Alongside the team and the brands, Julie Whalen, chief financial officer of Expedia, was drawn to the role by the transformation the company was embarking on.
While Whalen was not new to Expedia Group, having served on the board since 2019, when someone explained the plans and strategy, she wanted in.
During The Phocuswright Conference, Whalen, now just over a year into the role, discussed similarities with her previous role at homeware retailer Williams Sonoma, recent financial results and some of the surprises along the way.
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“The first thing that comes to mind is just the scale and complexity, the breadth, all the brands, B2B and B2C. And then the other thing even more interesting that is misunderstood is the complexity and the depth of the transformation we have been going through. I always say we're changing the engine out mid flight and literally that's what we were doing.”
She also touched on moving beyond the focus on migrating the various brands to “innovation and optimization” as well as some key challenges for 2024.
Watch the full interview below with Lorraine Sileo, Phocuswright Research founder and a senior analyst.