different time. So by the time I get up and at my desk in the morning, I'm really excited to see you work within the framework I have on what you've really done. And I'm sure that they read it and they went, but you know what? I had an incredible document on my desk, so I had to do a little bit of the work. I also had to tell them, you

Speaker A: need to push them a little bit as well. Exactly. And it's funny, like, going back to this idea of the, you know, the conversation that you had in the past with this team member that was, you know, telling you the C player, it's not getting any better, uh, and complaining. How often do we have those situations where, like, you say, you know, like, the expectations either not set completely, but more importantly, there hasn't been enough follow through. Like you said. Like, if your son, um, isn't progressing in a subject and you sit down, you spend a little more time, or you get them a tutor or you take the action because you don't just give up on them. But how quickly do we start judging other people on our teams? And how quickly do we start thinking there are a reflection of us? So it's better to cut ties now and so, or, you know, to go up to the leader and be like, this is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong. Like, heads up, this is not going well. Instead of taking that time, that energy and that brain power to go and sit with them and actually help them elevate right to where they need to get to.

Speaker B: Right? Because it's hard, especially if we've had that job previously, because that is something that leaders do. Um, and it's such a mistake is that it's easier for me to step back in and do it myself than to make you uncomfortable and make me uncomfortable to get. To either get you there or to determine together that you're not in the right spot. And I mean, I'm. So here's the thing. I can coach on, um, this all day long, but even I struggle with it. I mean, even they're hard conversations, but it is. And it's also back to, like, I always talk about, like, you know, your, your craft or your sport. And it's, you know, it's, it's. It's spring, right? So right now. Or summer. So it's. It's All Star season, right? So the little kids. And I'm just playing little boys. Next I'm gonna go baseball. But it's. They, they're the ones that are on the All Star team. And then there's the ones that didn't make the All Star team. And they're like, well, gosh, I went to every practice and I played in every game. But the little kids that are playing All Stars are the ones that sleep with their baseball glove, right? They're the ones, the ones that are swinging the bat in the backyard. They're the ones that are throwing the ball against the garage and getting dents in it. They are the ones that are. And I'm not going. They made the All Star team. That doesn't mean you needed, you needed all nine players on the field to be able to play the game. But they, that doesn't mean. So everybody has, everybody has value, right? Yeah, but if you, but if you want to be on the all star team, it's not just because you showed up and you were on the team. You got to be the kind of the kid that sleeps with your glove.

Speaker A: That's right. No. And that's right. And that's why there are organizations that are all star organizations, and then there's organizations that are not. And it's. They play in different levels. And not saying that one's better than the other, like they still compete in the game, but at different levels. And that's simply it. I love how many parallels we've brought in from. From parenting, because I think it's such a useful way of seeing it. You know, whether you're, uh, a parent yourself or a brother or a sister in a family, you can definitely understand that. And just going back to this last point, and then is this idea that, you know, I found that great parenting is very difficult because your objective is to make them independent and make them successful on their own. And so the easy thing is that you pick up the piece of clothing that's thrown on the floor. The hard thing is to tell them to go up there and do it themselves. The easy thing is to wash the dish yourself. The hard thing is to give them that. You know, it's the same exact thing when you're bringing people into an organization. How quickly do we bring that person in? We get them through their first day of orientation. We just let them kind of jump into the deep end without telling, hey, this is how you paddle. This is where you can find this. Right? So if we were to take a little bit more intentional time to get them into the organization to a point where they can truly be productive and stable to be able to contribute, I think we would see a much more productivity and less of these type of challenges later on. Right?

Speaker B: Yeah, I think you. I think you reference that guardrails and I always talk about, like, you know, the edge of the swimming pool. Right. Like, so when you're first learning to swim, you're holding onto it and you're kicking, and then the edge of the swimming pool never moves. It is always there, but the entire goal is you. Each time you swim a little bit further away from the edge of the swimming pool. And I think that for parenting and or leadership, that, you know that that's the piece of it. But it is we. We hire people, and then you have to. You can't have it be so mama bird, baby bird that they're not doing it on their own. And I was just reading this. I'M catching up on reading. So it's embarrassing. So it's like the January, you know, Harvard Business Review. But it was an article about people want you to tell them how to do it or do you want, do they just want advice on how you would do it? And, and really was this kind of this guide on like ask, uh, do you want me just to tell you how to do it or do you want me to give you advice? And because different people, it's kind of like love languages. Right. People are wired, wired differently. And I do think, you know, one of the things that we've instituted recently is I have. So a former VP of sales wanted to retire. So again, he was going to take my choice away. I'm like, don't. I'm like, why are you retiring? You love, you love Classic, you love what we do. Because I just don't want to be a people manager anymore. And I said, well then be my chief of staff. Right? So, so do that. And now, fast forward all these years now he has hand selected 10 members, largely sales and marketing, maybe another department too, where he meets with them once a month and just mentors them on everything about our legacy and everything he knows about the industry. So, you know, different types of. So that's not just, you know, exactly, here's how you do this job. But it's, it's a little bit bigger and broader on those soft skills. And so, you know, I love that when I love preserving people that were part of building the Classic legacy. And I love, I love, I'm such a nostalgia person. I love that investment in new people and really understanding the business and challenging them that way.

Speaker A: Yeah, it's clear, it's clear that the organization is, you know, under the helm of somebody that's super intentional. Right. And super aware of what's happening around and, and that's really what we're looking for in terms of the leaders for the future. Melissa, what excites you right now the most, both from Classic, but also in your personal life?

Speaker B: What excites me at Classic right now? Well, absolutely. So at ah, Classic, we have um, we've made a lot of changes over the last, the last three years, but definitely over the last eight months or 18 months. So I think this idea that I'm getting that the company is getting into a rhythm right now of um, the luxury, the service and the technology and all of that coming together. I don't want to say that it's um, that it's like a 14 year old or a 16 year old or an 18 year old that can stand on its own without my stewardship. But I am, I'm watching what it's doing as a machine for suppliers, as a machine for customers. And then, um, you know, I had a newer employee, I've known her since she was a little girl. And last year she came up to me and she said, I want you to know that I qualified, I qualified for a, um, loan to buy a house. And I now you're going to get to know me really well. And I thought, she goes, I just want to say thank you. And I kept it together until I got back to my room and I grabbed a glass of wine and I just sat and tears came down my face and I thought, wow, wow. You know, it's because I never did that on my own, right. I got married, we saved money, we bought a house, and here's this young woman who watched grow up and had the privilege of hiring her after she graduated with a degree in hospitality. And she came to me and thanked me for being able to qualify for a loan. And that was a, uh, day that I will never, ever, ever forget. So I think for me there's the piece of the company that I've built, but also this piece where I'm able to share and build for the next generation. Right. So I'm really actively involved. I'm still doing my day job, but I'm actively involved. California Hospitality and Lodging association foundation, we provide, we raise money, we provide scholarships for college kids in California that are studying hospitality, studying travel and tourism. And I just finished a series of interviews, you know, juniors and seniors in college. And I interviewed a few people that I would have, they could compete against any CEO I know in this industry. They talking about the power of, the economic power of tourism and what it does to communities. So that has me really, um, that has me really amped up and excited. I recently, yeah, I recently also took a board position with Tourism Cares. And you know, there's a number of different facets of that. I think what I love most about that right now is it really is about small businesses in far reaching corners of the, of the globe and that. And so I'm going to wrap that into kind of a third one that really has my interest right now and I'm really focused, um, on. But it is we, um, we are, you know, we're always people doing business with people, but the impact that we make on a small business on an island or a small business in the south of France is really powerful. And, and it's really meaningful. So I like that aspect of it. But I also very aware that tourism can create situations where you cannot afford to raise your children where you grew up because we can raise the prices. Right. So I, I'm very keen on contributing and giving back to these communities. Um, and when I say giving back, it's more, you know, it's that whole idea of a, you know, a handout for a hand up versus a handout. And it's, it's like how can we, how can we contribute to your business so that you can raise your children where your grandparents grew up? And so tourism cares. And the meaningful tourism map does that also, I guess lecture. And I'm on the board here at Cal State University Monterey Bay Sustainable hospitality and tourism program where it is largely a Hispanic serving institution, largely first time college students and the Monterey Peninsula. So Carmel, Monterey, Big Sur, pebble beach. We rely on tourism, we rely on hospitality economically here for a number of different reasons.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: The fact that we've got a school right here that educates so not you're not just going to go and work at the hotel, but you can go and be a work and be a leader and so also raise your children where you grew up. So I love what I'm doing at Classic. I love that and I love the hard work that still is there to be done. I love the team that I'm building. The kind of talent that I'm able to attract right now is incredible. I do feel like for just a brief second I'm getting, I'm getting to take a little bit of a breath and take that and make it bigger for our industry and that's, that's really rewarding and it makes me not want to sleep at night.

Speaker A: That's amazing. I love the passion, the excitement. Um, and I can see how now all of this hard work, all of these years of really putting all these pieces together, it's now, you know, you can see the fruits. Right. Of all the seeds planted. Which is, which is amazing. And now your impact is growing so, so much that. That's amazing. Melissa, if people want to be in touch with you, what's the best way?

Speaker B: Absolutely. So I actually think that my email address is on the Classic Vacations website. I think go to LinkedIn. So just find me on LinkedIn. I'm pretty responsive on that. You know, message me there. You can find me on Instagram, you can find Facebook is. I'm, I'm probably not as faithful on that one, but it's, you know. Yeah. LinkedIn Instagram.

Speaker A: I honestly would encourage everybody that's in the travel industry, in particular the younger individuals that are looking to grow and to, uh, continue shaping their career and to definitely reach out. And I can absolutely tell that you're an incredible mentor, an incredible leader, and anybody would be very fortunate to be working with you. And I feel fortunate to have spent this hour with you. So thank you so much.

Speaker B: Yeah, thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. You know, it's. It's. We're. We move at a fast pace in our world, in our industry, and so it is. It's nice for me, too, just to get to pause and to be intentional thinking about all those that made an impact on me and all those that I can now make an impact for. So thank you.

Speaker A: That's beautiful. Beautiful. And thank you to everyone who's tuned in. Uh, we'll see you next week for another conversation. And in the meantime, let's stay connected and stay conscious. Thanks again, Melissa.

Speaker B: Thank you.