Embrace the Unknown: Interview with Lisa Chen, CEO of ToursByLocals
I recently went one-on-one with Lisa Chen, CEO of ToursByLocals.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Lisa: That’s a big question! In a nutshell, I’ve come to my current role as CEO at ToursByLocals by way of a love for two-sided marketplaces, a serious passion for travel, and a talent for scaling businesses, while staying rooted in their core, customer-centric values.
I have over 25 years of digital, operational, and strategic marketing and branding experience in both B2B and B2C. That journey began by working with multinational tech companies as an Account Director at PR firm Ogilvy, followed by several years providing marketing, branding, and sales-force effectiveness strategy as a consultant at Monitor Group. I then spent 6 years at The Walt Disney Company where I led brand, marketing, and consumer strategy projects within and across Disney, ESPN, and ABC business units.
This is where it gets interesting: I put my career on “pause” and took a year-long sabbatical with my husband to travel. Not a “tick the boxes” kind of trip, but a year of really immersing ourselves in the destinations we visited, learning the language, meeting the people who lived there, and exploring the more off-the-beaten-path places. We visited 16 countries and lived in Argentina, China, and Taiwan, where I spent time studying Chinese. It was the perfect reset I needed to reframe what was going to drive and inspire me in the next phase of my career.
When we returned to the US, we settled in Austin, TX. (I’m originally from San Diego) and I started working as the Director of Global Marketing for BedandBreakfast.com. This was my first experience working in travel tech, and with a 2-sided marketplace, and I relished the challenge of scaling up a platform and professionalizing an industry made up of thousands of “mom and pop” type business owners. These BnBs weren’t just about accommodation; they were about the personal connections travelers made with their hosts, and this resonated deeply with me after the year I had just spent having highly immersive travel experiences around the world. It was vital to me that we not lose the sense of human connection as we grew and scaled the business. BedandBreakfast.com became HomeAway, and was eventually subsumed into Expedia’s Vacation Rental business.
Over 7 years, I was serial GM at Expedia, moving to the Vacation Rental division and ultimately led the highly technical lodging connectivity business. But I was searching for a way back to that customer-centric, high human touchpoint model we’d nurtured at BedandBreakfast.com. I wanted to be a part of a business again that was less transactional and more intentional in how it served its customer groups - both the supply side and consumers. I’ve found this at ToursByLocals, where our rallying cry is to “Keep Travel Human.” I think the Tours and Experiences vertical of travel is where accommodation was a decade ago; it’s ripe for a seismic shift in technology, and I’m so excited to be one of the people driving that technology, in the service of human experience.
Adam: In your experience, what are the key steps to growing and scaling your business?
Lisa: A few key steps in my opinion are:
Maintaining consistency in strategy and measurement: Consistency is key to maintaining clarity and alignment within the organization. By adhering to our 3-year business strategy and consistently measuring success against predefined metrics, we establish a clear path forward for the team. Everyone is aligned and pulling the same way.
Data-driven decision-making: Embracing a data-driven approach enables us to leverage insights and trends to make strategic choices that drive growth and innovation, and ensure that our decisions are always grounded in evidence and aligned with our organizational objectives.
Signaling and modeling our guiding principles consistently: by regularly reinforcing our organizational values and expectations, we don’t outgrow our core values as we scale the business. This piece is critical to me.
Adam: What do you believe are the defining qualities of an effective leader?
Lisa: Being transparent and empathetic should be core characteristics for any people leader. Transparency fosters trust and open communication within the team; it also gives a sense of shared purpose, when the stakes are clear to everyone. At ToursByLocals, we are a global remote team (like many businesses these days), so communicating often and via different mechanics is the key way we build trust. Like many, our team is remote and also diverse; it’s made up of a variety of skill sets, mindsets, experiences, and cultures; I learn more about my team members and their ideas by listening, and being empathetic to their diversity of experience. By being direct yet empathetic, I ensure that everyone understands the direction we're heading, is aligned with our vision, and knows how we will measure success.
Adam: How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Lisa: Travel. Seriously. Yes, it can be expensive and daunting, and feel like the opposite of career-building, but it's worth every penny and moment of uncertainty. I’m not talking about rushing around and ticking off items from a bucket list; instead, immerse yourself in new experiences, embrace the unknown, and venture off the beaten path. It's through exploring different cultures and landscapes that you'll truly discover what matters to you, and what gives you energy while expanding your worldview. Travel also builds in you a stronger appreciation of and value for the diversity of human experience. Strong leaders are confident in their values while keeping their minds open to different perspectives; I believe travel teaches you this.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
Lisa: My top tips are:
Don't hesitate to ask the “silly” questions, even at the executive level. Being a leader doesn’t mean you know all the answers, but asking the right questions will help you get there - and it models to others that curiosity leads to knowledge.
While work is undoubtedly significant, especially if you’re building something you’re passionate about, it should not overshadow other essential facets such as personal relationships, health, hobbies, and self-care. The sooner you can truly internalize that, the better.
Recognize that you may not always value the same things you value today. Be prepared for those priorities to shift over time, as what seems crucial now might not matter so much to you in 20 years. Do your best to put the present in perspective and stay open to change and growth.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?
Lisa: It’s important to:
Fostering a unifying and supportive team, especially since we are largely a remote organization, requires deliberate effort and attention to communication, empathy, and cross-cultural understanding. Here's how I approach it:
Communicate often and via different mediums: Regular and varied communication channels ensure that everyone feels connected and informed. Whether through in-person meetings, emails, slack, or video calls, maintaining open lines of communication fosters collaboration and cohesion.
Say the same thing in different ways: Reiterating key messages using diverse language and examples helps ensure clarity and understanding among all team members, especially since we are a geographically diverse team. Tailoring communication to resonate with different perspectives ensures engagement and alignment.
Tell a consistent story over time: Consistency in messaging builds trust and reinforces our goals and values. By consistently articulating the team's, purpose, missions, and strategic objectives, we create a cohesive narrative that inspires and motivates our team to work towards a common purpose.
Lean in with empathy and intellectual curiosity: Empathy and genuine curiosity lay the foundation for meaningful connections and understanding within the team. By actively listening and asking thoughtful questions, we demonstrate empathy and foster a culture of mutual respect and support.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Lisa: I’m a big fan of metaphors and analogies. Someone once told me to think of my career journey as a bit like a subway ride. At times, you might find yourself in a bit of a tunnel, feeling uncomfortable, uncertain, or uninspired. But hold on, because just a few stops away, there’s an exciting destination that makes the dark and bumpy journey worth it. You are always making progress towards a better destination, even if you can't see it yet. Remembering this has gotten me through more than one of those career tunnels!
Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one-on-one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.
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