Join Flo Lugli as she discusses her career journey, starting as a line employee at People Express Airlines and rising to the Presidency of Wizcom, eventually becoming EVP of Gallileo and Travelport. Explore her remarkable career in distribution and technology, where she served as a trailblazing role model for women in the field. Flo also reflects on the pivotal role mentors played in shaping her path and the support of her husband in taking on demanding roles.
Join Flo Lugli as she discusses her career journey, starting as a line employee at People Express Airlines and rising to the Presidency of Wizcom, eventually becoming EVP of Gallileo and Travelport. Explore her remarkable career in distribution and technology, where she served as a trailblazing role model for women in the field. Flo also reflects on the pivotal role mentors played in shaping her path and the support of her husband in taking on demanding roles.
Greetings. I am Dorothy Dowling, a Principal at DEI Advisors. We are a non profit organization dedicated to personal empowerment. I am really delighted to welcome Flo Lugli, President and Founder of NaviSync Advisor Group to our show. Flo, it is such an honor to have you with us today.
Flo Lugli:Dorothy, it is always a pleasure to spend time with you. So thank you for having me.
Dorothy Dowling:Let's get to it. Flo, the one area that we really like to have every DEI advisor start their interview is telling us a little bit about their career journey and you have had such an incredible journey on your various roles with HFS and which became Wyndham and All of the various acquisitions that Wyndham made and why you became a CEO, the vice president of sales role that you had across all the shared services at HFS and Wyndham. And you've just been an amazing advisor and mentor to so many individuals in the industry through your board work and consulting practice. So I'm hoping you can share your development path and how this has made you into the very successful executive that you are today.
Flo Lugli:Sure. I consider myself very fortunate. I came upon the travel industry almost by accident. When I was a kid, we only ever took one vacation and that was a weekend in Atlantic City way before their casinos came to town. We, we just didn't, we just didn't travel. And my first job in travel was with People Express Airlines. And that was a small startup that came out of deregulation. And I had never even flown on an airplane before. And here I am now working for an airline. People Express had a unique culture. Every employee had multiple roles. You everyone got in flight certified. You work the ground ops check in and everyone got to choose what we would call a line function. That was a corporate role, whether that was finance or marketing or whatever. And while I was going through the list, I'm saying, I don't really want to choose finance. I don't really want to do that travel agency marketing. I have no idea what that is, but that sounds interesting. So that's. Yeah. That's what I chose. And then eventually as the company grew that expanded into servicing the corporate market the early days of NBTA, you remember those those initials, um, And travel agency marketing and so forth. And so eventually I also provided support for training for the frequent flyer program. And so all those experiences really led me to my first role in hospitality with Howard Johnson, who had just moved their headquarters from the Boston area down to New Jersey. And they were looking for someone to support the sales and marketing teams. Now initially the recruiter had. Contacted my supervisor at people express who happened to be a 727 pilot and he's I fly planes. So I'm not interested in this. Why don't you talk to flow? And fortunately, I got the role. But I do remember my 1st day in that role. And I walked into this office and it was still under construction and there were a bunch of boxes in the office and my VP supervisor said, just go through the boxes and, familiarize yourself with everything there. And as I started to go through that now, no computer or anything. These are literally boxes of papers and files. I thought to myself, I have made a terrible mistake. I'm never going to be able to learn all of this. And I immediately called my husband and said, I think I, I made a mistake. I don't think I can do this job. aS your husband has, he's always been my biggest supporter calm me down, reinforced that I could do it, that I was highly capable, advise me to just, observe, ask questions and so forth. And so that was my first day in hospitality when. That almost the career that almost wasn't, now, as that small hotel company eventually grew through acquisition to become not only the largest hotel company or the largest hotel franchisor in the world, but also the largest real estate company and the largest rental car company. And, at that same time, late 80s, 90s, the hotel distribution and tech landscape was changing rapidly. And so between the rapid growth of the company and the disruption within the tech industry, I was able to, quickly advance my career and rotated through roles within sales and marketing and distribution technology Ultimately being in 1998, being named president of Wiscom, which was a hotel tech company that we acquired with the Avis acquisition and there was an interesting story there to as a highly acquisitive company send in relied on subject matter experts to help them with the due diligence on on any acquisitions. And because of my Wiscom experience, I was called on to Become the co business lead for the due diligence on the acquisition of Galileo and in 2001 and upon the close of that acquisition, which was just 29 days or I'm sorry, 19 days after nine 11 I was named as EVP and was responsible for all of the supplier relationships. I had all the airlines, all the hotel companies, rental car companies and other. Leisure providers as as my customers um, and after 9, 11 obviously the industry was still recovering OTAs were starting to gain traction and. Once again, I found myself in the middle of major industry disruption. Airlines were reserving their best fares for their own websites. As well as, O. T. A. Is really starting, as I said, to gain traction. And so over the next few years, as a leadership team, we really had to manage through fundamental changes in the business economics. And the growing tech Technical capabilities of our supply and agency customers. And so what happened is that we had to significantly reduce our margins. We had to take some haircuts on what we were charging. And then of course there was the breakup of sending into separate companies. And eventually the acquisition of that business unit by Blackstone. And when I look at sort of my eight years at Galileo and Travelport I was asked to play a number of different roles because of the disruption and the transformation that was happening. I almost became like a firefighter oh, maybe we should put flow on this and ask her, to, to check it out. I don't know. And I did it maybe, I was always willing to take on a new challenge. And really all that experience really came full circle in 2009 when I came back to Wyndham which of course was the successor to that little Howard Johnson company. And I was asked to help drive sort of their distribution and digital transformation because after the recession of 2007 and 2008, The O. T. A. S were really getting even more of a stranglehold on the hotel industry. Most of the hotel websites were underperforming no mobile sites to speak of and so forth. And when I think back over those 20 odd years or so with 1 iteration or another of the company, I think what. It really did was instilled in me that, change is simply just an integral part of the business. And you have to be comfortable with change and seek out the opportunities that come from it. But I think that's probably one of the most critical success factors for any executive is to embrace the change versus fight it.
Dorothy Dowling:That is an amazing career story. Hello, and of course I had a front row seat watching you at HFS and ascendant and you truly were this remarkable leader who brought so much value creation to all of us. So thank you for sharing your story. I'm wondering as you went through that career journey, and as you also navigate this stage of your career, if you have a personal mantra that. has really helped shape that journey.
Flo Lugli:Yeah. As we had several folks come through the senior ranks of Sendint during those days and some were fabulous and some we learned not to emulate them. And, some of the folks I'm thinking about, but, when I think back on it I love Maya Angelou and one of my favorite quotes of hers is that, people will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But they'll never forget how you made them feel. And I've tried to really emulate behaviors from colleagues and. And other executives that I admire. And for those that, are on the line, I try to remember not to do to exhibit that behavior, but I really just try to treat others with respect and care and care about the more, even beyond the work, but, beyond the work environment, but into a personal in a personal way as well. And I, I think that's how I approach. Life in general.
Dorothy Dowling:I know I have shared with you flow that you I had the privilege of seeing when you went through the due diligence. Obviously, I was on one of the companies that was being acquired and I saw the level of care that you went through. Gave to everybody through that process, but more importantly, what I saw was that all of the individuals that lost their opportunity with the company as a result of the acquisition, it was just the amazing investment that you made with so many in helping them find a new role in the industry. And I've never forgotten that flow because I watched what a difference maker you were to so many in terms of making sure. That they found a place for their future. Thank you for all that you've done for so many of us over time.
Flo Lugli:You have to give in order to get,
Dorothy Dowling:no question, but you live it, Flo, so it's always been something that I've truly appreciated about you. I'd like to move on a little bit about mentors. I know you spoke that you were a keen observer of many executives in your various career opportunities. But I'm wondering if there's anyone individual or a few individuals that were important to you in terms of shaping your career beyond Robert, who I know has been an important champion for you.
Flo Lugli:Sure. Several obviously have made an impact on me, including you, Dorothy. But I would say, starting from the beginning that 727 pilot Joe Lepinto, he mentored me and others at People Express and, it was one of the reasons I was able to get the Howard Johnson role. I think back that, probably one of my biggest breaks came when Scott Anderson you might remember Scott, who was the EVP of marketing at Sendint and, Scott was this big. Big vision guy. And I remember, sometimes sitting in a room when he's talking about what we should do, thinking, Oh, my God, that's so hard. But he he asked me along to a meeting with WISCOM, who had just had a 34 hour outage and their customers, as you can imagine, were irate. And we drove out to Long Island and met with the WISCOM team. And afterwards he said, I want you to write a report. I want you to make some recommendations of what we should be doing with this company, right? It just didn't fit into sort of the mold. So I wrote a report. I included names of people who I thought, would be great to run the company handed it in and didn't think. Twice about it. I went back to my day job and about a week later, Steve Holmes, who at that time was our CFO and is currently chairman of Wyndham, call me into his office. And of course, you're a nervous wreck. Here's, Steve Holmes. And he said he liked my report. He thought I had some great ideas. But that he wanted me to take on the role and, first thing was, Oh my God, what did I say in that, that I now have to deliver on. So I was shocked to say the least, but, he and Scott probably had more confidence in me than I had in myself to take on that role. And, from there, that enabled me then to, to take on the due diligence lead with Galileo. And yeah. And, just go on from there. I think some others that were instrumental were, Bob's apple at all, who you know we both thought a lot of he was just really those that one of those that we definitely want to emulate cared about his people and then later on Sam Katz. And canestro at Galileo were big supporters as I took on the renegotiation of the United Airlines agreement. So this was a 700 million dollar agreement that we needed to renegotiate, but more importantly as the disruption was happening, we needed to protect about 100 million dollars in margin. anD if we didn't change the economics, we were going to lose that. And was able to negotiate that pretty independently. And and then that led me to taking on a new line of business and providing hosting platforms for low cost carriers. Really, one thing built upon the other and, and then of course, Eric Danziger at Wyndham was a big supporter of mine and in helping me to really change the culture there while we were there. So I have to say those are probably the, there's probably tons of other people that I'm not I'm not mentioning. And that's the difficult part when you talk about people who have been important in your life.
Dorothy Dowling:I just think that thread of you speaking about how so many saw things in you that. Perhaps you. Didn't recognize in yourself at the time is an amazing story because you really did bring that amazing capacity to understand technology distribution, marketing and sales flow. You are commercial leader before we use the word commercial leadership. So I'm sure that's that was the thread that they saw in you that you brought forward. Sure. You have taken so many risks in your life. You are a poster child in terms of walking through so many opportunities when they were open doors that were opened. You walk through them. But I'm just wondering if there's any significant risks that you've taken in your career, your life that Really were transformational in terms of your personal and professional
Flo Lugli:growth. I Think really deciding 10 years ago to leave corporate life and strike out on my own a little bit about what goes into that decision. And primarily because I was the breadwinner. Of the family. But I was looking for a really a more balanced lifestyle. I was tired of the office politics. And I knew that my success actually would be highly dependent upon the relationships and the network that I had built up over the years. And so it hadn't yet really been tested. Because sometimes you're in a senior role in an organization. And so a lot of people come and talk to you because you're in that role. When you're no longer in the role, sometimes, you're, they forget about you. So I think that was probably the biggest risks that I took is striking out on my own.
Dorothy Dowling:Is there anything that you learned through that process flow? Because I know that. When you shared with me that there was work that immediately came to you once you decided to go out and become an independent advisor, but I'm sure that it was a real testament to the investments that you had made in those relationships over the years.
Flo Lugli:Yeah I'm here 10 years later, right? So that was something I would say, I've had some amazing experiences. I've been able to better manage my personal time. I've been able to actually broaden the network even beyond. What I thought around the world, in fact and had met some remarkable people but I've been able to really narrow down what really excites me and what I like working on and what I don't like working on. And a lot of times when you're in a corporate environment, you just keep doing. What has to be done, you don't get to really think about who you want to work with and what you want to do. And that's something that's become much clearer from a personal perspective. Obviously, I've been able to spend more times with friends and family and have taken some amazing personal travel experiences. Yeah I think it was a good decision at that particular time and. And I have a lot of folks who are in similar positions who come to me and sit and ask my advice. And so I say to them, first of all, you have to be committed. If you're going to go out on your own, you're going to go out on your own. If you really want another full time job, then just be honest and say, I'm going to do project work until I find something else. And that's you can straddle, right? You can straddle the fence.
Dorothy Dowling:You have to make that commitment. I'm just wondering, Flo, because you have been an amazing role model in the industry in terms of investing and really working on very intentional plan to grow your networking. You were the president CEO of many years ago. You're very active with HSMAI, You've always been a very engaged individual in terms of shaping the industry. So I'm wondering if there's any advice that you have to our audience in terms of how do you go about building those meaningful professional relationships?
Flo Lugli:At heart, I think of myself as an introvert. People may disagree, but I really, excuse me. I really have to challenge myself to get out there. I believe that the network you build in your career, can be the single biggest asset that you have. And it's not just for gaining opportunities, it's having somebody to bounce ideas off of to reinforce your thinking. And, sometimes just to build you back up when you need it. People do business with those that they like and trust. And so I would say to, to, Folks, in their career, get to know your colleagues, ask about their family show interest in their lives, build a relationship that goes beyond sort of the nine to five world. Send them a note when you read something that you think might interest them. As I said before, you have to really give before you get there are those people we've come across them and who, you only hear of when they need something, right? And they lose a job, they need a contact. And so they reach out to you. And so the initial reaction quite frankly would be, I'm not going to respond to them, but I do, I always do try to help regardless of whether, I feel that they've been a good person, if you will. Cause I'm hoping that they'll realize that it is a two way street. And, I just have to say that the biggest benefit of my career has been the friendships that I've built over the years. I wouldn't give any of those up for the world.
Dorothy Dowling:I think that's great advice, Flo, and I would tell you, you're highly respected and highly liked. And I think that has always been. The way you have conducted yourself in terms of investing in others before you have expected anything in return. I think those are great life lessons for everyone. I'm wondering if we can talk a little bit about adversity because, overcoming adversity is something that we all need to navigate in our careers. So I'm just wondering if there's anything. In your journey, that was a learning opportunity for you in terms of dealing with adversity.
Flo Lugli:Where do you start? The one thing that most people don't talk about is we've all had adversity and disappointments, but, I think that if I think back to one situation that really sticks with me and that I know I learned a lot from was really a year or 2 after we acquired Galileo, and I mentioned all the disruption going on. And as a result, the company brought in someone to focus on the airline relationships. I had just spent 15 years on the hotel side. And my position was leveled or in other words, they. Just brought somebody in over me to report to the C. E. O. And, my first reaction is, Oh, my God, how can they do this to me? I work so hard. I spent so much time here. I put my heart and soul into this company and they don't appreciate me. And I have to say, it really shook my confidence up. And because up until that time I had been on this upward trajectory, right? I'm really embarrassed to say that, I did not handle it well, and it took quite a while for me to get over it, and I remember the person that, I was reporting to in the next performance review, his comment was so how do you think the last year went? And I looked at him and I said I been a real asshole. And I apologize for that, but I'm ready to get on with it now. And I was fortunate in that he he was very supportive and understanding and and we were able to build upon that. And it has stuck with me that, your attitude really is. Is everything. So yeah, that was probably the thing that's that sticks in my mind. The most is the 1st time. It's like getting that 1st be if you're a straight a student, right? You feel like you failed.
Dorothy Dowling:Thank you for being so honest about that challenge in your life. I know many of us have had similar circumstances where things didn't go in the way that we would have liked and it did impact our confidence. But I do think that honesty and that learning that you were able to take from that experience and then build something really positive from it is an incredible story. So thank you for sharing that.
Flo Lugli:Yeah, and in fact, the person that they brought in actually wound up being a terrific mentor to me. I learned so much from him. And it opened up many other opportunities that ultimately led me back to Wyndham. And so you have to think things work out for the best. And so I'd say, the biggest lesson I learned was that, what we do is not who we are. Yeah. And that a job or a company or a boss or whatever can take things away from you, but you are the one that's actually in control of your name and your attitude and your reputation.
Dorothy Dowling:That is very good wisdom for us all to listen and learn from. So thank you. I know earlier you spoke about change and that is just a part of our life and that we have to. Embrace it and continue on that journey. I'm just wondering if there's any strategies that you have that because you have lived a life of change that you could share with our audience.
Flo Lugli:Yeah, in nature, they say you either adapt or die, right? In your career life, you either adapt or you move on. As humans, we're programmed to resist change. It triggers like this fear of flight or fight response. And, it could be something as simple as a new software program or business process or, more concerning we have a new boss coming in and what changes is he or she going to do? I do find, much like I just mentioned that focusing on my attitude towards change helps another Maya Angelou. If you don't like something, change it. And if you can't change it, change your attitude. And so I, I really try to look for what can I gain from the change? What can I learn? What new opportunities might. Be uncovered. Most people look at what they give up versus what they can gain from change. And, it's not easy, but I've been fortunate in that, my whole career for the most part, I've worked in an organization where it was a common change was a common theme. And so you had to adapt. Or you had to move on.
Dorothy Dowling:I do think when we think about the hotel industry in particular, that given that we're dealing with perishable inventory, that intensity of how the business moves and that approach to constantly looking for ways to solve those commercial values is something that forces us all to hopefully be open to thinking about change in a very positive way. I'm wondering if we can talk a little bit about work life balance. It's a question we ask all of our advisors. Flo, you had a career that was extraordinarily intense in terms of travel and evening and weekend demands. I'm just wondering if there's any thought leadership that you can offer to our audience about how you thought about balancing
Flo Lugli:your life. You and I have had many discussions on this and, I think it's one of the things that I struggle with the most. You talk about weekends. I remember being on a. On a call with a bunch of lawyers during the Galileo contract negotiations at 3 in the morning and making my husband sit there to make sure that I didn't fall asleep. Having my own business now is really free me up to do the things that I enjoy and work with. with the people that I like. I think it's important to have a clear view of what you like, what's important to you, what do you want to achieve career wise and then understanding what it takes to get there. I also think as you get older you realize what's really important and you're better able to prioritize your time. If I don't. If I'm not cognizant of it, it's very easy to fall back into the old habits of work. I happen to have a partner who constantly reminds me that I'm working too hard. And I think it's important to understand that the world isn't going to end. If you don't do things yourself, if you delegate. Or you ask for help. And and like you, Dorothy being the primary breadwinner in the family, it's important to have that person at home who's going to, who's going to take care of that home front do all the things that need to be done there, because quite frankly, the biggest fallacy of all is this whole sort of super person, super woman mindset that we talked a lot about when we were younger because we thought we could have it all. We could do it all. But I don't think that you can. And so it's just something you have to be aware of.
Dorothy Dowling:I Think you said some very important things there, Flo. One is that awareness and intentionality of using how you spend your time. But I think that other element of. Really growing and learning where you get the most reward personally, professionally from how you spend that time. It's part of that learning journey that we all are on. So thank you for your honesty there. The other part that I think is really important that I know that people early in their career is that if you aspire to. Some of those very senior roles. There is a very high expectation in terms of the time commitment that's associated with that and yeah, it's not I
Flo Lugli:don't have an easy way to get there. There's no easy way to get to the top
Dorothy Dowling:And you have to deliver. Otherwise, there is someone else that can do the job better. So it is just understanding that. I'd like to talk a little bit flow because I know we spoke about all of the commitments and investments that you've made with. a number of industry associations where we have had the opportunity to work together. But, more recent, most recently, just a few weeks ago you were recognized by Focusrite. You were brought into their hall of fame. I wished I could have been in the audience to celebrate that achievement because it is quite an incredible one. But I know when I watched it on video, they talked about the profound impact that you have had. On the industry, so I don't know if there's any comments that you would like. It is an incredible achievement. So congratulations.
Flo Lugli:Thank you, Dorothy. I have to say the recognition was especially meaningful given, that Philip Wolfe, who is the founder of Focusrite, was actually a friend and a mentor to me for many years. He sat on my WISCOM advisory board as an example and was one of the ones who I learned that, whenever I needed him to talk to a startup, he got on the phone with them and he gave. And as we lost him just a few years ago. So it was especially meaningful for me because it was his organization that recognized me.
Dorothy Dowling:There are very few women in the technology space, and, I think many of us took pride in that recognition for you to be on stage and to be honored in that way. So congratulations again. Thank you. So we're moving to the end of our interview flow. And the question that we ask every one of our advisors is really to reflect if they were to go back earlier in their career and be that advisor to their younger self. If there's Any advice that you would offer to the young flow locally, perhaps at People Express or Howard Johnson's or earlier in your career,
Flo Lugli:even earlier than that. I would say be more confident, have more confidence in yourself. I think. Especially, I don't know whether it was the generation when we were raised or whatever. But, don't doubt. Don't doubt yourself. Don't sweat the small stuff. Because, you really need to focus on the things that are important and it's okay to ask for help. It's okay to tell people you don't understand something or to ask clarifying questions. And emulate those that you admire. It's it's really important. And many of those folks. Could become your mentors as well. So don't be afraid to ask them.
Dorothy Dowling:I think that is all extraordinary advice flow. And if I may, the one that I always think about you as we talk about leadership today, it's a human skills that are definitely sought out in great leaders, and you have always lived that. in terms of the way you brought your humanity forward. So I do think that you are a great role model for us all to continue to work.
Flo Lugli:Thank you, Dorothy. And of course, I feel the same about you.
Dorothy Dowling:Thank you. Thank you. It's, it has been an honor and privilege to talk with you, Flo. And I do hope that our listeners and Viewers have enjoyed this interview today. And for those of you that are watching today I hope that you have found this empowering. And if there is other opportunities, I hope you'll join us on deiadvisors. org and view other great DEI advisors like Flo Lugli. So Flo, thank you for taking the time to share your story with the audience. Thank you, audience for allowing us to share Flo's story with you. And I hope to see you on DEI Advisors Org where you will see other great leaders like Flo. So thank you.
Flo Lugli:Thank you.