Michelle Peluso is a hard woman to pin down. That’s not surprising, considering she’s the CEO of Internet travel giant Travelocity—a company that helped revolutionize the way consumers book their flights and vacations.

This Wharton grad got where she is today by taking chances and saying yes to the right opportunities. Before launching herself into the dot-com world, she was a White House Fellow and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Labor. Compelled by her entrepreneurial spirit, Michelle jumped at the chance to run Site59, a last-minute travel website that was acquired by Travelocity in March 2002. After serving as the company’s Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of Product Strategy and Distribution, she became Travelocity’s CEO in December 2003. 

Her style and savvy have brought her successful business ventures and to all corners of the globe. She graciously squeezed us into her busy schedule to discuss how she developed her interest in business, why Madonna makes the world go round, and how to make it to the top. In the end, Michelle revealed she’s not only a role model for women looking to leap up the corporate ladder, she’s an example of how to live life to its fullest.

How did you get interested in business?

My father was an entrepreneur and my grandparents were entrepreneurs, so I grew up with this love of entrepreneurship. When I was young, I taught swimming lessons in my backyard instead of flipping burgers to make money.

The second thing that really solidified my interest was that I went to Russia when I was 15.  There was a lot of political instability, challenges, and restrictions at that time, but it was fascinating because you’d walk into a bar and you’d still hear Madonna. People would do just about anything to buy the jeans that you were wearing.  It was a fascinating experience for me—learning about how the global economy works and how it creates bonds between us. These politically disparate countries weren’t even talking, yet we’re all dancing to Madonna.

Madonna brings the world together.

Exactly.  That made me really interested in business.

Was this a class trip or a family vacation?

It was a group of media professionals. I begged the organizers to let me go and told them that they needed a student representative. They finally said yes, and of course I hadn’t told my family about it. I remember walking down the stairs on a Saturday morning in August, and the trip was leaving in September. I remember saying, “Mom and Dad, I have a great news for you. I’m going to Russia and I need to borrow $3000 to get there. And I’m missing three weeks of school.” It was like, “I’m your 15-year-old daughter going off to ‘better dead than red’ country—wish me luck!” They were remarkably cool. Apparently my mom sobbed three nights in a row, wondering if it was the right thing to do. But they were great about it and let me go.

How did it affect you when you got back?

I started a foundation because of it. It was called New Generation for Peace, which for several years brought together students from around the world to talk about global issues like hunger and poverty. The trip had such a profound effect on me, and I felt like it was something other people should get to experience.

Did it affect your decision to go to Wharton?

A lot of it came from that trip. I was 15, so that’s the time I was really thinking about schools. I liked the notion of a school that had a great business program and a lot of diversity—I could take language classes and capitalize on being part of one of the best arts and sciences colleges, but at the same time pursue my interest in business. It just seemed like an ideal opportunity.

Did you get involved in the travel industry because you like to travel or did you develop
an interest in traveling because of your job?

I absolutely love traveling, and I’m always amazed at all these new places I get to go. They’ve just been these big learning lessons for me. I studied abroad in college, then I spent several years in Oxford, and I worked in Africa. I’ve always tried to do as much as I could.

When the notion of running Site59 came up, I was working in the White House, and my former employer, the Boston Consulting Group, called me and said, We are thinking about some business ideas, if you like one, come back and run it. They had come up with the idea for Site59. It was actually a very different concept than what we built it into. It was this notion of last-minute everything, and last-minute travel was a piece of it. The last-minute travel part seemed really compelling to me. It combined my desire to be an entrepreneur and my passion for travel. We came up with a business plan and developed it into what it became.

How are the two sites different?

I went from running an 80-person company, and now we have over 5,000 employees. But what motivated me at Site59 is the exact same thing that motivates me about Travelocity—a company that is trying to make the world better for consumers and create better travel experiences. There’s an incredible team of people who I admire so much. They motivate me and inspire me. That was true when I ran an 80-person company, and it’s as true, if not more so, running a bigger company. 

Did you ever think it would
become the way to book travel?

Isn’t it incredible how it basically transformed the industry? And we are only nine-and-a-half-years old. It’s pretty remarkable.

Do you feel a sense of personal pride?

Absolutely. At the same time, if you walked around the halls at Travelocity and asked “Are you satisfied?,” all of us would be like, “Oh, no. We could do so much better!”  That attitude makes me very passionate about the future.

What’s your favorite place to travel?

I love Florence—and Italy in general. I studied art history and Italian there when I was younger. There’s a beauty, culture, and richness that are always enthralling for me. I went to Cambodia and Vietnam and that was an incredible experience—especially when you can confront your own nation’s history.

I lived in Dakar, Senegal, which was incredibly rich and alive and vibrant in color. I lived for three years in England. I have wonderful friends there, and it feels like going home when I’m in London. I love salsa dancing and Latin dancing, so any chance I get to go to Mexico and Spain, that’s high on my list.

And, of course, in America, there’s a ton of places. Montauk on the tip of Long Island. I just rode my first Harley in the Grand Tetons out in Jackson Hole for a good three hours, which is one of the coolest things I’ve done.

Do you have advice for women who want to make it to the top of the corporate ladder?

First of all, we need more women in corporate America and in the senior ranks. I’m very excited to encourage women. I think the business world is a wonderful place to build a career.

I think it makes a big difference if you can find companies and products you are passionate about. Be willing to take risks and get outside your comfort zone.  If you are really good at marketing, sometimes it’s important to take an operations job. Or if you are really financially and analytically oriented, push yourself to take a job in marketing or merchandising. When you look at senior leaders in the business world, often they have had a diversity of business experience.

The last thing I would say is: work at places where you feel like the people around you are smarter than you. When I think about where I’ve learned the most, it’s been from peers and bosses. You want to be at a company and in an industry with people who you admire and feel like you can learn from. I took my first job at half the salary that another company offered me in the exact same industry because I felt like I would learn a lot more from the people. And it was absolutely true. If you make decisions like that, you end up growing more and stretching more. And you become a better leader as a result.

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